Category: Life

(Alternatively titled: I HAD a lot of guts)

I had my stomach staples removed today. All I can say to that is …

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH ………

It’s so NICE not to have to worry about bending over and pinching myself. I don’t know if you’ve ever had staples, but removing them is really not supposed to hurt. The operative words being “not suppose to”. However, because I’m so awesome and heal rather quickly, my body started absorbing them so they were embedded enough to HURT when the tech plucked them out.

Kevin actually sat there and watched and he could tell they were hurting me, and not just by my tortured, grim, I’m-going-to-be-brave-and-not-squeal-like-a-pig face either. He could tell by the amount of skin that was being tugged along with those nasty staples that I wasn’t exactly having the time of my life, don’t you know.

I know you’re wincing and crossing your legs right about now; sorry about that.

I had a list of questions with me. My first being, “am I supposed to be hurting like this?”

I had the urge to push this morning (don’t you love how I no longer have a problem sharing something so embarrassing and intimate as my bowel movements with you all? You’re welcome), and I’m afraid I pushed just a tad too much. I had this RIPPING pain (though I don’t think it actually ripped – oh please God, I hope nothing ripped) and I immediately stopped, though I still felt the urge to push. It was really quite uncomfortable and terribly frustrating. The pain is coming from the lower left-hand side of my abdomen, which coincidentally, is where the doctor sewed my colon back together again. When I asked how hard I could push, my doctor said, “You shouldn’t be pushing at all.”

Riiiiight, my poo is just supposed to slip out.

Actually, yes, it is. At least until my body heals. So I will have to concentrate on eating lots of fiber, drinking lots of liquid and building my stock pile of reading material near the porcelain goddess. (Again, aren’t you GLAD I share so much with ya’ll?)

So I learned what NOT to do this morning. It was the first time I had really dared to try anything harder than a grunt and OUCH, I won’t be trying that again any time soon.

BUT, at least I don’t feel like my guts are spilling out whenever I stand up anymore, so we’re making progress. Yay!

Next I asked about scar tissue, as in, will I have a problem with it some time down the road. My doctor wasn’t very reassuring – he said “probably.” Ugh. But he said it likely won’t be for a very long time and if that happens, they sort of put a bag on me and wait for my intestines to settle down and it usually works itself out. It’s very rare that they have to actually cut into me and take care of it. I’m praying I never have an issue with scar tissue at all. I’m optimistic that way.

Finally, I asked the BIG question – “What in the world happened?? How much did you cut out of me?”

Let me illustrate what the doctor said to me.

Here is a shot of a normal large intestine:

Pretty, right?

And here is the section that I had trouble with:

It was the Sigmoid part of my colon, which in essence means, “S” shaped.

Apparently, I had a twist about here:

and the intestine above the twist was bloated and irritated. The intestine below the twist was also bloated and loose – “floppy” is how the doctor described it.

So all of that floppy intestine after the twist needed to be removed. Guess how much intestine that turned out to be?

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.

.

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Are you ready for this?? 96.2 CM. That works out to be just a smidgen over THREE FEET.

THREE FEET!!!!!

It’s like I had a toddler-sized chunk of intestine rolled up inside of me. No WONDER I couldn’t pass anything!!

I was floored. I mean, I was truly shocked. When I asked what in the world I had done to cause this to happen, he said, “blame your parents. It’s genetic.”

WHAT?!?! No way! I hadn’t heard of anyone in my family having any issues like that (though I suspect my grandmother might have had something similar) and when I talked to my mom, she couldn’t think of anyone who had had intestinal issues like that so … what the heck?? I’m hoping it was just some fluke. When I told the boys about it they groaned and said, “Great.” I’m sure they’ll be fine, but wow, I’m having a hard time wrapping my brain around the fact that he had to remove three feet of my intestine. He said I was like in his top two patients that he had to remove so much intestine from. He also said it was very unusual for someone my age (i.e. young) to have something like that happen to. He said he usually didn’t see cases like mine except in people in their 70’s and 80’s.

I told him I should be in the medical books.

He laughed.

I was serious. Aren’t you seriously impressed knowing that I had THREE FEET of intestine removed from my body? On second thought, don’t answer that.

Anyhoo, I am under strict orders not to lift anything heavier than 10 pounds and absolutely NO EXERCISING for at least six weeks, though I can still walk.

