Posted by mommyfranklin at April 29th, 2008
I am generally the type of person who doesn’t like to be fussed over. I go along in life doing what I need to do and try to remain behind the scenes. I focus on my kids and overall well being of my family.
Unfortunately, something came along about eight months ago that forced me focus on myself. At Emily’s 7th birthday party at the end of August, I noticed a lump about the size of a ping pong ball in my right groin. It didn’t hurt, but it was a little disconcerting. In the following weeks, I kept track of the lump. It changed size and would go away with no apparent reason. I mentioned it to my doctor at my annual checkup, but all she could do was guess what it could be since that was during a time when the lump was not there.
Fast forward to mid-February. The lump is still coming in going, and I decide it’s time to get it checked out. I actually made it in to the see the doctor at a time when the lump is there. My doctor didn’t know what it was. Whatever it was, she knew it would have to be removed so she referred me to a surgeon.
When I made it in to see the surgeon two weeks later, of course the lump was gone. The surgeon guessed it was a lymph node or a hernia, but couldn’t be sure with it not actually being there. Those guesses were based on the location. He gave me instructions to call him the next time it came back. That chance came just a couple weeks later. This time the doctor felt pretty sure it was a lymph node, so he scheduled an ultrasound and possible biopsy for the next day.
The ultrasound had surprising results. Instead of the expected lymph node, it was confirmed that I had a femoral hernia. Surgery was our only option. At that time, the question was when. The answer came the next week. The surgeon’s office called me while we gone to San Antonio to discuss the results of the ultrasound. I asked if we could wait until summer to get it repaired, and they really didn’t encourage that. The longer we waited, the greater the risk of strangulation. At that point, it would be emergency surgery. Scott and I talked about it and decided we would schedule it as soon as we could.
After we returned from our trip, I called the surgeon and scheduled the surgery for April 25th. They told me that it was an outpatient procedure with about three days recovery, which made April 25th ideal because it was during a four day weekend from work. I wouldn’t have to miss any work. That is why I really started to panic when I came down with a sinus infection on the 18th. I really didn’t want to have to reschedule.
Luckily, I was feeling mostly better by the 25th so off we went to the surgery center at 10:00 that morning. After a visit with my surgeon and the others who would be involved with the surgery, it was time for my nap. I had told the anesthesiologist about the sinus infection, so she added some steroid in with the anesthesia to help with that. The next thing I remember is being in recovery with Scott close by. Apparently, I woke up at the end of a conversation with the surgeon. As it turned out, I had two hernias in my right groin. They have both been repaired, and I am well on my way to being back to my old self.
This is not my first visit to a hospital / surgery center in recent years. But, this is the first time it is about something that centers on me. The three other times that I’ve had surgery in the last 7 years, the end result has been a baby. We were always surrounded by our very supportive family and had a wonderful Sunday School class in Plainview that was very good to provide a meal or two and to stock us up on diapers.
I have to say that the show of love around me over the last weekend has been very humbling. Our new Sunday School class, which we’ve only been in for about 4 months, provided meals for 3 days. The wonderful ladies that I work with sent food for another day. Another group I have joined since we moved here has called and promised to bring meals soon as well. Mom and Dad came for a week to help corral the children and to care for me while Scott had to work. There have been more emails and phone calls than I can count. I returned to work today and was really pampered. I almost feel like I shouldn’t be feeling as good as I do, but the truth is that I feel okay. I am tired and a little sore, but I am doing really well.
When we get bogged down with all the awful stories that we hear on the news, it’s hard to feel like there is any good left in the world. But there is. I have seen it this week.
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