Unexpected Detour part 2

Friday a week after the surgery was the first time I actually got out. In the morning some of the ladies got together to cook, and I went along to sit and do nothing while they cooked. It's kinda funny, but doing nothing so exhausted me that I went home and slept for a couple of hours before Rebecca came and picked me up to go to the volleyball game. The kids saw me walking up, so when I got to the gate there were 10 or more of them waiting for hugs. They were so cute-"Teacher, did it hurt?" "Teacher, what happened?" "Teacher we prayed for you EVERY day!" "Teacher, did you get the gift cards? We made some for you." My team was especially glad to see me-so far I had missed a practice and a game for which they had had two different coaches (who are excellent, by the way, but hadn't been with the girls, so didn't really know them). Thankfully I had Abel there to help me out warming them up, and hollering instructions-it gets so loud they can't hear unless you scream, and I could barely speak at regular volume. They lost, but I can see improvement, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how they progress throughout the year. I have a small team (both in amount and height) but a really sweet group of girls-I love them! After sitting practically the whole time and doing nothing, I was again extremely exhausted, but opted to go to Rebecca's for a movie night instead of being bored by myself at home. I'm glad I was able to go.

On Sunday morning Wendy came to pick me up, and on my way down the driveway I slipped and fell because of the rain. Thankfully nothing surgery related was hurt, but I did have to go back inside to repair my outfit and clean a scrape on my foot. So I got to church 10 min late, and thankfully Pastor didn't comment when I came in. I didn't end up playing for choir or special music-my getting there late prevented that. Sunday afternoon I went to Rebecca's for lunch, then a nice afternoon nap before evening service, when I did play for choir. The rest of this week I have basically been killing time-lots of internet, and watching cable. Tuesday night I went to practice (where again I had an assistant-I tossed no balls, chased no balls) and had students ask me, "Teacher, where did they cut you?" and "Can we see?" I really do enjoy these girls. We had a good practice, then I went to see the softball games, and after that went with Shelly and Rebecca to get some milk and water. I ended up finding some good things on clearance too. I wouldn't recommend this as a diet plan, but I'm hoping this forced healthy eating habit will be a good jumpstart for me.

This morning I went to see the surgeon-getting there was an adventure in itself, but again, we weren't there but maybe and hour and a half, or 2 hours-which is another blessing. The doctor told me he would prefer no driving for 60-90 days (!) but he knew that was impossible so we'd try for 4-6 weeks. The goal is to avoid hernia-apparently he had to open a little more than normal, so the hernia risk is higher. If I had to brake hard, which is quite a common occurence here, it could cause some damage. He said he'd operate again, which would be good for him, but not so much for me. Also, no lifting over 5 pounds. Resting I don't think I'll have a problem with-I think the exhaustion will require it, but the driving and lifting are going to be the hard parts. I am SO thankful that I am living close where it is not too much of a hardship for people to take me places-I live about a mile from school. Tomorrow I'm heading to school to teach piano lessons at least. Hopefully I'll be able to come home in between and get some rest.

Unexpected Detour

So it took an emergency surgery to finally induce me to write again-I make no promises about this becoming a habit (the writing, not the surgery) though I would like it to do so! On Wednesday night a couple of weeks ago, I started to feel some stomach pain, which I thought was just hunger magnified a bit since I didn't eat until after church because my car wasn't working and I couldn't go home. I figured out it wasn't hunger when I couldn't sleep all night from the pain, and in the morning I called Wendy and asked her if she could take me to the doctor. The miracle of this was that we were in and out of the doctor's office in less than an hour! Unheard of here in PR......The doctor diagnosed gastritis and gave me a prescription, but when I couldn't keep the meds down and the pain was getting worse, we decided to go to the emergency room.

Wendy dropped me off and went to park, and by the time she came in they had already called me back. Memories are a bit fuzzy here, but eventually Mrs. Santana came, and somewhere in here I got morphine for the pain, and eventually a sonogram. I had to wait 2 hrs for the results, and they told me I would have to have my gallbladder out the next day. So, I called mom and let her know (we had been communicating all day-she told me "If they have to operate, either you're coming here or I'm going there!). They took me to a room (or rather a curtained off section) and later that night Mom told me she was coming the next day. Mrs. Santana went home, and on Friday morning she made a trip to JCPenney to get pajamas for me and other necessities. She was and continues to be such a blessing to me!!! She got there around noon, and they had told me I'd go into surgery around 1 or 2, so we were making sure everything was ready. They took me back, I talked to the anesthesiologist, and then proceeded to sit there for 5 hours! Apparently at the time they were to take me back for surgery they had 3 emergencies come up (one including an emergency c-section). After about 3 hours, they finally gave me something for my headache, and let mom (who had just arrived) come back to see me. I don't think I have ever been so happy to see my mom! By 7 I was in surgery, and headed for recovery by 9. Mom said while I was in surgery, she and Pastor Daniels and Mrs Santana were all in the waiting room, and I think Mr Santana was there at some point too because he picked mom up from the airport (Mrs Santana was going to do it but she didnt' want to leave while I was in surgery which didn't end up being an issue) One blessing was that my nurse in the recovery area was the mother of a former student-a comfort to see a familiar face. Around 2 AM they woke mom up in the waiting area and told her I was being taken to a room. Saturday and Sunday blur together a bit, but I had around 20 people total come to visit. They were such a blessing to me! Some brought food and snacks for mom, some brought balloons and flowers for me, Mrs Rojas went to Borders and bought me books, and then brought me a cd player and music (as she put it, "Sarah Approved Music"), someone else brought me a cake (which was saved for later), Wendy brought me a balloon and a webkinz pet, and one of my sweet volleyball players picked out some socks for me in our team colors (I had complemented her on her very cool socks at our last practice). Then of course Mrs. Santana and the many times she traveled back and forth to the hospital and brought me things. Saturday night Mom went back to my apartment and straightened up-she did my laundry, washed my dishes and cleaned my house!!!!

Sunday morning she came back, and we listened to a sermon on my phone since we were missing church. I had several visitors in the afternoon, and after church, Dr Dudley came back up to the hospital and brought us pillows and blankets, another huge blessing!!

Monday morning I finally was able to go home-poor mom had to run all over the place dealing with discharge papers, and finding someone to translate for her. This was all definitely an adventure for her since she doesn't understand Spanish-when someone came in the room she would ask me later "what did they do and what did they say?" I was very thankful the Lord has allowed me to learn Spanish-it has never been more useful, I think.

When we got home, I was able to rest so much better in my own bed, and while I was asleep, Mrs. Santana came to take mom to Walgreens to get my prescriptions. During these 2 days, mom and I watched almost a full season of the Cosby show-so hard to watch that and not laugh!!! On Tuesday, Rebecca took mom shopping to get some good healthy food for me to eat. On Wednesday Mr Linnemeir brought my car back, and the bill said "Paid in full by friends". Mom had to leave Wednesday, and on Wednesday night Mrs Santana came to sit with me during church, and she brought food, read a devotional with me, and washed my dishes.