The day had finally came...

I was scheduled for surgery that morning at 10. It was a nerve racking night to say the least. I don't really remember if I even slept at all that night. My parents and grandparents made it there in one piece and didn't even get lost. Then at about 8:30 they came and got me to take me down stairs to prep me. My parents pastor even came to sit with my family during surgery. He prayed with us before they took me down, and I almost started crying then. It was comforting to have him there.
On the way down, I was putting on a show for my family to show them I wasn't scared but deep down in side I was scared. Scared out of my mind!! I just didn't want them to worry any more than they had too. The guy put my chart in my lap, and I asked if I could look through it. He said it was my information so I could do whatever I wanted with it. So I started flipping through, and I stopped on pictures. They had taken pictures of my colon during the scope on Monday. It was so cool. I started to show all my family. I now know what UC looks like.
We made it to the family waiting room, and he sent my family in. That's when I lost it. I didn't want to sit back there with out someone with me. When I lost it, Andrew lost it too. The guy told me that I needed to be back there by myself for about 10 minutes so they could hook me up to a heart and blood pressure moniter. I so didn't want to be by myself but those were the fastest 10 minutes of my life. Andrew was the first to come back and when he walked in I started crying again. Then he started again. My nurse noticed that I was crying and asked if I wanted anything to calm my nerves and of course I said yes. Andrew left the room because everyone wanted a chance to come see me. My parents came. I cried so much when my daddy held my hand. I didn't know if I was going to make it or not and I was so afraid of what was going to happen.
Carlie and my grandmother were the last two to come back. Everyone told me that they loved me and that they would be waiting in my room for me when I got finished.
Andrew came back to sit with me before they came and got me for surgery. While we were waiting which felt like eternity, a guy that works there noticed Andrew's Bama hat. He came to talk to us to keep our minds off of what was about to happen. He was great! I'm sorry I can't remember his name, but he really helped us. The person that puts you to sleep( I can even think of where to begin on how to spell that word) came in and gave me the medicine that calms your nerves, and I was out. Andrew said I only slept for about 30 minutes, but it felt longer to me.
Dr. Cannon was running a little behind so I didn't go back for surgery until about 11 or 11:30. When I had to tell Andrew bye that was the hardest thing in my life to do!! I was still crying when they took me in the room. Dr. Sing (surgery team dr.) was back there to help me relax a bit before they put me to sleep.
The surgery was only suppost to last about an hour and a half, but I was back there for all most three. Months later my mom told me that Andrew sat in a chair and cried the whole time. My family was given a number that was used to checking on me. They were called when I was asleep, before the first cut, and when I was placed in recovery. Dr. Cannon did come out after surgery was over and told my family how everything went. She told them that my colon was covered in UC both on the inside and outside and that I was luck to have made it this long before surgery.
I don't remember much from recovery other than asking where's my family, I need something for pain, and begging to see Andrew. I do however remember being wheeled to my room. Outside my room was my aunt that lives in Birmingham, my family, and Andrew. I was so happy to be in my room. I was in the recovery room for about 4 hours.
My nurse was really nice and was gentle moving me from the strechter to my hospital bed. THAT HURT SO BAD!! I was crying when she left my room. By this time I still hadn't seen what was done.
I remember waking Andrew up to help me roll over on my side. I was in serious pain. I think I woke him up about 4 times that night to help me roll over. I have never been in that much pain im my entire life!! I was just 21! I know I was making him mad but I needed the help.
That next morning, Dr. Cannon and the surgery team came in to check on me. It was the first time I had seen what they had done. I had a cut that started just below my bellybutton and bag on my belly to catch my poop. It hurt for me to even push the cover off of me. They all looked at me and told me that I needed to walk at some point that day!! I looked at them and told them that they were crazy. There was no way I could walk. I was in too much pain, and I had to carry both a poop and urine bag!! How could I walk and have to carry so much stuff?!?!
I just got done eating my breakfast (Jello the breakfast of Champions!!) when Paige and Brian walked in!! It was so good to see them! I had seen anybody on this side of the state in over 4 weeks. I told them about what the drs. had said and my response to what they had to say. They just laughed. They told me that David, Christine, and the kids where coming up tomorrow.
My mom was so happy to see some of the new people that we had met come to visit. She knew that she would have some look after her daughter and that made her feel good. Later on that night, I did get out of my room to walk. Andrew and I made sure that we had people to help us. My mom was on one side, Carlie on the other, Dad behind me, and Andrew in front. They all were going make sure that I was not going to fall. It hurt to laugh, walk, and move off the bed. Don't even ask me to sneeze!! I thought I was going to cry when I had to sneeze!!
I also kept my room cold. It was so cold that you could have hung meat in there. My dad and I were the only ones happy about it. Andrew bless his heart slept with out four blankets and was still cold. I was constantly kicking the cover off and asking him to turn the air down. I think I even froze Paige out of the room.
David, Christine, and the kids came by on Saturday to check on me. It was great to see them as well. David was a little nervous when he saw all the tubes that were coming out of me. My nurse came in to empty my urine bag which caused David to leave the room. He and Andrew went down to the deli so Andrew could get him something to eat. Christine and Anna stayed with me. They even brought me a new coloring book!! I loved it. :) I showed Anna and Christine what my belly looked like because if I was in their shoes I would have wanted to see!!
I enjoyed every minute of all the visits that I had when I was in Birmingham.
Later that Saturday night, my cousin that I haven't seen in 5 years came to visit me!! It was so good to see Blake. They brought me a milkshake, and it was so good. I was finally put back on normal food later that day! Now people should know why I HATE broth and Jello!! I will not touch either of them with a 10 foot pole!! I told all of them that I was sorry if I was rude to them a few days ago. They told me that if they were in my shoes that they would have more than likely acted the same way maybe even worse. I was glad to know that they weren't mad at me!!

