An acute appendicits

Well folks. It's official. Went in for my post-op. appointment today and Dr. B. informed me that I had indeed had an acute appendicitis! While the appendix looked "okay" upon removal, the laboratory report indicated that it was in the early stages of an appendicits!

The first person I saw was Stebbs in the BX. I told her and she said, "Good. Good. I think. Good. Can I say good?"

Yes, please do. I think the big fear we had before going in for the surgery was that I just had a bad GI infection and that we were removing something that didn't need to be removed. When the diarrhea continued after the surgery (and was worse than before) we started conjecturing that maybe that's all it had been all along -- a GI infection. I told JB, as the doctor left the room to go get prepped for surgery, "I feel like if we wait a few days this will go away." But we couldn't wait a few days.

Thus the rock and the hard place.

Well, it wouldn't have gotten better, and that is encouraging. They did not cut me up for no reason at all. This fits very perfectly as the pain I was in on Sunday morning was bad but I would not have taken myself to the Emergency Room at that point. It wasn't into the "I'm going to die" stage. If JB hadn't noticed the tenderness in my abdomen, I think I would have gone another 24-hours at home, praying this went away. It wouldn't have, we now know, and my pain would have just gotten worse. So how nice we could take care of that right in the beginning.

This also means that the diarrhea afterwards most likely was from c-diff -- a bacterial infection they treated me for with antibiotics.

Anyways, not like it mattered. Surgery was done. It was over. But it is nice to know it is over for the right reason.

As for me, I am doing better and better. Daha iym hissediyorum as they say in Turkish. Still sluggish. Still in pain. But better every day praise the Lord!

Slightly better

My appetite is getting better. Pain is getting better. Diarrhea is still in questionable status. Bad last night. Better today. There is a question about whether or not this is a secondary inefction or not. Please pray it is not. I had a short pity-party for myself last night -- just a bit frustrated that sometimes it feels I can't get a break.

I know that is not true. I know I catch a lot of breaks. But in the midst of a bout of sickness when already in a lot of pain (imagine trying to hurry to have to get out of bed time and time again to get the bathroom when you are already in pain that makes getting up and down slow going) and hearing your husband say there is a chance you have the same darned infection you "caught" during your last stomach surgery, and you find yourself just feeling sorry for yourself.

I think feeling sorry for yourself is truly the biggest battle in these circumstances. And my darned husband won't give me a second to do so. If I start to get teary and want to cry, it's like he smells it from the other room and comes in to find me and remind that a bunch of tears will only make my pain worse, my recovery longer, and my spirits lower. Okay, okay, he's right, he's right. Love that man. He just does what he has to do first for me then one boy then the other boy over and over and over again and keeps reminding me that this will end soon and we'll move on. True. But doesn't he want to just sit and cry for a second with me?

I'm also grieving the fact that for some reason The Australian Open isn't being run on the AF TV channel today. It's just a black screen. How wrong is that? Bummer.

Thanks for the prayers. Please keep them coming. We have decided to proceed with Elijah's 2nd birthday party on Saturday. It has been planned for many weeks. The turn-out RSVP was very good, the room had been reserved, and so many had offered to help that we felt it was best just to go ahead and hold it. (We had also secured gate passes for our off-Base friends: Jake and Rana which took a month in and of itself.) So onward we go! Can't believe my little man will be two years old!

from mom k

Got this email from my mother-in-law yesterday:

Hey kiddo, Hope you are feeling a little better. I read you were still having the b'day party this weekend-that's great that everybody else is pitching in to do everything. I 'm afraid you'll "hit a wall" after a bit, as you tend to push it and do more than you really should. I know how hard you want to be back to your "normal", but I hope John is putting his foot down and making you take it really easy:) I'm so sorry you had to go through this-is your life anything but a roller coaster?!

I read it outloud to JB, and he just laughed and said, "Wow, she pegged you didn't she?"

"Well, sort of," I said.

"No, exactly," he said.

Okay, so exactly. Yeah. All right, all right.

She really did. John often says to me, "Wendi, LET PEOPLE BLESS US!" I am not sure why, but I just feel like there is no need for people to give to us if I can get it taken care of myself. Of course I know this isn't true. A blessing is as much for you as it is for the person who gives it. But I just have trouble allowing it in my own life despite knowing that saying, "YES" is okay sometimes.

But this time was different for me. I think, from the moment we had to go to the emergency room, I had to just admit that I needed help. What was I going to do? I had two boys that needed someone to watch them. I had a dog that needed help. And as I returned home, I would need even more help then before.

