I had my second surgery this past Friday. As I wrote in an email to my mother-in-law: "It went much better...well, I went in there with a long list of questions since my last one wasn't so hot, and that earned me the complete knock out. :) :) :) So, I was under and didn't feel a thing, other than the nurse sticking me four times 'til she found a painful spot for my IV. The anestesiologist (sp?) said that when you have bad veins in your legs, that can mean that you can have vein issues everywhere, which is probably the case with me. But, they told me last time that I have an extremely healthy heart - great blood pressure and my heart beats less than others, which means that I'll have more beats left at the end of life (which won't mean a thing if something happens to another organ or my mind - haaaa!!!).
The doctor told me that I have phlebitis in the right leg, and once that calms down, it should start feeling better. He also said we'd re-evaluate at my next appointment to see if we should have another surgery to completely remove that vein. I'm hoping it just calms down on its own. He also said that the bleeding I experienced is NOT normal, but it didn't cause significant problems for me. He also said that I shouldn't have been told not to take my pain meds since I just had surgery and am healthy as a horse (my expression, not his). He said it wouldn't have harmed me, even though that's typically not the procedure. I thought "where were you last week when I was dying in pain?" Haaa!!! He had lots of good answers for my questions, so I felt more at ease today. Now I'm praying this inflammation and blood clot go away so that I feel better in my right leg! The drugs are defintely helping, too, so all in all it's been good. I know Shawn's exhausted from caring for the boys all day. Keep him in your prayers, too! And the boys!"
Tonight we went to church for the first time in a few weeks. I needed to get out of the house - I'm going stir crazy. Unfortunately, I didn't really get much out of it (have you ever heard a sermon that says "Feeling down? Running from God?" and your response is the same as it is to those questions drug commercials ask "Umm, nope, not really!" My legs felt swollen and ungodly painful and at one point I looked down at my arms, which are completely bruised with needle marks everywhere from where they tried to get my IV in. I told Shawn afterward that the people sitting next to us probably thought I was a druggy in dire need of church. Oh, I look afright!
Thankfully, our marriage isn't based on our day-to-day looks (more the overall trend...just kidding!!!). Shawn has been amazing with the boys. He's such a great dad! And a great husband! I'm so very blessed. This has been a rough couple weeks since my first surgery. I really thought the first one would go more like the second did. But, as the surgeon explained, my tissue and veins are really inflamed in my right leg, which is causing an ungodly amount of pain. I feel like I can barely move. I'm not supposed to stand or sit for long periods of time (ummm...what else is there?). It's right at a spot where the boys hit into it a lot, too, so I'm extra cautious. These poor boys! It's finally nice out and their momma is out of commission! I notice, though, as Shawn is in pain from various injuries, he just keeps going. He doesn't let pain stop him (although the doc said pain can be our friend, telling us what we need to know so we should listen to it). I think, though, it's time that I get back up and running. Our house needs it! Our boys need it! Shawn needs it (whether or not he'd admit it)!
As I said, this post may be random. Right now I'm listening to two songs that were in my head. The first I heard on the radio the other day in the lunch hour "flashback" or whatever they call the old songs...the term has escaped my mind. Anyway, I remembered this Caedmon's Call song "This World," and I loved it. The lyrics include "This world has nothing for me and this world has everything. All that I could wanted and nothing that I need." My sister Jen got Caleb the Veggie Tales movie "Madame Blueberry" for his birthday, and Joshua has begged to watch it. In it, this blueberry is blue because she wants more stuff, and finally she gets to go to "Stuff-Mart" and buy everything (and more!) from her wish list but it doesn't bring her happiness. Her pursuit for more ends up destroying her house, literally. But, she finds that a thankful heart is a happy heart in the end. The Bean loves it, and it is such a good reminder for me, too. I am so thankful for our house, our cars, our stuff, but more importantly the people that surround me and a God that is good even when I'm not.
The second song is a Bebo Norman song that they played at Bible study on Tuesday night. Right now we're studying the Psalms of Ascent (which hasn't been the greatest Beth Moore study I've done, but it's always good to be diving into God's word). I thought the lyrics of "I will lift my eyes" from Psalm 121 were excellent:God, my God, I cry out
Your beloved needs You now
God, be near, calm my fear
And take my doubt
Your kindness is what pulls me up
Your love is all that draws me in
I will lift my eyes to the Maker
Of the mountains I can't climb
I will lift my eyes to the Calmer
Of the oceans raging wild
I will lift my eyes to the Healer
Of the hurt I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You
God, my God, let Mercy sing
Her melody over me
God, right here all I bring
Is all of me
(Chorus)
On Thursday night before my second surgery, I went and got my hair cut and colored. I've been dying my own hair to save money, but in the summer the sun turns any brown I try into an ugly pumpkin orange. Coupled with the fact that I'm not supposed to be standing for a long period of time and the fact that I hit another weight loss goal (thank you, Jesus!), I called up a gal that my friend recommended. I LOVED her! She was inexpensive, QUICK (which is of utmost importance to me with the boys), and I thought it turned out well. It's a little short for me, but I asked for it. I had been growing my hair out, but I've also been feeling like I look like a housewife, constantly pulling it up and back out of my face and not taking the time I need to style it with our schedules. I needed a blow-dry-and-go-but-still-looks-stylish 'do' again, so I went back to the stacked hair that everyone I know has. I also got a few blond streaks, which turned out well. And did I mention she was fast? And cheap? It was a good experience overall.
Anyway, all that said, while my hair was processing I read a great magazine article about premature babies and how they have turned out to be extraoridnary people. It brought tears to my eyes...oh, how I just know that God has an amazing destiny for our Joshua. He had such a struggle from birth, I know he will be more than a conqueror!
I also had time to read a great article on weight loss. It was nice to just sit and read for a few minutes. God is good!
I loved this picture of the boys above. They are in a little parade around the vacuum cleaner, having fun with Daddy and each other.
A couple other random stories. As Joshua & I were coloring the other morning (Caleb sat with us but mostly tried to eat the crayons until I put them out of reach), Joshua said "it's the baby elephant's birthday." I wondered where he got that from...then I realized that the picture he was coloring had an elephant in a hat that looked almost identical to Caleb's first birthday hat. I love how little minds think! He also surprised me the other day when we were looking at the blog and he said "that's Joshua looking at the boats." The picture has only the Bean and a flag in the background, but he remembered that we were looking at the boats that day in that place. He is so sharp! I see impressive intelligence in our lil' Caleb Luke, too. He is learning and growing everyday. He already has mastered going up and down the stairs by himself. He gets to the top and turns around to go down backward. I was afraid he wouldn't learn how, but it didn't take him long! I have more stories to post, but I'm getting tired...or at least my legs are starting to really ache.
So, I'll end this post with the picture of Caleb blowing you kisses good night!
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