Bye Bye Gall Bladder!

As of yesterday morning at about 7:45 am, I am gall bladder-free. I had the removal surgery. And not a day too soon. I had my last attack Monday night; a little going away gift! The surgery went really well with no complications. The surgeon was able to do the laproscopy and didn't have to open me up all the way. That is really nice. I have four small incisions around my belly. And I will have titanium clips (four or six, not sure) inside me for the rest of my life. My first question about that was, "Will I set off metal detectors?" The answer is no. :)

People have been asking me if the surgeon gave me my gall bladder to take home in a little jar. No. He sent it off to pathology to have it looked at. I'm sure the stones are all they will find. I wouldn't want it anyway! I've had quite enough of it, thank you very much! He did give me four pictures of my insides that he took during surgery. It is quite interesting! (Don't worry; I won't post it here!)

I was quite emotional right after I woke up from the anesthesia. There was a two-year old in a bed near me who was waking up as well and was crying a lot. I could see his litte legs kicking on his bed. It made me really sad to think of a child that young having surgery in the first place. It made me think of Lena because he was about the same age. I got really upset and couldn't stop crying about it. I was supposed to stay in that room about an hour while I woke up until I was moved to a second recovery room where Jim would join me and we would stay until ready to go. I was so upset that the nurse decided to move me right away so that I couldn't see the baby anymore.

I started feeling better after I moved and got to see Jim. I had a little bit of trouble breathing when I first woke up, but it got better as I came to. While in recovery I was able to drink some Sprite and eat some graham crackers and chicken noodle soup. I was super duper tired, falling asleep sitting up. They put me on Vicodin and we left there around 12:15. When we got home I went straight to bed and slept off the rest of the anesthesia. I felt pretty good last evening pain-wise. The Vicodin did a great job on the pain.

My discharge papers say I am not supposed to lift anything over 20 pounds for two weeks. Yeah right. Lena was begging for me to pick her up the second we walked in the door. I ended up having to rock her and lay her down for her nap and at bedtime because she wouldn't go to sleep for Daddy or Grandma. I was feeling pretty good last night so I didn't mind. I think I might be paying for a bit now though, because I woke up at 6 this morning hurting pretty bad. So hopefully Lena will be better today and I can take it a bit easier.

Thanks so much to all of you praying for me.

My Spoon!

So I think we're heading into that "independent toddler" phase of Lena's life. She really likes to feed herself with a fork or a spoon and gets very upset if you take the utensil from her in an effort to feed her yourself.

Here is a video I took this evening at TCBY. Watch how quickly she goes from happy to screaming and back again. (The quality is not very good because I took it with my cell phone. I didn't have a real camera on me at the time.)

Oh my. And we haven't even hit the terrible twos yet!

Our First Garden Veggie!

Today after walking back from the park, we took a peek at our garden to see how things are progressing. Man, it is looking good! We have been so surprised at how few weeds we have and how well everything is growing. We had a garden last year but it was very disappointing and we got hardly anything from it. We moved it this spring and today we picked our very first ready-to-eat vegetable! It is a gorgeous cucumber! I gave it to Lena so I could take a picture of it. The funny thing about this picture is that she wasn't actually trying to eat it, she was "pretend eating" it. She has been doing that a lot lately; when I tell her not to put something in her mouth, she will pretend to take a bite out of it, complete with sound effect and a convincing "Mmmmm!" following. She is so funny.

She thought the stem was fun to play with.

We also noticed a little bitty musk melon.

Jim picked this beautiful lily that we had growing along the side of our yard (against the neighbor's garage). It's really neat how it has multiple layers of petals.

Today was Jim's last day presenting at the Higher Things conference in Grand Rapids. He really enjoyed it and hopes to be able to take some of our youth next year when it will be held in Memphis.

Lena's Playdate with Maddie

Today Lena's best buddy Madelyn came over to play. Madelyn is three weeks older than Lena. Maddie is more shy than Lena and it took a few minutes before they were playing together. Lena doesn't get to play with other kids very often and had some sharing issues. So hopefully she didn't offend Maddie too much and we can have more playdates in the future and she can learn to be better about sharing her toys.