I’m okay. My insides are pretty sore today (I thought I was going to DIE when I had to use my abdominal muscles to lay back on the examining table and they haven’t quite recovered from that yet), and the area around my incision is numb, not to mention I won’t be showing off my belly any time soon thanks to a wicked looking scar (like I would have anyway), but hey, I can poop now so it’s all good.

So, the office thing …

This just sort of “happened.” One day we were talking about it, we went and looked at this office, the price was right, we liked the location (close to home, right off a busy highway) and BAM, Kevin signed the lease and moved in.

Actually, he signed the lease while I was at the clinic trying to figure out what was going on with my intestinal issues. In fact, he was talking to the landlord and setting up the details at the exact moment the clinic said to me, “Um. We can’t help you and by the way, you need to go to the ER, as in NOW.”

I text him in the middle of that meeting – talk about bad timing.

But that’s the story of our lives, whenever anything new and/or big happens, it HAPPENS quickly. I mean, this was planned, sort of. Kevin has been talking about starting his own accounting company for as long as I’ve known him and considering he’s a CPA and can do anything from audits to taxes, he’s really a one-man show anyway. (Did I mention he has over 20 years experience in the field??)

Our landlord is the nicest man! He has really bent over backwards to accommodate us and make us feel welcome. In fact, the desk and credenza you see Kevin using in the picture above came with the office, so that saved us a ton of money right there.

The furniture you see in the welcome area is from his dad’s shop. (He sells arch supports and is planning on closing down later this year). The file cabinets were in his office at home (that is now his music studio) so that just left buying a desk for me. He found one online for a pretty good price, but the snag is the delivery. It will come in about three different boxes and the delivery guys will leave it at the curb. ??????? I don’t know, that’s just how they do business. So Kevin will have to make sure he’s available the day it’s delivered otherwise the center will have three mysterious looking boxes sitting around when it’s delivered.

So here we go. We’re trying the small business thing. This might not be the best time to do this considering we have a president who appears to be anti-small business, but we’re going to give it a shot. Kevin will be freelancing for his old company (they are still wrapping things up from their liquidation in ’09) and he knows a lot of people in the accounting industry here in town, so hopefully when word gets out he’ll start getting some clients. He plans on advertising on Criagslist as well as in our local paper. I’m purchasing a domain name for him today so I can start building his website (I’ll let you know when it’s finished), and he was supposed to contact our landlord today to get the name of the guy who does the lettering for both the building and the door.

The name of the company is K and K Accounting and Kevin has already applied and been approved for a business license, so things are progressing nicely. We’re really excited about this new venture, but I’ll be honest, I’m also a bit nervous – I’ll rest easier when he gets a few clients under his belt. I plan on expanding my website business as well as try and find a part-time job in some office somewhere. (Kevin sent me a bunch of links to some job sites today, as a matter of fact). Now that my intestinal issues have been resolved (knock on wood), I should be set to work without any complications. (Again, knock on wood).

While I was in the hospital, Kevin not only took care of me, he spent a lot of time putting his office together as well as took care of the boys and he’s never been happier. He LOVES staying busy and it’s really fun to see his eyes light up whenever he talks about going into “HIS” office. I think he missed it and he certainly looks forward to being his own boss.

I feel really bad that I wasn’t available to help him put his office together, but I’m looking forward to having my own office space to do something with. Kevin acts pretty excited for me as well, though I suspect he’s excited about me getting out of the house and into some actual clothes (as opposed to sweats. I never leave the house so WHY would I dress up every day? It doesn’t make sense. But now I have a chance to get out into the working world and I’ll be honest, I’m looking forward to getting out of the house. I’ve been cooped up at home for the past seven years, it’s definitely time for a change).

I met Kevin for lunch today and took a short video of his office. (By the way, he has given me permission to talk about all of this as well as give you the name of his company. The more who know about this venture, the better, right??) I’m really proud of him and I’m quite confident that he’ll make this work. Kevin is the type of man who really puts 150% into anything that he does and he always succeeds. I’m really excited to see where he takes this next chapter of our lives.

Thanks for watching and wish us luck!

Christmas was really strange for us this year.

Mainly because I missed it. I was in the hospital.

But the boys were pretty adamant about waiting for me to come home before they did their Christmas, even though I tried to convince them that it was okay to go ahead without me. (It made me feel good that they didn’t want to, though. “It just wouldn’t be the same without you, mom.” Aww).