Wow what a day....

This is Dr. Jamie Cannon!! I would refer her to anyone that is thinking about having colorectal surgery!! She really does care for her patients and would do anything to help them!

This picture is of the ER entrance of the UAB hospital.

As I'm writing this post I'm yet again sadden. I'm sad this time because I'm looking back on a day that I thought that wouldn't happen for a long time. It was time to prep for my surgery for the next day. I had so many phone calls that day it was unreal. It made me feel like I was dying! I had now idea what my life would be like after the next day. I began to feel nervous, scared, excited, and shy all at the same time. I looked at Andrew several times that day and told him that I didn't want to die; I just wanted to be better. Andrew's parents were coming up later that day and my parents, sister, and grandparents were coming up the next day for my surgery. It really made me feel like I was going to die and everybody wanted to get in their good bye before it all happened.

I was excited how ever because I got to move rooms. The person across the hall had either a heart attack or stoke the night before and was taken to ICU. So as soon as he left, I asked my nurse if I could take that room because I knew that I would be in the bathroom all that next day.

That morning, I sent Andrew out on a wild goose chase to find Crystal Light packets and more Depends. The reason for the Crystal Light packets is my nurse told me I could mix it with the Go Lightly so I could tolerate to drink it! She had heard from my other nurses that it made me sick the last time I had to drink it! She even helped Andrew to find a Walgreens near by on Mapquest. They all treated us really nice! So, Andrew left me, and I sat in my bed coloring and watching tv.

Hattie, my wound care nurse came in to draw a dot on the right side of stomach to where Dr. Cannon needs to have my stoma come out at. She also gave me a walk through of everything that was going to happen after the surgery, and I could call her any time I needed her. She or another wound care nurse would come to help! She was the sweetest nurse!

He came back just in time for me to start the lovely drink mix, and we all began to read how much it took to go in the gallon jug. Just something you can put on your back burner if you ever have to have a scope done; it takes 8 packets to one gallon jug! They prefer no read in the mix so it has to be light colored powder. Who ever said that it taste like Sprite needs to be told other wise!! It does NOT taste like Sprite at all!!

