This story starts back in August when I returned to UT for the school year. I had a lot of mixed emotions about coming back to school. I was happy to be out of my parents house, but sad at the same time, because I was still going to miss them and my little brother. I was happy to be done dealing with the parents I nannied for, but sad to be leaving the little girls (and sad to be going back to my laundry job). I was happy to return to Provo, but sad that I wouldn't be living with my cousin, the best roommate ever, who is getting married in less than 2 weeks. I was already coming into the school year feeling very, very stressed and just up and down about all kinds of things. I thought everything would be okay and I'd get used to things, but it actually just got worse. My first Sunday in my ward I practically burst into tears because I was so overwhelmed at the thought of meeting new people and trying to make new friends by myself because all my roommates had boyfriends. My classes also started out totally awful. I was only taking 12.5 credits and working 12 hours at my Laundry job, but with the weird assignments and all the work it felt like a much harder load.
Emergency Room
One Thursday night, a few weeks into the school year, I started to have some stomach pain. Well, I obviously did not have time to be sick! I had far too much to do. So I went up to the JFSB, looked at the Education in Zion Exhibit, took a 15 minute nap up there (it's very peaceful!), and then went to the library to write my paper on the exhibit. I will also add that I was supposed to spend 2 hours at the exhibit. But I think this lady put it best. Go Here. I started feeling like I was going to throw up, but there was no way I was leaving without my assignment printed out since I don't have a printer at home. I was sure that the boy who had cooked for dinner group had given me food poisoning. I typed faster until it was done and hurried home. I never did end up throwing up, so I didn't tell my roommates anything was wrong. I finished doing my math homework and went to bed on the couch, where I'd slept for the past week. I had been so stressed and busy that I literally couldn't see my bed. I just came home and threw everything on it and ran out to do whatever I had to do. That's why I was on the couch. I was really excited that I was getting to go to bed so early--at midnight! I could get 8.5 hours of sleep that night! Except not, because my stomach hurt so bad that I could not fall asleep. I started dry heaving into the trash can around 3:15 am and finally called my mom at 3:30 am. I just wanted to know what I should do to feel better. I had no idea that she was going to end up telling me to go to the hospital. I'm pretty sure I cried when she told me that. I didn't want to wake up anyone to drive me. But I called my brothers Reggie and Rex and finally on the 4th try Rex answered. I told him I needed to go to the hospital. Then I went to my bedroom to get my shoes on, which woke up my roommate Liz. She immediately somehow knew something was wrong and got up to wait for Rex with me. She also calmed me down when I started crying. Rex got to my house finally and we went to the Orem ER because that is the one Rex was familiar with (having been there only a month before when he cut his lip open). I was the only patient so they got to see me right away. The doctor felt my stomach, trying to figure out where it hurt and told me he thought maybe it was an ovarian cyst, although it could be appendicitis. Well, I already thought I had appendicitis, but the whole ovarian cyst thing reallyyyy freaked me out, much worse than appendicitis (although I bet appendicitis is probably worse since people could die from their appendix bursting). Anyways, they took my blood while I squeezed Rex's hand really hard, and then we played the waiting game. The lab people weren't in to tell me what the results were so we waited at least at hour in the hospital room. It would've been nice if I could've slept but there was no way I could fall asleep. The doctor finally came and said that my white blood cell count was three times what it normally would be, meaning there was an infection or something. So then they did a CAT scan. Which was awful because of what they put in my IV. I don't know what they called it, but it was awful. Some awful thing which made me have the most horrible peeing sensation I've ever felt. It was just horrid. Then we waited again for the results of the CAT scan. I also got pushed around in a wheelchair. Don't you just love how they don't let you walk around hospitals?! Anywho, the doctor finally came in and said in that calm doctor voice, "Well, it looks like your Appendix is a little bit inflamed Holly." I remember just groaning inwardly (okay and maybe out loud a little as well).
Same Day Surgery
They transferred me to the hospital in Provo (no, I didn't ride in an ambulance). Rex and I couldn't find the entrance they told me to go to, so we called my cousin Kitani since she actually works there. Kitani was actually on her way to work when I called her so she directed us and then met me inside the hospital. She was awesome and helped me fill out my paperwork and figure out the puzzle that was my hospital gown.
