Bye, bye, baby house!

Sunday I got up to walk but Lara decided not to do so. I walked the opposite way and freaked out Duke. He is not a dog of change, that is for sure. 

I spent the day at school evaluation lesson plans. That might be the most boring job ever, and possibly the most useless. At the end of the day I went to my pre-op appointment. I had blood drawn and met with the anesthesiologist. I was told I would be called on Wednesday evening and be informed of the time I needed to be at the hospital Thursday morning. 

I got home from the hospital and started sorting out Millie’s toys. Wow, that kid is a pack rat. Is it wrong that when she would lose focus, which was about every 5 minutes, I would dump a few other things in the bin bag? It was the only way for me to keep my sanity. 

We had a full trash bag and many boxes of toys to sell once we were finished in her room. We also had a great deal more room in her toy bins. The only area we didn’t tackle was her kitchen stuff. That will be another night’s fun. 

The kids showered, ate dinner and went to bed. Stuart decided he was too tired to cook and I couldn’t be bothered either. So we just had whatever was left in the fridge. 

I got up to walk with Lara and Cathy. Lara walks too slowly for Cathy, and probably too slowly for me as well, but I walk with Lara for the social aspect of it. Claire had an exam so she rode with us to school. 

School was full of miscommunications, as always. The language barrier is our worst enemy sometimes. I left school just after our meeting about how to communicate with parents. Stuart and I met at the kids’ school. We had a meeting with Millie’s teacher. We were told that by the end of the year Millie should be on grade level, which just thrills us. We were also told that she needs to focus more, which we knew, but that she is doing well. 

Stuart stayed to pick Jack up from swim squad. As soon as they got home Jack informed Stuart he had left his tennis shoes at school and then had the nerve to lie about having no homework. Of course to ensure the tennis shoes didn’t disappear, I drove him back to school to get them. He was then grounded from going outside at the club while Stuart and I had our first new committee meeting.  He had to stay inside while our meeting was conducted. He kept interrupting which just about got him grounded for he remainder of the week. Lecture time!

We got home and the kids showered and went straight to bed. I showered as well and hung out on the sofa for a bit. 

I walked on my own on Tuesday. Duke is more nervous when I’m not talking the entire time I walk. But he made it. After I dropped the kids at school, Claire had a driving exam so I took her to the driving school, which is right by my school. I had my end of year evaluation, which turned out to be not so bad. I was a bit shocked, to be honest. 

After school I went shopping for Jack’s shirt for his Victorian Day at school. I also bought him cakes to share on that day. I was also asked for my phone number by a guy at the supermarket. I kindly informed him I was flattered, but married. It was shocking as these type of things NEVER happen here. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if this sort of act was punishable by the law. 

While I was at the mall I purchased some goods for are the cleaners at my school. During Ramadan the English teachers decided to donate food and other items to our working staff at school. 

After my stop at the mall, I went home and picked up Millie and we headed to dance. She had decided not to go to yoga on Tuesday, which was all too fine with me. Once at dance, I changed into my golf outfit. When dance was over, I dropped her home and picked up Cathy. Tuesday evening was our last golf night, where we played on the big course. It was so much fun! We did okay, but the social aspect of it was the most important part. 

Once golf was finished, it was back to our house with Cathy. She had a glass of wine while I drank water. I have committed to no wine until I have lost the 7 pounds that I seem to have found in the last 6 months. Ugh!

Wednesday morning Lara and I got up to walk and we ran into Cathy. She turned around and decided to finish our walk with us. At school we had our first evacuation drill of the year. I’m not sure why. It was really hot, but we all survived. 

I met with my principal for an evaluation of a teacher. It would be the only conference I would sit in on this year, which was fine by me. 

Around 10:15 am my English teachers came to my office during and gave me a gift. They also said a prayer for me. It was so sweet. They gave me a gift voucher for a book store, which they felt would be nice for me during my time at home recovering from my surgery. 

I left school at 2 pm. Just after I got a call from the hospital saying my surgery had not been approved. I then went to the mall to get Jack a tea cup for his Victorian Day.  I was terribly upset about the insurance approval. 

