Surgery

Both Brad and I woke up early Tuesday morning and it felt like forever waiting to go down to surgery. I had to take some medicine early and couldn't fall back asleep. It was definitely a very emotional time for us. The night before I had "the talk" with him, you know the one where if something happened to me. We had it before but it was always the other way around - with Brad deploying and all. My dad came up that morning to see me before going in and our small group leader also stopped by to pray with us. I think they finally came to get me a little before 9.

I went down to pre-op where they were getting me ready. I guess one of the questions they ask is what they are doing to me. It was weird saying "they are removing a tumor in my large intestine." It made it seem so much more real. They must have given me the good stuff because the next thing I remember was waking up after surgery. I immediately felt the NG tube in my nose and it was terrible. I asked how long I had to have it and they said a couple days. I just remember saying "I can do it, I can do it, I can do all things through Christ who strengths me." I bet that sounded funny coming from someone half drugged. It seems pretty quick after I woke up until they were ready to take me back to the room. The doctor has already called  Brad to let him know that the surgery was successful. Brad there in the room was such a sight for sore eyes. He just held my hand for the longest time. My dad held my other hand for a while and Brad read through some verses that our friend, Mrs. Baker had written out for us. God's word was so comforting. I was definitely out of it most of that day and very uncomfortable with the catheter and tube. I could barely move but then I would get sore from laying the same way for long periods of time. At one point the doctor came in to check on us and confirmed, from the pathology report, that the tumor was indeed malignant. I had a large intestine resection removing about 5 inches. The incision was also about 5 inches starting just below my belly button with about 15 staples. The tumor was about the size of an apple and he estimated it had been growing for about 2 to 3 years. I had almost complete blockage in my large intestine. They would tell us later that when doing the colonoscopy that he couldn't get past the tumor with a regular scope he had to switch to a smaller scope.

I can't believe I am posting this but here I am after surgery.  

One highlight of the day was all the flowers that kept coming in. From our church, the squadron and so many friends. They really brightened up the room! During the surgery Brad sent out an update on Facebook and it seemed like in minutes I had people praying for me all over the world. I know facebook can have its downfalls but it is an easy way to get information out to a lot of different people. My phone was blowing up that day with texts and facebook comments and I loved every one of them. Everyone was such an encouragement to me. I'll try to post more about recovery soon....