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Category Archives: Health & Well-Being

Aaaand now Katie has it.

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She woke me up at 4am to say she puked in the bathroom sink. But at least she made it to the sink instead of in her bed! Small favors! (Well, except I had to clean vomit out of the sink. And it smelled eerily similar to Owen’s vile mess.)

She crashed on the couch because she says her bed is uncomfortable. I know she just wants to be by me so she can talk to someone when she wants. This morning it was 100 questions: How did you clean the sink? What time is dad going to be home? Why can’t I eat regular food? How many times did Owen throw up? What if I can’t eat or drink all day? What happens? Who was that text from? Can I drink some water? What’s Maggie doing?

OMGGGGGGG PLEASE GO TO SLEEP AND REST!! Compared to Owen who slept silently in his room all day.

Maggie wanted to be with her. I know, awwwwww.

But wow oh wow was she moany and whimpery all day. It was very disconcerting. I’m guessing she’s just not familiar with any kind of pain so it’s all overwhelming. I mean, she sounds about like how I felt when in the throws of my gall bladder issue but I know that’s not her issue.

Aaaand in a complete 180 from how the middle school handled things…apparently Katie needs a Covid test TODAY according to health department guidelines. What? Why would it be different than MS? The nurse had no idea, it shouldn’t be. Katie wouldn’t even be allowed back in the building to even do a test on Tuesday (no school Monday) because they don’t know if she’s negative or positive. And it has to be a lab-based negative test to come back. GRRR. I know this is protocol but shit like this makes me want to have lied and tell them Katie is taking a mental health day. She has a stomach bug like we all did. It’s not Covid. So then I had to figure out where to get her tested—and not wanting to take her today because she’s really sick.

And that was even a process (of course) because I tried to register for testing at the local community college and it said my number was already in use so I tried for like 10 minutes to reset my password with no luck. I called and they were really nice and helpful and got me set up. Turns out my number was already tied to both kids for their school shield testing.

And then I had to call the assistant superintendent’s office to try and get clarification on why buildings handle things differently and leave feedback on the whole process. But of course had to leave a message.

So Katie is whimpering away, tossing and turning, her back hurts (but she refuses to lay flat and stays crunched up in a ball), she’s afraid to drink because she doesn’t want to throw up, nothing sounds good to her. So I tell Tom it’s his turn to come sit with her (he had a half day today so he was home resting because he’s still not at 100%) and he comes downstairs and she immediately asks him if she can watch a movie and get a drink of water and I’m thinking what the hell girl like two minutes ago and for the past two hours you’ve been a mess the whole time but dad walks in and now you’re normal? Of course.

And then this happened. We actually had to move her so she didn’t fall off.

So it’s been a day.

Household sickness update!

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I had 11 somewhat okay hours of sleep…but I didn’t feel great in the morning—no vomiting or anything else, just all over achy and a big headache). I spent most of the day on the couch resting.

Tom now feels crappy, too (he said had been up since 3) so he went in and got his computer this morning (before I got up) and worked from home. He had gastrointestinal issues, nausea, chills…all the good stuff.

Owen had to stay home today regardless but he feels mostly okay.

Katie is perfectly fine.

Oh noooo! A sick kid!

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Nothing like being woken at 3:30am by a sick kid (“Mom…Mom…I threw up in my bed”) and having to change the sheets twice in 20 minutes. (Which was especially difficult because a teen boy does not take care of his laundry or keep sheet sets together. So he might or might not have one sheet and a dog blanket on his bed.) And try not to get sick myself because that smell was the most vile thing I’ve smelled in my life. (It was half a day before the smell finally left my nose.)

The first load of laundry went in at 4am with more loads to come (sheets, comforter, mattress pad—oh yeah, we learned that his mattress pad wasn’t really waterproof so his mattress got a quick spot cleaning).

I’ve forgotten how awful this is — no one has been sick like this in years.

Thankfully he slept most of the day. Even took a shower and went back to bed.

I had been worried about having to get him tested for Covid — even though we knew it was a stomach bug, everything is a symptom of Covid so it’s mandatory — but the nurse said she knew the stomach bug was going around, so as long as he followed the normal return-to-school-after-sickness protocol (minimum 24 hours with no vomit or diarrhea) then he could come in to the nurse’s office before school and get tested. Excellent!

