E.R. Hiccup

 

When it comes to plans and preparations, I am absolutely certain that God has a limitless sense of humor when it comes to ours! There are a lot of things that happen at the perfect time and at that perfect time the right people are always where they need to be. I say this with a chuckle in my heart, because recently, our elaborate planning was put into perspective by Gods perfect timing. He takes care of us the way we need and things happen according to His plan, not ours.

 Let me take this opportunity to offer a little backstory. Every October, we migrate back to our hometown to make appointments at our primary care, our dentists, and our eye doctors in order to maintain our good health. It is very important to us to ensure that we keep ourselves mentally and physically in the best possible condition. Beyond the annual visits we also maintain ourselves by watching how we eat as well as exercising daily. Living this (nomad) lifestyle, we have to stay on top of everything; our personal health being number one as well as the health of our pup Bruno, while also maintaining the health and well being of our home on wheels BART and Arnie.

Our return to the homeland of Arkansas every October allows our primary care to get eyes on us and ensure we are doing the things we are telling her we are doing to maintain our health. So you can imagine, that when this happened, I was totally taken aback. In the middle of December at around 1:00 a.m. I became violently ill for about half an hour. I thought for a moment i was remaking a scene from the movie “The Exorcist”! After my barf-o-rama I cleaned myself up and went back to bed. The next morning I woke up feeling much better than I did the day before with one exception. A small protrusion on my upper abdomen that had been diagnosed as a hernia several years prior was now a golf ball sized black and blue growth that resembled something straight out of an eighties sci-fi movie. Since I had no medical training, I assumed I had just irritated my hernia and it would return to its pre-exorcism state in a few days.

Nope!  About a week or so later, it was getting worse, so I called my primary care for a tele-health visit and was told that she believed it would probably get better over time, but if it didn’t, I should go to a walk-in clinic. 

Another ten days passed with the only changes being that it was becoming more painful. I made an appointment with the local walk in clinic and upon examination was told I should “immediately” visit the ER at the local Regional Medical Center. So off to the ER we went. I was able to get an assessment of my condition quickly by the doctors and they were able to determine that I would need immediate surgery to remove the infectious growth that we are now considering naming! Before proceeding, however, they wanted to be absolutely certain about their findings. Further tests which were conducted revealed that it was not a strangulated hernia, as previously suspected, but rather something else. There were some concerning results in my bloodwork, which led to antibiotics being administered , as well as emergency surgery being performed. We are delighted to report that the surgery was successful, and the unknown issue; still considering naming; has been sent off to the laboratory for further analysis.

I can honestly say that despite not being able to celebrate my husband's birthday with a cake or any other traditional celebration, his love and support were the greatest gift I could have received during such a challenging time in the hospital. His tears of joy and embrace are a constant reminder of my incredible blessings. I have been given a partner who is both understanding and loving.

 In my heart I know Gods perfect timing has placed him in my life to be there through these amazing golden years of my life!