I got this email from Stebs while I was in the hospital. I just wish you all could meet Stebs in person. She is that friend that says things exactly like they are, but in a way that never hurts your feelings. She's incredibly honest but never in a cruel way. She can call you on something and put you in your place without making you flinch. Her email was, I believe, the catalyst for me releasing

Some of what she wrote included: "We are also ready to step up for Elijah's birthday day party Saturday if that's still a 'go'. We can bake the cupcakes, go get the Community Center ready that morning, ANYTHING. Do not be shy about asking -- that is an order.We love you and are praying for quick healing. Now is the time to take care of yourself and that sweet little one you are carrying -- we will do the rest."

And that is just what I have done. I have received a list with who is bringing a meal. (Did you knwo they have a way to do these sign-ups online now? What won't people come up with?!) I have received a list telling me where the boys were going on what day. My front door is just left open cuz I can't get up to answer it easily and people just come in and out putting stuff on the counter, taking the boys in and out, whatever. And I'm just sooo okay with that.

There are things about the military I will not miss when we part ways with her in around 3 years. But the incredible community of an OCONUS (Outside of Continental US) Base, is something that I know I will never see recreated in my life again. Everyone, on every side of me, is aware of what happened. I could call any house at any moment, and have someone here. We are all here without loved ones. We are all grieving being away from family and all incredibly determined to take care of each other during these times. I know this is how the world must have felt before technology and transportation moved families farther apart and neighbors no longer were just around the corner.

So, to answer your email MomK., yes, I am doing just what you asked. I am releasing control. We have released many aspects of Elijah's party on Saturday but have decided to still hold it. But I am not overdoing it. At all. I feel, in fact, that I'm under-doing it a bit.

And my hubby says that is just fine!

From my Mom

Thank you for this prayer, Mom (below). Miracles can come in small packages -- like a lunch from a friend delivered even after you told her you weren't sure you could eat it only to sit down and find that you managed to eat the whole thing! A small step but a big deal. God is so present in the tiniest of things. (And to those of who have asked, yes, even chocolate would be okay if that sounded good. When I couldn't eat chocolate, I knew I needed prayer.

From my Mom this morning:
Father God, We come to You in Jesus name. We thank you that You are our El Shaddai-more than enough. You are EVERYTHING Wendi and JB need right now. You said in your Word that where 2 or more are in agreement YOU are there. We thank you that You perfect those things that concern them right now -- from the recooperation, to the appetite, adjustment for the boys and strength for John. We ask for supernatural healing in Wendi's body right now -- that even the doctors are amazed. Thank you that Wendi has an appetite and eats what is good for her and her baby. She desires good and healthy things and gets her strength back quickly. Thank you that You wrap Your arms around her right now. Let her feel Your Presence right now. Give her mind rest....no worries. Give her peace and that You and she have a special time of fellowship during this time she can't do a lot.Thank you for her special husband and for those friends that have stepped in to help. Thanks for taking care of our boys in a special way. God you know Wendi's father and mothers' heart....touch our daughter and family in a miraculous way. Reveal yourself to them in special ways during this time -- that they truly sense Your love and touch! We love You and know You love Wen and JB and Isaac and Elijah more than we do. Thank you for hearing and answering our prayer!

Prayer Requests

My pain seems to be at a pretty normal point for two days after surgery. However, I have a few prayer requests. I know my friends and family back home, especially, have asked how they can pray since they can't do anything but pray at this time. So here's what we could use prayer for:

1. I am really struggling with lack of appetite. Normally as long as you stay hydrated, not eating isn't a problem, but I have a fifteen week pregnancy to be concerned about so I really need to eat. (John reminds me of this constantly.) Please pray that I can manage to consume enough calories to keep baby (and me) healthy. Eating is quite a chore right now.

2. I have had diarrhea since I left the hospital. Please pray that this ends soon. After my c-section this lasted six weeks and was actually a secondary infection (c-diff). Please pray that this isn't the case this time and that this resolves soon.

3. The boys. You can tell they are having trouble adjusting to mom being incapicated and are quite aware I am fairly useless. This morning Isaac was playing with the blinds. I told him if he did it again he would get a time-out. He said, "Could I have a spanking too?" I think he really wanted to see me actually do something. It was quite sad and funny all at once. Scrubs is with Shane and Linda. What a HUGE blessing it is just to remove one variable. I felt bad letting him go, but I know he is much happier there than he is here.

4. For JB. We have so much help. Someone taking the kids in the a.m. Someone coming by in afternoons after they wake up from naps. Dinners. Groceries. Hatice was here yesterday. But John is still the one who has to do baths, clean-up, diaper changes, bed-times, everything else. He is keeping up just fine and doesn't complain at all, but it is obvious he is weary. And exhausted. Elijah got up at 4am and really didn't go back to bed. I can't be alone with the boys so it is JB who has to do this. He just needs an extra dose of strength -- especially because he has to return to work today.

5. Could you also add my brother and his wife to your prayers as Baylee Nicole is due by c-section this morning (American time.)

Thanks all!