He was doing pretty well by that night (he was able to eat a little bit) but still tired. And I started to feel a little off so we all went to bed early (plus I was exhausted since I had been up since 3:30am and only had a short nap).

Surprise I hurt my back.

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About two weeks ago I dropped my phone behind the bed. Tom managed to get it out but unknowingly unplugged the bed (it has USB ports in it so it needs to be plugged in) so nothing is charging and no cables work. I’ve not even been charging my phone at night because I haven’t wanted to figure it out.

Fast forward to last night when I thought I had FINALLY gotten a cable working. Aaaand no. And then I dropped my phone BEHIND THE BED AGAIN. Not reachable at all.

So I got super pissed and rage pulled the nightstand away from the bed. I knew I’d pay for it today and yep, my back hurts. I hate being old and broken.

And yes, I also hate all the cords but they’re generally hidden.

Ocular migraine?!

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Owen told us recently that he had been having some vision issues—seeing green lights and wavy lines and feeling pressure on his eyeballs—so we took him to the eye doctor.

After more questions and an exam (during which he got eye drops to be able to see inside his eyes), the doctor said he thought it sounded like ocular migraines—but without the actual headache. (A bonus?!)

It’s not serious—it’s actually quite common—and we’re just supposed to track when they happen to see if we can figure out a trigger.

48th Birthday Adventures

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As you just saw, my birthday started with an amazing rainbow eye look to match my tie dye outfit. Plus the crown of course.

But the actual adventures actually started with heading with my bestie to pick up my other bestie and then head to Kenosha!

Trying to find catchers equipment for Owen and backup mitts for Evan at Play It Again Sports. What you do when it’s your birthday and wearing a crown and a mask.

Next birthday adventure stop: lunch at Frank’s Diner! It’s been two long years since we’ve been here and it was as delicious as we remembered!

No jalapeno bacon for the Bloody Mary this time. Womp wah.

Next? Crumbl—this will be birthday desserts for us with the kids instead of cake. They didn’t have my fave cornbread ones this week, though. And yes, we ate a few bites straight from the trunk!

I caught Anna sneaking some bites in the car!

Now birthday adventures are on a hiatus but I’m cuddling with my doggo so all is well.

Birthday adventures, mom style: taking Katie to physical therapy! Ha.

Birthday adventures, kid style: watching a movie!

The last birthday adventure! A margarita by the fire…with Tom and Anna and David. With an Ozzy Man Reviews topper. It was chilly so I had my sweatshirt on and they thought it looked like a queen’s cape!

All in all, a great 48th birthday!

Physical therapy for Katie!

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She hurt her ankle a year or so ago but it wasn’t bad and went away — though every so often it would hurt a little or get aggravated. And then at our summer party a friend slid into her on the waterslide and hurt it again. Enough so that we took her in to the doctor who said yes it was swollen but x-rays didn’t show anything serious. But she was prescribed physical therapy…so here we are! The therapist said it wasn’t too bad and should be a pretty easy fix/recovery — probably less than 10 visits.

Owen needs braces again.

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The orthodontist has an even fancier system for tooth models now! It’s a tiny little camera she just moves around his mouth and it turns it into a 3D model!

https://youtube.com/shorts/SYxHvNj7IDM

His last adult tooth (red X) is trying to come in on top of another tooth. So they have to move the tooth that’s currently there to the empty spot (green arrow). This means six months of full braces on the top and then likely two years of Invisalign after.

Why Invisalign? Owen asked for it and since he did really well keeping track of his retainer the past two years, we said we’d think about it. Unfortunately it’s more expensive, to the tune of about $6k. We’re still waiting on the price for regular braces because we are out of insurance benefits (we were out from Day 1—benefits max out at like $1750 and we have already paid that much ourselves).

Tom’s senior moment

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We were vacuum sealing hamburger to put in the freezer and I was writing the date on them like I always do: 8/21

After completing a few, Tom looks at me totally serious and says OH MAN.

Me: What?

Him: We forgot our anniversary.

Me: Um. no we didn’t. It’s the 18th.

It then dawns on him I’m writing the year, not the day—August 2021.

I’m so glad we can laugh at and with each other!

Staples be gone!

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Today is my follow up #pissygallbladder appointment to get my staples removed. I’m wondering if the doctor will even recognize me. If only I had my CCTM in the hospital I would have looked MUCH different.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when removing the staples but I honestly wasn’t expecting him to just pull them straight out! It didn’t hurt and it makes sense that’s how they do it but it was just weird.

