Blessings / Update

Monday was my surgery - and I have so much to be thankful for.

I'm thankful that my sister in law, Kate, took so much time to write thoughtful e-mails to me when I decided to write to her about what I thought was another miscarriage.  I hadn't told hardly anyone that I was pregnant yet, but I just wondered why this miscarriage seemed so different than the first one.  Kate felt that she should advise me to go to the doctor, but she didn't want to sound bossy, so it took her 2 hours to write one e-mail to me.  When I read it, I just knew that I should go to the doctor.  It helped me get past my fuzzy-headedness.

I am thankful for modern medicine.  I am a big believer in natural healing, but there are times when conventional doctors have their place, and this one one of those times.  I was so grateful to have an explanation of why I was so extremely sick, had the chills, was exhausted, and why this "miscarriage" wasn't going like I thought it should.  There was no way that I could have known that I had a large mass that was causing my pregnancy hormones to be hundreds of times higher than they should, which in turn caused my thyroid to become hyperactive, etc. 

I don't know what I would have done through the weekend if I hadn't gotten in to see the doctor on Friday.  I was going to try for Monday, but decided to call first thing Friday morning.  The tumor grew a lot just from Friday to Monday, and I was in so much pain, so sick, and just hurting!  If I wouldn't have known what was going on, I bet I would have tried to get the "miscarriage" going, instead of just resting.

I'm thankful for a loving husband who takes such good care of me.  All through the weekend, he was giving me my iron supplement, vitamins, and food, even when I just wanted to be left alone and felt too sick to take those things. 

I am thankful for all the prayers, fasting, and help that family and friends have been willing to give.  My surgery went well, and I already am feeling so much better.  Better than I have felt in months!  I can tell that it may take a long time for my strength to be back.  Yesterday I tried getting up and going downstairs for a couple of minutes, and I found out that even that was way too much.  (I'm bored from being bedridden for almost two weeks!  Luckily I'm tired enough to sleep a LOT.)

I'm so grateful that the surgery went so quickly and well.  We were really worried about blood loss, and I did come close to needing blood transfusions (my blood level got down to 7.5, and they would have done a transfusion if it got down to 7). 

Anne and Kristi, my sister-in-laws, have taken our children every day this week.  They've come home so happy each day.  Others have brought in food for us.  Since I had already been in bed for over a week before the surgery, there were no meals planned, and only sparse groceries, so the food is so appreciated! Our RS president brought over a delicious meal on Sunday with Beef Stew - it was the only thing that sounded good to me before my surgery.  Yum!

My Mom came up to take care of me, which is always a huge sacrifice for her.  She has had health problems of her own for over 40 years.  We all love having her here, and the children are so excited to have Grandma around.  Everything goes smoother when she is here. 

Next Monday I go in to the doctor again to find out what the pathology report says - hopefully no cancer.  Then I'll go in each week until my hcg levels go down to zero.  They'll need to be monitored for at least 6 months, staying at zero, to be sure that this tumor didn't leave any cancerous cells.

Thank you everyone for your prayers, help, and kind wishes.  I'm looking forward to being out of bed and becoming an energetic person someday!