I'll start off by saying that I am so blessed. These past couple of weeks have been a HUGE reminder to me about just how much GOD loves me, and how richly He has showered me with His grace. It is so easy for me to lose sight of the things that really matter when my world is consumed with vomiting and pain.
Despite all of the pain and yucky-ness that I experience in my physical body on a daily basis, this Christmas has been a wonderful time filled with laughter, love, and the amazing support that I feel from my family and friends. Each moment spent has been a breath of fresh air for me both spiritually and emotionally. I'm delighted to report that as we celebrated Jesus' birth, we have the privilege to look into the future and experience a profound sense of HOPE.
My ERCP went well on Wednesday, and I just had to spend one night in the hospital. My sleepover at the hospital had a couple of unfortunate mishaps with hives, veins collapsing, and IV sites rendered useless. But, I was able to make it through the procedure and the night (with 3 new IVs in 5 attempts.) I was thankful to have delightful nurses and and an excellent IV therapy team--it seems to make everything a little better when people are smiley at 3 in the morning.
The findings from the test: I had a significantly inflamed bile duct, due to adhesions (scar tissue.) There were no stones, and no sludge in the duct, the opening was simply too small because of the scar tissue strangling it off. Through the endoscope using an inflatable balloon and some kind of cutting implement, they were able to loosen the scar tissue which was strangling the bile duct, and also made an incision to increase the opening of the bile duct. I managed to avoid the complication of pancreatitis (yay!!), and got to go home on time. (double yay!)
Since then, we had 14 people over for Christmas dinner last night, and Marcus, mom, Sarah, and I pulled it off. The food was amazing, and the company was even better. It was so much fun to host my first official "family gathering"--so I went a little crazy; making place cards, and other festive table decorations. I even used festive cupcake flags with gingerbread men on top for the apple-stuffin' muffins. I know, I'm ridiculous. :)
I think that's all for now. I'm off to take another nap.
Sadly, I'm not feeling 80% better like the doctor had hoped, but I'm trying to remain optimistic. I'm hoping that the lingering pain I'm experiencing is just from the procedure. I don't think that's really very likely, but I'm not positive. I go in for a follow-up appointment on Jan. 6.
Hugs to all.
b
No comments:
Post a Comment