It seemed like November 5th was a day that I couldn't think beyond. It was a like a due date of one of my kids or something. It was such a big day for our family and something we had spent so much time praying for. I had some sweet friends come over and pray for me before it was time. All of them (and others) have done SO much for us during this time. I can't even begin to recall all the things but I am forever grateful for ALL of it!!
My mom sent me this picture and this was exactly what we've been praying for.....the Lord to guide my surgeon's hands and be right there in that room with him.
The day went well. I was in surgery for a little over 3 hours. They removed over 60% of my liver which was over 2lbs! But here's the best news.....they got ALL the cancer....clear margins!!! It was all a success and we were overjoyed! I was in ICU for a little over 24hours but then they had me up and walking.
From my blood work they knew something was wrong with my bile duct. This is common because you have many ducts and some can be damaged in the surgery. They did an MRI on Sunday and confirmed that it was clogged. My bilirubin was rising so they needed to go back in an open up my bile duct. So my first procedure was the GI team. They did an endoscopy that went up into my GI tract to try to insert a wire in the bile duct. We found out that sadly that was unsuccessful. So they scheduled another procedure for the next day with the IR (Intervention radiologist) team. The inserted an exterior drain in my liver and tried to put a drain in the bile duct through the top but were unsuccessful. Thankfully the outer drain was allowing the bile to drain but they still needed a better solution. Wednesday they decided to use both teams and work together to snake a bird down and pull it through to unclog and thankfully it WORKED! They were able to insert a small stent to open up the bile duct which allowed the fluid to drain. I started capping the drain the next day and it was successful! So needless to say this was unexpected and made me stay several additional days which was very hard.
The boys had tickets to the Cowboy game so they all came up and saw me.
They are much more college football fans than NFL but they still had a great time.
Also, our class camping trip was that weekend so Lucy got to go and stay with the Wagners. She had a great time!
Lots of girls!
Thankful for online services!!
Final one!!! And finally it worked!
I'm a bit out of it but thankful it worked!
That night at church was dress up night.....Tyson, Tate and Noah went as Napoleon Dynamite characters. They were hilarious.....
This man is a champ....so much time sitting with me and being with me in the hospital.
Tyson got to go to playoff game with McCormicks.....we won! He had a blast!
Finally getting to bust out! This was my sweet nurse for several days....Megan!
This was my home for 10 nights!!!
going home!
It was Friday afternoon and around pick up time so we surprised all the kids and I hid in the car. It was awesome :)
Tyson got to go celebrate Travis that night at Top Golf!
The boys headed to College Station that weekend for an Aggie game so me and Lucy stayed at home. She was the best nurse :). She washed the puppies in our shower.
That day my dad got an award for ALL his many years of serving at pee wee football for Optimist. He deserves a HUGE honor because of all the many many hours. So proud of him! And kinda awesome that he finished when Tyson was done with it.
They got to meet up with Kiersi for lunch!
She's the cutest.....I was sad not to get to see her but they all had so much fun! The Duncan boys went with them too.
On Sunday, Lucy got to go celebrate Piper at the sand courts! They had treats and played volleyball!
Basketball pics for Tyson!
So all was going well until Monday. I just didn't feel right all day. I had diarrhea and had stomach pains bad. My sister came to help me put up Christmas decorations. I was pretty tired and slept off and on. That afternoon after we picked up the kids from school I came home and started having chills :(. Not good. I knew something was wrong. By the time Logan got home I was shivering and had over 100 fever. We had strict instructions to call my doctor is I had any fever or chills so Logan called my surgeon. He wanted us to get to the hospital immediately. I started crying and was so sad because I knew something was wrong. Thankfully he called ahead and they were expecting us. They got me right back and started testing everything. I had bloodwork, scans, etc. I was in some intense pain....I think the worst I've ever felt. They finally figured out the next day that I had spontaneous bacterial peritonitis. So they started me on strong antibiotics and admitted me into the hospital.
Meanwhile Melody had the kids helping her decorate the Christmas trees. I was sad to miss out but they had a great time with her.
Neon night at PreTeen!
I had great nurses taking care of me....Kate was my night nurse and my absolute favorite. I was actually in the room right next to my last room...kinda funny. So I definitely knew the place quite well!
Cassy brought Lucy over on Thursday to spend a few hours with me. She missed school but it was so worth it. I needed it. I missed my kids SO much!!!
My sweet friends came to see me too. It was just what I needed.
And my sweet sister was by my side once again. She stayed several nights so Logan wouldn't have to come back over and could actually work some. She brought me treats and Kayden came too!
Lucy got a BIG surprise on Friday afternoon. My mother in law came back down with a side kick....NORAH! Lucy was so shocked. It was awesome.
One of my sweet Boerne friends, Chantel, was in town for a soccer tournament and got to come see us at the hospital on Saturday. It was so good to see her!!!
We let Weston drive him and Caleb over and they came Saturday afternoon to see me. It's never a dull moment with Caleb so he was all over the place but I loved being with them.
Weston did great driving and I'm glad he is getting the experience!
Sunday morning my surgeon came in and told me he was letting me go home. He said I was doing great and he felt like it was time.
Tyson had a soccer tournament so after his game they came and picked me up! It was the best and I was SO thankful to be going home! 16 nights total in the hospital in November.....that is a lot!
Because of all that Greg has gone through with his heart attack, Logan decided to get all checked out. They wanted to do a heart catheter to make sure all was well. Thankfully they came out and said he has a beautiful heart!! It was funny to see him in the hospital gown this time!! We have to laugh or we'd be crying about it all the time :)
Tyson's buddy Reid asked him to go to Six Flags for the day. They had an absolute blast....best day is how Tyson described it. He is finally tall enough to ride all the rides and so that's what they did!
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