I have been from the hospital a week now. It is so wonderful to be home. Since I still have a drain in and have home health care checking on me, I can’t really go anywhere. I can go get a hair cut, go to doctor appointments, go to church and go for special occasions like Billy’s graduation. The rest of the time I have to stay at home. I feel like I am under house arrest. I do take a ride every once in awhile to the mailbox or for errands. But I am not allowed to go shopping or go to the movies. It’s not too bad because I have a drain bag hanging off my shirt and I don’t particularly want people staring at me. I am just glad to be home. I have an appointment on Thursday and I hope the drain will be taken out then. Until then I am under house arrest sans ankle bracelet.
Is so ready to go home…
When I embarked on this journey to surgically correct my Crohn’s disease, I was apprehensive but felt good about the procedure. The procedure didn’t go as planned, but I was still positive and knew it would be a longer road. Now I am in the hospital almost two weeks and am trying very hard to find a light at the end of the tunnel. I know the light is there and I will be able to feel the sun on my face and not just look at the window at it. It is tough to be hear for so long when I expected to be here a week. My target date to go home has come and gone and now I am back to square one. I was eating a full liquid diet, but know am back to just total nutrition and ice chips. I try not to eat a lot of ice chips because then I have to go to the bathroom a lot which is an ordeal. I have an abscess which then I had to get a drainage tube placed. Not fun at all. I just want to go home. I cried today really hard after seeing my family. It is so hard to see the boys and not be able to really hug them. I get stressed when I am around them especially now that I have a drainage tube. I just have to get through this and know I can. I need a lot of prayers. I try to keep my own prayers up and try very hard to keep my own spirits up.
Getting ready for the big day
I have been waiting for April 27th since February. I was in the hospital for ten days with a perforated bowel and knew that surgery was on the horizon. Because of a full schedule for my surgeon, my surgery wasn’t able to be scheduled until April 27th. Now I am almost there. It’s only four days away. I am not worried about the actual surgery. I do have some anxiety, but that’s normal for any surgery. What I am really dreading is the cleansing prep I have to do on Monday. It’s called MoviPrep. I love the names they give these preps. Wonder who came up with Golytley? I was really hoping for Miralax and Gatorade, but I guess it’s not good enough for surgery. I have read that MoviPrep has a salty flavor so I am hoping that’s true. I am not a huge sweets fan especially when it comes to drinking icky prep. I will be up early on Tuesday so I can be at the hospital at 6 am. Then it’s surgery at 7:30 am. It’s going to be a long day. I am somewhat dreading having to get up for the first time after surgery and am hoping the nurses give me 24 hours. I have hinted to Bill that a recliner for Mother’s Day would be nice. I am trying to figure out where I will sleep when I get home. I know I won’t be able to sleep very comfortably in my bed especially when my little one comes in every morning between 3 and 4 am to climb into bed. The climbing usually means climbing over me to get to the middle of the bed. I will have about a 15 inch scar running down my abdomen so having a two year old climb over me wouldn’t be a good thing. I am really thankful for my family and friends. They are all so supportive and it has really helped me get to this point. I know the quality of my life will be better. For the last five months or so, I have basically checked out. I have pain every day and don’t have the energy to do things. I feel guilt that I haven’t been a better mom. The boys are awesome and know that I don’t feel well. They try to help me with things around the house. It has been hard on them especially Billy. Luckily, he will be able to come visit me. In February all of the area hospitals didn’t allow children under the age of 18 to visit because of the H1N1 flu and the seasonal flu. That ban has been lifted so I am hoping it will help Billy to be able to visit me so he won’t feel the anxiety he felt in February. Bill has a lot on his plate. He has a sick spouse, working, taking two college classes and is involved in Boy Scouts. I know he is under stress, but he keeps it together. So, Tuesday is a big day for all of us. It’s going to be a long road. I will still have Crohn;’s disease after the surgery, but it will be worth it to feel better once again.
He just doesn’t get it and probably never will
Thursday was Tax Day. A perfect day to protest and show the government how unhappy we are. But some people just don’t get it. One is President Obama or as I affectionately call him BO. At a Democratic fundraiser in Miami on Thursday night, he told supporters he is amused by the protesters’ complaints about taxes because, contrary to their claims, he’s cut taxes. “You would think they’d be saying thank you,” the president said. Yeah, right. The Tea Party protests across the nation were not all about taxes and it was about taking control of our country. The government spending is out of control. The recently passed health care reform bill is not reform. BO has shunned one of our greatest allies, Israel. Government is becoming more pervasive in our lives. We don’t need government to tell us what to do. The United States has always been a nation of go getters. We were founded on the premise that everyone has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Everyone in this country has the opportunity to make their lives better without the help of the government. Unfortunately there are many in this country that feel they deserve a handout. I have heard stories from my grandparents who grew up during the Depression. They didn’t get handouts. They had to make due with what they had and they did. There was no complaining and there was no feeling that the government was going to pay their bills. This is what the Tea Party is all about. As Americans. we have sat on the sidelines way too long and let Washington do whatever they wanted. We cannot afford to do that any longer. There are radicals in the White House. They want to control every aspect of our lives. We cannot stand by and let this happen. The Tea Parties are not going away and they certainly won’t be telling BO thank you.
