Surgery and Recovery

The last month I have had the worst pains of my life. It actually has been going on for a year and a half, but for some reason the doctor would just give me prevacid and send me home. A few weeks ago, I had the worst stomach pains ever. They lasted for five days straight. I decided to go to the doctor and see if everything was OK. After a lot of tests were ran (numerous blood tests) They couldn't figure out what was wrong. My stomach was HUGE! It had started to swell underneath my ribs. It looked like I had golfballs all over on my stomach. This caused my lower stomach to swell too. It was very uncomfortable. So they decided to send me to Utah Valley Regional Hospital to get checked out. They performed a HIDA SCAN on me. That was very painful. They gave me some dye in an IV to see how I would react and the pain was so bad. I was crying so hard. I kept thinking to myself how big of a baby I was, but I couldn't handle it. I got a call from my doctor explaining that my gallbladder was not functioning properly. He then told me to go see a surgeon. I decided to get a surgeon who had done cancer surgeries on my grandma and my aunt. He also took out my cousin Jena's gallbladder. So, I made an appointment with him. He saw me on a Monday, and wanted me to come back the next morning because it was so swollen. The first doctor I had went to in the beginning had told me that my stomach was infected. Dr. Anderson (the surgeon) was very worried about the inflamation in my stomach and said that the bacteria had spread everywhere. He wanted to do surgery ASAP. I thought to myself, "Seriously? Tomorrow? What about my students? Getting a substitute? Parent-Teacher Conferences are this week!" I was very stressed. I was able to compromise with him and schedule for the next week. He decided that would probably be OK. I was in SO MUCH pain the week before. Parent-Teacher conferences weren't so fun. So last Monday night (October 12) The nurse called and told me to be at the hospital at 6:00 AM Tuesday morning.
I didn't sleep well the night before. The pain was getting worse and worse. My mom wanted to take me at 3:00 because I couldn't sleep. I decided that wasn't a good idea, all I wanted to do was lay there. So we headed toward Salt Lake at 5:00 AM, Tuesday October 13. When I get there they call me "1.1" because I am the first surgery of the day. I thought that was kind of funny. My mom was a little nervous, she wouldn't sit still. They put me in the hospital bed and put an IV in me. It really hurt...I HATE needles. The nurse couldn't find my vein so it was quite the ordeal. After she had injected me with the electrolytes she had me lay there while she prepped me for surgery. at approx. 8:00 AM the hospital had a "parade" is what the nurses called it. There were 16 patients headed upstairs to the surgery suites. They started rolling us down the hall and to the elevators. Once we got up to the surgery floor they just leave you in the hall until the doctor comes in. Another nurse comes and puts these leg things on my legs. The doctor then tells me in 20 seconds I will feel tired. They roll me into the surgery room and it was very cold. The room starts spinning..............and then BAM!!! I wake up and don't know what is going on. There is a nurse next to me on the phone saying, "I have patient 1.1 and she is starting to wake up, however one of her four incisions is bleeding more than usual.." I had no idea what was going on! I started crying instantly because of the pain I was feeling in my right side. She immediatly had the doctor come and they injected me with some hard core meds.
As I lay there crying, the nurses are all watching me...I felt really akward. I wanted to leave. They wouldn't let me. I had to stay there for a longer time because of the bleeding, but once they got it undercontrol they took me to another recovery room.
That's when all the fun began....I was very sick to my stomach, in pain, tired, and didn't have a clue what was going on. I kept telling everyone to just take me home, that I wanted to go home, but they wouldn't let me go! My brother Ty came in and visited me..He wasn't much help. He was checking out the nurses the entire time! He would make comments like, "You look like I do when I have a hangover.." "Do you feel drunk?"....SERIOUSLY TY!! I just had surgery :-)
After much debate, pain meds, crying, sickness, and dizziness I was released to come home. A couple days after coming home from the hospital I got really sick. I was throwing up and I felt weak and dizzy. I decided right then and there I was giving up. I was done! I don't know how I was going to do it, but I wanted to quit the recovery process. I have to say that today is DAY 6 of recovery. Still on pain meds, still taking stomach pills and haven't moved around much. All I want to do is feel 100% better and I want to feel it NOW!

Everyone has been great to help me! I appreciate all of the people in my life for loving me ALL the time. Even when I am entirely helpless.