dear uterus, I don’t miss you.

Exactly one year TODAY, I had a looonnnng overdue hysterectomy after struggling with two decades of fibroid tumors and about 18 months of chronic anemia. Without a doubt, the recovery was the biggest deterrent, but my husband made a comment that finally moved me to take action:

“If it was over you’d have done it already.”

A year later, I’m SO glad I finally did what needed to be done. I feel GREAT! SO much energy, no physical limitations or discomfort or pain. Thank you GOD!

Here’s a look at what FirstHusband posted one year ago today on the evening of my surgery:

“Machine beeps. GoodNurse says “Julie, you need to breathe deeply.”

“I just did the breathing thing” Says Julie talking her about exhaling into the small device intended to have her exercising her lungs to prevent fluid build-up.

GoodNurse says “I don’t want you to do that right now. I want you to breathe deeply through your nose. You’re not getting enough oxygen.”

Julie asks GoodNurse “Do I need to walk tonight? If I need to walk tonight, FirstHusband can come back and help me out of bed. We have a system.”

GoodNurse pulls me aside and tells me. “I need Julie to rest. She is trying to do too much right now. She will relax easier if you are at home with the children and she knows they are O.K.”

Now at some point Julie will read this and want to defend herself. Just remember that she was on strong narcotics and will not remember this. She will claim that it wasn’t like this. I was there. She was drugged. According to GoodNurse, she wasn’t drugged enough however. Typical Julie. If she keeps this up, I’ll change the name of this blog to “Stoic Compendium”. It’s been a long but positive day so you will forgive the stream of consciousness. It’s what I do when I’m tired.

Julie pulled through the surgery with no complications except that the hospital didn’t have enough open rooms and she had to stay in recovery until 9:00 pm. Her doctor, who was experienced when she delivered FavoriteSon many years ago said in a very matter-of-fact tone “I’ve never seen a cyst like that before. I don’t think that was cancer, it didn’t look like it.” You would think that a Doctor with that much experience would have something better to say than “I don’t think that was cancer.” Can a man hold his breath for the two weeks it takes for the biopsy to say “Negative”. Only 13 1/2 more days to know. All in all however, the doctor said she did great and should recover with no complications.

The hospital is very nice. They are set up and equipped for women. No worries about shake and bakes. Julie’s gown is equipped with a heated air blower system. She has a little thermostat at her control that regulates the temperature to whatever she wants. Combine that with the little button for more narcotics and Julie should be just fine. Even in an at-best semi-lucid state, Julie was very appreciative of the quality of care at this particular hospital.

I am amazed and humbled by the number of people praying for her. I can tell you your prayers bore fruit. I confess sometimes I feel like my prayers are the smallest of things I can do for someone. On days like this, where there is nothing to do but wait while the doctors hold your wife’s life in their hands, I understand more than ever that prayer is the best thing you can do for someone. I was confident that my own prayers were multiplied by many times and I am truly grateful for all of you who contributed.

Julie called home about 30 minutes after PinkGirl’s bedtime to tell her goodnight. I wonder how she knew PinkGirl would still be awake. Probably all the times I’ve been on travel and Julie had to handle both kids without me. I’m sure that even on drugs, Julie knew I wouldn’t get them to bed on time. FavoriteSon is still doing homework at 10:59 pm.”

A year out and FirstHusband was RIGHT. It is over and I did it already!