My Get Well Crew (Pyloromometry)

I had a fundoplication surgery on Friday, December 15, 2023; which was a 3 day, 2 night stay. The three of you kids left for Papa & Nonna’s house after dinner the Thursday night before my surgery because they were going to take you to school the next morning. 

I was really sad that you didn’t get to visit me during that hospital stay, but maybe it was for the best because I was in a lot of pain from 5 incisions and also very doped up on meds? Nevertheless, not seeing all of you for those three days was saddening and isolating in a dark Ohio winter hospital room. 

Yesterday, August 30th, I had a pyloromometry for gastroparesis due to “pyloric stenosis” and I was so happy to have all of you visit me in my room. I appreciated that your Dad thought to take pictures and a video of our moments together. 

For this surgery morning, I knew you were ready to stay home by yourselves since your Dad and I had an early morning departure at 5am. Rather than staying the night at Papa & Nonna's house, like you did for my fundoplication surgery, we let you stay home and sleep until your alarms went off. Your Dad and I are so proud of the three of you for waking yourselves up, taking showers, eating, getting packed and ready for school, taking care of your bunnies all by yourselves at 12, 10, and 8 years old until Nonna picked you up at 8am. I had no doubts you’d rise to the occasion, as you’re all doing these things every morning anyway, but it felt weird not being there to “oversee” it for myself. However, what a graduation in maturity since my December surgery! Dad and I were able to do FaceTime with all of you before I got taken into surgery and it really made my surgery better, I truly believe it!

I’m so thankful for you Jim, Briella, Gianna, and Micah!

        Before Surgery...

FaceTime with Briella in the morning to make sure she was awake while waiting to be called back to surgery prep. Look at her beautiful smile!

  

Then Gianna woke up and Briella brought the iPad into her room, look at her sweet face!

Then Gianna wanted Micah to share in the moment so she ran to the basement for the perfect send off as I was getting ready to be wheeled into surgery seconds later and my transport man, Alvin, was gushing on how sweet they were, how they looked like me, and my laughing smile in the picture shows my pride in his words. (He's in the above picture in the bottom corner).

After surgery...room J52-16 Miller Pavilion Cleveland Clinic

Hugs and love from the kids after 4+ hours in recovery, once I was admitted to my room.

Gianna brushed my hair and took such good care of me while Briella told me stories and made me laugh.

Isn't Gianna so precious for brushing my hair? 😇😍

Discharge Day! 

(Briella was at Urban Air)

Micah asked for a sleepover with Daddy while Mommy was staying overnight in the hospital. 

   

FaceTime calls with the kids on Saturday morning. I was on "No foods/liquid by mouth. IV only" until 2:00 and then I was given the clearance for clear liquids.

Once Mommy heard the words "Discharging soon", I took off my heart monitor and leads (I had already practiced doing it for my barium swallow earlier in the morning so I knew what to do) and changed into my going home clothes. My nurse walked in and said, "You're in your clothes? Where's your heart monitor?" So, because I was ready to leave, I asked Gianna and Micah if they ever wanted to lay in a hospital bed and I hardly finished my sentence before Micah jumped into it and acted out being sick, haha

Gianna set up this cozy spot for me on the couch and heated me up strained broth from our loving, kind neighbor Shelley Watson's thoughtfully delivered meal to the family right before we arrived home. She and John had delivered ham and bean soup, corn muffins, fresh fruit salad, popsicles, a gluten free brownie mix for "later", and a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Pictured, I'm enjoying a strawberry popsicle for dessert because I am on a clear liquid diet only right now. Gianna is such a great care taker. I'm so loved!

Sunday, September 1st

I've been on the chair most of the day today. I took an afternoon nap and everyone has been so caring, attentive, nurturing, and HELPFUL! There's been the usual squabbles amongst the two who squabble (no names on purpose 😅), but in spite of that, they still found their individual ways to dote on me. Gianna did not one, but two loads of laundry today! She insisted to serve me hot broth, warm up heating pads, and even asked, "What else can I do for you? Can I clean your room?" and she began dusting our bedroom furniture. After dinner, she and Briella were a fabulous clean up crew polishing the kitchen floor and the furniture. I have the best daughters ever!

Does this mean every moment was perfect today? Haha, not my moments. I had a few "hangry" moments that reared its head in neurotic babbling frustration about everything being out of place because I'm used to being capable of putting everything in its place. The kids didn't always think things were out of place, but when I succumbed to resting and let them be, this is what sprang out from them. They didn't do it because they were given an ultimatum or guilt-tripped, but simply because they knew I was in a vulnerable place not being able to do it for myself so they stepped in to serve me. 

