Appendectomy!

Our last 24 hrs was a little crazy, to say the least. However, I never cease to be amazed at the timing of our Lord. He is one amazing God and can do amazing things! To Him be the glory.

I had a "stomach ache" since Friday night, with no other symptoms. It was dull enough that I, being a good RN, ;0 ignored it until Monday night after we celebrated Mackenzie's birthday. I then headed straight to bed. I felt terrible. It was 6pm. I could not sleep because the pain was so intense. I started vomiting, which I thought would bring some relief (believing at this point that I had a GI virus). There was no relief, but I continued to vomit frequently as the pain increased until about 2am when I decided the ED sounded like a GREAT plan. I needed help. David had already suggested to head on in sooner, but I'm stubborn and did not want to be seen at an ER with a GI bug.

At 2am I was ready to go. We called our neighbor, who graciously came over to stay with our two sleeping kids. David drove me in to the hospital. Amazingly, they were NOT busy! They were quick to get us in a room and get the initial set of labs, all around 3am. My WBC was 15.7 and my glucose was 158--I'm not sure what to make of that...might have to get that checked out as that is too high. Anyways, they suspected appendicitis so they sent me for a CT scan after giving me Zofran and Dilaudid via IV. When they came in with the results of the CT, they had already consulted the surgical resident. Another neat thing, the resident, before paging the attending MD, asked David's preference on surgeons since David works at this hospital--WOW. That was nice. Come to find out, David's choice surgeon IS the one who was on call! Again, God is good. They wheeled me on to the OR prep area, while David signed my consent forms. Dr. Akin arrived and asked several questions. After answering more questions from more individuals, well...that's all I remember! ;) The surgery lasted 1 hr and 28 min and went completely as expected! I am grateful that my appendix had not ruptured, making the whole ordeal as smooth as possible. Pray for the individual in the ER whose HAD ruptured already. Dr. Akin did their surgery immediately after mine was finished. It was much more complicated. Again, I am thankful.

Because I was the first surgery of the day, I had the entire recovery room staff all to myself initially. We had SO much fun back there! Those RN's are great. They were on top of it and catered to my every need, even before I asked. They laughed as I woke more quickly than anticipated and began to spell the word they were struggling to spell. They decided I was just determined to wake up; they were right! This was the first time I'd every been under general anesthesia and actually intubated.

Dr. Akin was good to be in touch with David who was, in the meantime, taking our children to school. Another blessing: this was the first day that BOTH kids were in school simultaneously. Like I said, God's timing is amazing. David was able to come join me about 10am. By this time, Dr. Akin had decided that he really did not need to admit me for the night as originally planned. He made sure I had all the supplies at home, just in case I should need to reinforce the dressing. I am SO thankful that he decided to send me home! I had not asked and was not expecting this, but tis very nice indeed. So, off to ambulatory care I went for a couple more hours. They prepared my discharge papers, and Dr. Akin came by one final time. David went for the van and the staff rolled me out in a wheel chair. I'm home and so very grateful for what could only be God's timing.

Whew. That was a long story. ;) Please continue to pray as I recover. (They were able to do this laproscopically, so I have 3 puncture sites...lined up like buttons on a snowman! Ha. One just below my rib cage, in the middle. The other just below it in my belly button. The last one lined up just below that one. Too funny. At least I'm symmetrical. He, he.)