Hi Friends,
I have quite a story to share from a hospital bed in Austin, Texas. I’ve had a rough, but enlightening past couple of months.
In early March, I went into the hospital for a routine procedure that is performed on cases of persistent, chronic acid reflux, something I had developed while going through some difficult personal struggles the last couple of years. I didn’t know much about this procedure called Nissen Fundoplication except that my Gastrointerologist doctor had recommended it. I read and heard many positive reports. I was so very ready to make this a good New Year, beginning with a happy digestive system!
Well, long story short (…maybe, we’ll see). My Nissen Fundoplication didn’t turn out the way it says in the textbooks. Mine found me pretty close to being a gonner from undetected internal bleeding. With the luck of some possibly heavenly intervention, someone found me struggling to breathe, and crisis mode erupted in the quiet recovery ward. Enter emergency surgery, blood transfusion, a life saving respirator, and ICU. My life was saved. I made it! But my dear spleen, having put up a noble fight, paid the ultimate price for me.
Waking up in Intensive Care Unit of a hospital on a ventilator with tubes going in and out of one-self is a very strange experience. Waking up in ICU with a memory of witnessing angels with massive wings in full regalia in the recovery room of a hospital is a yet stranger feeling. I grew up attending Catholic school and going to Catholic Church. My siblings and I were raised by parents who were respectful, but not fanatic Catholics. I always thought “Angels” were symbolic, more of a metaphor for hope and companionship through hard times. I never imagined that these magnificent yet comfortingly humble and warm creatures might show up in MY crisis! This certainly has given me a whole lot to think about.
My journey through this medical dilemma is not over. I have had several set backs and complications from both the NF and from the big surgery. Hence, I write this during my fourth trip back to the hospital. There are still physical and personal challenges on the road ahead for me. For those of you who know about my situation already, thanks so much for the many good thoughts and well wishes. For those of you who are just now reading it, I just want you to be informed. For those of you who know members of my wonderful family and extended family, please give them a big hug and high five for being the hardest working, most caring, and highly entertaining nursing team I could ever want.
I have had to put some upcoming exciting music plans on hold for a while. However, I am very happy that I had begun building a new website with the help of super photographer and social media wizard, Natalie Rhea-Riggs. We still have a few more things to complete, which were interrupted by my health situation. I hope you like the new look of the website AND the new hair cut! There will be more fun surprises as soon as I get better.
Thanks for checking in.
Angel Wing Hugs,
Tish