While the girls played both inside and outside, I only took pics outside because I didn't figure my inside pics would turn out very well anyway.

Helping each other down the stairs. I snapped the pic just in time because in the next second, Lena started to fall to the left and since they were holding hands, she dragged Maddie down with her. They tumbled down (it's only like 1 1/2 steps), then got up and headed for the slide. It was pretty funny.

Instead of climbing up the stairs on the back, Lena decided the best way to get up is to wiggle her way through this little hole on the side. When she first started to do it, I said, "You can't get up there that way. Use the stairs!" Then she just had to prove me wrong! She did it over and over again. I think she enjoyed that more than sliding down.

Maddie was color-coordinated to play on this slide!

Chillin'.

Lena kept trying to climb up on Sarah's lap.

That's a different way to do it.

They did well on the slide together. We didn't have any collisions.

Lena kept trying to shove Maddie off of the scooter. I told Maddie to stand her ground and not let Lena push her over. She finally did after the third time of Lena trying to bully her!

Finally got rid of Lena!

Peekaboo!

While we were out there, Sarah noticed that we have a tiny little watermelon growing! We hadn't noticed it before. Cute!

Sarah claims that Maddie had fun despite Lena constantly trying to take her toys. So hopefully she will be up to getting together more often. The girls have such opposite personalities; it would be great if they would rub off on each other a little bit!

Thanks Sarah for bringing Maddie over!

Growing like a weed. . . .

Man, I can't believe how tall Lena has gotten lately!

;)

Swimming, Whitecaps Game, and Garden Progress

After we got back from Indiana, we got to do some fun things at the end of the week. On Thursday we were invited to some members' house, Gary and Cheryl's, to go swimming. As much as Lena has been swimming lately, she can't get enough of it. She had lots of fun in the pool, but got cranky because she didn't want to be held. She doesn't understand that she can't "run around" in a pool! She is getting more and more independent every day. (You should see the fit she throws if you don't let her feed herself with a fork!) I didn't get any pics of Lena actually in the pool because I was in there with her.

After she was done swimming, she had fun running around the yard. Gary and Cheryl have much nicer grass than we have at home. It was fun to play on.

The Kutches were there too (minus Rebecca). Daddy got out the alligator bubble blower. I think Carl enjoyed the bubbles more than Lena!

On Friday, some other members, Scott and Patty, invited us to go to a Whitecaps game with them. The West Michigan Whitecaps are the Grand Rapids Minor League baseball team. They are part of the Tigers organization. We had never been to a minor league team (still haven't seen the Tin Caps), so it was a new experience for us. And it was Lena's first baseball game ever (not counting the high school game she slept through when she was about 6 weeks old.)

It was rainy that day but not rainy enough to cancel the game. It sprinkled on and off while we were there, but it wasn't too bad.

Jim loves this pic. I think this is Lena being overjoyed at having been born a Cardinals fan! One of my STL friends, Kelly, got this hat for Lena when she was born and she's just now growing into it! (It's a generic "youth" size.)

Scott bought her a teddy little bear wearing a Whitecaps hoodie. Cute! Lena spent most of the game mooching popcorn from the woman sitting behind us. She got fussy watching people all around her eat, so the only thing that kept her happy was to munch on popcorn. (Of course, it didn't matter in the least that she had just eaten all but one inch of a full sized hot dog and bun!)

Scott proudly displaying the foul ball he caught.

Fifth Third Ballpark is home to the infamous Fifth Third Burger. It weighs four pounds and is so big it is served in a pizza box. It is the most unhealthy thing on the planet! Look at those nutrition facts. Those are real. Everyone who finishes their burger during the game gets an "I did it!" t-shirt. Check out competition rule #6. Nicely worded. And no, we didn't attempt the burger. (If it's too hard to read, click on the picture to see it bigger.)

Scott and Patty's son, Andy, and his friend Eddie went with us too.

