Trips and Surgery

Well most of the summer is gone and what a summer it has been!  I don't even know where to start.....

Steve has been working like crazy for five different companies doing camera/broadcast work.  He stays so busy and he's more than halfway through his MA already!  He only has one more summer course then a full Fall semester.  In the spring he only has an internship to do!

Shad enjoyed the mission trip to Miami in June.  He took the train down by himself and some friends of ours picked him up.  He stayed a few days with them before the mission trip started.  Shad has a group of friends who are all pastor's kids.  They've been friends for years now.   They go to all the same retreats/trips and stay in touch on line .  It's really a sweet thing.




He then went to camp for a week and left Wednesday morning for El Salvador!  We've told him when we were his age we didn't quite have the exciting summers like he does!  The most excitement I had was going to the library!  Not heading off on a train or plane somewhere!



So for the past few years I've really been dealing with some medical issues.  I've been to different doctors and specialists-which I absolutely hate doing but no one really gave me many answers.  Finally my GP sent me to her gynecologist who was able to help me.  After all the tests I'd had no one had even mentioned the huge fibroid tumors I had which was probably the cause of  much  of my misdiagnosed  pain.  I decided on having a hysterectomy because of the size of the tumors and my age.  To be honest I've always worried about gynecological cancers because of all of my odd problems  over the years and the fertility drugs I used.  I also have some family history of gynecologic cancers.  The tumors had my uterus the size of a 16 week pregnancy!


Before the surgery could be scheduled I had to have an uterine biopsy.  Dear God in heaven..... that was by far the most painful procedure i have ever had in my entire life.  I literally shook from the pain for about 15 minutes.   Thankfully the biopsy came back negative.  Since it was negative- I was a candidate for the robotic less invasive surgery.  Originally I was scheduled for late August but i told the receptionist that I'd take any cancellation..... well last Thursday I got a call asking if I wanted to do the surgery this past Tuesday!  EEK!  I was freaking out and having to arrange child care and transportion for Shad.  Jon and Steve had to get off work... it was crazy around here for a couple of days.  Plus I HAD to clean the house lol  Honestly I was glad for the stress- it kept my mind off surgery.  A BIG part of me could not believe I was having an elective surgery!!!   I had a deep peace about it because I believe it will actually help me in the long run but the prospect of surgery was freaking me out.  Staying busy was a good thing for me.  On Monday I walked over 17,000 steps-cleaning and running errands .  I even had my yearly thyroid appointment on Monday. (I will discuss that another time but suffice to say being on thyroid meds has made a huge difference in my bloodwork!  Everything is almost back to normal- most importantly my A1C dropped from 5.8 to 5.4 and my triglyceride came down from 214 to 115-that wa in just 3.5 months of thyroid meds!)  Plus Shad and I had to go shopping for his trip.  Every group that goes on the mission trip is asked to bring small toys and candy to give out to the kids they work with.  They also bring peanut butter and powdered Gatorade to be able to give out sandwiches and drinks.  We had a great time finding things at the Dollar Store and Walmart.  I figured it was the best thing to be doing the night before surgery.

So then came Tuesday-it was very hard for me to say goodbye to my little kids.  I kissed Selah Sarah and Sam.  At that moment I was very afraid and questioned the wisdom of having the surgery.  Jon, Steve and Shad went with me to the hospital.  I wasn't scheduled to be there until 11:30.  Let me tell you I was envious of the two people in front of me because i just wanted to get it over!  I started crying in the waiting room because I was scared.  The boys always get very quiet and worried when I cry because I don't cry much.  Once I got to the back I was ready to "get her done" The staff was incredible and once the IV was in I got some happy juice that took away my fears and I started giggling.  That made my family much happier.  It lasted till I got in the OR and then I had a few seconds of terror!  I wanted to run out of there!  Luckily they were ready to put me under.... I don't remember anything till about 7 pm  I woke up in tremendous pain.  It was not from the surgery cuts it was from the position I was placed in for the surgery.  I had a muscle cramp from my neck to my heels.   Evidently I had a bit of an altercation with a nurse who was more interested in shift change than getting me some pain meds.  Usually I have a bit of a problem speaking up for myself.  but I was quite loud and adamant  about my needs lol  We laughed about it the next day but I was a confused angry in pain woman that night who meant to get her some pain killers.  Once the drugs kicked in I fell back asleep and then got woke up by a nurse being loud.  I told everyone to shut the heck up or something along those lines.  It probably wasn't one of my better moments.  I'm pretty sure my husband was not announcing that I was a pastor's wife at that moment!

