I won't forget where I was when I woke up on my 33rd birthday because I was in ICU. The day before I had a scheduled hysterectomy that did not go quite as scheduled.
Monday morning I had a successful surgery done by scope so that pain and recovery was minimal. The calls and e-mail updates went out that I was doing great. As the afternoon rolled on the nurse remarked several times that my vitals didn't look quite right and wanted to order blood work just to be sure. About 6:30 pm she came back in and said her guess was right, I was bleeding internally and my doctor was on his way to take me back to the operating room to find and stop the bleeding. Within 20 minutes my doctor was back and you could tell he was worried. He told us "this never happens to me," and he would probably have to make a large incision to find the bleeding. He also said I would need a blood transfusion. Everything was happening really quickly.
Within several minutes, there were 3 new nurses in the room starting a new IV for the blood and they were followed by the anaesthiologist and the surgical nurse. I vividly remember the concerned looks on everyone's faces especially Ozzie. I have to say I was concerned but also felt God's incredible peace and knew that I had the easy job of being put back to sleep while Ozzie had to wait. As I was being rolled out of the room, I heard the nurses tell Ozzie that he would need to take our stuff because I was going to ICU after the surgery.
That is where I woke up later that night. I'm not sure what time it was, but I remember the ICU nurse telling Ozzie that I was going to have another blood test at 4am to make sure everything was OK.
So I laid there awake for most of the night, by myself (there wasn't a bed for Ozzie in the room so he went to the waiting room to sleep a little), unable to see the clock or really move because I was hooked up to things from my nose to my toes. It was a long, long night yet I was glad to be awake and alive - it was a very special birthday.
I know God knew what was going to happen and He was in control the whole time. Looking back, He was taking care of me by having the hematologist decide against putting me on blood thinners (another story in itself) prior to the surgery because if I had been on them the bleeding would have been much more critical. He also kept me from vomiting even one time after the second surgery. We think my inability to stop vomiting after the first surgery is what caused the bleeding to begin with. I have never NOT vomited after anesthesia until this time.
He blessed my nurse with wisdom and knowledge to be on her toes so the bleeding did not get any worse. I was amazed as I saw prayers for the doctors and nurses wisdom being answered right before my eyes. These are just a few of the ways God was working. I cannot go into every detail for lack of time and space and I probably don't even know all the details God was working out in this situation.
I do know that God was in complete control the entire time and throughout my recovery. Yesterday I was able to jog for the first time not only after the surgery, but even before due to pain. If felt so good to be back to "normal."
"Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His unfailing love endures forever." Ps. 118:1
This is the before picture of our backyard. A failed attempt at grass seed, untrimmed trees and nothing of "beauty."