The Whitecaps shut out the Peoria Chiefs 7-0. It wasn't hard rooting for the Whitecaps since the Chiefs are a minor league team of the Cubs. They even have the Cubs logo on their jerseys. We had a good time at the game. It is a fun ballpark. Between the innings they have fans participate in silly little games. Fun to watch. I would like to go to Whitecaps games more often.

Garden progress: July 20. Looking great!

Our crazy tomato plants! We have quite a few green tomatoes on there.

Our first head of broccoli. So cute!

A gorgeous row of lettuce.

Teeny tiny spaghetti squash.

Baby zucchini.

A yellow squash with the bloom still attached.

Another plaything we got Lena at a garage sale today. She loves the slide. She goes down it with no hesitation.

Trying to teach her not to go back up the slide. It's a difficult concept.

The grass makes for a soft landing.

So I had my consultation with the surgeon on Friday afternoon. I like him a lot. He answered all of my questions and seems to be really knowledgeable about the procedure. It will be done laproscopically, which means they don't slice open your whole abdomen like they used to. He will make four small incisions, two on my right side (¼" long each), one just below my sternum (¼" long as well), and one near my belly button (½" long). After tying off the blood vessels and tubes etc, they pull the gall bladder out through the belly button hole. Weird! But the recovery time is much shorter and easier this way. I should only be laid up for a few days, as opposed to a week or more for the old way. They scheduled my surgery for Wednesday, July 29th. Mom is going to come up and watch Lena during the surgery and for a couple of days after while I recover. I am so thankful that she is able and willing to help us out like that. Aunt Hil offered, but she will be out of town with friends that weekend. I am so looking forward to having this over with. It will be so freeing not having to wonder constantly when the next attack will happen.

This week I am focusing on getting the house back in order (with all of our traveling, things have gotten a little unorganized around here) and making some meals ahead of time and freezing them so Mom and Jim will have easy dinners while I am recovering. Jim is presenting at a conference this week called Higher Things. He was very honored to be asked to participate in this conference and has been really looking forward to it.

Indiana Trip

I've had the pics posted for several days now; I guess I should finish the post and tell you what they are of!

We had a very eventful weekend. On Thursday morning I had two more medical tests, still trying to find out the cause of my abdominal pain. I had an abdominal ultrasound and something called a nuclear scan (also called a "HIDA scan", I heard). That one was interesting. You get something injected into your veins and have to lay flat on your back and not move for at least an hour. It can take up to two, but they got what they needed from me in an hour. I told Jim on our way to the hospital that morning that I had this overwhelming feeling that I was wasting my time with these tests. I figured they would come back normal and the doctor would have no idea what was causing my intense pains. But oh well, let's get them over with. So after we left there, we picked up Lena from the Possett's and headed to Indiana for the weekend. Here are some pics.

Thursday evening we had dinner with some Roemkes at Brians. Jim and Brian apparently thought it was twin day.

On Friday while Hilary and I grocery shopped for our Sister's Day party, Jim took Lena to visit his mom and Roger at their house.

Going for a ride.

Roger taught Lena how to drive the lawn mower.

Lena actually pet the horse! She has been afraid of horses, but it appears she is getting over it. She is much better with dogs than she used to be too.

Friday night Hilary and I celebrated Sister's Day. Sister's Day is actually July 15, but we wanted to celebrate on a weekend. We had a party at her house and cooked a nice dinner. We love cooking together whenever we can. Here Hilary is cutting the top off of a round of brie to see if it is hot enough for dipping.

Hilary's first margarita of the evening. We made them ourselves; best margaritas ever.

Mom watched Lena while Hilary and I cooked and drank. :)

Our spread. Spinach and Sprout Salad with Gorgonzola, Lemon Soy Swordfish (minus the avocado butter), Ginger Garlic Broccolini, and melted Brie with Crackers. Yum!

Lena found Aunt Hil's pots and pans.

And her shoe. This isn't the shoe Lena threw into the toilet. That was another one.

On Saturday we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa and swam in Grandma Sheryl's pool.

