About my hospital visit and since I've been home

If anyone ever has any brain issues they need surgery for I highly recommend Dr. Lillihei!!! He is fantastic and is one of the best neurosurgeons in the world!

So Friday morning Karen took me to Denver for my surgery, when we were trying to find out way to pre-op the woman at the front desk wass listening to a gospel preacher on the radio and she was so sweet and so fun! I told her that Dr. Lillihei was my doctor and she just went off on how fantastic he was and that our heavenly Father was even better. What an encouragement right befor my surgery!

I got all checked in and started having the whole round of nurses and doctors come in to get me all ready for surgery. Dr. Lillihei came in and was telling me about the procesdure and I asked if he could do something about my head bumb, he was more than happy to take care of it for me! From what I hear surgeons love having any excuse to cut things open. They allowed me to keep my glasses so I was actually able to look at the surgery room, funny thing is I was out so soon after that that I hardly remember much of it anyway.

Soon I was waking up in the post op room with lots of buzzing going on around me and my nurse came up to me and I immediately recognized her and she me, she was the nurse I had after my second surgery with Dr. Lillehei!!!! I was so happy and excited to get to see her again she was one of the best nurses I had ever had, so Jean thank you so much for all that you do!! (Since I know you have my blog address and we will be keeping up with each other :D) I really appreciate you, your spirit and joy that you bring to all your patients!

The nurses I had after that were also pretty awesome so thank you very much to Kimberly, Michelle and Erin!!!

Thanks also to Kalla, Carlos and Laura who came and visited me at the hospital. My flowers did end up getting confiscated for a couple of days but I was able to still bring them home with me. So word of advice for future ICU patients/visitors don't bring flowers until after you have been moved out of the ICU.

There is not much to do at the hospital so I played on my phone a lot and read my bible on my phone! I love having my phone bible so handy and so lightweight. Although I did bring my regular bible and my 90 days with Jesus book with me so I could keep up on that which I did and it was the starter of some conversation with the nurses. Hopefully I was able to bless their life in Him.

Sunday morning I finally decided to put in my contacts and to my displeasure I noticed that my shingles had come back :( The nurse had the neurologist come in and he wrote me out a prescription. I got it taken care of pretty soon! No itching or burning so far but still another thing I'm having to take meds for :/

My sister Laura brought me home and has been such an amazing help for me!! Thank you so much for all the cleaning and cooking you did! I probably wouldn't have eaten (or as well) if you hadn't have been here. It was also great getting to see Jana and Kayla and that Kayla is doing so well walking! Also the brownies they made me were so yummy!

My pain is definately getting better and my sensations are going back to normal. I'm also working my way off my pain killers. My head never hurt that much but my abs were sore for several days but It's getting much easier for me to move around. It feels really weird to have the shunt in, I can feel it and if you look closely you can even see the little bump in my skin. It's uncomfortable for now but I'm sure I'll get used to it eventually. The staples in my head are slightly bothersome too :/

The doctor said no heavy lifting for 2 weeks and then most likely no core work for about 4 weeks which is going to put me right at the beginning of my and Lindsey's trip to Hawaii... so needless to say no six pack abs for me :( At least I'm actually going to be able to go still!

Proverbs 3:5-6 I am so thankful that God has brought me to and through all of this. I know without a doubt that he placed me here in Colorado for so many reasons. He knew that I was going to be going through this and he wanted me to have the top neurosurgeon for it. He wanted me to work for Chuck because of how understanding he has been along with all the other faculty. He wanted me to go to Meadowlark for all of the support they have given me in so many ways I can't even beging to count and if I can't even begin to count those blessings over the course of 3 years how much more immeasurable are the blessings that God has given me over those years and all the ones before and the ones still to come?! I am so thankful for His love and devotion and healing that He has given me. He has never left my side or been away from me He has carried me through it all! He has been my strength and my fortress through it all I do not have the strength to endure all this but my loving Father is powerful and mighty and can handle anything! He is personal knowing even the number of hairs on my head He knew me before He formed me in the womb and He knew the plans He had for me. He knew that I would be faithful to Him through all this and that I would be able to influence lives and have others influence my life. Thank you for giving me this struggle to go through and please help me to continue to glorify you.

Thank you Lord for all that you are!