Home again, home again -- jig, jiggety, jig

This is a copy of an email I wrote to Angelica and Stebbs and our Chaplain's wife this morning and asked them to share. I want to get it all out there as my ability to talk or be awake for long periods is not so good yet. This should provide most of the details I think. :)

Last night when I got home around 7pm, I sat down and began talking to my friend Stebbs who was at the house with my boys. Since all of this happened so quickly, I went back to the beginning and explained how I ended up having surgery within a virtual matter of hours.

That was the most I had spoken in days (especially in English) and the most I had been alert and focused, and after the conversation, I was exhausted. I realized that it might be better if I just wrote down what happened, get it all out there, and then when I see you in person or talk to you on Skype or email you, we already have the core information said and done. I just can’t talk for long periods of time and especially not to tell the same story.

I have not been feeling fantastic throughout this pregnancy. However, what was quite obviously morning sickness had begun to morph into something I just couldn’t define over the last few weeks. I ended up in the Clinic one day and they thought an appendicitis was possible but that heartburn was most likely the culprit. You’d think you could easily tell the difference between the two but pain radiates and sometimes I couldn’t come close to pointing to the point where it actually hurt.

I had told my friends during the last week that I was just feeling cruddy. And I was. But not terrible. However, Saturday morning I woke up in great pain. I went downstairs to take some Tylenol and fell onto the couch feeling as if I might throw up. I felt really bad – this was a whole new level of discomfort. It was accompanied by a bad headache and so I thought maybe this was just a full-body migraine. John would question me and try to figure out what was wrong, but neither of us had any idea what was going on. He checked the baby’s heart rate. 170’s. Baby was great. But I was not.

I cancelled attendance at a party on Saturday and Sunday and just stayed home. The only way I felt even sort-of okay was when I was laying flat on my back. I continued to take Tylenol every 6 hours and occasional codeine and prayed that this would just be a bad headache or heartburn that would clear. I was also having hot and cold flashes throughout the day although no obvious fever, and while I hadn’t vomited, the diarrhea had become worse with every passing hour. When I went to bed on Saturday night our assumption was that I had one of these nasty “Turkey bugs” that goes around Base – Americans exposed to new germs and foods and different sanitary procedures get them frequently (just ask Stebbs.)

On Sunday morning I woke up in bad shape yet again. And this time, when JB started exploring the source of the pain in my abdomen he discovered something that hadn’t been there the day prior – rebound pain – which basically means that when he pushed on my right side, it hurt, but when he released the push it KILLED! I would literally jump off the bed it hurt so bad. When this happened, John shook his head. I asked him why he was shaking his head and he said, “I think we have to go to the emergency room. This is classic for an appendicitis. I hope this isn’t what it is, but we can’t just sit around anymore.”

Neither of us wanted to make a weekend trip to Achibadem’s Emergency Room, but we felt that there wasn’t a choice. I had spoken to Angelica the day prior and she had said she could help with the kids on Sunday if we needed her. We knew their kids were early risers like ours so JB called them and thirty minutes later we had dropped the boys off and were on our way to the ER.

I should tell you that the Turkish hospital (Achibadem) is a great place. There are a few things that are different than America but if you weren’t looking closely you wouldn’t think you weren’t in the USA. The difference is in training. These doctors aren’t trained in America. They are trained in Turkey. That is a difference. But for something as routine as an appendectomy, we really had peace with the care we were receiving.

I went to the ER first. I had an ultrasound. I did a urine sample. I donated blood. About three hours later, I met with Dr. B. who JB works with on Base. (There are a few Turkish doctors who see Americans on Base a few days a week.) He’s a wonderful guy who speaks fairly good English. Dr. B decided to admit me and see if anything changed in a few hours although we were pretty sure it would not.

His basic diagnosis was the same as what JB thought -- appendicitis. However, being pregnant complicated that in so many ways. For instance, my white cell blood count (which indicates infection) was “normal” but it often is warped in pregnancy ( you don’t want the body to see the baby as something to attack.) They couldn’t get a good look at my appendix on ultrasound because, I’m pregnant. But many of my other numbers for infection were slightly elevated, the area around the appendix was inflamed and bothered. And the rebound pain was absolutely terrible which in and of itself can be reason to go to surgery.

They admitted me and a few hours later we were having a discussion about what we should do. Could they be sure it was an appendicitis? No. But did you want to let a possible infection creep in on a pregnant woman (or any person for that fact)? No. The major risk from the surgery was pre-term labor and that was our biggest fear as the surgery can cause contractions to begin. However, those can often be stopped and are not an immediate recipe for disaster. So, we decided to do the surgery.

But then the question of how to do the surgery came into play. Normally they would do this laparoscopic (easier recovery) but there were two things working against that for me: one was, I’m pregnant and while usually okay, poking around is not preferable. Secondly, I had had hernia surgery as a teenager and have a lot of scar tissue above my belly button making entrance nearly impossible. So, regular old surgery it was.

