Introducing myself

Blogging was something I never thought about doing, but I joined to follow one of my dearest friends Andrea. After following her blog for a couple weeks I thought "gee, what a great way to keep family and friends informed on daily life". so that's my plan :)

Where to begin?

I am happily married to my best friend Jon as of March 21, 09. He's a dedicated husband, a strong family man, a hard worker, he loves his motorcycle (almost as much as me), he's a movie critic, Mr. Fix-it, and a wonder on the grill. Since I was a little girl, all I wanted was to be married and have babies. Jon is a better husband then I ever thought I would find. We are not parents yet, but I know when that day comes he will be a great daddy.

We started dating and within in 6 weeks I was scheduled for colo-rectal surgery. April 14, 2008 I had surgery: spending 15 days in the hospital, undergoing two emergency surgeries, and ending up with an ileostomy (my biggest fear). Jon saw me every day... that wasn't easy considering he didn't have his license at the time. He had to get rides with any one who would drive him from Port Orchard to Swedish in Seattle. A couple times he stayed the night with me so my mom could go home and sleep in her own bed. He spent weekends at my parent's house with my step dad and step brother, going to our family functions (without me ) and meeting my family for the first time. He was such a trooper :) I was home for 6 days and went back in 3 days. He was by my side the whole time. He drained most of his vacation in the first 3 months of our dating... poor guy! June 20, 2008 was the last surgery. They lowered and reconnected my small intestine to my colon meaning no more ileostomy! YEAH! It was hard to feel really great about yourself hiding a bag under your shirt. I have several scars on my tummy, but whatever that's nothing.

I've been working in the medical field for over 5 years now. When I first got sick and knew that surgery was the inevitable I had a hard time accepting it. It made answering 120-150 calls a day torture. I was working in a scheduling call center and it was my job to listen to callers complain about a sniffle or toe pain like it was the end of the world. I had real health problems. I lost compassion and I knew that to these people, they're symptoms were a big deal. I prayed that God would help me through it and he did just not in the way I thought.

I didn't work for almost 4 months after surgery. When it came time to look for work I wanted more then just family practice. I wanted to work where God wanted me to. He opened all the right doors and closed all the wrong. I currently working front office for an Oncology and Radiation therapy clinic. My patients are more to me than faces and names; which can make this a very hard and rewarding job all at the same time. Death is something that I am learning to deal with more often. Trusting that God has me in this job for a reason is one of the only ways I can still smile and serve our patients on a daily basis. I used to think that I had it rough. Then I met some amazing patients who had better attitudes then I did and they have much worse problems.

So now it's been over a year since my last surgery. I've had 4 bowel obstructions in the last year and as a result I don't eat any vegetables, nuts, or popcorn. My most recent problem was from an apple... AN APPLE! I called my surgeon and he said that I shouldn't be having any problems with the exception of nuts and popcorn... so it's time to meet again. I am scheduled to meet my surgeon on Tuesday. We're going to be setting up a date for another surgery. Last week I went through all the depression and mixed emotions of what that means. It's hard to prepare for the unknown. But once again, I am reminded that God is in all of this and will help me and my family through. I learned the last time around God's timing is perfect, so why is it so hard to remember that? It's always hard to prepare for the unknown... so why try?

Please be praying for strength and patience for me!