I asked about the sizes of the gallbladder and stones because they were supposed to give me pics and never did. First he said the big one was the size of a marble but then he said the size of a small egg. And the other ones (which were hundreds?) were the size of small peas. I’m not sure he knows/remembers/cares but regardless, that’s a ton.

I’m just asking you to have an open mind!

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So, in my recent downtime thanks to my #pissygallbladder I was scrolling my local Facebook groups and saw someone asking for a product recommendation but they explicitly said NO MLMs. Huh? And then another post asked for ways to earn extra income and after a few suggestions someone says “OOH look…here come the MLM folks” with a shark emoji and eyeroll.

I get it. I know these companies (as a whole) get a bad rap because reps added you to parties that you didn’t want to be added to (which is totally bad practice). Or some ladies legit post non-stop about why they have the best products and you roll your eyes… scrolling on.

But I hope you hear me on this…

When someone suggests a new hair care or household item you can pick up at a chain store or order from Amazon, do you think to yourself “UGH, she’s trying to get me to buy something else?!” No, you don’t. You think “Hey cool, my friend likes this and suggested it so I will give it a try.”

Do you have the same disgust for Target ads? Sephora? Tesla? McDonalds? Those are multibillion dollar companies. Your fellow neighbors or friends are just trying to find a way to be a parent and a monetary contributor to their household!

I’m not asking you to support everyone in your friends list by purchasing something. I’m just asking you to have an open mind about why they began that journey and be open minded to what they are trying to accomplish for themselves and their families.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to working from the couch so I can help pay our mortgage this month.

Why not pay to get my hair washed and styled?

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I decided to splurge and have my hair washed and styled today. After my somewhat painful shower last night, I just knew I wouldn’t have the energy to wash my hair… and I couldn’t really postpone it too long since it was already WAAAAAAY past due. While I was there I got my toe polish changed, too, so I look way more put together than I feel.

Don’t worry, I didn’t drive. Tom and the kids dropped me off and then afterwards we ran a few errands for the kids’ pool party tomorrow (yes, that’s still on!), ate lunch, and now it’s nap time.

Lake Forest, Day 7—I’m sprung!

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I woke up assuming it was discharge day but I had to get the official word. While I waited I took another walk.

And then one of the docs came in to remove my pouch—which I’m just remembering I didn’t tell you about. So I had a little pouch with a line in my abdomen to drain the surgical site. I hadn’t even known I had it until like late into the day after surgery. Anyway, they emptied it a few times and I didn’t think much of it. But last night, one of the nurses came in…and wanted to show me how to drain it in case I went home with it.

WAIT—WHAAAAT?

I might be going home with this thing? Oh hell no. I wanted no part of that. But I diligently watched and tried to accept that I might actually have to do it. Ewwwww.

So back to the doctor coming in to remove it. I was ecstatic and told her she just made my day! I had no idea what was involved in removing it, so I was a little surprised when she just said she was going to pull it out. Yikes. Okay. She said it shouldn’t hurt but it would feel weird. Ooookay. And she was right. And it felt just like you’d imagine it would feel to pull 4″ of plastic tubing from your body. (Which, sidenote, I had no idea it was that long. I hadn’t even thought about it. I mean it makes sense but ewwww.) Then she just put a bandage on it and that was that. She also then gave me the good news that I would be going home for sure today!

12:23p — Anna was on call to come get me because Tom had an interview that morning—so here I am in her car! In real clothes! Feeling sore but in good spirits since I was going home!

Final thoughts? Man was that a crazy experience… I never would have predicted SIX days in the hospital for a gallbladder issue (what should be a very typical and easy thing) but apparently it was as old and cranky as I am! Let’s just hope I don’t need another visit for a very long time. I think nine years (to the date!) between visits is good!

Oh! One thing that surprised me was how much weight I gained from all the IV fluids! I had thought I’d lose weight since I didn’t eat for five of the six days…but they were literally pumping me fill of liquid all day every day. There happened to be a scale in my room and I remembered what I weighed upon admittance…and I had gained like 12 pounds! And all my clothes—even though they were stretchy—felt uncomfortably tight. Yuck. But I knew it would go away on its own (which it did within a week).

1:56p — Ahhhh. I have my dog on me for a nap. I’m good.

2:02p — Three nappers. (I think we let the kids binge on devices to leave us nap in peace.)