When I got home, I began to call the hospital and then the insurance company. While I waited for some sort of resolution, I made the kids’ dinner. After several calls to the insurance and hospital, I finally told the insurance lady that there was no way this was an elective surgery. I said, ‘Why would I chose to have someone cut my vaginal and remove my uterus from the hole they cut?’  Then I remembered the statement I heard on the phone while I waited that stated ‘phone calls may be recorded for quality assurance.’  Bahahahaha!

While continuing to wait for approval, I called my mom and dad. While I was talking to them, I finally got the call with the approval, so I confirmed that I would get to the hospital at 11 am the following morning. Thank goodness. 

I woke up Thursday morning and walked by myself. I got home and because I had to fast I couldn’t eat or drink anything. You never think more about food and drink until you don’t have it. 

Jack was ready for his Victorian Day. 

My friends DeDe and Heather made me some items for my surgery. I got a lovely plant the called the tampon plant, a tampon crown, and a very practical belly pillow that Heather made for the car. Although I wasn’t having an incision, I still think I will be able to use it in the car. 

After we took the kids to school, Stuart went off to wash Kayleigh’s car as we wouldn’t need it for a while since I can’t drive. When he got home he went upstairs and appeared a bit later. I discovered he had stripped the bed and started the sheets to wash as well as remade the bed. 

We left for the hospital around 10:20 am and stopped to get our mail. We arrived at the hospital just before 11 and got checked in. They set me up and then took me into surgery. 

I was in recovery just before 3 pm and all was well. I didn’t feel a great deal of pain except for the catheter. Ick! Those are not nice at all. Unfortunately, I had to keep that bad boy in until 6 am on Friday morning. 

Once I had come around I was transferred to a regular room. Stuart stayed for an hour or so and then headed home. Cathy had picked Millie up from school and by the time Stuart got home Cathy had taken Millie to our house and she was showering. Jack was at a sleepover so every child was taken care of. 

Clearly, Claire and Millie had a make-up session. 

I didn’t rest well Thursday evening. The catheter was just horrible and every hour or so I was being poked or prodded. Hospitals are no resting place. 

Friday morning at 6 am sharp, the nurse came in and removed the catheter. Ah, what a relief! I used the bathroom all by myself around 7 am, which was painless. The feelings of pain I had were minimal compared to what I had anticipated. 

As the morning went on I felt better. Stuart and Millie showed up to visit just before 9 am for a visit. They brought me bacon and a Starbucks. Stuart scooted off and collected Jack from his sleepover, while Millie and I took two laps around the hospital ward. At the end of two laps, Millie asked if I wanted to go one more time around. I was tuckered out, so told her we would have to go back to the room. 

Stuart came back to the hospital with Jack. Jack was a little ill at ease with me in the bed. I had put my own clothes on earlier that morning so that the kids wouldn’t be so concerned when they saw me. I could tell Jack didn’t like seeing me like this. 

They left just after 11 am and decided they would come back in the late afternoon. I attempted to sleep a bit and then take a few more laps around the ward. My doctor told me the more I was able to move about, the easier my recovery would be. 

I laid around and watched Netflix, which was cutting in and out all afternoon because of the internet service. The kids, Stuart and Cathy came back around 5 pm and brought me dumplings from PF Chang’s. The food in the hospital leaves a bit to be desired. 

They left around 7 pm, and since the internet was not working, I went to sleep at 7:45 pm, maybe the earliest of my adult life not including jet lag times. I was only interrupted three times in the night for vitals and pain meds. 

I woke up for good around 5:30 am. I decided to take a walk around the corridors and then went for a shower. I decided against pain meds when the nurse came to see me, but changed my mind about an hour later. 

Dr Christel came to see me around 8 am and said I was being discharged. Stuart and the kids headed up to the hospital and brought me a Starbucks. As soon as they walked in the room, the nurse came with my discharge papers. It was as easy as that. 

We headed home and stopped at the grocery store before getting to the house. Once I was home, I sat on the sofa and watched movies for most of the day. 

Clare and Scott came for a visit, as did Mandy. It was great to see them all, but by the time Mandy left and we had eaten dinner, I was ready for a sleep. I went to bed around 9 pm, knowing the next day was the first day of my alone time to recover.