So, what's goin' on?

Since we're all adults here, I'll let you on to what's been going on with me since about a week and a half ago.

There's quite a few people who are close to me, that know that I've waited years to have elective surgery to remove excess tissue off of my chest. The reduction was on Thursday, March 3rd.

As for the surgery itself, it was more of a comfort issue than one of vanity. Since Gabe was born, things weren't at all like they had been, and with Sarah coming along, things only got worse. I'd tried to lose lots of weight to try to correct the issue, but then I looked even more ridiculous (kinda like Dolly Parton). I was uncomfortable; I had a list of reasons on why I should get it done. My doctors agreed. It was obvious that I needed surgical intervention.

It was an out-patient type of thing, and I felt just a little sore after the procedure. On Friday, I went into the doctors office to have the drains (yuck, I know) pulled. And that's when things started to get a little crazy...

By dinnertime, I felt really tired and shaky. Phillip had cooked a delicious roast, but all I could do was pick at my food, and then leave the table to rest in bed. Something didn't seem right, but I'd never had surgery before, so I wasn't sure what was going on. By around 9 pm, I was feeling some major discomfort, so I took two Percocet and hoped for the best. Throughout the night, I had trouble sleeping because of the swelling on my right side, and I was getting a bit scared because my heart was racing.

When Phillip woke up on Saturday morning, I felt nauseous. I went into the bathroom and my face and lips were snow white. By then, I knew something was really wrong. I went back into our room, asked Phillip to check things out on my right side, and when he went to touch the area to get a better look, I nearly fainted. It wasn't from pain though; it was almost like a ripple effect on a pond (no blood getting to the brain?). You coulda plucked me, and I would've fallen right over.

To make a long story short, I ended up in the hospital a couple of hours later for emergency surgery to remove a 300 cc (about the size of an orange?) hematoma that had developed on my right side. Now, while this can be expected, it doesn't happen very often. The doctor said that this is only the second time that something like this has happened to him. He told me as we went into the OR that he may have to give me a unit of blood, and at that point, I didn't care. I looked over at the anesthesiologist and asked her to hurry....KNOCK ME OUT! I spent the night in the hospital, for just in case...

So, that's why I haven't been on here lately. I'm finally started to feel a little better. Two surgeries in two days wiped me completely out. All in all, I'm glad that I did it. A friend of mine says that I look like a completely different person; I'll take that.

Cabin fever is really starting to get to me. The weather is beautiful outside, and there's lots to do in Fairbanks this weekend. I wanna go outside and play!

On the bright side, I have a great support system out here. I'm fortunate to have some close friends that I can call if I need to, but except for this past Thursday, when he had to go back to work, Phillip has been by my side through all of it. I must give him lots of credit for taking care of me, the house, and the kids while I'm down. He makes a great nurse.