Things Happen for a Reason

Well as most of you know I have had quite the exciting week to say the least. I am trying to write this while I am on my pain medicine so please spare my “English” at this time as for I am quite, out of it 🙂

Monday I went to counseling and then dinner with my dad, got home and hung with my mom for awhile and then started getting really bad stomach pains. Took some Advil around 9pm and that seemed to help for 3 or so hours and then come bed time I tried taking more because the pain came back. So I took a couple more Advil and nothing, so an hour later I took more (about 800mg which for me is normal). Well the pain started getting worse around the 1am. I could not sit, stand or lay still and I was doubled over whenever I tried to walk. The first thing that came to mind is “ahh sh*t I have food poisoning or the flu. I am sure most of you know I have a phobia of throwing up so that was quite the worry for me. I went downstairs and asked my mom what I could do to help the pain, keep in mind I am pretty healthy and rarely get sick let alone never had the flu or food poisoning (knock on wood). So I laid with her as long as I could stand it then went back upstairs to call my dad since I could not sleep. Pain started to get so bad that it was making my back, kidneys and everything around my midsection hurt. I then realized the pain was too bad to be food poisoning, the flu or even just gas. I thankfully never experienced nausea, never vomited or diarrhea and never ran a fever. I did have the chills at one point but I believe that was because the pain was so bad it was just making me shake. Around 5am my mom had the idea to rub some Peppermint Oil on my belly and that was the first time in hours I had noticed any sort of relief. I kept applying the oil to my tummy and gradually the stabbing pains resided. The only pain I was left with was a pain on the right side of my midsection. I actually got enough relief then to get some sleep from about 7:30am to 10am Tuesday morning. I then woke up with that same pain on my right side. I called my Kinesiologist to see if they had any advice as to what it could be or what I could do. I ended up going by and they told me I should go to my doctor or the ER. I called my doctor and they were at lunch so I described to the nurse all of what I had experienced overnight. My doctor called back about 1pm and said she suggested I go to the ER to get checked out. At the time I had done all kinds of research from gallbladder to kidney stones and then the one that made most sense to me, appendicitis.

I checked in at the Wesley ER west side around 1:30pm after my dad came and picked me up from home. Of course we went over all of my symptoms, they drew blood, got a urine sample and then set me up for an ultra sound. The ultra sound checked out okay, which was looking mostly at my kidneys and gallbladder they told me. So the next option was CT scan to look for appendicitis. At this point it is about 4pm and my pain still was at about an 8 but much better than the 15/10 I told my mom I was feeling the night before. After the CT scan the doctor reviewed the results and around 5:30pm came to tell me it was what appeared to be appendicitis and I was to be transported to the main Wesley to receive Emergency Surgery. So like any normal person who had been in extreme pain well over 12 hours, hadn’t ate in 24 hours and plans to leave the country in a mere 5 days, I started bawling. Although that did not last long because crying made the pain even worse. The ER doctor then got ahold of my family doctor to see which surgeon she suggested for the Emergency surgery. The ambulance came and got me about an hour later and at 6:30pm I was heading to Wesley on Hillside.

I got to my room, hurried and got evaluated/checked in by the nurse and then the Resident came and explained the process of surgery and so on. About 15 minutes later I was headed down to surgery. It was weird being wheeled around the hospital on a bed like you see happen on TV or in movies. Totally different to be on the other side of that. They wheeled me into the surgery room which for those of you whom have not had surgery, yes it is a bright, white and cold room. The anesthesiologist cracked some jokes while I was getting prepped which helped to lighten up the mood, I giggled and looked over at him and said “you know it hurts to laugh right” and he was like “oh sh*t I forgot” haha. A few minutes later I was out and woke up not too long after, (actually 2.5 hours later to be specific) in the recovery room. The girls were chatting and then one of them started asking the other girl “which room is she in” I responded “826” and they both started laughing. I definitely checked out good for the awareness part post surgery 😉 About 10 minutes after I woke I was being wheeled out to the waiting room where my parents were and then up to my room for the night. I do not remember much other than it was around 11:30pm when I got to my room Tuesday night and my parents left soon after so I could get some sleep.

Slept off and on all night, one because I was in a lot of pain and needed meds often and two because I could only sleep in one position. Woke up every hour with someone coming in my room checking on me and then every 2 hours for pain meds. Around 2:30am I asked for some Jell-O seeing as how that was the first time I had ate in 32 hours, man did that suck! Good thing I was in too much pain to notice otherwise I would have been quite cranky lol. Ate a couple bites and then slept on and off until around 9am when Amber came up to my floor. Poor baby Eastyn was in the hospital since Sunday with RSV but he is now home and doing much better! Amber took me for a walk around the halls, very important when you get this procedure done because they pump so much air in your belly during surgery that the only way to get that air moving and out is by walking and waking up those organs. Probably the most uncomfortable part about the recovery is having a belly full of air. Talk about bloating times 1000 which made walking pretty miserable! Dad showed up around 10:30am and then mom shortly after. I was approved to eat non hospital food so my dad went and picked me up some Wendy’s, only ate about half but it was fantastic! After being “evaluated” I was discharged around 3pm and got to come home.

Spent the rest of the day relaxing and walking as much as I could then showered and went to bed later that night. Slept a ton last night and today so that has definitely helped me feel more back to normal. Finally got my appetite back tonight so mom made some spaghetti and I made brownies earlier this afternoon which hit the spot! Other than muscle pain in my abdomen and back I am very thankful for such a minor surgery. That leads me to my next part, I am very thankful for many things! I first want to give the nurses, the doctors and my surgeon a big shout out and thank you! Everyone was so incredibly nice and took such great care of me, I am thankful that they help bring light and love to people each and every day with the stressful line of work they are in. Another big shout out to my mom and dad. From them being worried with little sleep since Monday night they were there for me through it all, I love you guys! Also my family and friends, so many people have been checking up on me and I just want you to know that means the world to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have definitely found many blessings in this little hiccup and I believe all things happen for a reason. Thankful this happened while I was still home instead of happening in Paris, thankful it happened 5 days before I left because that gives me enough time to rest and heal while only arriving 2 days later to Paris (and just in time for school to start), and most of all thankful it was such a minor surgery that I can even still go!

In a lot of ways this has been a huge eye opener. Who would have thought Monday when I was writing my last post that I would end up in the hospital the next day undergoing Emergency surgery!? Definitely not me! But this experience has taught me a lot and has helped me to be thankful for the things we forget to be thankful about each and every day; life, health and the ones who make those 2 things possible. One more big shout out, to my angels, spirits and the big man above. For the Faith I know and feel they have always had in me and the Faith I have always had in them 🙂 Most situations are out of our control and with him by my side I never even worried! A good little reminder though

God bless! Love to you all,
Kels