The Big Reveal!

Have I kept you in suspense long enough? Well, sorry to disappoint because it's not that huge. Well, I guess it could be if I was coherent enough to have refused. So here's where I left off:

Elliot took me home from the hospital with the PICC line on Friday, May 29, 2009 just in time to have missed ALL family functions, including this very, very important one for my niece Kayla:

Kayla was sealed to Patrick Martin on May 23, 2009 in the Salt Lake Temple. Isn't she gorgeous?!

The Home Health nurse came to change the bandage on my PICC line on Saturday. I told her that I was allergic to the plastic tape and she just said, "Oh" and put the plastic tape on my arm. Grrr.

We had an exciting weekend following my return home when early, early Sunday morning Stella woke up. I was putting her back to bed (at 3:00 a.m.) when there was the loudest banging on our front window and someone yelling for help.

Now that we all know how loud my vomit/screaming is, let me try to describe the window/long hallway sound. We have a crappy front window. If someone outside closes their car door, it sounds like it's right in the middle of our living room as our window rattles. Also, our hallway is like a bowling alley and amplifies everything!

So that combo at 3:00 in the morning was actually quite entertaining as Elliot jumped out of bed (he's not a good waker-upper) and starts yelling at the door (the banger had moved over to the front door . . . which is actually on the side of the house). Elliot, in his blindness, saw someone crouching outside the door through the peep-hole. There was no way I was letting him open the door, so he called 911. There was no more banging and whoever it was left. The cops came, found a baseball cap with blood in it and told us to go back to bed. So we did. Well, Stella and I did. Elliot's heart was beating out of his chest and I'm sure his mind was racing too. The banging he heard sounded like it came from our roof. It's very, very loud. New windows have been ordered (not really, but soon).

Church was entertaining and exhausting as quite a few people just thought we were on vacation and didn't know I was sick and in the hospital. Plus, I covered the PICC line with this wrap thing the nurse gave me. It made the whole thing look worse than it was. I felt so much better that it was weird to answer all of the questions. Thanks to my best friend Emily for taking Stella home for me so I could take a nappy.

Monday afternoon my sister Marci came into town to take care of us! May I just mention that someone told her that my kidneys were shutting down (not true, never even mentioned once by a doctor . . . or even checked for that matter), so she pretty much thought I was dying. I was still weak and recoving when she came, but the 2 weeks she was here was actually just fun because we got to hang out a lot instead of me being sickly.

Marci is amazing. She just gets stuff done. Stuff thats been on my "TO DO" list for 4 months. Plus, she did my laundry, ironing, dishes, sweeping, vacuuming, cleaning, more ironing, and entertained Stella while I took naps. She also got me started on a project that has been in the works for the past 7 years (my brother's wedding scrapbook). Amazing I tell ya, amazing. And she reminded me to take my medication and vitamins. Plus she just finished planning a wedding for her daughter. I have the best sisters EVER!

They kept the PICC line in my arm just for emergency purposes. I wasn't using it at home, but I had to clean it every day just in case it needed to be used. Though I realized that the PICC line was probably the reason I felt so much better (and I was very grateful for it), I was really ready to get it out of my arm. It was a close call, but the Home Health Nurse was able to take the PICC line out on Friday, June 5, 2009 instead of me having to wait until the next Tuesday for my Post-Op appointment.

Earlier in the week I went out to by paper tape to wrap my PICC lines up. I think the Home Health Nurse stole it. But that's alright because I'm sure there's someone else that's allergic to plastic tape like me.

Marci got to go to my Post-Op appointment with me. Here's the conversation and the BIG REVEAL I had with my doctor:

WHIT: "Hey doc, what do you think was wrong with me?"
DOC: "Could have been your gall bladder, but it was probably the stomach ulcers."
WHIT: "Well, what made me feel better?" (although I already think it was the PICC line nutrition)
DOC: "It could have been a lot of things, maybe we finally just got the right combination of drugs, we changed them a lot, I gave you marijuana, or it could have been . . ."
WHIT: "Wait, what?"
DOC: "I gave you medical marijuana."
WHIT: "Awesome."
DOC (to Marci): "Oh hi, I don't believe we've met."
MARCI: "I'm Marci."
DOC: "Where are you from?"
MARCI: "Utah."
DOC: "Are you LDS?"
MARCI & WHIT: "Yes."
DOC: "Oh, so you probably don't approve of me giving you marijuana?"

So there you have it. It's all over, except for a few more follow-up appointments, continued ulcer medication, vitamins, and a lot of water . . . I feel awesome. The gall bladder and appendix didn't weigh much, but I did lose a little weight (not as much as Elliot) during the process which was also very cool. Stella continues to kiss my PICC line scar so it will get better and, in her words, "I won't have to be soft with Mommy anymore."

THE END