So, I'm terrible at puns, pardon the title.
Let me start this story at the very beginning, I hear that's a very good place to start. Two years ago, I was awakened in the middle of the night with excruciating pain radiating down my groin/hip flexor area. I truly could not imagine what would cause that pain in the middle of the night, but I was able to somehow make it through the night. The following day I sought treatment at Urgent Care. Naturally, they handed me a prescription for a pain killer. I have no hope in urgent care triage. It's no wonder prescription pain killers are a problem in this country, they hand them out like it's candy! After that hopeless appointment, I made an appointment with primary care doctor. When I was finally able to get into her, she thought it sounded like a possible kidney stone and sent me for an ultrasound. I came to find out that my kidneys were in tip-top shape but that they did find some gallstones while they were scrolling around. Later that spring, I followed up with my doctor. She didn't seem particularly concerned, and just told me to watch what I ate. This was slightly unsettling because I was preparing for my trip to Costa Rica, at that time. There's a horror story that circulates in our family about my cousin who had a gallstone attack on a 15 hour flight home from his honeymoon, so, of course, that's all I could think about. On the other hand, there was no way I was going to have surgery two weeks prior to my big trip, so I'd just have to risk it. Turns out, I never had a single problem with any abdominal pain what so ever for over a year.
This fall, I woke up in the middle of the night with stabbing pain. Though, it was not on my right side, which is what I had remembered the doctor saying I should pay attention to. So, I didn't pay much attention to it. I just breathed into it and after about a half hour I was able to fall back asleep. Then, in January, I was up staying with my sister, when again, I was awakened at night and this time, it was bad. I was super nauseous, and utterly sick to my stomach. The only thing that felt good was a hot shower, but even then the pain had me doubled over. I feared this may be a true gallstone attack, but how could I know for sure? I completely didn't know what to do, and so I texted my sister. Yes, I realized we were in the same house but it was super early in the morning, and I didn't really want to go wait around in a hospital. I just wanted to sleep. After tears and tears, I was finally able to go back to sleep. In the morning, my sister said we should go to urgent care in Forest Grove, so we headed there. Again, I left with a prescription for vicodin and a very strict eating regimen. My favorite things. Great. The rest of the weekend went without pain, save for when I stopped for a falafel sandwich on my way home that Monday. Almost instantly, the pain started up again. I knew I had to take more action this time. I set up an appointment that day with my doctor for the 25th of February. But, then, that attack? I figured I should probably go to urgent care and see if I could at the very least get a referral to a specialist. Sure enough, the doctor referred me on to Summit Surgical Specialists. The following week I had a consultation with a doctor from this office. Dr. Stites seemed pretty convinced it was gallstone pain and drew me several pictures as to what might be happening. We decided to set up an appointment to get rid of this silly organ. I felt relieved but also very stressed about all that I would have to line up before the big day arrived.
I texted four people to tell them of the surgery date and time. My sister, my parents, Tom, and my best friend Erin. All four of them instantly texted back that they could take me, or pick me up. I was completely floored. I have the best immediate support system of all time! When all the dust settled out, we decided that my sister would come down the night before, get up early with me and take me and bring me home from the appointment. Then, Tom would come down to stay with me through the night, as the first 24 hours seem to be the most critical. Erin would stop by whenever I needed her and mom and dad would come up in an emergency situation. They are the life-savers, on-call! I could not have been more pleased, and assured, that I would be in good hands.
The day my sister came down, I had quite an anxiety attack. When I think of anxiety, I think of hardly being able to breathe, somewhat like a panic. My anxiety manifested itself in yelling, crying loudly and gasping for breath. I truly could not imagine what my recovery would be like. See, the thing about the gallbladder is that everyone's experience is SO different. Some people have a terrible time, other people are just fine. Some people have lifelong issues resulting from this surgery, and some people have no problems what so ever. I didn't know what to believe. I certainly didn't believe in myself and thank God that's where everyone else came in. Tom reassured me several times that I would be fine. Jeanine tried telling me that I'd be fine. My mom encouraged me to just get it over with. Even my cousin, Josh, who had the notorious 15 hour attack on the plane, encouraged me to do it, as well. I am lucky I had so many strong people around me, because I was not. Not in that moment, I was completely collapsing. I couldn't fathom my life becoming more difficult, inconvenient, etc, post-surgery. It was pain enough the past month. I didn't want to deal with any more! I had never had a major surgery before and the fear of the unknown really gets to me...