So, we celebrated our Christmas on the 27th, the night I came home from the hospital.

I was exhausted, but I took a pain pill and felt up to opening gifts, so that’s what we did.

My parents had brought over their gifts for us, along with the infamous stocking stuffers (my mom seriously gives the BEST stocking stuffers. We nearly always end up using them and they never fail to make us laugh. She’s really quite clever how she tailors our stockings to each of us perfectly. I don’t know how she does it).

So we began with their gifts first.

Dude got the cutest monkey – it’s a computer monitor duster. I really think he liked it.

Judging by Jazz’s face, he has no idea what this is, but once he opens it, I’m confident he’ll have fun with it. This is right up Jazz’s alley.

Jazz is smiling over this remote control vehicle because Kevin warned him he was going to steal it. I think he was looking forward to keeping it away from his dad.

The boys enjoy Manga and cartoon characters. Dude got this book:

And I got a great deal on some cartoon software that I thought the boys would enjoy playing around with.

Then the boys opened up their gifts from “Santa.”

Jazz got a few games, a new phone (which he LOVES), and a stuffed “Boo.” (It’s a character from the Mario games. He loves those character plushies).

Dude got a few games, a new phone (which he didn’t ask for, Santa got a really good deal on those phones, but which he has virtually NOT put down since he got it) and a hoodie depicting one of his favorite game graphics and which was WAY over priced, in my opinion.

Santa brought the boys Donkey Kong thinking Kevin might like to play it. (Kevin is a HUGE Donkey Kong fan).

Kevin got a NASCAR flash drive and the leg lamp from “A Christmas Story” from my folks. (I CRACKED up when he opened that gift. That’s totally going into the gag gift pile for next Christmas!!) I bought him a remote control helicopter (that he has since played with and bumped into our popcorn ceiling so much that I autormatically get the vacuum cleaner out whenever he starts playing with it) and a steering wheel to use with his Grand Turismo 5 Playstation 3 game. (He LOVES racing games).

My mom knitted me some more booties (and I wear them all the time because they’re so comfy), and being a big game person, I got Carcassonne (which is by the makers of Settler’s of Catan game and which my nephew recommended. I haven’t played it yet, but I trust my nephew when it comes to games) as well as a 5/6 Settler’s of Catan game expansion (so more people can play). My “big” gift was a new PINK laptop!!! Woohoo!

We had a really great time – our Christmas was short and sweet. It was just good to be HOME and surrounded by my guys.

I try not to think about missing Christmas too much – it’s just too depressing. I just keep telling myself that we have yet another family story to tell to our grandkids someday.

“Remember Christmas 2010, mom, when you were in the hospital getting your guts cut out?”

I can just hear the gory details now … 🙂

3 Words Aren’t Goals

The three words idea is built so that you can have something to reflect upon. As you know, goals should be SMART ( Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely). The way you use the two together is that you think up goals that will match up to your words.

Instead of writing a post about my 2011 goals (they’re pretty much the same as last years), I thought I would copy what Chris Brogan has done and choose three words that encapsulate all that I would like to accomplish this year.

First, let me just say, I’m really glad 2010 is over. It wasn’t exactly terrible, but it wasn’t exactly great, either. Between Kevin’s motorcycle accident and my intestinal issues it was rough, health wise. Thank God the boys stayed healthy.

But I’m done looking backward, let’s focus on this upcoming year …

This is something I promise myself I’m going to do every year and every year I fail. I’m simply not that great at focusing unless I am under a deadline or have 1001 things going at the same time. Then? My focus is LETHAL. Simply because by that time, I don’t have a choice, I HAVE to focus or risk dropping several important balls.

This year is no exception. Except it’s different.

Kevin started his own accounting business. He has leased office space and has been very busy these past weeks (while I’ve been in the hospital and absolutely no help whatsoever) getting set up. (Don’t worry, that blog post is coming, I promise!) He’s been talking about starting his own business for a very long time and we’re at a point in our lives where it’s actually feasible.

His office space has two offices – he’s converting one of those offices for me. I can run my web design business from there and I have to admit, it will be NICE to actually have an office to go and work from, not to mention a lot more professional whenever I have any meetings to set up as opposed to suggesting we meet at Panera Bread or the library.

