2 Week Countdown!!

I sort of have a pit in my stomach when I think about the fact that my sweet husband has to start school in two weeks.  Just remembering what he went through last year, with all the exams, long lectures. all-nighters and STRESS!!  YUCK!  At least he only has one more year of classwork and then he can start his rotations.  He has been so sweet to stay home with me everyday, catering to all my needs.  I can't believe how patient he has been.  He will do anything for me.  He is a great nurturer.  He sets a good example for me since I am not the most sensitive person in the world.  He is willing to rub my back, sing to me, massage my feet with lotion and let me watch anything I want on TV.  I own the remote control these days and it's awesome.  Anyways, the bottom line is I am going to go through major withdraws when he is gone all day long again.  I am going to miss him so much.  I guess all I can do now is soak up the last two weeks of being spoiled by my lover.  

One Week

It's been a full week and we're still home.  We count our blessings everyday we don't have to go back to the hospital.  We had a little scare last Sunday, but fortunately ended up not having to go into the ER.  Other than being home, not  much is going on.  That is pretty much all I do these days, stay home.  I sleep in until about 11:00 am, sometimes shower, take lots of naps, try to eat and then go to bed at about 8:00 pm.  I've never been one to require that much sleep so this is a little strange for me.  I figure the more time I am asleep the less time I feel miserable.  I can't believe how long it takes to recover from surgery.  I  guess just being in the hospital for a month kind of disconnected me from reality.  

I sort of feel like all I talk about is all my problems so I am going to make a list of things that I am grateful for and that make me happy right now.  Cheesy, I know but here it goes:

1.  My own bed with my own pillow, sheets and blanket.

2.  Air conditioning

3.  My PATIENT husband

4.  The gospel of course

5.  I never thought I'd say this... Oprah 

6.  Ice water

7.  Heating pads

8.  Pain medicine

9.  The internet

10.  Good friends

11.  Ummm. that's all for now

We're Home!!!

Here is the board that we would write my goals on, my nurse's name, the date and the doctor on call.  Pretty exciting stuff!
I had too many sweet friends concerned for me as this picture shows my struggle with carrying on two conversations at one time.  Not an easy task.
                  This is the face I would make when the pain would start getting worse.
My sweet mom came twice to visit and just be there for moral support.  My mother-in-law also came for a while.  They will never know how much that meant to me.
          Here is a picture with my two friends Criscell and Alyssa and their cute little girls.
I thought I'd prepare anyone who may come for a visit so they know what to expect.  I look really bad, actually a lot worse than I feel thankfully.

According to Zac our summer vacation has finally begun.  It is 10:30 in the morning and we are already on our second LMN movie for the day.  We are just hanging out on our living room.  Zac is eating peanut M&M's and feels totally justified staying in his pajama's all day.  He has been so sweet catering to all my needs, cleaning out my throw up bins, getting me food, monitoring my feeding tube and anything else I can think to ask him.  We got home from the hospital yesterday afternoon, ordered a pizza and cherished our freedom of our own couch and TV.  We just pray we don't end up back there for a long time.  I slept so well last night, in my own bed.  It's amazing how much you appreciate the little things when they are taken away from you for a little while.  

Thank you to all our friends and family for being so supportive through this whole adventure.  We would have never made it through with out all your phone calls and visits.  We feel so blessed to have so many close loved ones nearby.  We are here now in our cozy apartment and welcome any visitors.  

And one more time...hopefully

I did return home from the hospital at one point and ended up unexpectedly returning the next day for a surgery to solve this ongoing pain. Fortunately the surgery went well and the pain is gone. I am left with a gnarly eight inch incision going vertically up my stomach. Now I am just recovering from the surgery and having some severe nausea causing me to have to be on a feeding tube. At least the original pain is gone for now and hopefully won't ever return. They had to remove my right ovary because it was twisted three times and the size of a canteloupe. I am still in the hospital and was suppose to be discharged last Monday, but had some wierd, random pain in a different spot causing me to still be here. We are crossing our fingers we can go home tomorrow, so long as nothing else freaky comes up. My goal is to not return until I am ready to deliver because I have had it with the hospital for a while. I may have to go home with the feeding tube, so visitors, please don't laugh, it's not a pretty site. I look like a freak. Little kids stare at me in the halls. It's really sad. I try to avoid looking in the mirror too often because it really is a depressing site. Well that is the update. Hope everyone is having a great summer!!!

Back in the Hospital

It's true. I was sent back to the hospital only this time it was in Arizona. I woke up to excruciating pain in my lower abdomen and back and had to be rushed in an ambulance to the Good Samaritan hospital in Phoenix on Thursday, July 3rd. Just when things were starting to feel a little more normal as far as my health goes, this happened. I've been here since then and I am hopefully (fingers crossed) going to be released tomorrow. I was so sad to have to miss the 4th of July, one of my favorite holidays, but what can you do? Fireworks will have to wait another year, but Zac said he will bbq for me as soon as we get out of here. He has been so sweet to stay by my side through all this. I know it hasn't been easy for him to sit with me each day and keep me company. He has slept over every night except for two, and one of those nights my mom was here with me. My parents came out last weekend and his dad was kind enough to come out for a few days as well.

