An Anniversary That Won't Soon be Forgotten!

May 12th started out like any other day for me. I arrived home on Tuesday just after 11. I laid in bed forever wishing for sleep. Watched the clock roll over and silently told my husband "happy anniversary". I think I finally fell asleep around 2am. Nothing out of the ordinary. Little did I know that in a a few short hours my day would be upside down.

Around 5 am I awoke to some pain in my side. I attributed it to normal "female stuff" so I got up and immediately took some ibuprofen. I dinked around waiting for it to kick in. OK, so it was taking a little longer than usual and this pain was BAD. I kissed Nathan goodbye and reminded him of my obligations for the day. There ended my "normal" day. Within 20 minutes I was in excruciating pain. Pain I had never experienced before (and remember, I have 3 children). Nothing made it better. I tried every position I could think of. I knew this was beyond the help of ibuprofen. I called Nathan and told him I needed to go the the hospital. I then called my best friend, Kinzi and asked her to come take care of the kids. It seemed like an eternity before Nathan got there. He could tell this was more than "female stuff". He kept asking if he needed to call an ambulance, but I said no. I didn't want to scare the kids any more than they already were. He helped me get dressed and into the car just as Kinzi pulled up. He gave her instructions and off we went. I tossed and turned in the car trying to get comfortable. But the pain just got worse. I prayed that God would help me find that "place" where I could breathe through it. Finally I relented and instructed Nathan to pull over at the fire station/medic post in Derby and get me some help. I was quickly put into the ambulance where they hooked me up to an IV, shot in pain meds and took me to the hospital. The paramedic quickly realized that I was beyond their help. When two doses of painkillers didn't phase my pain, he knew I wasn't faking it. We pulled into the ambulance bay and I was inside the hospital in no time. For hours I writhed around in pain. I had nurses and doctors poking and prodding me. I layed there crying out in pain because I didn't know what else to do. They provided me with more painkillers on 2 different occassions, only to see they weren't helping. I was put through a CT scan, an external ultrasound and an internal ultrasound. Then, more waiting. Nathan and my parents took turns holding my hand and trying to keep me calm. All the while, I could read the worry and helplessness on their faces. After a while the doctor came in and told me that they believed I had a twisted ovary (known as ovarian torsion) and that I had a 4cm cyst inside my right ovary that looked bad. Surgery was the only answer. With that I was given another shot of painkillers (that actually worked) and the rude nurse knew I wasn't faking my pain. Calls were made and plans were put into place. I was told I'd be taken upstairs where I would wait for the surgical team to be ready for me. Next thing I know is they are coming into my ER room and taking me directly to surgery. They decided that it was too dangerous to wait. They wheeled me down to surgery where I kissed Nathan goodbye. A half hour later I was getting drugs and that was all I could remember. The next thing I remember is them waking me up in recovery. And I was no longer in any pain. (Thank you God!) Soon I was taken upstairs and put in a room where I was shown pictures of what they found once they got inside. It was unbelieveable! The surgeon said he'd never seen anything like it. Their initial thought of ovarian torsion was correct. My right ovary was extremely twisted. However, the cyst theory was incorrect. What they thought was the cyst was my actual ovary. Due to the twisting it had allowed blood in, but it wouldn't allow it to flow out. My ovary at the time of removal was larger than my uterus and completely full of blood. All you could see was a large, purple mass. It was insane looking. I thanked God for taking care of me and guiding the doctors and nurses and surgeon. I was a very lucky woman.

So, that was how I spent my 9th anniversary. In a hospital hooked up to monitors, having surgery and recovering. I was released the next day with orders to "not overdo it". I must tell you, I'm not so great at following orders. But, I know the power of prayer does work. I had so many people praying for me and all of our prayers were answered. I never meant for this anniversary to be so memorable, but it sure turned out that way. I guess God has his reasons for everything.