Not pictured is the moment that I got very faint and weak that Jim had to carry me to the couch and all of the kids gathered around me to put blankets on me, put a wet cloth on me, or hold my arm going to and from the bathroom. I'm so touched by their love and gentleness toward me in these moments. 

Monday, September 2, 2024

(Happy Birthday, Uncle Nick & Liam)

Today I am still on clear liquids, and let me say, I'm not doing so "great" with it. My blood pressure is so low, my sugar levels seem to go from high to crashing low because what's a clear liquid? Besides broth, fruit juices are the other alternative, I'm weak, I'm shaky, and my head feels like a bowling ball. I seem to be having an allergic reaction to either the Protonix or the Cipro. It makes me nervous to bend over as I'm not sure I'll fall face forward. It took me until almost 11am to even muster energy for a simple shower, but Gianna and Micah have done so much for me today. I'm not even asking for them to do it and they keep cleaning.😍 Gianna has done laundry again today--without asking. It's warmed my heart so much that I don't even know what to say other than to give hugs and say, "THANK YOU SO MUCH!" They can see I'm not myself and they are stepping in for me. That is love. That is being God's hands. That is my little family. I'm beyond blessed in this life to be loved so well. 💝💞💖

Micah wasn't part of the cleaning crew yesterday, but he wanted to make up for that today so, just as he lives out his everyday life motto, "Go big (or loud😉😜) or go home." So, go on the countertops to clean he did. 😆😇🤔

Tuesday, September 3, 2024

You all went back to school today. I'm not going to lie, it was good to heal in quiet, non parenting moments. Your Dad drove us to get him lunch and for me to get a milkshake because I graduated from my clear liquids to a full liquid diet today; which in simplest terms, I get to add in milk products. I'll be doing it until Saturday. I was so weak, though, and felt very tired after our excursion. The burning esophagus pain has been way more intense than I would've ever imagined it to be after surgery. I sure hope it improves. I'm supposed to take Protonix for the next two months, but we'll see if my body can handle it. I'm just ready for the "neurological storm" that I've been feeling since surgery to lessen. The shaking, the weakness, the low blood pressure, and the heavy heart beats are frustrating. 

Thursday, September 5, 2024

Look at the beautiful flowers that our church, Shelley and John Watson, and Jim got for me. Our kitchen table looks like a floral shop this week. I've been lavished with such sweet gestures. Our other neighbors Donnie and Sheila brought us over a $50 gift card and my cousin Emily and her husband Ryan brought us over $40 for Master's Pizza. Let's just say that those gift cards gave Jim a break for two nights of making dinner. He's been so attentive, patient, and helpful to me during this recovery. He's been driving the kids to and from school and handling all the "in between" stuff for me. He's definitely been Mr. Mom this week and he's good at it too. Today the exhaustion consumed me and one minute I was watching TV and the next minute I was laying sideways napping.

Friday, September 6, 2024

Today was the first day I drove since my surgery. I was a bit shaky and still having heavy heartbeats from drinking liquids only for the past 10 days, but I was able to go pick up my prescription and do a little grocery shopping. The kids were really sweet with their smiling faces when they saw me in the car picking them for the first time in over a week. The BEST surprise of my day was finding this note that Micah wrote in his Friday folder for school. Oh my goodness...💝💖💞

I had brought the pink index card with me in my overnight bag to the hospital. Briella wrote this to me abut a month ago and it was just what I needed to make me smile. 

Wisdom Calls Out

I love the Psalms and Proverbs in my Bible. I can read and re-read them and never get tired of the plentiful knowledge I walk away after I read them. I love memorizing them, applying them, and using them in pertinent moments. Likewise, I love quotes. They fascinate me, intrigue me, and inspire me. If anyone has been to our house, I began a "Wisdom wall" for the kids years ago. It started small when Micah was a baby and it's grown over the years. I love being able to take a tough moment and reference one of the wisdoms from the wall, and trust me, our kids know I do, both for them and for myself! Similarly, I get so excited when one of our kids brings up a nugget of knowledge that they've learned from the wisdom wall. That's the goal and I.love.that. 

