Who would have thought...

This past Friday was not the Friday I thought it was going to be...

I woke up around 4:45am with nasty abdominal pain. I tried to go back to sleep and was able to doze off and on, but for the most part, I just felt like crap. It was my week for taking the neighbor boys to school with Hannah, but not feeling good about driving, I had Brian run them to school. He came home and we decided he should stay home from work to help with the other two, while I hopefully recovered from the pain and discomfort. The pain was mainly on my right side, stretching from my ribs down. As the morning went on and I was only feeling worse, we were beginning to think it could be my appendix, but really had no idea what was going on. We decided that we should go to the doctor to get checked out. After examining me for only a few minutes, the doctor said, "You better go to the ER." Lovely. She knew I would need more tests to determine what was going on and it would hopefully be faster in the ER (yeah, right!).

We made it to CDH (Central Dupage Hospital) around 11:45am and we ushered right to a room. The PA working with us ordered blood work and a CT scan to check out my appendix and gall bladder. A few hours later (quick, right?!) we got the results...the CT scan showed that my gall bladder was enflamed and had several stones in it. The PA said they were admitting me and that I would most likely need to have my gall bladder removed either that night or the next day. Are you serious?! Needless to say, I was a bit upset by that news, but on the other hand, I was also relieved to hear what was going on and that it wasn't anything more serious. I've never had surgery before, so I was nervous about the thought of that, but knew if that's what needed to be done, then we'd have to do it.

I was brought to a room, where Brian and I waited to find out if we would meet with the surgeon and when the surgery would be. Dr. K came in around 5:30pm and explained our options, which of course included surgery or trying to "get me through this episode" and having me go home and come back for surgery another time. Collectively we decided to go ahead and have the surgery that night. I knew I didn't want to feel bad any more and Dr. K said he wasn't even sure they could get me feeling good enough to go home...hmm, that didn't sound too good to me.

Surgery started around 7:45pm and I back in the recovery room around 45 min. later. I was in recovery for about an hour and brought back to my room where Brian and his mom met me. (thanks for sitting with him mom!) That night in the hospital was not the best...in fact, I think I got more sleep in the hospital after having my babies! Now, that's crazy! It wasn't the pain that kept me awake, it was the need to use the potty every stinking hour! They were pumping me with fluids all night and well, what goes in, must come out, right?! So, I was peeing every single hour! It was so annoying!

Thankfully, I was able to come home Sat. afternoon, which was such a blessing! Brian's parents were here for the afternoon and evening, helping a ton with the kids. I was feeling okay, just run down and a little sore. Thanks to pain meds and a little soup, I felt better in the evening and got a great night sleep. Since then, I've simply been taking it easy and resting a lot. Brian is taking great care of me and the kids, but we are looking forward to having my mom come for a few days to give him some help. :o)

So, now I'm on to recovery from the unexpected Friday events. I'm thankful that I was taken care of so well at the hospital and now at home. I'm thankful that my situation wasn't more serious than it was. And, I'm thankful that God watched over me every single step of the way. Thanks for all of your prayers!