I’m terrified. Mainly because I don’t know if I’m capable of drumming up any new business, (I’m not exactly the go-getter type when it comes to mingling in the business world), though I do have some ideas I might try this year just to see what might happen. In addition, I’m not sure my job really constitutes a full-time job – I have everything whittled down to a process and it really never takes me very long to actually DO my job – I would consider it more of a part-time job.

Which means I plan on finding a job very soon. I’d like to work part-time, but am definitely not opposed to a full-time position. I can EASILY handle my web design business AND working full-time, trust me. I know that sounds like a lot to handle, but I honestly can and let’s not forget that I FOCUS much better when I’m crazy busy so I’m honestly not worried about biting off more than I can chew.

I will also be busy helping Kevin get his business off the ground (creating his website, ordering his business cards, helping him around the office, etc) as well as making sure Dude graduates from high school this year and starts his new life afterward doing … whatever he decides to do AND teaching Jazz how to drive this year, too. It’s going to be a very busy year for us and I really need all the focus I can get at this point.

In addition to “creating” websites for my business that now needs to grow because I have an office I have to pay rent on (no pressure!), I will also be “creating” opportunities for Kevin, myself and hopefully the boys. I will also be busy creating graphics and various other projects that I’ve been wanting to conquer for a few years now (like CSS!) as well.

I also plan on creating many stories throughout the year as well.

All of this talk is great, but nothing will get done if I don’t ACT on it, so action is pretty critical to obtaining my goals for this year.

I’m looking forward to the challenges this year will no doubt hold.

I’m answering (In)Courage’s end-of-year questions today because it’s waaaay easier than trying to sum up my year on my own.

I’m lazy like that. 🙂

___________________________

1. What was the single best thing that happened this past year?

Kevin survived his motorcycle accident.

2. What was the single most challenging thing that happened?

Helping Kevin recover from his motorcycle accident and help him learn to walk again. By the grace of God, the man not only survived being hit head on, but he conquered his injuries and is now back to normal (save for a slight limp).

3. What was an unexpected joy this past year?

Being able to go ahead and take our family vacation to New York and cruise up to Canada. We weren’t sure we were going to make it because of Kevin’s accident, but he healed faster than anyone thought he would and with the help of a walker, a cane, and his family, we were able to go on our vacation. It was really hard on Kevin, but he endured and it was a sweet victory.

4. What was an unexpected obstacle?

My intestinal issues. Even though we all knew my problems would eventually catch up with me, we didn’t expect them to require emergency surgery or happen at the worst time of year. (Though I suppose it could have been worse – I could have been stuck in Canada when my problem flared up).

5. Pick three words to describe 2010.

Apprehensive
Uncertain
Challenging

6. Pick three words your spouse would use to describe your 2010 (don’t ask them; guess based on how you think your spouse sees you).

Strong
Stubborn
Determined

7. Pick three words your spouse would use to describe their 2010 (again, without asking).

Shocking
Painful
Persevered

8. What were the best books you read this year?

Based on the “5” rating on my books page:

The Pact by Jodi Picoult
Morning Comes Softly by Debbie Macomber
The Apprentice by Tess Gerritsen
Never Change by Elizabeth Berg
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

9. With whom were your most valuable relationships?

My husband, my boys and my parents.

10. What was your biggest personal change from January to December of this past year?

I think having Kevin home was probably my biggest personal challenge. His job liquidated because they couldn’t obtain funding (banks weren’t lending money, thanks Obama), so he ended up wrapping up the company from home. It was challenging to have him underfoot every day, but we managed.

11. In what way(s) did you grow emotionally?

I grow emotionally nearly every day. I’m constantly challenging aspects of my personality and trying to BE a better person. I’m working on it.

I can honestly say that I believe I’m a much better person than I have ever been. I’m still pretty opinionated, egotistical and judgmental, but I’m learning that life? Is not always black and white, no matter how much I try and tell myself that.

12. In what way(s) did you grow spiritually?

Kevin’s accident just strengthened my faith. I know, without one smidgen of doubt, that our faith in God is what saved him and saw us through that trying time. It also helped me become more publicly comfortable with my Christian faith and I’m now more free to share my faith with others. I would like to believe that the Truth or Tradition articles I post on this blog also bless some people out there and I can’t help but wonder if the challenges we’ve been through this past year were attacks from the adversary because we are being EFFECTIVE in spreading God’s wonderful truth.