Dr. Cannon wanted me to drink another type of cleaning out drink that did some what taste like lemons. It was easy to drink. I wished they would have given it to me the other time I had to drink the Go Lightly!!

I had already drank all the other stuff and was about half way through the Go Lightly, when Dr. Robertson walked in to check on me and to see if I was ready for surgery the next day!! She noticed the Go Lightly jug and looked at me and asked "Why are you drinking this?" I told her because that's what all ordered for me to have as prep for surgery. She said all the surgery team wanted me to drink was the lemon flavored drink!! I was so mad because I have drunk over half it the Go Lightly!! She just laughed!! I never had to drink the stuff and sent Andrew out on a wild goose chase for nothing!! I will never forget that as long as I live!! I asked her if she was sure that I didn't have to drink it and would it be ok if I just poured the rest of it out!! She told me I could and with her in the room I got up, went to the sink, and pour the rest of it out!! I turned around and told her that she was my new best friend!! I was torturing myself for nothing!!

Later that afternoon, Andrew's parents came by to see us before they were about to leave on vacation to Florida. They called Andrew because they had gotten lost. I know you're wondering why so many people were getting lost. The hospital is 20 city blocks and has about 4o different buildings. They are even doing construction so a lot of rodes are closed.

It was a crazy day not just for me but everyone in my family! I was ready to have the surgery in one way and in another I didn't know if I was quite ready for it! Life's to short to be in as much pain as I was in!!

Let the Journey Continue....

Well, I had all kind of test ran on me yesterday at UAB. It was rather neat to see all of me in that way. Andrew was there by my side!!
Early that morning I had about 7 drs come in to check on me. It was the surgery team. They were getting the 411 with my UC by this point I was wishing that I had a tape record because I felt like I was a broken record! They were so nice, but why did they have to come at 6 in the morning!! Oh well! Dr. Cannon was also in that group!! They asked me if I had any questions about the surgery, and I told them no, but I know I'll more than likely have questions tomorrow. Just to give a number of how many drs. I saw this was only about 1/3rd of them! I also had the GI drs come to visit which brought my dr total to about 13 and this wasn't all of them. It was crazy how many people wanted to look at my butt!! Since I was on the liver and colon floor the liver drs came in too. They were nice but wanted to do an ultrasound on my liver, kidneys, bladder, and stomach.
At about 8 or 8:30 that morning, I went down stairs for my colonscopy. I waited in the in small waiting room for over 30 minutes. I was being to wonder if they had forgotten about me, and then a nurse walked in to get me. She took me back and there I saw Dr. Robertson. She was the one going to do my scope. She was the nicest person who has ever done that on me, and she made sure that I was comfortable. Then Dr. Smith walked in. He is the one over all GI drs. He was so sweet. He started asking me questions about my problems and my dr. in Tupelo. He didn't stay for the scope but he made sure to let me know that everything was going to be ok. I was not scared because this wasn't my first time at the rodeo!!
As we got started, I noticed that I wasn't asleep like the first four that I had done. It was weird. I got to see what my colon looked like. You should know by know that I can't keep my mouth shut!! I was asking all kinds of questions and loved every minute of it. I heard Dr. Robertson counting. 15, 16, 17, and etc. I looked at her and asked what was she counting. She looked at me and said that she was counting the number of biopsies that she was taking. It was so cool to watch her pull the biopsies. I'm easily amused to say the least!! Once she was through, I asked her how many did she take. She looked at me and said that took so many that she lost count! The last number I heard was about 28 or so. Then I went back to the waiting room for the nurses to watch my heart rate and oxygen levels for about 30 minutes before they let me go back to my room.
Once I finally got back to my room, Andrew had already had a shower and his breakfast eaten. I didn't realize that it was about 10:30 by the time I got back! I told him all about the scope! He thought I was weird because I watched the whole thing and was asking questions!! He said that it would have probably made him sick to look at all of that mess. I couldn't help it!! Know I know why I should be a nurse!! Nothing grosses me out anymore!!
I was taken back down stairs at 11 for my ultrasound. That lady was really nice also. She talked to me the whole test. I kept asking what she was looking at and how she could tell what she was looking at. It was cool to have it done!! I have never had children so this was all new to me. I hate that all I could see was a bunch of lines and colors and hear different noises. It was neat but not as neat as the scope.
As the day went on, they ran even more test. They took about 12 tubes of blood the night before and now they wanted to do a CT scan of my stomach. I have had about 4 of those now. I can't have a MRI's due to a accident that I had when I was 12. That test will make you feel like you have had an accident on yourself due to the dye that they put in you!
Needless to say by the time I got through with all my running for the day, I was tired and hungry. I by no means like hospital food, but UAB had pretty good food. Andrew also liked it!! If the ladies that had food left on their cart after they had passed all of it out, they would bring him whatever they had. It was free food, and he ate just because it was free!!
My nurses were great too!! I couldn't get them to tell me why they would not push my meds than other they had had a bad experience with it. They came to check on me more than the nurses in Tupelo did. It felt good to be cared for in that way!!