Sometimes I am not sure how much medical info I should share but I know many of you who read this blog are around my age and may be dealing with some of the same health issues I am dealing with so my info may help you too.  I chose to have the robotic Da Vinci surgery.  I had some concerns about the removal of all my lady parts in case one of the fibroid had cancer in it.  I did not want any cells to be free in my abdomen.  The doctor and I had several conversations about this because I've read about this.   I feel like it was the right choice for my situation.  Once in surgery there were some issues due to the scarring and adhesions I had.  In fact my surgeon called in another surgeon to assist him otherwise I might would have ended up with  having to have an open belly!  Thankfully the doctor feels there was nothing suspicious looking but we are till waiting for the pathology report to come back    I generally like older doctors with more experience and my doctor has been doing this type of surgery since the early 1990's.  He was very confident and that gave me confidence.

The doctor also does a scope of the bladder after surgery to insure there is no puncture or problem especially for someone like me who had so much scarring  I knew he was doing that ahead of time and that I'd have to have a catheter until the next day.  It caused my bladder to have spasms- not fun at all!  Thankfully I began taking a pill to coat everything with a mild pain killer as soon as I woke up.  That cut down on the pain.  Once the catheter came out that pain stopped and i didn't have any problems urinating (which was a huge fear to me)  Just keeping it real

So Wednesday I got up and walked for over an hour in the hospital on two different occasions.  The more I walked the less i hurt.    If you need a map of the second floor-I'm pretty sure i could draw it for you!    Of course I got sent home tht day.  I would have preferred to stay another day so I could gt IV drugs.  Usually pain killers taken by mouth make me nauseated.  I stayed to get the last dose through the IV and got home later.  Remember Sam recently got a hospital bed?  Thank God!  I slept in his bed last night & will tonight too.  I can't imagine lying flat.  I'm not in much pain but lying down is rough and so is sitting in a chair.  The only chair in our whole house that doesn't pull on me is our patio chairs so that's where I've been for hours.  I walked for about 1.5 hours today in the yard and house-slowly- but it has helped me   The doctor feels I have Interstitial Cystits IC and having the uterus pressing my bladder was causing much of my pain.

So now I'm in recovery mode!  Shad is in El Salvador and Steve is home helping us.  My husband is having terrible back issues and is going to probably have to have steroid shots in his back again. I told him I'm about tired of the whole "in sickness & in health " part because we seem to just be dealing with the "in sickness" part alot thee past couple of years!  Please pray for us and our doctors!


Now for some pictures!

This is the horse Sam likes

Jon captured this picture about 400 feet from our property

    July 4

Before Church- Sarah listening to the worship team practice and clapping.  she was modeling her new dresses.  I founds a sale lol  I love buying her clothes

Last Sunday surrounded by my people relaxing before this week started

our church's neighbor's hens came out last Sundaylol

the Sunday  night before surgery.... limb fell on my van from the outer bands of Hurricane Barry.  Of course it did.....

If you are facing any of the medical issues I've been facing please feel free to email me and ask specific questions about thyroid changes/Hashimoto , hysterectomy or IC  I don't know who said the 50's were the new 20's but they certainly were not speaking for me!!!!!  I'm not enjoying any of these health issues and hope to get them all behind me!

Summer is here!

