Home feels good...

We came home from Seattle yesterday afternoon when I was released from the hospital. It feels so good to be home and it was so good to sleep in my own bed last night. I didn't sleep very much Thursday night. It seemed like everytime I got comfortable enough to sleep, I was interrupted by some nice person who wanted my vitals, or to do an x-ray etc. I'm not being critical of the care I received--it was top-notch. I just didn't get to sleep very much.

Our attempts to make our Seattle trip a "nice little vacation" were well-intentioned. But I'm definitly glad that little vacation is overwith. It all started off when we arrived at our "premium" hotel room only to find a very old regular nothing special at all room. It was close to the medical center and it had free parking. Those are the best things I can say about it. So we were a little bummed Tuesday night. I guess we were expecting something more like the Davenport or the CDA Resort.

Wednesday I met with my doctor at 1:30 and we were very impressed with how kind and compassionate he was and he explained everything so well. His nurse met with us to go over some details and she thought my scooter was cool. We had a conversation about "retail therapy" that really made us smile. And I realized I'm not the only one who finds shopping theraputic!

We waited for our appointment with the pre-anesthesia people. More questions we'd already answered. I really enjoyed our dinner that night realizing I wouldn't be able to eat till after my surgery the next day.

Thursday was a day to remember. We arrived at the medical center at 8:30 because we were supposed to arrive two hours before the surgery. Okay fine. But they told me my surgery was delayed because the hospital was doing several heart and lung transplants and there were no rooms open for other surgeries. So finally at 3:45 they called my name! It wasn't fun sitting in the waiting area all that time with no make up or jewelry (my poor Silpada had to stay in my suitcase), and nothing to eat or drink. Off to pre-surgery for more questions that I had already answered several times!!

The surgery itself was really easy and uneventful for me because I was asleep! But the procedure was called a bronchoscopy and Dr. Wood planned to either "core out" or put in a stent. He talked to Greg after the surgery and told him that he decided not to put in the stent because he felt coring out the airway was successful and that putting in a little tube of plastic creates its own set of problems. So he literally removed the junk that was in my airway and it's amazing that already I can feel my left lung working!

After the surgery, I couldn't breathe! They had to give me moist air and they did a chest x-ray. They determined that I should spend the night in the hospital so I could enjoy that moist air and so they could keep their eye on me. It was amazing how much better I was by Friday morning. But I can expect to do a lot of coughing for a couple of days while my lung tries to get rid of a lot of junk. And I can expect not to be so short of breath in a couple of days! I was of course hoping that the results of the surgery would be immediate, but I'm willing to wait a few days.

We were sure hoping to be able to see Betsy and Cam and the boys while we were in Seattle. But it just didn't work out because of our crazy schedule. I told Betsy we were so close yet so far away. Hopefully we'll be able to see them again soon and I'll have enough breath to be able to read to those little guys.

Sorry this entry is so long. I hope I didn't sound too negative. But I know you want to know what's really going on so I decided to not sugar coat anything. I am so appreciative of your prayers and your encouragement. I know God was right with me the whole time and His presence was a comfort to me. Mom, I really appreciated the verse you sent me about angels having charge over us! It was so encouraging! Love, Julie