Jake, Dierks Bentley, and Transferring Hospitals

Jake's birthday was Thursday June 3. He turned one!! He's so precious!! I just love being with him. His party was Saturday, and I went. There were a lot people there. Jake is one truly loved child, and I'm excited that I can be apart of his life. I missed his arrival, but I'll be there for the rest!! Happy 1st Birthday, Jake!! I love you!!
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Also on Saturday, I went to the Dierks Bentley Concert at Harrah's with Tessie, John, and Dena, Tessie's sister. We had a great time. There was some weird people there and I'll just leave it at that!! It was a really great show!! I think he's really cute also!! I'm not a big fan of country music, but when it comes to Dierks I just can't help it!! Here are some pictures of the show:

I also took some videos of the show as well. I hope you enjoy!!!


I did get another play list, but this one is a little bit more special! I'll let you see for yourself:

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This day last year couldn't come soon enough!! I was finely going to Birmingham!!That night before I remember shaving my legs in a hospital bed (which is every hard to do) because I knew that I was going to have about 30 people looking at every inch of my body. I have no idea why I wanted to shave my legs other than it had been like a month since the last time. Andrew had made it there at about 4 that morning, and I sat up waiting on him to get there! I cried again when he came in the room!! I was happy to see him!! I loved seeing him! My nurse came in and told me that it would be that afternoon before I left. So my parents went on to church and to have lunch. I was starving and didnt' want what the hospital wanted me to eath that I had Andrew go get me a baked potato from the restuarant in the hospital. By this time, potatoes in any form were the only thing that I could eat that wouldn't make my stomach hurt or make me feel sick to my stomach! So it was about 2:30 when my nurse came in and told me that they were on their way. I had to ask from where. This whole time we all thought that the Tupelo ambulance was going to take me there, but no. They were to good to take me is what I thought. I'm glad they didn't take me. The group that came to get me were from Jasper. They were some great ladies!! They got there at about 3:30. I had the nurse from crazy land that day!! She got on my nerves so bad!! I called her for several things, and she never came in!! I felt sorry for all the other patients that she had that day!! She did however let me have something for pain and nausa before I left, but it was like pulling teeth to get her to come to my room.
I also had my grandparents and their friends to come visit me before I left. Mr. Bugg and Katrina are great friends. They asked me a few days before to make them a list of things that I needed before I left. They brought me everything on my list and a few extras. The extras were a small notebook and pens. I didn't think I needed them, but they came in handly often (more details to come later).
The ambulance girls made it there about 3:30 like I said earlier. Those where the nicest people. They came in and un-hooked me from the machines and gave the followers a few instuctions and then we were off. They also told helped us to remember to get everything. I had been packed for two days before, but there were some things that I forgot. The pillows!! They told me that UAB would charge me again for pillows and that I had already paid for the ones at Tupelo. So we took them all pillows and pillowcases!! It was fun taking things that didn't belong to me!! I wanted Tupelo to know how I felt about that place!!
The instuctions that they gave were pretty funny!! The people that followed could not run the red lights like they could, not to go as fast as they did, and to follow all other road rules that were posted!! LOL!! Here's where it gets funny!!
My mom rode with me and my dad and Andrew drove. We knew that we had no idea when I was going to get out of the hospital so it was best. Well, we get down stairs and they are in the cars waiting to follow. We take off. Andrew goes the wrong way and we lose him for the rest of the drive over. My dad got seperated from us as well, but about 20 minutes later I look out the back of the ambulance and my dad is right there with us. He was going over 100 mph to catch up with us!! The van shut off about 4 times before we even got there. My mom later told me that we were going over 100 mph to get there. I didn't know that. I didn't care either. I just wanted to get there.