Wisdom is a never ending pursuit and it seems to be one that the world wants us to question. My craving for wisdom began far before I was married with a baby, but when Briella was a baby, I could feel it calling out for me, just as it says in Proverbs that "Wisdom calls out." I remember putting her into the stroller and turning on a podcast and using the invigoration of fresh air, God's majesty of Creation, and the inspiration of the open sidewalk ahead of me as an analogy to "pressing on to learning more." I knew this parenting gift was a lifelong road trip and I wanted so badly to gear up in the best possible way. Over the last few years I have been writing down "ah ha" moments when I hear them in podcasts or when I read them in books. While I can't take credit for the majority of the quotes and lessons shared in my ongoing parenting journal, they have served valuable to me to ponder and use in times of parenting bewilderment, but I believe a heavy portion of them can cross over into personal life, marital life, and spiritual life as well. 

I pray that Jim, I, Briella, Gianna, and Micah hear the cry of wisdom calling out for us daily!

Proverbs 1:20-22 "Out in the open wisdom calls aloud, she raises her voice in the public square; on top of the wall she cries out, at the city gate she makes her speech: 'How long will you who are simple love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge'?"

Proverbs 8:1-3 “Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand; besides the gates leading into the city, at the entrances, she cries aloud."

 Parenting Wisdom

 

“Kids learn more from observation than information. “ 

 

“More is caught, than taught.”

 

When you__________, then you____________. (ex: When you pick up your toys, then you can watch TV.)

 

This (name the problem/issue/conflict) is not working.

 

It’s time to change your mind about______________.

 

We do not (examples: hit, give up, tease, name call, gossip) in this family.

 

Will there be consequences in this family? Yes. But there will also ALWAYS be love and forgiveness. 

 

You are capable of better.

 

It disappoints me when you speak to _________ like that.

 

“Tell me more.” (Parent is QUIET and supportive, not challenging/questioning/arguing.)

 

“If the devil can’t make you ‘bad’ then he will make you busy or distracted.

 

“Don’t serve God to mad-ness, serve God to glad-ness.”

 

What is the root of the fruit (the behavior)? 

 

“Tough times never last, tough people do!”

 

“Feelings should not be our god, but our gauge.”

 

“God gives his most difficult assignments to his most trusted soldiers.”

 

“Trials can make you better or bitter.”

 

“Rules without relationship lead to rebellion and rules without boundaries lead to resentment.”

 

When a person/child is stuck on self: “There’s someone missing in your story. You talk about yourself as though you’re the center of the universe, but you’re forgetting that you and I are not the center of the universe. God is the center of it all!”

 

“How you see and perceive the battle is how you fight the battle.”

 

“Am I filtering God’s character through the lens of my circumstance rather than filtering my circumstances through the lens of God’s character?”  God is faithful!

 

You grow up the first time you can laugh at yourself. 

 

Plan for the end in mind.

 

“If you take care of your character, God will take care of your reputation.”

 

Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.

 

Be the person you want your _______ to be.

 

Your calling is where another person’s need and your greatest joy intersect. 

 

“Whatever we don’t transform, we transfer.” (Bad habits transfer generation to generation)

 

“If it’s mentionable, it’s manageable.” (Never stop communicating, even when topics are tough.)

“When you don’t talk about it, you adopt it.” (If communication lacks then change is absent.)

 

Questions to ask: 1. Whose eyes matter to you? It SHOULD BE God’s eyes! 2. What standards are you living by? Who makes it okay when you fail?

 

“Remember whose voice matters because the voices around you will try to impact you, but what God says never changes. His promises never fail.”

 

Parent to child: “I want to understand more where you are going with this decision. If I were an investor in your business, I would be concerned that you are heading towards a collapse.”

 

“Your work (job) is not your worth.”  

 

“The spirit of God lives in me. My life should be an expression of Christ. Is my life an expression of Christ?

 

“What spews OUT of me is reflective of what’s IN me.”

 

“Those who anger you, control you.”

 

When child is being strong willed with disrespect, rude, or defiant behavior:

1.     I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that. (Walk away)

2.     Are you trying to get into trouble? (With a lighthearted chuckle)

3.     Nice try, I thought you were serious. (Pause & wait for child to self-correct)

4.     This isn’t working.

5.     Do you want me/us to be disappointed with you? (Say nothing else, let it simmer.)

 

“Make a dent where you’re sent.” (Leave a positive, lasting mark wherever you are and whatever you do.)

 

“We all must suffer from one of two pains. The pain of discipline or the pain of regret. Discipline weighs in ounces and regret weighs in tons.”

 

“Belief dictates behavior. Where your mind goes, your energy flows. Because, thoughts lead to feelings; feelings lead to behaviors. Behavior can’t change until you transform the thoughts behind the behavior.