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| Ps I'm purposely making that face. I was totally capable of smiling. |
Recovery at Kit's
Kitani took me to my apartment to grab my homework and whatever else I needed. Then, she took me to her house to recover for the weekend. I had been forbidden by the doctor to lift any weight over 15 pounds (or maybe 20, I can't remember). That meant I pretty much couldn't do anything. I wasn't allowed to hold the baby or even lift my backpack really. The first day, I emailed my professors, took a nice, long nap, and watched The Voice with Kitani. We made fun of Cee Lo and it was great. I think we also watched some football and maybe Say Yes to the Dress. The second day, I lounged around, probably tried (and failed) six times to do homework, and played with baby Cort. While not picking him up of course. Grandma, Granpa, Uncle Bradley, and Aunt Tami visited as well. Grandma brought some delightful chicken noodle soup (but for the record, I was just as appreciative of Kit's canned soup) and said she was sorry I wouldn't come home with her. I told her that the drive was too far and would probably make me sick.
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| Okay, so maybe I held him in my lap a little bit. I couldn't help it. |
That night, Reggie, Rex, Scott, and Johnathan visited and of course I had a blast with them. Too much laughing again, but that's okay. Sunday morning I woke up around 9am. Kit came out and said, "Uhhhh Holly? What did you post on facebook last night?" I insisted I hadn't posted anything, so she pulled it up on facebook.
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I had definitely posted a lovely status: "So, when something was stressing me out yesterday, I didn't wait around for Abe to ask were were many questions! Overall, he just left!I was kinda annoyed about him annoying." I was horrified! I thought I had slept all through the night, but obviously I was mistaken. I had been recording every time that I took medicine, so Kitani made me count all my pills to make sure I hadn't overdosed. I hadn't. Kit and Jeff went to church, and I promptly went back to sleep around 9:30am. Stressing over my facebook status was exhausting! That evening, Reggie, Rex, Todd, MeLisa, and Amy came over for cousin Sunday. We ate delicious food, Cort was adorable, and then I decided it was time to go back to my apartment. So, Todd and MeLisa dropped me off at home. I went to ward prayer that night, which was fun, although I was feeling fairly dizzy.
Recovery at Home
The next day, I called my boss and told him that I would not be working for three weeks. I also went to some office in the RB to talk about my cycling class. We decided that the best option was to drop the class, since I couldn't exercise for 3 weeks and there was no way in heck I was waking up for adapted PE at 7am until I could restart cycling. I was super bummed though, because that class was my time to see Todd and MeLisa. One night, I think it was Monday night, I had an AWFUL kind of nightmarish thing happen. I am not entirely sure if I was asleep or awake (probably in between) but I felt like there was an evil spirit in my room, trying to get me. I tried to scream Liz's name (she was asleep) but I couldn't say anything. I've had some bad nightmares in my life, but this was by far the worst I have ever experienced. After that, I never took the prescription drugs again. It totally freaked me out.
Counting My Blessings
Everyone back in Provo was super nice and understanding. People gave me rides everywhere or asked if I needed anything. My friends/family are great! I felt so blessed. Also, since my classes were so stressful, I truly could not handle both work and class at the same time. The biggest problem was a teaching PE class that I had. It was so time consuming, because I had to go to the school and teach and then do something called coding afterwards that could only be done in a specific computer lab on campus that was only open certain hours, which happened to be mostly hours I worked. There was I think one window of time where I could code, and I wouldn't have any wiggle room in which to make mistakes. Well, the time off work gave me more opportunities to figure out the computer program (sometimes it took me four hours to code) and having surgery caused all my teachers to give me extensions on assignments. I also got a week off of teaching PE, which helped. I still went to the school, I just watched my partner teach. Later though, I made up for it of course. By the time I returned to work, the PE class only had 1 week left, plus the final (I think). It was a block class. So, I didn't have to juggle both for very long. Also, hospital visits are dang expensive. Even now, in January 2013, bills are still arriving to be paid. Thank goodness for insurance and for my dad's stable job that allows him to be able to afford to pay them for me! And as long as I'm counting blessings, I might as well remember that my appendix didn't actually burst! I got to the hospital before that happened, they caught it, and the surgery went well. My nurses were nice and my doctor and surgeon and anesthesiologist and whoever else I came in contact with were so nice.
My Scars
There are 3, and they are all teeny. When I woke up, they were all covered in tape, so I actually did not get to see them for 2 weeks, when I went to my post operation doctor visit and they took the tape off. I was super surprised at how small they were, and especially that one of them comes straight down out of my belly button! The tape covered plenty, so I hadn't been able to tell where they were exactly, and that is probably also why I thought they were bigger. I also hadn't been expecting 3 scars when I woke up. Maybe someone told me, but if they did, I don't remember.
This post was started in October and finished in January.
