OR Memories

First things first ...

Our tough little trainer made it through the appendectomy with flying colors. They were able to perform the surgery the laparoscopic way, which means little to no scarring, much to her dismay. (Showing off that badge of honor would be right up her alley.)

I mention this laparoscopic word (if it is a word, that is ... spell checker is having issues with it) because there was concern on the surgeon's part as to whether or not he'd be able to perform the surgery in that manner or if he'd have to go in the old fashioned way, with a big, ol' incision.

You see, laparoscopic means he has to poke three instruments inside that little belly all at once. And, because her particular 10-year-old belly is so tiny, he wasn't sure they'd fit and give him enough room to groove.

They did fit. He just made a few small holes and, as I said before, the scarring will be minimal.

But it made me think to a few years back and my own trip to the OR. And how that trip, I think, planted the seed for this journey.

(If I've told you this story before, I'm sorry.)

Rewind to 2006. I needed a hysterectomy. I'd never been sick before. Never spent an hour in the hospital. Never broken a bone. So the idea of going to that antiseptic place with scalpels and getting sliced open arrived with some fear.

However, the scariest things for me were 1) knowing that being fat brought complications with anesthesia and 2) wondering how they were going to slide my big ass from the operating table to the hospital bed once the surgery was over.

I was mortified at the thought of them having to call in extra help just to move me.  

Move me, they did. And my 6-week recovery included a lot of walking. I kicked around the idea of walking a half marathon then, but dismissed it because I wasn't brave enough yet to allow myself to believe it was possible.

But somewhere deep inside I knew it WAS possible.

That little seed was planted. It took a couple of years for it to grow, and take root. Do you have a little seed like that in your head?

Trust it. Trust you. Your body is so much stronger than you realize.


P. S. I'm also confident that should I ever have appendix issues, all three tools will easily fit into my belly. Whew. One less thing to worry about.