We've had so much support from such great family and friends. They've been willing to visit and bring flowers, treats, and great reading materials. With out all of you we would have never made it another two weeks. Thank you so much for all the prayers and phone calls we've received as well. You'll never know how much it means to us. We've never felt so loved before. Turns out I will be just fine in the next little while and hope to not have to make another return visit to the dreaded hospital for a long time.

Now I think we should be able to enjoy what's left of our summer before Zac goes back to school.

Back in Arizona

We finally made the trip back to Arizona last week. Our computer is broken, so I have to use the one in our apartment complex office. Sorry no pictures this time. Zac is just back to work at the hospital and I am still trying to get my energy back from the hospital stay. I'v been reading a lot of books, watching a lot of movies, and talking on the phone... a lot!! Other than that I do all I can to avoid the heat.

Upcoming events I am looking forward to:

1. Improv show with Zac Saturday night
2. BBQ with friends tonight
3. My birthday
4. Throwing a shower for my friend, Sharon
5. Going to Utah to visit Zac's family
6. Going to Idaho for a family reunion with my family
7. Of course, the 4th of July (one of my favorite holidays) I love everything about it, the bbq, swimming, the fireworks, wearing red, white and blue, all of it.

So that's the update from the Freestone's.

I'm Alive...Literally!

I haven't posted in a while because I've been held hostage in the hospital for the last 8 days. What started as a vacation for Zac and I down in California ended up being an extended stay at the Mission Viejo Hospital. Who knew that the hospital I was born in 26 years ago would be the same hospital I thought I was going to die in last week!

It all started Friday night, June 6th, when Zac and I spent a long six hours in the waiting room of the ER due to severe stomach and back pain. As the pain worsened it made it difficult to breath. By the time we got through triage and made it to a room, they immediately began to run a series of tests including blood tests, urine sample, cat scan, EKG, and ultrasound. The results of the the testing showed that I was experiencing Hyperstimulation, a very rare side effect of the fertility treatment I was undergoing. This caused fluid to build up in my abdominal cavity causing severe pain throughout my organs. Three separate times they had to make an incision in my lower abdomen and drain the fluid through a catheter totally over 10 liters of fluid. Pain medicine quickly became my best friend and I can see how one can become addicted!

I had a few scary episodes including passing out in the middle of the night while going to the bathroom causing me to fall and hit my head. Luckily Zac was sleeping in the room and heard a loud thud. I was rushed for an emergency MRI to rule out any internal bleeding of my brain. Thankfully everything was okay. I stopped breathing and started sweating profusely a few times when the pain got too bad, scaring Zac half to death.

I was going downhill pretty fast by Sunday, so Monday morning I was moved to the cardiac ICU so they could keep a closer eye on me and try to keep my blood count stabilized. I was attached to several different monitors making me feel more clausterphobic than I already felt. I think a counted seven- an oxygen canula in my nose, a blood pressure cuff, a pulse oximeter, an EKG monitor, a foley (bladder) catheter, automated compression stockings and an IV. It made for quite the sight! I was in the ICU through Friday with lots of ups and downs, and by Friday night I was sent to the first floor with hopes of being discharged the next day. After being chewed out by my roommate for eating a bag of chips at 9:30 and my vibrating leg compressors making too much noise, I was sent to a more welcoming roommate who watched Dora the Explorer in spanish all night while answering phone calls from her family as if it were 1:00 in the afternoon! It made for a long night.

Luckily they were able to discharge me on Saturday afternoon with lots of medications. Unfortunately, none of them included pain medication and Extra strength Tylenol isn't quite doing the trick. I went through withdrawals on Saturday and Sunday from not having the immediate relief that my intravenous pain meds provided. Thinking I was going to be making a swift return to the hospital that night, I received a blessing from the guys in my family and it's now Monday night and I am at my sisters relaxing. The doctors said it'll be a couple weeks until I am back to my normal health, but I am just so grateful to be out of the hopsital! I managed to gain 30 pounds in about 5 days from all of the fluid build-up. I am slowly getting rid of it thanks to frequent urinations.

It was so nice to be in California when this all happened so that my family was able to visit a lot. My mom came and sat with me everyday and my sister, Sarah, came almost everyday. By Wednesday I was feeling so dirty from not being able to shower, that my mom and Sarah came and shaved my legs and washed my hair for me. It felt so good to be somewhat clean again!

I am so much appreciating the change in scenery even if it is just at my parent's house. I had had it with the hospital food and being surrounded by such sick people made me depressed, but grateful for my health that I take for granted everyday. I feel so blessed to have such wonderful doctors and medicine that makes it possible for us to recover from the physical ailments that we experience. We are heading back to Arizona sometime this week. We are waiting for me to feel well enough to make the drive back.