Category Archives: Health
Blogathon 2009: The Good, the Bad, and the Different for Next Year
So… this is the redux of my Blogathon 2009 experience.
Good
-participating this year even though I didn’t think I’d be able to.
-doing as well as I did fundraising — I count my number of sponsors as evidence of that.
-getting to be the charity liaison for the event.
-having a laptop that did not overheat and go out during the event.
-making it through though I’d had less than 4 hours of sleep over 48 hours by the time all was said and done.
-not having to dance the Timewarp on crutches this year
-watching people mortify themselves in the Blogathon Karaoke Challenge
-Drew & Sam’s visit
Bad
-being so out of it that I couldn’t walk straight or type coherently by the time all was said and done.
-the stifling heat of my study
-the difficulty in re-telling my story because it’s still painful
-my camera went dead early on so nothing exciting from me in the Blogathon photostream after awhile
-did not get through the projects I planned
Different for Next Year
-have wifi in the parsonage so I can change rooms to blog
-different charity (I change yearly)
-more drinking of water and less caffeine
-plan healthier snacks
You can pledge me until Friday by clicking on all the sponsor me links. I’ll probably close out comments on entries next week so that I don’t have a year of spam sitting in my Blogathon email.
Challenge!
I am less than $25 away from having raised $300 during Blogathon. Does anyone want to help put me over the top. Sponsor me here.
Come Hang Out With Me!!!!
I’m participating in Blogathon 2009 to raise money for the Preeclampsia Foundation as I’m a survivor of HELLP Syndrome. Please sponsor me. No amount is too small and it is all very much appreciated. My Blogathon site is here.
Finally Starting to Comprehend
I’ve had an *interesting* couple weeks. One reason is that I’m back to work three days a week. This is a good thing because I really did miss my co-workers (even the ones I was ready to kill before I went on maternity leave) and I actually missed my work. (I know… I’m crazy.)
The other reason is that I’m now starting to comprehend the gravity of what I was going through during the week of April 5th when Daniel was born. When I saw my doctor on May 1st to get clearance to go back to work, she showed me my hospital report and it was pretty sobering to say the least. My platelet level was down to 30% of normal and in addition to the HELLP Syndrome (the form of pre-eclampsia that I had), there was also a placental abruption and I was bleeding into my uterus. They didn’t know about the placental abruption until they cut me open to do the c-section to save my life from the effects of the HELLP Syndrome so really, I could have lost Daniel and eventually bled to death myself if they hadn’t discovered it at that point.
This is pretty scary to think about because if it had hit 24 hours earlier, I would have been home alone and I could have had seizures and other complications. They were already not telling me how sick I was at the time because they didn’t want to panic me but it was a little unnerving when they had to catheterize me because they didn’t want me walking around in case I had a seizure once I got down to the hospital in Great Falls. I also wasn’t aware that the Ativan they were giving me wasn’t to calm me down but instead to prevent the seizing. (I also wish they’d given me the Ativan BEFORE they tried putting the catheter in, but I can’t have everything I want.)
Faith-wise, I realized that I’m finally able to pray again. I seriously could not pray for myself during that week in the hospital and the fact that it was Holy Week was completely irrelevant to me at the time. While I was (and am still) definitely grateful for all the people who came to visit me, sent flowers, prayed for me, and thought of me, that gratefulness was (and is) covering some woundedness in my soul because I was REALLY angry that God allowed me to get so sick and that OMG I WAS LYING IN THE HOSPITAL AND MY BABY WAS IN THE NICU WITH TUBES STICKING OUT OF HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, it was Holy Week and we were commemorating Our Lord’s Passion — that didn’t change the fact that I was in my own personal hell and what exactly was God doing about it!?!?!?!?!?!?!? My doctor (who is seriously the most awesome person on the planet) was trying to talk me down one morning and was making allusions to all the Holy Week stuff and I was thinking “and your point is?????” It’s so crazy because Holy Week is my favorite week of the Church year and it’s usually a week that I’m seriously into. Not so much this year!
I finally realized how angry I was on Wednesday night as I was driving home from Great Falls and proceeded to have a pretty decent screaming match with God. Seriously, at the time I wanted to know where exactly He was while all this was going on, while I was spending days sobbing, and while I was suffering so much internally while being a sweet grateful person on the outside. And yes, I know what the answer is to that: He was present with me through the people and the outpouring of love from the community. But… I’m still a bit angry and wounded nevertheless and it’s taking some time to really come to terms with that.
While I was driving home on Saturday, the following song came on my iPod and it just completely fit the feelings I was having.
How I’m Doing
Daniel’s updates can be found here.
My incision is almost healed and hopefully the steri-strips will fall off one of these days.Â? There seem to be no after-effects from the pre-eclampsia and everything seems to have unswelled and gotten back to normal except for my right hand — still having tingling in my fingers.Â? The only thing that hasn’t recovered is my energy level — I’m still really exhausted all the time but that’s to be expected, considering the c-section and how sick I was.
We’re two weeks into what could be an 8-10 week stay in the NICU.Â? We’re commuting back and forth right now though I’ll be staying down here for a few days this weekend while Jon is out of town.Â? We get 2-3 care times with Daniel though only one is hands-on, depending on how he’s doing and what needs to be done.Â? We’re getting church stuff and personal errands done in the morning before we head down and Jon is going to be home all day tomorrow to take care of house stuff while I come down on my own.Â? I’m just now allowed to drive and I’m hoping it goes well tomorrow.
Faith-wise, it was weird having all of this take place during Holy Week.Â? I wasn’t even thinking in terms of the Passion because I missed Palm Sunday and was in the hospital for everything else.Â? I slept through church on Easter Sunday because I just wasn’t up to being around people and I had also just gotten out of the hospital the evening before.Â? It’s been really trying on my spirit though what I haven’t done is ask WHY.Â? It just doesn’t seem like a question that I want answered at the moment.Â? I know that I’m much more grateful for what I have each day and I’m living the admonition in Matthew 6:34 about not worrying about tomorrow because today has its own issues.
Please keep praying for us.Â? We appreciate everyone’s thoughts and prayers as they have helped tremendously.
A Little Confused
Someone in the pre-natal waiting room is obsessing about their grandchild being in a house that reeks of cat and dog…
and also obsessing about how much she wants a cigarette.
Maybe I’m just ignorant but isn’t the cigarette smoke worse for your grandchild than the cat or the dog?