I'm doing MUCH better!

I went to the doctors yesterday for a follow-up visit. I knew my appendix had burst and it was a mess in there, but he said there was also an abscess and that he had to do a LOT of cleaning of my insides. After examining me, he was really surprised at how well I was doing and told me I was "a very good healer!" That made me feel really good! I guess all that beer drinking has finally paid off. hehe (kidding).

He also said I could lift more than 15 pounds now (he said I have very good abdominal muscles and there's no worry of a hernia), which made Maddie VERY happy. When I got home I picked her up and she did NOT want down, probably making up for lost time. She wanted to sit with me and even wanted me to walk her to sleep, which she usually hates. While my back got sore (and is still a little sore today) from holding her, I did miss that and enjoyed it.

I've got one more visit with him the end of April when he said everything should be fully healed. WooHoo! Man, it was quite the experience but I'm glad I'm in good enough shape to heal quick.

One bummer still. He said not to play my trumpet or workout on the eliptical machine until he sees me again at the end of the month. :( Oh well, better to rest and be 100% ok than push it and have problems. I'll have to really watch what I'm eating so I don't gain 50 pounds. haha

Playing at the Park

On Sunday (3/25) we went to a favorite park of ours and let the kids play for awhile. As usual, Maddie wanted to swing for most of the time, she really loves to swing! Riley had a blast climbing on everything, just like little boys do. Last time we were here there were a bunch of bigger kids playing a little too wild and Riley didn't have fun. This time there weren't too many people so he was able to play a lot and enjoy himself.

As for myself, I'm at work today, it's 11:30am, I've been here since 6:45am, and I'm feeling pretty darn good! A little tired because I didn't sleep well last night, but that was probably just the anxiousness of returning to work. I'm actually being productive, which I thought I wouldn't be, so I'm quite happy! I think I'll sleep well tonight though. :)

Wiggles Concert & Who Needs an Appendix?

March 15th was The Wiggles concert. Maddie really loved it, I was told she was dancing in the isle all the time. And I was told Riley didn't enjoy it as much and was in a little bit of a mood. I think his friends at preschool have him thinking The Wiggles is for little babies and if he likes it he's a little baby. Deep down I think he had fun though. My Mom got a lot of great photos.

I'm sure you're wondering why I didn't get any photos and why I said, "I was told...". Well, that's because on Tuesday the 13th, I woke up Marci at 6am and told her I needed her to take me to the hospital. All night I couldn't sleep, couldn't get comfortable, my stomach hurt as did a little lower and to the right. Sure enough, when I got there the doctors confirmed what I thought - my appendix needed to come out!

It started Saturday the 10th when I spent six hours with seriously liquid diarrhea - ya, I know, EWWWW! I mention this because one thought as to why appendix's need to come out is they get infected by some poop getting into it. After I told the doctors about my Saturday, they were pretty sure that is what caused the problem. Sunday my stomach hurt, then it moved to my appendix area. Then it felt better, so I didn't worry. But Monday morning it hurt again. I was going to make a doctor appointment but then it felt better. Then around 11am it started hurting again and this time didn't stop. It hurt A LOT and just got worse. The doctors are pretty sure sometime Monday afternoon it burst. I knew I should have gone to the doctor then, but I kept thinking it was just a cold or something. Very stupid. I didn't sleep much at all that night and should have woken Marci up sooner, but I didn't want her to panic or worry about what to do with the kids. Again, very stupid.

The doctors were also pretty sure it had burst, which it had. The surgeon said if I'd waited another day I probably wouldn't have made it. Ya, that's scary! He also said it was a really big mess and took a lot to clean everything out and I had a little drain bulb on my side to drain all the stuff they used to clean me out. Fortunately, he was able to do it with three little incisions instead of needed to make a bigger cut.

When I got into the room it was very hard to move. I had a bar over my head to pull myself up with, but couldn't because it hurt too much. Each day I got better and was able to move better. They had me taking a walk four times a day. That first one was really tough and took me forever to get out of the bed, and I was walking quit hunched over. By the last day I had no problems walking and was standing up almost straight. The doctors were very happy with how well I was healing.

I did have troubles peeing so I had to have a catheter - ICK!!! On the last day they took it out and said if I didn't pee they have to put it back in and leave it in for a week! Man, I never tried to pee so much in my life and was never so happy when I finally did! hahaha

What really hurt was when they took that drain thing out. The doctor told me it would hurt a lot, I braced myself, then he pulled it out. At first I thought something in me was just cramping up, then I realized it wasn't a cramp but serious pain. It took me a minute to be able to say something other than some major cuss words. I apologized a lot and the doctor said, "Heck, if someone just pulled two feet of tubing out of me I'd cuss like a sailor too!" Oh man that hurt a lot! Took me about three minutes before I could breath relaxed again.

Came home Friday the 16th. At first I was moving really slow, but each day got a lot better. This last Thursday I finally put real clothes on because I had to go get my drivers license renewed. Then last night we went to our usual Friday dinner. That was a little tough, but the burger tasted very good and it felt so nice to get out of the house.

I'm feeling almost normal. The pants are still a little tight and I don't have a lot of energy, but I feel ready to go back to work on Monday. It was quite the experience. I should have said something sooner and next time I'm feeling pain or odd, I will. The hardest part right now is I can't play my trumpet for another two weeks, and worse, I can't pick up the kids. Hopefully I'll be able to do that next week, we'll find out after my follow-up appointment this week.

Anyhow, it's been quite an interesting couple of weeks and things are almost back to normal, which is good cause there's a lot of stuff to do around here, like mowing the lawn. haha

We Have Fish!

We now have added four Betta fish to our zoo! Friday Marci informed me she told Riley he could get a fish. At first I was upset because she didn't run it by me at all. But then she told me she talked with others are read how fish can help kids learn responsibility - they learn to care for the fish, feed them, clean their tank, etc. So I thought sure, sounds good.

We went to Petco to get some goldfish and ran into a very nice and knowledgeable employee named Morgan. After listening to him for a bit, I could tell he was nerdy enough about fish that I could trust what he said. LOL! Seriously, he did know his fish and his stuff and was extremely helpful. He talked us out of goldfish and into female Betta's. He said they are more hearty, live longer - 3-5 years - and more enjoyable. Worked for us, so we ended up getting three Betta's. The next day we got a fourth just in case two decided to be friends and keep the third out - probably really over thinking it.

Riley LOVES the fish and is doing a good job taking care of them. Maddie also enjoys the fish a lot. So we have dogs, birds, and fish. Now all we need is a cat to complete the circle of life. hahahaha

Riley's in charge of Maddie - LOL!

I got this in an email from my Mom, I found it very funny!

On the way back to your house today (it was just me, Richard, as Dad was home with the Direct TV guys), I reminded Riley that we needed to be quiet so Maddie could take a nap. He said he didn't want her to take a nap. I said that since you were going to Safari Sams tonight I was sure Mommy and Daddy would appreciate it if she had a nap. He said "no they don't care and I don't want her to take a nap. She's my sister and I'm in charge of her and I don't want her to take a nap!" I finally thought, oh well...... As we were at the stop light after Sunset, I thought it looked like she was asleep. I asked Riley if she was and very loudly he said, "Maddie are you asleep? MADDIE!!" But luckily she was completely asleep. I thought that was cute -- she is his sister and he's in charge of her!