being told to "take it easy,"-is NOT easy!

So, I have been absent from the blogging world for a reason. Many have asked for the story so here it is...for all to see (sorry if there's a few, "tmi" moments).

The Monday before Thanksgiving I woke in the middle of the night with horrible horrible pain in my chest. I was freakin out! I thought I was having a heart attack and if not then it was still something MAJOR bad because I was in SO much pain and nothing was helping!

Side note: I know what pain is, so don't be thinkin' I'm just some kind of wimp here. I've had 3 c-sections (one of which the anesthesia wore off and I felt them cutting and pulling etc...yeah I screamed!), AND I've had kidney stones...WHILE I was 8 months pregnant! So I know what pain is, and I usually can take it pretty well.

Now back to the story...I woke up Todd and after getting a life-saver of a friend to come sleep on our couch so we didn't have to wake our 3 little ones, we were off to the ER. They proceeded with an EKG, chest x-ray and blood work up...which they claim revealed nothing abnormal. The pain stopped after a total of about 45 minutes. They sent me home telling me it was probably indigestion. INDIGESTION!?!?! Are you kidding me! I felt like such an idiot for going to the ER for INDIGESTION!

The next week I had on and off bad moments where my guts just didn't feel good. I had to wear loose clothes and the pain I had that night came back a few times but not as bad. Then the Sunday following (so 7 days later) I was at church and felt the pain coming on...thinking to myself, "okay this will go away in 45 minutes I just have to get through it," I excused myself and spent the rest of church in the car waiting for it to pass- which it did.

The next day, Monday morning, I felt the same pain coming on around 8:30am and I told myself again that it would go away...so I showered, got dressed, did my hair, put some laundry in, did some dishes...it was NOT going away! In fact it was getting worse and worse by the minute. I was crying and trying to hide from my two boys so as not to scare them (mommas aren't supposed to cry). They found me in my room crying at the side of my bed while I was desperately asking Heavenly Father to take away this horrendous pain. Carson didn't know what to do...Graham came over and gave one of the the most precious hugs I've ever gotten. I collected myself and he backed away and said to Carson, "there, she not crying anymore." The pain was getting real bad, so much I couldn't handle it anymore, when lunchtime rolled around...I made them lunch all the while crying and wishing this to go away...it didn't.

I finally called Todd and told him I needed help. I had an appointment that afternoon with my doctor (who is also a friend), so I called his office and one of my friends that works in his office answered- to hear a friend ask me if I was okay sent me into tears again, I begged her to let me see him sooner on his lunch break, she said come right away (I LOVE having friends in the medical field!). Todd canceled the rest of his patients and came to my rescue- after an examination, blood work, and an ultrasound, they said I had "many"gall stones in my gallbladder and in the ducts as well and would need surgery right away...I called my mom. I needed her. And I knew she would come (thank you Mom!!!) She swooped in and did whatever it was we needed of her...for a whole week! Mom's really are angels!

The pain finally passed as we were driving to the hospital to get checked in. I had surgery the next morning. After it was all over the surgeon gave us some pictures of my gallbladder- Todd sat and counted the stones...he counted 106! The surgeon said that was just the top that it was most likely 2-4 times that! So we're talking 200-400 stones! What the heck!?! He said you could not have fit another stone in there if you wanted to- it was so full it looked like it was going to pop at any moment...thank goodness it didn't! I had two rather large stones in the "common bile duct" that he could not get out laproscopicaly so I ended up with "open gallbladder surgery." I have battle scars to prove it.

It is over now...thank goodness! Recovery is slow and steady and I have had some angels that I like to call my friends, who have taken my kids, brought me meals, taken me to doctor appointments, picked up groceries, covered my responsibilities for church, and so on...my friends are the best! And then there's my sweet husband and kiddos- Todd has been doing SO much for me, I will owe him when I get my strength back! He comes home and instantly tells me to go sit down (I try to do too much and he's good at telling me to stop). Lucy has bathed her brothers, done the dishes & the laundry, and a million other little tasks I ask her too. Carson tries to do all he can to help and often reminds Graham that, "we have to be nice 'cause Momma's belly hurts." Graham struggles with me not being able to pick him up but he's been such a big boy about it...how I took that simple task for granted! When I get the go ahead that is going to be one of the first things I do...pick him up and squeeze him with all the love I have! My family are definitely angels!! There ya go, the full story, sorry if it's wordy...it's written by a humble, emotional, blubbering mom who does not take to "taking it easy" all that easily.