Things I learned this past week. {I'm back!}

Greetings, blog friends!!! I'm spending my morning catching up online, but before I go any further I promised Carrie that I would create a post to let you know I'm doing well and on the road to recovery. {Many thanks to my sweet girl C for guest blogging for me!!!} Your sweet comments, emails, cards, thoughts, prayers and love lifted my spirit more that words can say. I'm am deeply grateful for each and every one of you.

Flowers from Doug, Carrie, and my mom & sister. Doug
brought framed photos for me on the first day I was there. :o)

Without further adieu, following are a few points of interest from this past week:

* "Infection and perforation of the bowel" is a term I never want to hear again.
Kind of a gross way to start the list, but it is what it is. And let me tell you, it was brutal. It started as a tummy-ache that lasted for a few days. I was exhausted but thought it was because Doug and I have been going full-speed-ahead for the past several weeks. It's hard to know when to call it quits and realize I needed medical attention.

* Going without food or water for several days in a row is a miserable existence.
This might sound corny, but I have a whole new appreciation for world hunger. When we were kids we didn't have much money, but we were never hungry {thanks, Mom}. My stay in the hospital brought a new awareness to me...must do something to contribute...

{LOL - kind of a puny meal, but I was SOOOO grateful for this!!!}

* Potassium through an IV Burns.Like.Hell.


* Even in my weakest hour, my brother Ron can make me belly-laugh like no one else on this planet.
He was in town on business and I missed out on having dinner with the gang, but he visited me in the hospital and that was awesome.  :o) {thanks, Ronnie!}

* Never underestimate the power of prayer.
Even though I was sicker than I've ever been in my 50 years on the planet, I've never felt so uplifted and loved by so many amazing people.

{love.}

* There are angels on earth and they appear when you need them most.
♥ Brandon, a young nurse in the Emergency Room who was patient and caring and reassuring and amazing. I made him earn his pay that day!
♥ Deepa, a beautiful young woman of Indian descent. She was my day-nurse the first two days of my hospital stay and I knew instantly that we were kindred spirits. This woman was born to be a nurse.
♥ Mohamed, the night charge nurse who answered my calls over the intercom with a cheerful "How may I help you Mrs. {last name here}" He pronounced my last name correctly from the first time {rare}. Come to find out, he knows my sister-in-law Janet who has been a nurse at that same hospital for over 30 years. :o)
♥ Ronald, a sweet young man from the cafeteria who came to my room on the day I could finally eat something. He took my food order as if I were a VIP customer in a five-star restaurant. I loved that.

{I plan to write a letter of gratitude to the CEO of Chandler Regional Hospital.}

* Hospital gowns have an opening in the front too.
So, on my last day in captivity I was told I needed to get up and walk around. Knowing there was a gap in the back of my hospital gown, I slipped my walking shorts on and scooted myself out and about, making the loop around the hospital floor I was on. When I returned to my room I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and realized that the 5-inch gap on the upper right side of my gown clearly revealed one-half of my womanhood. Nice.

And on that note, I'm off to see what I've

missed in blog world this past week.

♥ !