ER and Surgery

Sunday I was home and I spoke to my husband about this pain I had had in my lower right side that hadn't gone away since Tuesday. He said that it was orobably nothing and I debated with myself whether or not to listen to him or to actually do something about the problem. I am not one to automatically rush myself to ER, but today was different.
My mother is a nurse so I called her to ask what her thoughts were regarding this odd pain. She asked me if I had any pain urinating to which I said no. At this point I had no issues with my bladder or abdomen. Well, about 10 minutes after I got off the phone, I went to the bathroom and lo and behold I started to feel a lot of pressure and pain in that very area. Jumping onto the internet, I researched kidney problems and read that if one experiences any back and abdominal pain that there could be internal inflammation or an infection which could be life threatening.
My husband was not home at the time so I called him to tell him that I wanted to go to the ER to have these pains looked at. He agreed. So off we went to the ER in town. When I got there they did extensive testing on my back and abdominal areas. Everything was coming back normal except for the fact that I had a kidney stone and my appendix was enlarged, though they weren't sure if it was made large or if there was something causing it to become large. They wanted to keep my overnight to monitor my body's reaction and make sure I did not end up with appendicitis.
I spent the night with an elderly lady of 92. She was quiet the first night, thank God, but I had the nurses coming in and out for blood pressure tests, temp tests, blood tests, etc. That  morning I was not able to eat or drink anything since they didn't want me to have anything in my stomach should I need emergency surgery. I knew that I most likely wouldn't, but they didn't want to take any chances. So here I was starving with nothing to do but wait, while no one was telling me anything about what was going on.
I got so upset with the situation that I called the nurse and complained. I invoked the patient advocate thanks to my father to get the ball rolling and to finally get some answers and a drink at the very least! Finally., the docs came to me and apologized for the delay, but said that they were not sure what was wrong with me and wanted to keep my free of anything that would delay a last minute operation. OK, but it was 36 hours and I hadn't had a thing to eat and was getting nauseous so even though they kept asking me how I was feeling, I had to tell them I was feeling sick, not because of my appendix, but  because I was so hungry. Anyhow., it was a mess and I did end up eating with my husband that night without the docs permission -hehe. No I didn't tell them either but it didn't matter since they were just being careful that my body would handle liquids first, but I couldn't convince them that I really was fine to eat, so I just ate a great big cheese burger and cheese fries :-) It was so nice.
I stayed another night as they wanted to monitor me yet another night and see how I was in the morning. They said I would likely be able to go home that next day if the pain was manageable. Well, the next morning, Tuesday, the pain was the same and they said that they would look at my white blood count to see if there was an infection forming. After hours of waiting, the tests showed I wasn't, but still the surgeon did not feel comfortable with me going home not knowing what was wrong so she advised having laproscopic surgery to see what was going on inside me and to take out my appendix just to be on the safe side.
Here I was all ready to pack my bags and go home, only to now to be told that I was needing surgery. This was not what I wanted to hear, but I thought it might be a good idea since an appendix is not something you need to keep to be healthy.
I texted my priest friends and family friends and asked for prayers. Thank God for friends who pray. They give me so much peace of mind just knowing they are asking God to watch over me, because it is not easy to do that for myself when I am so tired and worried and pretty out of it. I also had a recently ordained friend come by and give me the sacrament of the sick. He came in the nick of time, as they were getting the stretcher ready for me when I finished anointing my head and hands. It was something I really needed not knowing what was going to happen to me. This was the first time I would be getting  general anesthesia and had a hunch that I would not respond well to it.
Also, Tom had a nice surprise for me and came out with the kids and we all went to Schenley Park for the evening. I hadn't seen my darling since Sunday and it seemed like forever. They had a great time running around and playing on the swings and going about with the other kids in the park. It was so nice running with them. In fact, this was the park that my husband and I had one of our first dates at. We carved out names in a tree nearby. While we didn't get to go see it, it was very nostalgic and I had a wonderful time with them.
So Wed morning I went in for surgery and they put the mask over my face and I started counting from 100 backwards. I think I got to 98 and was out cold.
The next thing I remember I was back in the recovery room and everything was spinning. Apparently the anesthesia does like like me and I get bad reactions from it. The dizziness was hard, but I didn't get sick from it. After I went back to my room to rest, I took a couple sips of water and that set me off.. I started throwing up immediately and whatever I took in came up. To make matters worse, I did not have any of my usual nurses who I like, but got a new nurse who spoke Indian and I couldn't understand her. It was not ideal.
This morning, Thursday, I am doing ok. Sleep was broken, but that's the way it's been since I've been here so I'm sort of used it by now. I've been given clearance to be discharged today and that is GREAT! I can't wait to get out of here and be back in my own bed with my own clothes and darling children. My mother comes tomorrow to help me and to celebrate my birthday this Sunday.. She will stay through next Tuesday and then my dad will be here to help out. The doctors don't want me to lift or drive for two weeks, which is going to make life challenging, but there is nothing I can do about it. I told my husband, it's like having a baby without a baby all over again.
So that's the story of this past week. Never did I expect I'd be having surgery last Sunday. The gospel passage was about Christ walking on water and St. Peter coming out of the boat to be with Him. It was a mircale that he too was able to walk on water so long as he kept his eyes on Christ, but once they lost their site of Him, he started to sink. I think that's the message I've needed to keep in mind throughout this whole saga. I'll be able to get through this so long as I keep my focus on Him. Thank you Lord for all your love and help throughout all of this. I've seen some incredibly horrible things in here, and thank You for sparing me from those crosses which I do not have to carry..
Well, time to sign off. I'll hopefully be getting better from here on out- I'll be keeping up with my symptoms so that I can remember it all once I go for my followup in two weeks.