The Aftermath

It has been three weeks since my surgery.  I can hardly believe it.  Time has flown by, but the days seem horribly long.  I have discovered that I'm not very good at healing.  This is slow, intentional business--and it is hard!!

Before I go any further, I want to say thank you.  The outcome of the surgery could not have been better and I am so thankful for all the fasting and praying you have done on my behalf.  There just aren't enough thank you's to be said.  God is good to hear his people!

So, surgery.  Let me tell you, it was way harder than I thought.  Well, the time after anyways.  The day of surgery was a breeze...I went in, they put me to sleep, than I woke up 10 hours later.  It was a blink of an eye.  

The feeling upon waking can only be described like this:  I may have felt the same if I had been hit by a bus.  I can't literally compare the two because I have not ever been hit by a bus (thank you God), but my whole body hurt.  I even had a fat lip!!  That was a surprise!  I think the intubation tube must have been pressing pretty heavy on my lip because it took a good 5 days for it to be normal again.

When I first met the surgeon, she warned me that the first 24 hours after surgery would be the worst of my life.  She lied.  The first 72 were.  I was in a hot room people...

Never heard of that?  Well, mostly no one has--even my friends in the medical field.  It means that my little hospital room was kept at 30 degrees C (that's 86 F) for 3 days.  It is meant to promote circulation.  It also promotes nausea and sweating, fyi.  

The other thing that made those days hard (besides the physical pain) was the constant checking.  A nurse came in every hour around the clock for 48 hours to check on me.  That means no sleeping.  Please hear me, I'm not telling you this as a complaint, but rather just for information's sake.  I found the whole hospital stay interesting, to say the least, so maybe you will too.  

Anyhow, I won't go into too much more detail about it all.  I just think what has been done to my body is amazing.  The advancements in medical procedures are astounding and I am thankful to have benefited from them (no matter how much pain it causes).  

And yet, I can't keep Psalm 20:7 out of my mind.  

"Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but I trust in the name of the Lord my God."

I've been saying it for months like this, "some trust in doctors and some in medicine, but I trust in the name of the Lord my God."  You see, I believe God uses doctors and modern medicine to heal.  I also believe that he heals by his own power if he chooses to do so.  So yes, I am thankful for all that I have been privy to, but above all that, I give thanks to God for my healing.

Healing.  Health.  Yes...I have mentioned it on Facebook before now, but just in case you haven't heard:

I'M CANCER FREE!!!!

The pathology report came back showing no sign of cancer in any of the removed tissues.  Praise God!  Psalm 30:2 says, "O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me."  Indeed, he has.

So, here I am, 3 weeks out from surgery.  I haven't had caffeine in as much time (not even decaf coffee...the doctor didn't tell me this ahead of time!!  I can't wait for a coffee!) and have only just started walking upright again.  My body has a lot of healing left to do.  I will sit, wait, and try to be patient as the wounds turn into scars.  (more on scars in my next post)

Again, thank you for your amazing support during this time.  Now, let's rejoice together!!