Post- Surgery

I am now 2 weeks post-surgery. The lump of muscle affectionately known as "pampelmuse" {meaning grapefruit in German} is history. :)

I just have to share this cool God thing... The morning had my surgery, a beautiful young black woman was my nurse. Not overly warm & friendly, but is was 5:30 am. ;). Anyway, just when I could have started to feel bit nervous for the fact that I was going to have robotic arms shoved into regions that I'd rather leave alone, I noticed she had an accent. I asked where she was from originally. You know when you know the answer before you hear it? It was like that. Yep, you guessed it... Liberia!! So, I was all excited and told her we were just there in June and she just lit right up! She hugged Jason later when she met him, and spent all her spare time talking with us. She's been here for 6 years, and was in Liberia for most of the war. Anyway, so amazing how God makes those connections for us... and also totally got my mind off of the fact that I was having surgery! I was really grateful for her being there... she made my day!

The procedure was a success. I have pictures... everyone loves pictures of internal organs, right? There sits my little fist-sized uterus all sewn up and next to it sits my gigantaur fibroid, 2.5 times the size of my uterus itself. Kinda glad it gone. For the first time in many, many years, I don't feel like I look pregnant.

The first week was more brutal than I had imagined. I was very uncomfortable, and the air they pumped into my abdomen was the cause of just as much pain as the actual incisions. After that, I felt I was healing well, but I continued to have a very consistent feeling of light-headedness, like I could pass out at any moment. Also, breathing was laboured, and it felt hard to get a deep breath. So... my Doc wanted me to go in and have tests run to rule out a blood clot or bleeding in my abdomen. Jason and I spent a lovely 4 hours in the ER to find out that I was fine. I just had a large pocket of that air from the surgery lodged below my diaphragm, making it hard to breathe... and maybe causing the light-headed feeling. Anyway, money... toilets flushing... you get the idea. But, peace of mind knowing that I wasn't likely going to keel over in the middle of the night from a blood clot... priceless. (I guess.)

The second week has been better. I feel stronger every day, and am finally able to drive again. I tire ridiculously easy (easily?). I now have a much deeper empathy for people who have surgery, and hope I will be more helpful to them! I am so grateful to my friends/family who helped out! People who gave rides, meals, called to see if I needed anything, watched my kids... HUGE blessing to me - thank you.