I stayed pretty chill the rest of the day and moved slowly, but the pain meds helped quite a bit. I was only allowed to go up the stairs once a day, so that was at bedtime… At which point I finally got to take a shower!

I actually asked Katie to come in the bathroom with me so she could be there in case anything happened (I mean who knows?). I had her help me remove some of the bandages, too, so hopefully she wouldn’t be super freaked out… And also so she could see this really was serious so she would hopefully not be a poop when asking her to do extra things to help out.

The shower felt good but I couldn’t really bend much so everything was slow and measured and I spent most of the time just standing there. I know Katie loves her Band-Aids so I had her get some ready for me so they were unwrapped and ready to go!

And I was stupid excited to do my full skincare regime!!! After a week without most of it, it felt like heaven!

Lake Forest, Day 6

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12:44a — On my third walk of the day (though technically it’s the next day—Day 6).

6:37a —I’m doing better today…but still moving slowly. I had morning med changes so now it’s hopefully time for a nap before the Ambien fully wears off!! I didn’t sleep well the previous night—I seemed to be in a strange half awake half asleep Ambien-induced state (but maybe I was fully dreaming, but just dreaming I was half awake/half asleep?!). Anyway, I liked the Ambien much better last night—it stopped me from tossing and turning and I slept pretty solid from 12:30-5:30. In a hospital that’s a veritable vacation.

6:56a — Yes I’m eating part of a s’mores cookie that Tom got me last night. Now that I can eat real food AND I am supposed to fart and poop before I can leave, I’m eating ALL the things that I can!

7:01a — This fun contraption was dropped off. Also? You suck it—not blow it! It was hard to inhale strongly enough to reach my goal (2000) but I could do it from the start.

7:34a — A delicious REAL breakfast of Texas French toast, bacon, and granola parfait!

8:15a — In other news this fruit granola parfait is delicious and I want this all the time.

9:22a — Sooooooo…. The bad news is the surgeon wants to keep me another day since the #pissygallbladder (my words, not his) and removal was so extreme. Like twice the size of a normal gall bladder and twice the size of a normal incision. There was one huuuge stone surrounded by hundreds of little stones. Tom called me a hoarder.

The good news is I’m doing really well AND (TMI?) I don’t actually have to poop in order to leave. They said as long as I was feeling fine and food was staying down I’d be good to go. AND then the second doc came in and said she thinks I might be able to go home later today or this evening — she’ll talk to the surgeon and they’ll look at my daily bloodwork.

9:59a — The mom and baby section is really quiet and nice. They even put pictures of flowers on the occupied rooms.

10:11a — Coming back from a walk…might as well take a picture of my room for posterity.

11:48a — Lunch does not suck.

6:57p — Perfectly cooked asparagus in a hospital meal? What alternate world am I living in?! The mac and cheese looks better than it tasted for sure.

No, I didn’t have any special diet (a lot of people asked). They said as long as I’m feeling okay, there’s no worries! After each meal they ask if I had any issues. I haven’t.

7:15p — Guess what? I had to move rooms AGAIN. They needed the space for an actual mother and baby so I got the boot. And it’s back to the surgical ward. At least I think. It’s hard to keep track.

8:34p — I’m here in my new room and still getting antibiotics. And drugs. Hopefully HOPEFULLY going home tomorrow.

10:30p — OMG I’M GETTING A ROOMMATE. I mean, I assume they really need the space, and if I needed the space I wouldn’t give two shits where it was or if I was sharing. But still. This is frustrating after a week by myslf. I am sure they don’t like doing it either. I am sure no one is happy. So there’s no point in being bitchy about it. It is what it is. #firstworldproblems I just think I might be taking my Ambien sooner rather than later.

Lake Forest, Day 5

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8:01a — The surgeon just came in and confirmed the survey is still scheduled for 1p. If everything goes great I could be going home tonight. But since the surgery is a tiny bit later (the surgery takes about an hour, and usually it takes about an hour to wake up) they may want to keep me overnight one more night.

Look at all my gidgets and gadgets!

Heart monitor — my pulse was usually under 50 which slightly concerned them. The first time I went to the bathroom it shot up to 90 and a nurse came running in to check on me.
Original IV
Secondary IV plus a blood draw location.
12:17p — We’re almost to the finish line!!

And look at what Owen texted me? I love him.

How are the kids doing? Just fine. They’ve been spending a lot of time at Anna’s with the boys and today she treated them to ice cream!