Well we went from Spring to Summer around here!  It's expected to be almost 100 degrees this week and has been for the last few days.  Last night at 10 pm I went walking to finish up my 10,000 steps the wind was blowing hot air as if I were standing in front of a fire.  I have to say I've never experienced heat like that at night.  Normally if it's hot we have thunderstorms that cool everything down but not now!  I checked the temperature on the front porch when i got home and it was 86 degrees with the ceiling fans on!  We've been keeping our blinds closed and all the ceiling fans on!  But I'm such a werido I still LOVE Florida!  I've been gong walking at some local parks daily and even though I sweat like a  pig-there is no one else there to see me LOL  I've gotten such a tan that I have a sneaker/sock tan with white feet !  That's never happened to me because I used to go walking early in the morning or late at night but this is new for me going in the middle of the day.   As the kids have gotten older and our situation has changed with the older boys I tend to walk more during the day when I have respite care 

Last week I got the best picture ever!  I walk out in the woods a lot.  Usually i don't go out too far without Jon with me (I'm not worried about animals but other humans lol)  I absolutely HATe having things in my hands when I walk.  In fact I found a line of shorts that are comfortable and have pockets to put my keys in.  But I take my phone most of the time for safety sake but I hate taking it.  Walking is my get away!  But last week I got the best picture ever!

I'd seen her a few times at this spot but never this close

This is how close she was in comparison to the trail.  

Here's another friend.  She's a mama gator and has a nest near where i was

I've been working on the front porch.  Our front porch had turned into an animal hotel and it was driving me crazy!  I had rescued a couple of cats that I kept out there (found a place for one and kept one-transitioned that cat to the outside.)  our dog sleeps in her crate out there at night.  Her crate is large enough for me to get in and turn around LOL  So I cleaned it and added plants. 

these four I saved from death row at Walmart.
the two on the left are night blooming jasmine and the two on the right are honeysuckle.  I'm going to plant them in a few week but I'll probably keep the jasmine in till next year. 

I re-potted the ferns

And of course I've turned the back porch into a jungle

 All the bamboo plants were rescued from Lowe's death row and are doing good

this grasshopper lives on the screen  He moves around but always comes back!

I saved this Humminbird plant and two others from death row too.  They attract hummingbirds

Steve went to Cuba and Mexico with two of his closest friends who happen to be Twins.  They make me think of all the fun (and headaches) we would have had if our twins had lived.  Steve & them seem to find adventure together with some crazy stories...including being left by their tour guide in Cuba!

These pictures are like postcards

The three Amigos or the Three Stooges:)

Then they ended the week at Disney with his cute princess!

In a couple of weeks Shad goes on his first trip of the summer to the Miami Outreach-he is going down a few days early to stay with some friends of his.  Then they all have Camp a few weeks later and then he is off to El Salvador again.   We are trying to coordinate our annual NY trip for Sam's eye appointment but they changed dates and have us scurrying to find a week we can all go. 


The three little ones have been doing fine.  Sam and Sarah have been doing their horseback riding.  Selah continues to do good.  Sam is dealing with some unresolved type of medical stuff.  It seems every doctor we see wants to do some type of medical intervention on him.  Recently his gastro suggested a feeding tube because of his small stature.  That really upset me-knowing tht Sam has Peter's Plus as well as a 4QT deletion which both conditions keep him smaller than average.  I just feel like doctors throw out all kinds of crazy stuff without thinking it through.  Although Sam is very small for his age- his height & weight are completely at  50% IF his age is not considered.  I explained to the doctor tht his orthopedic doctor said his growth plate in his legs/hips is nearly gone which means no matter how many calories he gets he's not going to grow taller only wider!!!!    But even as I was leaving the doctor told me to think about it.....  I have thought about it and I'm about ready to find a new doctor!!!!   Before that the doctor we see regarding his sleep apnea suggested giving him a trach!!!!!!!!  OMG!  The suggestion was because he can't wear a c-pap machine at night......  Instead we got him a hospital bed and he is doing much better!  I believe Common Sense has left the medical field!

Well hope you have a good summer- go for long walks, read some good books and hit the beach!