The whole ride there, I'm in the back getting high of the pure oxygen and just enjoying the ride while getting the 411 from the girls. I hate I can't remember their names, but I remember everything else. The lady in the back with me was divorced with two children, and wanted to be an EMT to have more time with her children. I even saw pictures of them. They are beautiful. The driver was so cool!! I asked her about who all she has driven to the hospital. She has driven Carl Edwards and Tony Steward!! She works Talladega both fall and spring race!! She liked both of them, but Tony was rude and Carl talk more. (I tried to find here this past year at Dega but it's hard when you don't remember her name).
I tried calling Andrew, and he did meet up with us like once. My dad on the other had kept with us until we got into down town Birmingham. It was so funny!! I was wheeled in the hospital and a huge group of doctor's and nurses were waiting at the end of the hall. I was so exited!! I thought they were waiting on me, but to my disappointment; they weren't. My driver heard other the radio that a tramua was coming in and they needed to be ready!! I was hurt, but they had me a room all ready. My mom and I were looking at each other and asking "Where's Andrew and Daddy?" They both were lost!!
They walked me to my room and unpacked me. Before they left, Andrew called just before we left to get directions. My mom tried but couldn't and handed the phone to the driver. She talked Andrew in and within 20 minutes he was there (he had been driving past the hospital for about 15 minutes before he knew that he was right on it). My dad on the other hand was still on there. He called and Andrew took the call. They were great to listen too. Andrew was giving my dad directions and he was the one who kept up with us the whole way. Daddy was really lost. He was getting into the bad part of town. It was getting a little scary!! They were trying to get go by the sun, buildings, and etc. They were getting no where until Carlie saw a hospital sign. They finely showed up over two hours later. I had already seen one dr and one nurse before they got there. I laughed so hard that I cried. I will never forget that. Once they got there, they stayed for a few minutes and told me to call as soon as I met the dr to find out what they were going to do.
They left right at shift change so my new nurse and dr came in and talked to me for a few minutes to tell me what I had to look forward to that night. I thought I was dying!! They had already order for me to have another colonscopy in the morning. They also had ordered a liver test, blood work, and ct scan. This time I did have to drink the Go Lightly stuff. Oh how it made me so sick. She got me all in the system, brought me the jug, and left the room. She wanted to leave my door open with the curtain drawn so she could hear if I was ok. She had also even me something else for pain and nausea. I started to chug it. I will never do that again is what I thought. Oh my, I started throwing up within 5 minutes. My nurse heard me and came running. She checked on me to see if I needed anything else before she went to get me something stronger for pain and nausea. I felt as though I had been ran over with a truck. I was gagging and that didn't help!! I had about half of it dranked and I told her that I haven't been eating very much and could I stop drinking it. She looked at me and said if it's gone when she came back that she wouldn't say a word. She didn't care how I got rid of it, but she couldn't have taken the bottle out of my room with it half empty. I looked at Andrew and asked him to pour it down the drain. It also sucked that I shared a bathroom with another patient. That's a NO NO with GI patients who can't controll their bowel movements!! Hello, it doesn't take a genis to figure that one out!! I had to have my nurse several time to go over there and unlock my bathroom door!! It was crazy and I was in no mood to put up with it. I was in and out of the bathroom all night. I was sick and was not in a good mood, but I was glad to be there instead of Tupelo!! They also had to measure my liquid out take, and it was hard when there was two basins in the bathroom. It was so stupid!!