3:30p — The surgery went very well. I personally haven’t had the post-op discussion with the surgeon but the doctor apparently told Tom that my gallbladder was large and they needed to make an extra-large incision to remove it…and it was FULL of stones!

There are no crazy videos of me coming out of sedation! By the time I got back to my room where Tom was, I was pretty coherent. Sorry!

I know I had thought I might possibly be able to come home tonight (since this is typically an outpatient procedure) but with the bigger incision plus my pain level getting in and out of bed, I was actually glad to be staying another night.

I actually felt the best I have felt in days so I invited Anna to come visit for a bit so I actually felt human again eating CHICKEN POT PIE from the real food menu and visiting with people who weren’t staff.

By 7 o’clock or so, I was able to maneuver pretty well and didn’t need help getting out of bed. I kicked Tom out so I could catch up with my bestie and we actually took three laps around the wing.

Then—SURPRISE!—I had to switch rooms so now I’m in the even quieter mom/baby unit so hopefully I’ll get a full night’s sleep. They said they won’t bother me unless I page them. Fingers crossed.

So all is well. Now I just need to fart (AND poop!) before they’ll let me leave! #tmi

Lake Forest, Day 4

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9:27a — I was in pretty good spirits initially since I thought this would go quickly but everything is moving so slowly and the drugs are starting to wear me down and I’m just exhausted, hungry, have a headache that won’t go away (I just want to curl up in a fetal position and cry and they only gave me Tylenol), and I just pulled a muscle in my groin trying to sit up. I didn’t even want any visitors since I was so miserable. I couldn’t even look at my phone or the TV for more than a few minutes so I tried to sleep as much as I could.

11:52a — Surgery tomorrow around 1! Which means I had to get another Covid test (since the first one was only good for 72 hours). I was pretty sure I hadn’t picked up Covid in the hospital but I guess they had to be sure. Unfortunately, this one went to the brain.

12:56p — I heard our Ring camera go off so I checked and it was Katie. Our friend Jen was coming to get the kids to take them to the pool and she was waiting outside. So I surprised her and talked to her via the doorbell.

4:23p — Still have a killer headache. Even tried an ice pack…and more Tylenol. Nothing was helping.

6:22p — The doc finally came in and SURPRISE! She said it’s a hunger headache and I should have been on a sucrose drip this whole time since I wasn’t eating! Plus she gave me Tordol and sleeping meds. I’m happy things are going to get better but I kind of feel like they should’ve known it was a hunger headache since this was my third day of fluids only.

Soooo. It’s possible I’ll be released tomorrow. But also possible they keep me another day to do the actual gall bladder removal surgery. I’m actually hoping for the latter so I don’t have to repeat any of this.

My liver readings are still a little high and she said the surgeon likes to have them more normalized before doing surgery but it’s also silly to go through all this again.

But on the bright side…they brought me a salt packet with my broth. It’s the little things.

Lake Forest, Day 3

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7:20a — Currently awaiting prep for surgery—even though I still haven’t officially been told what surgery I’m having…or when. But I did finally brush my teeth and take a hot washcloth to my face this morning! It’s killing me to not have my daily skincare regimen but I figure missing a few days won’t kill me.

2:24p — I was just told I’ll need to have the Endoscopic procedure today (first) because there’s a stone stuck in the duct. Because of course there is. I’ll still need to have the lapriscopic surgery to remove the gall bladder, but they don’t know yet whether it will be tomorrow or scheduled at a future date. It depends on how I recover from the first procedure.

5:05p — Endoscopic procedure complete—and I didn’t feel a thing!! I do remember them warning me the mask smelled like plastic and that was gross. Anyway…they removed sludge! There were no complications and I feel totally fine. Now to wait and see if they say I can have the lapriscopic surgery tomorrow… In the meantime, the countdown is on until 6:30 tonight when I can have clear liquids for dinner!

Anna came to visit since I was feeling really good…and she brought me gorgeous flowers and a balloon!

Hospital #2: Lake Forest, Day 2

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Technically day 2 since I started at hospital #1 on the 10th and it was now the 11th.

4:15a — Arriving in the bowels of the hospital.

Being taken to my room, this was the elevator—Living Lippy, right?! Obviously the pain meds were working at this point.

