Post Surgery

I had the surgery 2 days ago.  I am in more pain than I had anticipated, but am also well aware that if I were not uncomfortable I would not take it as easy as I know I need to.  God is just "reminding" me to be still!  I think that things that have been out of place for 15 years are just getting used to being where they are supposed to be;)  My throat has been scratchy like a bad spring cold from the intubation, but that has improved considerably.  I do not want to dissuade you from having surgery if you need it.  I am so thankful for the many people who were supportive of my surgery and encouraged me.  The hospital staff were wonderful and treated me like a person, not like a "job" to be completed for the day. 

I have been enjoying a couple of naps a day and great sleep at night.  Today JJ and I snuggled for a 2.5 hour nap...sigh...it was sweet:)  Last night I slept over 9 hours!  We decided a couple of days before the surgery to put a dark blanket over Grace's window so she would not be up at the crack of dawn.  Why didn't we think of that earlier lol!?!? That is helping much:)

I have learned a couple of things from this experience: 
First: My children know that I take care of everything and thus are having a difficult time now that I cannot do anything.  It is a good thing that I have the pain that I have or I would, in frustration, just get up and do it myself.  This is forcing me, and them, to require some responsibility on their part.  I am having some downtime to think about how training needs to improve in this area.

Second: The pain meds that I am on are quite necessary but have muddled my brain.  I am enjoying reading a couple of "fun" books since I don't have the mental capacity to think through much else.  I just finished Raising a Soul Surfer and am reading Through My Eyes by Tim Tebow right now.  I am also reading the David Livingstone biography to the middle kids - but their attention span for me reading to them is shorter than my attention span for reading lol! 

Anyway, that was a bunny trail.  I discovered the first day as I was coming out of the general anesthesia that I could not handle noise of any kind, that all noise was a terrible distraction, and that I could not hold two thoughts together to focus to make a decision.  It was maddening to me.  It then occurred to me that this must be what Grace's daily experience must be like.  It gave me a whole new appreciation for what she endures every moment.

Of course, in addition to healing from this surgery we have daily life...and the added stressors of my Mother In Law's medical issues and wound care that my husband has to care for every 2 days and how to deal with all of the pieces of my brother in law's head injury/his medical care/his financial needs/the case against his assailant, etc which take hours a day.  But...that is for another post...