Two disgusting surgical-soap shower laters, it was time to head to the hospital. Check in was at 5:30 a.m. The process was surprisingly efficient and speedy. First, I met with a very nice nurse, Maranda, who got me set up in a bed, with a gown, gripper socks, IV and the like. It was here where she outlined the rest of the process leading up to surgery. She let me know that in the next pre-op area, if I was feeling anxious, I could just tell them and they'd give me some medication for that. I laughed and said, "Well that could have started yesterday!" Lesson learned...the hard way. She thought it was funny that I said that because apparently I didn't seem anxious at all. I think I had done a pretty good job tantrumming it out the day before. Then, Jana (another nurse) came to get me and took me to the next pre-op staging area. Here, I met with more nursing staff, the anesthesiologist, and my doctor. I remember lots of people introducing themselves, and then I remember moving from my bed to the operating table. I remember nothing else. When I awoke, the doctor was next to me, and he informed me that the surgery went great, and that it was "totally boring." This was the best news I could possibly hear. Then, I got shuttled off to the post-op staging area. In post-op I met my very lovely nurse, Krystyna, who had a very thick Eastern European accent. She approached my bed, and said, "You must go to bathroom before you leave." I nodded yes, and then quickly fell back to sleep. I saw my sister come in to sit in the chair at the end of my bed, and then I fell back asleep. I slept for awhile, and intermittently was awakened by the blood pressure cuff tightening around my arm. The treatment at this hospital was de-luxe! I don't know how I could have possibly stayed awake. The gowns have hoses attached to them that blows warm air under your gown. On top of that, there are layers of heated blankets. Plus, to help with circulation, your strapped to these cool little things that wrap around your calves that apply gentle pressure. It was like a massage! Are you kidding? I stood no chance at staying awake. My sister got me laughing at some point, and then there was the picture taking, which was obviously cause for laughter. All I remember my sister saying was, "Are you kidding? This is such a bad idea." I posted it later on Instagram. Unintentionally, I startled several people. Oops. I guess I didn't get the memo to everyone about my surgery! Then, lookout, here comes Krystyna again. She says, "Okay, I let you sleep one hour. Get up." I whined, "But it's so warm under here!" She started taking off layers of my cozy blankets, and ushered me up and out. "Time for bathroom, ok?" Okay....okay....so down the hall we go, and just to be clear, she really drives her point home by saying, "This is short term stay. No long term. Okay?" Sheesh! So, I got to the bathroom, no problems, and when I returned she was ready to get my discharge paperwork and called for the wheelchair to come get me. She gave Jeanine specific instructions on where to park to pick me up and then she was off. The wheelchair gal came to get me and got me downstairs quite quickly. As we rolled through the second floor, there was Tom, waiting to greet me. Such a sweet guy! It was comforting to just see his face. Then, they got me home, and surprisingly I was doing very well. I was texting, got a message to my principal, who got a message out to our staff, and texted family and friends. I was able to eat a little something before the dizziness set in. I spent much of the afternoon laying down and resting, though I had difficulty sleeping. I was able to sleep more in the evening and I slept great through the night.
All in all my recovery has been great. I have pretty extreme soreness and getting up and down is the most painful part. I'm trying not to hunch when I walk, and am enjoying visiting hours during the evenings when my friends get off work. I've gotten to share delicious meals with people from work (honestly, they have totally spoiled me!) and have had friends volunteer to drop off and pick up Redbox rentals for me. Everyone is making life so easy for me, that it's impossible not to have a great recovery.
I'm so thankful everything has gone so smoothly. But, I couldn't have done it alone. It has taken the support of many, in a variety of ways, to help me get through this thing. I continue to be blown away by people's generosity, kindness, and understanding. Honestly. I could not ask for more.
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