Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Plan....B....C...Heck! Plan Q!

You know what they say about "plans."

Well, lots of people have lots of things to say about plans and none of it goes like this..."Plan to craft all vacation and get that time uninterrupted."

So, in a nutshell:

Two weeks ago today my parents arrived from Florida for an early Thanksgiving. While on the ride home from the airport I received a call from my beloved Dr. Chung* with the news that I had large and possibly dangerous uterine fibroids that "really should come out."

I called the lovely Dr. Dwight* (truly an angel among men) and he informed me that an "ab myomectomy" would require 3-6 weeks recovery.

Miss vacation or miss school? What about traveling to my brother's wedding in NJ on Dec. 20th? I *really* did not want to miss school. So I prayed that I could have the surgery while on break. At the same time, I needed to be recovered in time for my brother's wedding.

There was so much to think about. In the meantime, we enjoyed our time together.
Copy (2) of Copy of Flat Stanley 051

Flat Stanley at Paramount on the set of Dirty, Sexy, Money.

We enjoyed an early Thanksgiving with about 50% of the trimmings. My mom helped me get a lot of errands done-just in case they could schedule the surgery.

Flat Stanley 098

"Flat Abby" also came to visit that weekend. It was a full house.

I prepared as though it was a possibility, but really doubted that could get organized so quickly the week of Thanksgiving.

I mentally prepared for missing school in January. My mother flew home.

By some miracle of medical scheduling, Monday morning I received word that the surgery would be in two days. I quickly decorated for Christmas and cooked up some meals to freeze.

I was in surgery at Good Samaritan one week later. It happened so quick that I was only able to Google about 100 horror stories and join one Yahoo group.

It went textbook well. Much better than any nightmare I might have had. They removed three golf ball sized fibroids. It freaks me out that there was anything resembling sports equipment undetected inside of me!

Now, I have been home for a week. My mom is back to police my activity. Basically, I am bed bound. Yesterday, I did ride along to return some videos and the city never looked so beautiful!

Today, I have another field trip- to the doctors and if I am good, maybe Denny's.

I am feeling less sore and walking a bit better each day. Really and truly, the body's ability to heal is nothing short of miraculous.

So, happy belated Thanksgiving! I am so very thankful for my doctors and the excellent, caring staff at Good Samaritan Hospital. I would shout my gratitude from mountain tops if I could get out of bed! In the past few years I have had less than stellar experiences with medical professionals. I have routinely felt like a number among numbers. Now, I have found the best medical team a girl could want and it has changed my life. Spending Thanksgiving in the hospital almost seemed appropriate!

*Truly, if you live in Los Angeles and you are looking for doctors who are medicine for all the right reasons, these two are for you!

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh Yikes! Jane, I'm so glad to hear that things went well but sad for you since I know this isn't how you'd planned to spend your 'summer'. Rats! I do hope that you'll be well enough to travel for the wedding. Take care, and take it slow! I'll be thinking of you!

Nutsy Coco said...

I'm sorry that you haven't had a fabulous crafting vacation, but very happy to hear that you're recovering well and have found a great time of doctors!

jodi said...

Good Grief!! I'm so glad that everything worked out though and hope that you will make it to the wedding. So nice that your mom is there to help.

Sarah and Jack said...

Oh no! I hope you are on the mend soon.

(And wow, that is one large fibroid they are removing in that link.)

HollyLynne said...

WOAH! I'm so sorry you had to go through all of this! I'm glad you're recovering nicely and hope you're 100% in time for your brother's wedding.

Anonymous said...

Is the set of "Dirty, Sexy, Money" an appropriate place to take poor Flat Stanly?

Jane said...

No worries Anonymous! Flat Stanley didn't know where he was. He just thought he was on a "NY street scene." I know he's just a kinder!

Meg said...

So glad to hear the surgery went well. My husband's cousin had many, many fibroids removed about five years ago. There were so many and they were so big, the doctor would have recommended a hysterectomy, but he knew she wanted to try to have kids (but the dr. wasn't optimistic)...she was pregnant within two months of the surgery, and baby #2 is due in January!

I wish you a speedy recovery and a fun time at the wedding.

Jenn said...

I hope you're feeling better!

I love the 'Flat Stanley' and 'Flat Abby' - we did something like that to "bring" my absent brother along on a trip with my mom and sister - we had a paper that had his name on it and would hold it in the middle and pretend like we had him in the middle of our photo - it was kinda hilarious. Well, to us. I'm glad someone else has a similar sense of humor. :)

Mama Said Sew said...

I've had Crafting Plan Interuptus here too. Nothing as exciting as your story. Glad to hear you're on the mend. :)

Jersey said...

I'm thinking of you, my friend!