Arrogant
I really shouldn’t be surprised, but I am. Today, the campaigner in chief was back on the road. This time he was in Iowa. He told the crowd, “If these congressmen in Washington want to come here in Iowa and tell small business owners that they plan to take away their tax credits and essentially raise their taxes, be my guest.” How arrogant. He seems to think that the American people will just forget about this very decisive issue and move on. That is not happening. The things that went into effect immediately are the type of things that most people would say are good things. For example, people with pre existing conditions will not be denied coverage or lose coverage. Don’t be fooled. There is more to this bill and it will cost this country dearly. Instead of uniting this country, the campaigner in chief has torn it apart. I don’t really think he fancies himself as president of the United States, but rather king of the world. He is arrogant and it shows every time he speaks. One thing I do wonder is where do all of these people come from that attend these rallies? When the majority of Americans are against the health care bill and Obama’s rating falling are they paid to attend? Are they there because they want to say I saw a president? I don’t get it.
Onward to November! Let your voice be heard!
A sad day for America
“If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy.”
Louis Brandeis, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice
I knew that the health care bill would pass the House. There wouldn’t have been a vote today if the democrats didn’t have the votes. Nancy Pelosi and her gang have shown their arrogance. This vote shows that the house leaders don’t listen to their constituents or to the American public in general. I am happy to say that my representative, Jim Matheson (D-Utah) did vote no on the bill. He did listen to his constituents. There is no argument that there is a need for health care reform, however, this bill that will likely be signed by President Obama on Tuesday will hurt this country. It will bankrupt this country. I thought it was ironic that this morning as Nancy Pelosi and other House leaders came to the Capitol building with the gavel that was used when Medicare was passed. Now Medicare is broke. It is insolvent. The health care bill passed tonight will cut Medicare to pay for all of the new enrollments on Medicaid. They are robbing Peter to pay Paul. The White House, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid think that the American people will eventually warm to this bill, but I think they may have a rude awakening come election time in November. They may think we are stupid and are sheep, but when all of the details of this bill are brought to light there will be an even bigger uprising. As I have said before get involved. Let your representatives know how you feel on the issues and use your power at the ballot box. This fight is not over!
Let your voice be heard
I just tried to call my representative in the House of Representatives. Jim Matheson (D-Utah) voted no in November, but now has not said which way he will vote. This really irritates me. Nothing has changed from the bill in November to the one that will be voted on Sunday. I tried calling his office, but the phone lines are busy. If I still lived in the DC area, I would be downtown at his office. But I no longer live there so I did the next best thing and that is send an email to let him know that if he votes yes on the health care bill, I will not vote for him in November. Jim Matheson is in a tricky spot. He is a lone Democrat in a very red state. The majority of Americans, 55%, do not support this bill. We the people need our voices to be heard. We cannot sit back and let Washington make choices for us and our families. There is no doubt that our health care system needs reform, however, this bill is not the way to go. We are already over $12 trillion dollars in debt and it goes up everyday. We cannot afford this bill. Let your voice be heard. You can send a message to your elected representatives through Citizens Against Government Waste at http://www.cagw.org
Some facts about the health care bill:
Myth: This legislation won’t cut Medicare.
Myth: The legislation would contain health care costs.
Myth: This legislation is a moral imperative.
Myth: This legislation is about saving lives.
Myth: This legislation would stop abusive insurance practices.
Myth: The public wants this legislation.
Campaigner in Chief
When Barack Obama was running for president, he was the ultimate campaigner. Now that he is president, he continues to campaign. I don’t think he really knows anything else. He was a college professor, worked as a community organizer, served in the state legislature in Illinois and then in as a senator in the US Senate and now he is president. He seemed to have a made himself a plan long ago and he made his goal of becoming president, but now that he is in the Oval Office he has no idea what he is doing. He is a smart man, but I think he is arrogant. Take for instance the health care debate. The majority of Americans do not want this bill to pass and are against the democrats using reconciliation to do so. Does anyone in Washington listen to the American people? There are some members of congress that appear to want to do the right thing, but will it happen? Will they let the campaigner in chief persuade them or will they listen to their constituents and do what is right. There is a need for health care reform, but this bill is not the way to do it. The health care summit was just a bunch of hot air. Nothing was accomplished and the democrats are determined to do something, anything to get this bill passed. As the president continues to campaign on health care maybe he will start listening and find out what the American people really want. That’s probably just wishful thinking.
B.L.O.A.T.E.M
The last several months I have been having a major flare up of my Crohn’s disease. I have spent ten days in the hospital. I will have surgery on April 27th. As I wait to have surgery, I have been eating a low residue diet, but sometimes I think I can branch out. This weekend I thought I could, but obviously I didn’t pick the right thing. At the Range Cafe in Albuquerque, I ate the B.L.O.A.T.E.M sandwich. It’s a bacon, lettuce, onion, avocado, tomato sandwich on an English muffin. It sounded good so I ordered it. It was good until I really realized that I was BLOATEM. Definitely something that is uncomfortable and not fun. I am already bloated most of the time because of strictures, but being bloated from a sandwich named BLOATEM is no fun at all. I am feeling better now, but I won’t be eating the B.L.O.A.T.E.M anytime soon. I have learned a lesson through all of this – you are what you eat.
Journey update
As I have continued to read Emily Freeman’s book, 21 Days Closer to Christ I realize that the more I focus on having a better relationship with Jesus Christ the better my days go and the closer I feel to Him. The biggest thing to remember is that He is always there. We are the ones that have to “come unto Him”. He never leaves our side. We may feel like He does, but He doesn’t. I am thankful for this growing testimony.