Everything went well…until Tom showed up and they wouldn’t let him stay because it wasn’t visiting hours! WHAAAAAT?! No one told us that so we were really annoyed. Thankfully they at least let him come up to see me for a few minutes and drop off a bag for me (with some clothes, my glasses, lip stuff, laptop, and makeup remover wipe—it was driving me crazy that I hadn’t been able to do my nightly skincare). Oh, and surprise—no kids allowed as visitors!

4:36a — Let me tell you—a Fooops! wipe never felt so good!

I finally got about three hours of solid sleep from 6-9. The pain started up again so I’m on morphine again. Have talked to a few docs and the surgeon and they’re tentatively planning the surgery for tomorrow morning. Today is antibiotics, an MRI to see just where everything is, and pain mediation. And trying to grab whatever sleep I can.

2:40p — on morphine and feeling fine

6:40p — I’ve been sleeping most of the day. Just had the 45-minute MRI (actually an MCRP) and fell asleep in there for a bit…and now have to wait for the doc to figure out which surgery I need—endoscopic plus lapriscopic or just lapriscopic.

Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) is an MRI exam that produces detailed images of the liver, gallbladder, bile ducts, pancreas and pancreatic duct. It identifies gallstones and can show gallbladder or bile duct inflammation or blockage.

https://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info/gallstones
Boring broth, boring jello… But the Apple juice and Sprite were amazing!

I knew I couldn’t have Tom bring ALLLL my skincare, so I had to narrow it way down. My Overnight Lip Mask was a definite yes. I had to dig through and empty my whole backpack but I found it! My lips are now happy!!

The rest of my bare minimum skincare: Climate Control, evening moisturizer (for day and night since I’m not going outside), Shea Butter Body Cream and the lip mask

Soooo, they said it might be 24-48 hours (!) of observation?! So much for “emergency surgery” eh? But apparently my gall bladder is so pissy they need to calm it down first (lots o’ antibiotics). It depends what the doc says. So I’m waiting for her to come discuss my ultrasound results.

#pissygallbladder

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PLOT TWIST, continued!

Out of nowhere about 9:15 I started having extreme pain in my chest and just felt really crappy—enough so that I texted Tom to come home because I was NOT GOOD. It was time to start getting the girls ready for bed and I couldn’t even think straight so needed him to come handle it.

It wasn’t reflux or gas or anything I’d felt before—and I knew women’s heart attacks had different symptoms and that’s all I could think of. I googled and it didn’t seem like a heart attack but whatever was happening was not normal. I thought if I could just go to bed and hopefully fall asleep…maybe I could sleep through it. But the pain wasn’t going away and it was actually a little scary. And then just like that I felt better! Weird. I sat up in bed and just as I was getting excited that it was over…BAM, it came screaming back. At this point I called Tom upstairs and actually told him I was scared and it was at this point (about 10:30) that I said I needed to go to the ER.

Someone obviously had to stay with the kids—and Tom wasn’t able to drive safely (remember, he’d been at a poker night with the boys)—so he called Anna and she got here—from a dead sleep—within about 10 minutes. She drove me to the ER as I writhed in pain and tried to breathe through it. We spent the next five hours at the ER (10:30p–3:30a), most of which I was in about a level 7/10 pain.

11:15pm

I was on morphine for the pain (thank God for morphine) and it was weird how I could feel the pain ramping up (I started breathing differently) and knew to ask for more. Anna was googling trying to figure out what it could be. She was staying in touch with Tom. She was updating the sleepover moms on my phone. When I wasn’t incoherent with pain we visited like normal.

After some tests and bloodwork—my heart was fine, kidneys were fine, my liver was a bit elevated but not worrisome, and overall bloodwork was all fine. But the ultrasound. The ultrasound showed a really pissed off gallbladder. Stones and something else I forget. So then it was my first Covid test ever (which wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be) and a leisurely ambulance ride to another hospital to be observed and prepped for emergency gallbladder surgery! Anna went back to our house to stay with the kids while Tom drove to the hospital to meet me there.

3:45am — mask on and ready for transfer
3:57am — off we go to the ambulance
In the ambulance. No sirens but I think the lights were on.

Not exactly how I planned to spend Katie’s birthday…

But I cannot thank Anna enough. Seriously. She was my angel tonight—from the initial car ride to admission to keeping Tom in the loop to grabbing nurses to texting the sleepover moms…to relieving Tom at home (and watching the kids) so he could come see me. Whatever I needed, she was there.