13. In what way(s) did you grow physically?

I think I’ve grown more comfortable with my body over this past year. I certainly understand it better now that I’ve learned my intestinal issues were indeed an ISSUE. I’ve also learned to listen a little more carefully and to not put off going to see the doctor in the future.

14. In what way(s) did you grow in your relationships with others?

Kevin and I have grown even closer since his accident. We bonded on unexpected levels; it’s a much deeper bond than simply being man and wife. He completely relied on me for several weeks while he recovered and we have a much deeper understanding of each other as a result.

15. What was the most enjoyable area of managing your home?

We did a ton of stuff around the house this year:

New kitchen
Completely re-decorated the living room/dining room
Ripped up carpets and replaced with hardwood floors in living room/dining room.
Re-did the front bathroom
New roof
Repainted the front entrance

We still want to replace the carpet with hand-scraped hardwood in the family room sometime this next year.

I’m not a big homemaker, and making all of these changes was a big pain, but it looks really good and we’re really happy with the end results. I can’t imagine living anywhere else – I love our home.

16. What was your most challenging area of home management?

Getting through the kitchen remodel. That was a mess. I had to wash dishes in the bathroom for a few weeks and the dust alone was enough to drive a sane person crazy. But again, the end result was WELL WORTH the trouble.

17. What was your single biggest time waster in your life this past year?

Probably Twitter and Facebook, which is probably a pretty universal answer. But you know? I think my love affair with Twitter is about over. I’m finding it increasingly LAME.

18. What was the best way you used your time this past year?

I can’t answer this question – I’m still looking for the best way to use my time. I have a feeling though, this might be the year I find it. (BIG changes on the horizon for our lives for 2011).

19. What was the biggest thing you learned this past year?

That God is good, family is everything and I’m much stronger than I originally thought.

20. Create a phrase or statement that describes 2010 for you.

This year was filled with tears, prayers, gratitude and healing.

I have good days, I also have days where I’m so weak it’s hard to hold my head up.

It’s amazing how much energy your body requires to get over surgery. Just the simple act of taking a shower makes me huff and puff like I’ve just run a 5K and I have to sit down and catch my breath before moving on to putting on my makeup and drying my hair. What used to take me 45 minutes now takes me two hours to accomplish. It’s really frustrating.

In addition, my appetite alternates between RAVENOUS and NAUSEOUS. It’s the most bizarre feeling. I’m at once both hungry and sick at the same time. Though I am eating, it takes effort and I rarely finish anything anymore. I realize that my stomach is most likely the size of a walnut right now, but just eating a bowl of cereal almost seems more than it’s worth at times.

I have pain pills, but I don’t take them very often. The pain that I feel is mainly caused by my staples. Since it’s a vertical cut and my staples are in the folds of my skin, I feel them every time I bend or sit. Sometimes they’re so tight it’s like I caught some of my skin in my zipper and it pinches – hard.

Having a BM or passing gas is also sometimes really painful. I just have to breathe through it because there is no way in hell I’m holding any of that stuff in ever again. I’m assuming this is because my intestine has been pieced back together, but I’ll be sure to ask the doctor about that when I go in to see him on January 6th to have my staples removed.

Though this has been a very difficult week, it’s also getting better. I am getting stronger and my body is slowly adjusting. I’m still glad this happened though as it means I’ve finally gotten my problem fixed and now it’s just a question of finding my new normal.

A quick word about my roommates:

I had three while I was in the hospital. The first one was a sweet, sassy older woman who had had throat surgery. She had somehow developed some sort of pocket in her throat and it prevented her from swallowing. She was extremely nice and left me alone, but once in a while she would softly call out, “You okay over there, Karen?” Her daughter kept her company most of the time, though her son came in one time. They were both teachers and I learned that the man was actually a teacher at my son’s schools. We compared names and he thought he remembered my youngest son – typical. Jazz is a talker and would most likely be the one teachers remembered. He taught freshmen science so it’s very likely he had taught my boys.

The woman and her daughter got along extremely well and they gave each other a hard time, joking around and whatnot. It was really amusing to listen to them. They reminded me a lot of my mom and her mother – they just had a comfortable and easy going relationship. It made me miss my mom.