And then the question that got me the most riled up was that of anesthesia. They prefer not to put a pregnant woman out if at all possible. Really?! Oh my. So they want to do this awake. I was NOT thrilled about this idea but agreed that they could do an epidural if they could give me some other medicines to take the edge off. I really just wanted to go to sleep and wake up when it was all over, but I also wanted to do what was safest for our newest Kit.

I asked Dr. B when would we do this surgery, and he said, “We will do it now.” I met the anesthesiologist, Dr. T. She was a great gal who spoke fantastic English and was very comfortable and encouraging. She put me at relative ease with the idea of being awake for stomach surgery. Heck I had done it with a c-section, right? Somehow it didn’t feel the same.

I won’t get into all the details of the surgery. They offered to let JB join them but he opted not to which I think was a wise move. He just had to be the husband here and not the doctor. The operating room looked just like one in the U.S. It was very clean and professional. Everything went great. Dr. T gave me some medicines to get me quite high and about 90 minutes after it all started, it was all over. She left the epidural in overnight and I therefore was in next to ZERO pain for about the next 12-15 hours. It was wonderful!

I got out of surgery around 5pm on Sunday and was able to go home by 5pm on Monday. Not too bad. I am in the normal discomfort you would expect after stomach surgery. I am taking Percocet (which is safe in pregnancy). JB will stay home with me today (Tuesday) and then we will play the rest of the week by ear.

I must pause to say one more thing before I close. God is such a wonderful God. I truly felt the “fingerprints of God” while I was gone. My amazing friends Angelica Y. and Sarah Stebbs took over for us. And they weren’t alone. So many people rallied around us from afar to help take care of our family while were unable to. I cannot even begin to tell you what a blessing this was.

I only had one "low" moment and that came during lunch on Monday morning. I missed my boys something awful. The only TV stations were Turkish. We couldn't get the laptop to work to update our family at home. And I was supposed to eat something but they were bringing me Turkish food that while I like, just sounded terrible. The nurses spoke no English and so I'd been conversing in Turkish for nearly two days and was emotionally exhausted. I just started sobbing as I tried to eat some sort of Turkish food. It passed quickly but when JB asked what was wrong I just said, "I just want my Mom. I want to be in America. I want to eat American food. I want to watch American TV. I want to talk to the nurses in English." It was one of those cultural walls that I got over but was a bit daunting at the time.

I was in the hospital, nowhere near my family and with no phone to be able to call them, but I had a community of people stepping up and offering help to Angelica and Stebbs on our behalf. I’ll do more formal thank you’s later, but for now, just thank you. Thank you all so much. Thank you for your offers of help. Thank you for walking or playing with Scrubs. Thank you for signing up for a meal. Thank you for watching my boys. Thank you for praying for us. We felt complete peace in the hospital. We were at total ease despite the fact that we were in a foreign country with no family having a surgery after only a few hours of notice. And we were at ease. That is due to the network of people both on Base and back home who helped and prayed. We are touched beyond words.

I will write more on my blog in weeks to come, but I wanted to get one, big, explanatory email/post out there so that the main story has been told. I did talk to my Mom on Skype this morning and after just a few minutes, I am so out of breath. I want to try to avoid that.

Bless you all!

from me

It is Wendi typing ın my room at the hospıtal on a Turkish keyboard. (Yes, many dıfferences between the two.) Because of that, I will make thıs short and sweet.

Firstly today is JBs birthday. Poor guy is spending it in a hospital!

I will tell the whole story later but just want to say that the baby looks great and I am recovering as scheduled. Should head home in a couple of hours.

More to come when I can type lıke regular ol me.

Back from surgery!

Wendi is back from surgery!

Things went very well. I actually got a call from the Anesthesiologist after the appendix was removed. She said everything went well and they are just starting to close the incision and would I like to talk to my wife?

Uh, sure, I said. This is classic Turkey! Yeah, I'll talk to my wife while she is on the operating table... who doesn't do that?

Wendi was high, but sounded good.

She spent about 30 minutes in the recovery room and then was brought back to her room where she is awake and talking and feeling no pain.

Thanks for all the prayers.

JB

Prayer Request...

This is JB.

Wendi is currently sleeping in the hospital bed next to where I am sitting on a couch.

It looks like she has appendicitis. She has been having worsening pain in her lower right side for the last 24 hours. She has had bloodwork and an ultrasound (the baby looks great!), but they have been inconclusive. However, her abdominal pain is really bad. Wendi has given me looks that say, 'If another doctor comes in here and touches my stomach, I am going to hit them!'

I know the surgeon who has been evaluating Wendi. He works at the clinic part time and I trust him. Wendi is going back for surgery in the next few hours.

Please pray everything goes well.

I'll update when I can.

JB