We bought her a life vest in South Carolina but it was so rainy that we never used it. We tried to put it on her in Mom's pool, but it didn't go so well. It's a bit too big and she could barely see over the thing! And anyway, I didn't feel comfortable letting go of her to let her float with the thing. So we took it off. She really prefered to be in the water with us than to float on her blow-up thing. She just loves the water. She will stay in and play happily until after her teeth start chattering and her lips turn blue from being cold!

On Sunday Hilary and I drove to Chicago to attend the Cardinals game that got rained out in April. Jim thought Hilary would have more fun than he would so he gave her his ticket. A nice Cubs fan offered to take our pic out front.

The view from our seats. Not good. It was like watching a baseball game from inside a cave. We couldn't even see a scoreboard from where we were sitting. Overall, we found Wrigley Field to be a very boring stadium. The Cardinals lost, 3-4. It was the first game of a double-header and we saw later than night that they won the second game.

So on Saturday our car broke down in Fort Wayne. Jim was driving on 69 when the car overheated. He pulled over and found that it wouldn't start. So we called a tow truck and had it towed to the nearest shop. Unfortunately, it didn't get there until 15 minutes before they closed on Saturday, so they didn't even get to look at it until Monday morning. We were planning on going home Monday morning, so Jim borrowed his dad's truck and went home (he had some meetings that day) while Lena and I stayed an extra day at Hilary's waiting for the car to get fixed. Fortunately, it was a simple fix and not as bad as we thought it would be. (We thought we were going to need a new car!) We got a new radiator, upper and lower hoses, and a thermostat.

The rest of these pics were taken Monday at Hilary's as we were waiting on the car. It was a nice day so we spent a lot of it outside.

Lena's little bubble machine. It is pretty impressive for a dollar store item. It cranks out bubbles like you wouldn't believe. It's so funny to hear Lena exclaim, "Bubbles!" when it starts up. She really wanted to hold it herself, but the bubble juice kept spilling out.

Playing with Aunt Hil's dog, Lucy. This trip was our first time meeting Lucy.

A rare pic of me with Lena. (I'm almost always behind the camera!)

She insisted on drinking out of a big girl cup.

Then she proceeded to spill ice and ice cold water all over Aunt Hil. Surprise!

She loves to chew on ice.

Mmmmm!

Giving the doggie a drink from a spray bottle.

Eating lunch outside. We did end up with a few raviolis in the pool.

I can never get used to the fact that I have a blond baby! After looking at some of her baby pics, I think her hair is getting lighter.

Yay, another pool! This one is Lucy's. Hilary cleaned it up and let Lena play in it.

Lena couldn't get enough of Aunt Hil. They had so much fun together.

The standoff.

Being goofy in the pool.

So on Monday as I was waiting to hear back about the car, I got a call from my gastrointerologist's office. Some of my test results came back abnormal. The nuclear scan was normal, but the ultrasound showed that I have gall stones. I was really surprised. I have family members who had gall bladder problems, but I didn't think about that being my problem. They told me that they recommend I have surgery as soon as possible to have my gall bladder removed. Within a minute of answering the phone, she was asking me when I wanted to schedule my surgery. Wow! I asked her if I could think about it and get back to her.

That night I did some online research about gall bladders and gall stones. I really didn't know anything about the gall bladder; what it is or what it does. I learned all of that and I read about gall bladder "attacks." I was amazed: the description of these attacks are exactly what I have been experiencing for almost two years now. I cannot describe what a relief it is finally knowing what is causing me such horrible pain. On Tuesday I set up an appointment to have a consultation with the surgeon on Friday. At that visit, I will schedule the surgery.

So on Tuesday Jim drove back to Indiana to return his dad's truck and pick us up. We had fun with our family, but it was nice to be home. This time especially, considering this was our last trip of the summer. With four trips, we were away from home 21 days from May 25th through July 14th. Crazy! It was fun, but busy. So we are looking forward to spending the rest of the summer at home. I will have my surgery and Jim will get his cirriculum ready for school in the fall.