I had such a crazy, yet incredible weekend that I feel compelled to write about it, and give thanks to God for looking after me! I’ll try not to be too wordy….
THE PAIN STARTS
Thursday evening while waiting for dinner to cook, I was watching the TV show Castle (taped on our PVR, happily fast forwarding through the commercials) when the timer on my oven went off. As I stood up, I felt a funny feeling on my right side, high up under my ribs. I thought to myself that maybe I was sitting funny, and perhaps just had a weird pain. Unfortunately, this weird pain didn’t go away, it got worse. By the time dinner was served, I was barely able to move my right arm, and started walking slowly.
Bedtime, I barely managed to get myself into bed without gasping. I couldn’t get comfortable, and probably had less than three hours sleep, because my side hurt so bad. The next day I decided to go to work anyhow, my reasoning was that I would probably spend the day sitting in emerg, so if I was going to have to sit, I might as well sit at work and get paid for it. So, I went to work. Oh dear. I could barely move. I was walking in slow motion, and grimacing from the pain of even breathing. I basically just sat for most of the day, not moving, and taking shallow breaths. My co-workers were very concerned and wanted me to go to the hospital. I pushed through until closing, and then decided to go home, because since I had already waited THIS long, I thought I might as well go home and eat dinner that Jakob (my amazing son) cooks every Friday night.
Jakob delivered – this week was a delicious spaghetti and meatball dinner, all homemade. Wow. I ate quite happily, and insisted that he needed to make this meal more often!
TIME FOR A HOSPITAL VISIT
After dinner, I finally had Paul drop me off at the hospital. I registered, and then I sat. And people watched. And sat. And sat. And maybe played a game of sudoku or two, or three! And finally after five hours, I was admitted. It took another 2 hours to be seen by the doctor. After assessing me, I was sent for X-Rays. I told the Dr. all about the pain, and said it was inconvenient, because it was my son’s grad on this particular weekend.
X-ray report finally came back, and the doctor came over to me and said, “You have 4 large gallstones, you’re going to need your gallbladder out, you’re having surgery, you’re not going anywhere.” Oh my GOODNESS! I was stunned. The doctor scheduled me for an ultrasound the next day, and I was admitted. By this time it was 3:30 in the morning. I was wheeled over to a quieter part of Emerg, and managed to get a few hours of sleep. I was woken up often to have my blood pressure taken, and to get doses of morphine. When I was finally taken to get my scan done, I was feeling anxious. It was Saturday, Jakob’s dinner and dance day, and I was supposed to take pictures of him and his friends in Fort Langley. I called my older sister Debbie, and asked if she could help me out. Being the awesome and amazing sister she is, she dropped ALL of her plans and said “Of course Donna!”
THE SCAN
I was wheeled over for my scan. The technician was really chatty, and I told her all about my son, and how he was graduating. She kept moving the wand over my chest, and humming and hawwing, and finally she said to me, “What did you do? Did you decide to pass all four stones in the night? I can’t find a single one!’ Wow! She kept looking. Kept poking. Kept moving me around. Checking. Wanding. Everything. Nope. No stones. Nix, Nada. Nothing. We were both stunned. I was taken back to my “room” (bed 6 in ambulatory care north, if you care for details) and when the Dr. came by for rounds, I asked if I could get a day pass to get out to go take some pics of Jakob. The Dr. relented, and let me out for a few hours.
I GET A DAYPASS!
Jakob came and picked me up from Emerg, and then Debbie joined me at my house. We immediately started taking pictures, and then followed Jakob as he went to pick up his date. Took some awesome pics at Sarah’s place, and then we drove to Fort Langley where a group of friends was gathering.
It was raining, but yet not hard. We were prepared with umbrellas, and had a wonderful photo shoot! I can’t thank my sister enough for organizing and snapping some really amazing photos. I was still in pain, and somewhat a bit “dozy” after a morning morhpine shot, so I’m glad that it wasn’t just me with a camera. I didn’t want too many pictures of me at the time, my arm was bandaged where my IV shunt was, and my hospital tag was on my other wrist. Argh. Not so great for pictures!
Anyhow, it was about 3 hours later when I got a text from my hubby informing me to “get my butt back to the hospital” – they were looking for me. Debbie dropped me off at Langley Memorial, and I quickly snuck back to my bed. I didn’t see any Dr.’s for the rest of the night, and suddenly it was Sunday.
X-RAY CONFIRMS STONES ARE GONE
Sunday morning the Dr. came by again, and ordered another X-ray. He just couldn’t believe the ultrasound didn’t show the stones. X-ray confirmed the stones were gone. How wild was that! Two X-rays compared, one had stones, one did not. All I can think is that God decided that I was going to grad, and voila, stones were gone. There really isn’t any other explanation! God is the God of miracles!
Sunday was a hard day to be in the hospital, as it was Father’s Day, and I usually organize a family BBQ. I felt sorry for myself, till my hubby came and visited with tea and chocolate in hand, and cheered me up by writing silly things on my wall (see below, ha ha)
I GOT RELEASED FROM THE HOSPITAL!
Monday morning came, and I was still in the hospital. I was feeling anxious, and when the Dr. came, I asked if I could get released. He ordered more blood tests (how many blood tests can one have?!!!) and I passed with flying colours. He then said I could go, (after promising to come back if the pain returned) and I was finally released from the hospital just after noon.
My friend Lisa came to the rescue and picked me up and drove me home. I managed to get myself organized, and ready for grad in less than two hours. PHEW!
JAKOB’S GRAD
Paul and I went to Jakob’s grad, and proudly watched as he joined with his other grads (and his cousin Rhees – Laura’s son) in walking across the stage. What an emotional night! I was so proud, and so humbled to be able to witness this very important part of his life.
God is good, all the time. He knew my need to be there at Grad to support Jakob, and he allowed the stones to disappear.
NO MORE PAIN
It’s now Tuesday, and I’m pain free. No more pain in the chest area, nothing. It’s amazing. All I can do is give thanks. Wow.I am blessed to have such amazing family who rallied around me, and friends who prayed too. It was a wonderful weekend of family, and love.
I will never forget this weekend.
