A week later....

This time last week I was still sleeping. There are fleeting moments that I wish I was still sleeping like that. It was a good sleep. But shortly I would wake up and realize this surgery hurt. It really hurt. In my mind it was going to be like a c-section. Man oh man was I wrong. About 2 hours after "waking up"  they had a room for me. They wheeled me up to my room and asked me to move over into my bed. I think they were the ones on drugs, not me. Let me spare you the details but the next few hours were filled with lost of tears, lots of "why did I do this?", lots of trial and error with meds and lots of getting sick from the different meds.
About 2:30 they came to give me more meds and told me by shift change I need to get out of bed. Again, I was pretty sure they were the ones on heavy drugs. Around 3:30 they came to check on me again and I decided to get up and we walked around the circle. I felt like that took forever and felt like I had run 3 billion miles.
On Friday morning my doctor came in to visit me and told me I was doing fabulous and I could go home in a few hours if I wanted. What in the world?  I was planning a 3-4 day stay and in less than 12 hours you are telling me I can go home? We waited through the morning so I could walk a little more to make sure there wasn't a problem. Bill left to pick up Mom and the boys and while he was gone I saw the doctor and they said I could go home. We packed up and got home in just over 24 hours after my surgery began.
The first few days home were a blur. I slept a large amount of the time. Tuesday morning my Mom left. I don't know what I would have done without her. She was a huge help. On Tuesday my doctor called with test results. I must say I was anxious when I heard his voice as in my past experience the doctor doesn't call with good news, they leave that to the nurse or resident. He said because it was such good news he had to call me himself. The mass removed was not cancer! Hallelujah, Praise the Lord!  it was a mass with a blood flow that looked as cancer on the test because of the amount of blood. What a relief!
Today I have been up, at least sitting on the couch, a good portion of the day. We picked Isaac up from school and ran a few errands. We were gone less than an hour and sat in the car the majority of time and I was exhausted. I am in very little pain now which is crazy if you look at my stomach. 6 incisions,  lots of bruises and swelling but very little pain. I am amazed at whole good I feel, just struggling with little energy. I hate not having energy.
But God is so good. Without so many people covering me in prayer I cannot imagine I would be feeling this good.
For the most part, this recovery has not been this bad. I must say that without my husband I would be lost. It is so hard for me to release control of anything. But I haven't had a choice lately. He has been so wonderful and supportive and has had many sleepless night as I wake him up to get me a drink or medicine or help me out of bed. I am so thankful that God blessed me with such a wonderful man.
Thank you for you continued prayers.

the dreaded "c" word, stitches and school

What a week.
On Saturday, Noah slipped off the side of the pool and ended up with four stitches.
Today, Isaac went to his first day of school and loved it!
Tomorrow, is my last day of work for a month and my Mom comes!
On Thursday I will have part of my kidney removed.
What a week.

To make a very long story short, I went to the doctor for what I though was a bad gallbladder. Turns out they still aren't sure what is wrong with that part of me. In all the testing they found a mass on my kidney. After several doctors appointments, specialist appointments and finally an appointment with a surgeon, they all conclude that there is a 65-80% chance that the mass in cancer. They can't be sure until they remove it, but all the tests and scans indicate that it is most likely cancer.

The goods news is if it is cancer, the doctors words were I would be cured after surgey. No chemo or radiation just some follow up testing and then yearly testing. If it's not cancer then I will have yearly follow ups to make sure everything is still good.

So, it's been a long week at the Ford household. Still a long week ahead of us.

We have seen God work in so many ways.
Noah's fall could have been so much worse if he had just fallen differently. Not a doubt in my mind that God's hand of protection was on him. 
Isaac had a great first day of school with no problems. He wasn't even scared and asked several times when we were going to leave ;)
With my health issues it sounds like my case is the best case scenario. If it is cancer, the is the best kind to have. Surgery and your done. It was caught early so it has mot spread.

So I ask you to pray for our family. I should be in the hospital for 3-4 days and then a 3-4 week recovery.  Even though this is a major surgery it will be nice to have peace of mind and know for sure.