Gone

About a week and a half ago, I lost something that has been with me since birth. My gall bladder. I wasn't too terribly attached to it, although it was to me. It has been a nice parting so far! For about 7 or 8 months, I have had pretty bad stomach problems that was originally diagnosed as ulcers. Well, fast forward to last Thursday and the pain had been constant and severe for about a week so I took myself on a field trip to the ER in the middle of the night. After an ultrasound, the doctor told me I got to have not only my gall bladder removed, but my common bile duct cleaned out as well. Lucky me! On Friday, they cleaned out some gall stones that were stuck and then removed the gall bladder on Saturday. I went home on Saturday night, spent a night in a lot of pain, and have been slowly recovering ever since! I actually feel almost normal now....just some stomach muscle soreness.
I had never had surgery before and only been in the hospital to have babies prior to this adventure. I realized two things from this. 1. I don't ever plan on being in the hospital again. Not the most comfortable or restful place I can imagine. 2. I am so incredibly blessed to live near family members! It was 3:45 on Friday morning when I was told I was being admitted. I called Matt and asked him to call his parents to come stay with the kids so he could come be in the hospital with me. After receiving a phone call at 4am, my sweet mother-in-law was at our house at 5:45am ready to stay and take care of our kids for as long as we needed her to be there. How amazing! Then, my sister took over and had all the kids for a day. And, finally, my mom came and stayed all of last week to help me with the housework and kids so I could rest and recover. I am so thankful to everyone who took care of me, Matt, and the kids. God is very good!