Recovery

This has been quite an eventful week for me. Yesterday, I had a laparoscopy done, which is a surgical procedure that diagnoses and treats any problems in one's abdomen, such as endometriosis, cysts, scar tissue, etc. This has been long overdue, as I have been dealing with issues for some time now.

Even though this was an outpatient surgery, and in the hospital's view, outpatient is an "easy" procedure, I have been amazed by the whole process, especially since this was my first hospital experience. First, I was amazed by how many different nurses and doctors I saw in one day, which was ten by our best count, not including Monday's pre-op visit. Second, I was quite overwhelmed with the whole anesthesiology thing. This was the first time I've ever been "put under" (except for wisdom teeth, which is apparently a different type of sedation). I had only a couple of minutes to be shocked as I was wheeled into the operating room before I drifted off to sleep. Then, waking up was quite an experience. My whole body was shaking, and the pain was so intense, but I wasn't coherent enough to get a nurse's attention. They of course noticed me quickly, and gave me medicine to help relieve my discomfort, but it was a bizarre couple of minutes.

Third, I am astounded by my body's recovery in two ways, both in how much this hurts, but also in how much the pain is controlled (if that makes sense). This surgery is comparatively a minor surgery: I came out with only three small incisions in my lower abdominal area and not even one stitch to fix them up. Even though the incisions were small, the pain and discomfort is shocking. As soon as my pain medicine wears off, even the smallest abdominal movement (like sitting up) causes pain. Walking, laughing, coughing, even talking forces my muscles to tighten, therefore causing discomfort. It's incredible. On the other hand, this "minor" surgery was still pretty dang invasive, and yet I am able to be comfortable most of the day, as long as I limit what I do. And three tiny incisions were enough for my doctor to completely clean out the unwanted stuff. Amazing.

So, as I am sitting and recovering, I am so grateful to God for the knowledge and wisdom He has granted to our doctors, nurses, and scientists. I am also overwhelmed by His love, that He cares for me and my health, that He is with us every step of our lives, that He uses whatever He chooses for our good.