" Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful." Hebrews 10:23
On Saturday I sat at the computer and wrote the last blog entry having no idea what was going to happen that night. I wasn't feeling great from about noon on but I wasn't going to let that stop me. We had plan to go to our friends Jon and Jen's that night to hang out for a little bit and let the boys play. I figured I could lay on their couch just the same as I could lay on mine so we went. As we sat there the pain in my stomach got worse and I was feeling more and more nauseated. Looking back I am very thankful we went to Jon and Jen's that night because likely I would have just gone to bed and who knows what would have happened but they insisted that I go to the hospital. So Rob took Isaac home, Jon stayed home to put their boys to bed and Jen & I headed to Concordia Hospital. We arrived around 9pm...and then we waited and waited and waited. I was able to get comfortable sitting there but I still had the pain and knew I needed to be there. Around 3:30am I was finally brought to a room and about 4:30am the doctor came to see me. He said that he was 80% sure that I had an appendicitis. My white blood cells were up and I had pain on my right side but I didn't have a fever so that is why he wasn't 100% sure. He wouldn't be able to confirm until I had a CT scan sometime after 8:30am. After he left I just looked at Jen and burst into tears. I know that God has a plan and we need to trust him but aren't we going through enough?! At this point I don't think we will know why this is all happening right now but we still trust in a God who is faithful. Jen went home just before 7 am after pulling an all nighter with me and about 10 minutes later Rob arrived. About 9:30am I was taken to my CT Scan and then at 10:30am a doctor came and confirm what I feared. I had an appendicitis and would be transferred to another hospital shortly and have surgery that day.
After a bumpy ambulance ride I arrived at St Boniface and met a lovely nurse and lots of doctors. Just after 2pm I went into surgery which was less than an hour long. I had never had surgery before so was a little anxious about being put under and Rob had never had to watch me be taken away so he was anxious too. It was so weird to be doing a role reversal but it was a good perspective for both of us. I am happy to say that my surgery went very smoothly and they were able to remove my appendix before it ruptured laproscopically. This means that my recovery is 2-4 weeks versus 6 weeks if they had to do a bigger incision. It also means I could go home much quicker so on Monday morning, less then 24 hours after my surgery, I was able to come home. I think that in a normal circumstance an appendectomy wouldn't be super hard to deal with but going into the week we had it was very overwhelming. I am doing well, just moving very slowly. I had to miss some of Rob's appointments this week but I am happy that I was able to be at some of them and his mom went to the rest. I am not allowed to lift anything and can't even bend down to do up my own shoes. I am told to just be patient and give my body time to heal. Within a few weeks I should be back to normal and will be able to help Rob and look after Isaac.
Another big help is my best friend Sarah from Ontario was able to completely cancel her life for a week and make arrangements for everything to be looked after at home so she could come here for the week. We also had someone offer to pay for her flight which we are so grateful for. So on Monday evening, a few hours after I was home from hospital, she arrived and is here until Saturday. It has been great to have someone here to do laundry, clean the kitchen, get groceries and play with Isaac amongst other things. Both Rob and I are so grateful she was able to come and help us out.
Rob also had a big week this week. On Monday he started radiation and has had 4 treatments so far. They are going well but usually the first 2 weeks you don't have many side effects. Tuesday was the start of chemo. He will have 3 treatments throughout the next 6 weeks. They also give him extra hydration through IV for a few days plus a lot of anti nausea pills. Thankfully the anti nausea seem to be working. Rob is definitely not his usual self but he has taken this week very well. His biggest side effects to this point are an upset stomach and very little appetite at times and fatigue. Rob doesn't normally sleep very much but he is very tired now even after a few hours. We are hoping that each chemo are the same and that the weeks between give him time to recover. We will be glad for the weekend because we will have a break of being at the hospital. Adding up the hours Rob has been there this week for appointments for over 26 hours!
On top of starting radiation and chemo this week he also had follow up with Dr Nason and Dr Hayakawa ( his plastic surgeon who did part of his first surgery). Both were pleased with how Rob was healing but said that he needed to get through the rest of the treatment before any other steps were taken. Rob was encouraged to keep his tongue moving and practice swallowing so that his tongue doesn't stiffen up.
We just never know what we can handle but I can tell you one thing for sure, we could never handle any of this alone. We have an amazing support of people surrounding us, praying for us, bringing us meals, helping with Isaac, and just being there for us. Most importantly we have a relationship with a God who is faithful and loves us more than we will ever know.
Love Karen
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