Surgery update: I'm back! (Sort of)

Drugs are not always necessary. Belief in recovery always is. ~ Norman Cousins

Morning after, with my cuddly Bucket and my
Vanilla Chai oatmeal

So, today was my first day back at work. To say I was nervous would be an understatement.

Thankfully, it wasn't a terribly hard day for me.

It was a hard day in the world; blog on that coming soon.

For those who missed my post on my surgery: on Sept. 20, I had surgery to repair the umbilical hernia that had developed in my abdomen.

I first noticed something was wrong in late July or early August. I tried to put it off a bit, thinking maybe it was some kind of tummy ache. I knew it probably wasn't — I'm one of those terrible Google self-diagnosers. My husband and mom pestered me to get it checked out, and I felt really terrible, so I finally consented.

That in itself was problematic, since I haven't had a "primary physician" in probably 10 years. There's one or two I've gone to locally, but usually I avoid the doc as much as possible. Honestly, largely because I hate trying to figure out who is in my insurance plan.

But, I managed to get an appointment with a local PA, Fizzy Ramsey. She gave me a once-over and agreed it was likely a hernia. She sent me on to a specialist. I had to wait a month for that appointment — early September — and figured the whole process would be like that.

When I got in to see Dr. Deluca, who I hear is one of the best, he confirmed those theories. And he scheduled me for a surgery two weeks later.

Like I said in my other post, it's amazing the things you do in a month you don't think about. The next two weeks were a rush of me trying to get all my ducks in a row. If you know me very well, you'll know that's really hard, because for me, it's more like herding cats or kittens or something.

But, because I have an awesome husband, we were able to get the normal month things done in those two weeks.

And, my work was pretty understanding. They all knew I hadn't been feeling well, either, because the pain in my abdomen would often make me feel ill and made sitting upright at a desk for very long difficult.

So, anyway, all my ducks were going right, our house was cleaned, laundry done up and my stories all written. I took my two showers and off we went for surgery.

That was nerve-wracking. My dear husband — I love him so deeply. A few years ago, when we were dating and engaged, we went through this twice. I was a nervous wreck.

So I understood his side of the surgery. Laying there on the hospital bed, wearing that flimsy gown, covered in a sheet and waiting, I finally understood what he had gone through — twice — and can say I'd rather not do either again.

There's this look that my husband gives me. Any woman who has a significant other who truly loves her knows the look I'm talking about. It may not be exactly the same from person to person, but it's a look that almost moves you to tears. It's a look that makes you feel loved, warm and you just know how much they love you in that one look. Sitting there beside my bed, he looked at me, a little teary-eyed, and gave me that look.

I think he was more nervous than I was.

I hated having to hand him my wedding band. That was hard. But I couldn't wear it, as it could burn me when they closed up the wound.

I was so happy to see him after. Honestly, he had the hard part. I don't think he sat down the whole time, but paced up and down. I had told him to walk next door to the Hub for coffee, which I think he did.

My mom tagged along, too. She's a good steady person to have in these situations. She's had surgery a few times and has had to wait on family members before, too. Plus, I just think my mom is a calming person to be around, most of the time. ;)

My Sept. 23 update

It didn't take long for me to get out. The medicine they gave me didn't make me drowsy, but more alert. I paced the house a lot on Thursday. As I weaned off of that to just ibuprofen, I was able to rest more. And to get some stuff done — I finished an egg apron that had been ordered, I've worked heavily on a blanket, made M a Barbie doll dress, and went through a portion of our huge magazine "collection."

To be honest, for my crafty side, the time off was pretty nice. And, as a person who hasn't taken much vacation this year, besides stealing a day here or there, it was really good to have a week to simply clear my head and my heart. Print reporting is a lot harder than some folks realize, and it can get pretty heavy at times. It's nice to be able to put down the computer, the email, the phone and just not do anything (not that I had much choice as I wasn't allowed to work at all until I was cleared by the doctor) for a while.

But, for my husband, it's been a tough week and a half. Besides taking on all of the house responsibilities, which we normally share pretty equally, he took on the role of caregiver for me.

Now, he's been a caregiver on many occasions. He spent many years in emergency services, he worked at the local hospital for about 10 years, I think (before me), and did in-home health care after we started dating. (That's how he injured his knee and what caused two surgeries.)

He's a pretty good caregiver.

My Sept. 20 update of my hubby studying 💗

But it's an entirely different ordeal when it's someone you love that you're caring for. When you live in that state, plus have to continue living life. It's hard and exhausting. And, bless his heart, he's had an exhausting week and a half. But he's handled it well. He's been a champ and I absolutely love him for it. I love him more, if that's possible.

And, of course, I would be remiss if I failed to mention the others that have helped: my parents and my friend Kristen for sitting with me some while he was at class, little Miss Marie for being a huge help during her visits, his folks for coming to visit, and all the people who remembered us in their thoughts and prayers.

Of course, what's any of it without God's grace and love. I can't even begin to express how thankful I am for Him.

I know some folks think thoughts and prayers don't help, but if you're on the receiving end, it's nice to know that people are at least thinking of you during their day. And for us believers, it's nice to know they're taking the time to bend God's ear on your behalf.

So thanks to those of you who were praying for us. 💜

I also received some lovely flowers from work. And I have mention my friend Candi, who was sweet enough to bring us food — rotisserie chicken, sides and fruit (triple yum!) — the day after!

To bring this back around, today was my first day back. I was afraid it wouldn't be so soon; at one point I was told four to six weeks! We certainly couldn't have afforded that! But, thankfully, it was only a week and a half.

Today was a mostly light day for me, but I must have been more nervous than I realized. Jim and I had gone to visit my grandma last night and shortly after we returned at 9 p.m., I fell asleep. Then, when I awoke about 12 a.m., I was wide awake and could not go back to sleep! I finally dozed off about 6 a.m., in time to get up an hour or so later so we could take my car to get the oil changed. And forget going back to sleep after that — I had work to do!

I love this guy. Another update.

I must confess, however, this afternoon, I was really quite tired. I ended up coming home and taking a short nap.

I love naps, but I'm not sure how many of those I'm going to get this week.

Anyway, I think that's about it. Again, I appreciate all of the thoughts and prayers, and if you can spare anymore, we'd covet those. My husband still has to do a lot of the heavy lifting and I'm still experiencing some soreness. Nothing terrible, ibuprofen is tackling it for the most part, but it's not ideal.

Thanks for reading friends.