(By the way, mom called me a lot while I was in the hospital. I really appreciated talking to her and it made me feel like a little girl whenever I would hear the concern in her voice. Talking to her helped me stay grounded and encouraged me – everything was going to be all right).

The woman was gone by the time I got back from my endoscopy. (Yes. I had a colonoscopy AND an endoscopy. Lucky me, right?)

My second roommate arrived on the day of my surgery. I’m not really sure what she was in for, but she was recovering from surgery and they wanted to observe her over night, her husband was with her and he was very protective of her. She didn’t say much, her husband did most of her communication for her, but the few times she spoke she seemed nice enough. I don’t remember much from the night after my surgery, but I do remember waking up to this woman’s husband yelling. He apologized profusely for his abruptness. He was a Vietnam Veteran and sudden noises would cause him to jerk awake and yell in reaction to his time at war. It only happened a few times that night, but it was enough to disturb me. I didn’t mind, really, it sort of kept my mind off my own troubles, at least temporarily. They left Christmas Eve day.

My third roommate arrived on the day I was due to be released from the hospital. She had had a tumor removed from her bladder and she was expected to be released the next day. She talked, non-stop, from the MOMENT she arrived. And I mean, non-stop. She recanted every bit of her surgery at least a hundred times and she spoke with a slow … southern … drawl. To top it off, she didn’t have her hearing aids in so everyone had to repeat their questions no less than four times.

She drove me absolutely mad within five minutes and I thanked God that I wouldn’t have to deal with her over night. She was a sweet lady, but extremely slow, not only in speech, but overall, though some of that might have been because she was still a bit sedated. In fact, her family popped their head around the curtain to apologize for her. “Sorry about this,” they said. “She likes to talk.”

That was the understatement of the year. In fact, she talked so much, even the nurses gently chided her and reminded her that she was sharing the room and to have a little respect for her roommate. I had to listen to her all morning until my doctor finally came in around 12:30 that day to officially release me. I was never so glad to get out of there in all my life. Another few hours and they would have had to lock me in a looney bin. Seriously.

Christmas Day – 2010

I woke up to silence. Whenever you’ve been in the hospital for a while, you notice when it’s quiet. I had my room to myself and very nearly the entire floor to myself. The place was virtually empty. The only people left were likely emergency cases like myself.

Christmas Day was uneventful for me. I walked around the floor several times (to show the nurses that I was getting around on my own well enough and because I was bored out of my mind in my room all by my lonesome), and a few patients had decorated their rooms with tiny Christmas trees and their families had brought all of their gifts up to celebrate Christmas together. I regretted, more than once, that my family hadn’t decided to go ahead and celebrate Christmas at the hospital and I felt lonely, sad and very sorry for myself.

It was not a very joyous Christmas for me or my family.

It was a quiet day – I watched TV, surfed the ‘net, pooped (no less than SIX times, thank you very much), talked to my mom, my guys, slept and tried not to be bitter about spending Christmas at the hospital. In short, I was a pathetic mess, but I tried hard not to let the nurses see how depressed I was. Remember, it was all about convincing them to let me go home.

The day after Christmas was more of the same. I walked, I forced myself to eat solid food (even though I didn’t eat much, it was enough to show the nurses that I could handle it), I watched TV, slept, pooped, surfed the ‘net and longed to go home. The doctor on call was impressed with my progress. He said that many patients who had the same sort of surgery as me took a minimum of five or six days to recover enough to go home, but considering I was doing so well, he was going to recommend I go home the next day – just four days after my surgery.

Since I was eating and drinking so well on my own, the nurses unhooked my IV and I was a free woman. They left me alone Sunday night save for one time to come in and take my vitals and I was able to get some pretty good sleep that night.

Monday morning, they allowed me to take a shower (which was SOOOOO HARD to get through but I managed) and I got dressed, packed up my stuff and impatiently waited for my doctor to finally show up around lunch time to get the process started on allowing me to go home.

Kevin came and got me and we got home around 3:30 Monday, December 27th. I took a pain pill around 6:00 that evening, had a little dinner and felt okay enough to participate in our Christmas by 8:00 that evening.

But that’s another post.

So, all in all, I was in the hospital for a little over a week. I went in on December 18th, went home on December 20th, went back on December 22nd and was finally released December 27th. Even though I wish the timing had been better on this whole episode, I’m so glad that my intestinal issues are over and we can all get back to normal.