Expendable Organs

It's a very odd idea to realize some of your organs are expendable, and not an idea I ever thought I would have to consider.  Three days ago it became a reality when I had my gallbladder removed due to it being diseased and full of gallstones (I mean, how terrible a word is gallstone, yuck!).  

Several months ago I began having some health issues, that I just brushed off as really bad heartburn.  My boyfriend, who works in the medical field, kept telling me to make an appointment and get "scoped", I kept putting him off and popping Tums like Milk Duds.  A few weeks ago, I definitely knew it was more than heartburn when I ended up in the ER for the most excruciating pain I had ever experienced,  Once examined in the ER and labs upon labs upon labs were ran, it was there I was diagnosed with gallstones.  (Again, ew, such a gross word.  Along with gallstones I also had "sludge".  It is the actual medical term, I asked, multiple times what the "real"word was.  "It's sludge.").  Following the diagnosis, came more tests, more painful days, and finally a quick removal of my gallbladder.  I went in for a surgical consultation on a Monday, and had my gallbladder removed on a Thursday.  Apparently, the thing had to go, soon!  I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a mix of emotions.  I was happy to get the issue taken care of and start feeling better, but I was also terrified of a surgical procedure, no matter how "routine" I kept being told it was, on an organ that wasn't really "necessary".  Uh....why is it in our body if it's not essential to our well-being?  It's was a hard fact to wrap my mind around and one that caused me major anxiety up until and even a little post-operation.

I am now in the recovery phase, day three post-op.  There is some tenderness, some pain, bruising, tiredness, and still some anxiety on my part  about how my body really will function down an organ.  However, I am reminded through this process how comforting it is, at any age, to have your parents come and take care of you.  Nobody else in the world can take care of you like your parents,  My parents have been here every day but one since my surgery.  Even when I told them not to come, they came anyway, and just having them here, has helped tremendously.  

I continue to be leery of what food I am putting in my body for fear something will send me into a tailspin, but maybe this can be my new diet plan!  Need to lose a quick 10 to 15 pound?, Have an organ removed, just make sure it's an expendable one!

It's the Little Things

I love Sunday mornings.  It might be my favorite part of any day.  I especially like it when Ryan is home and not working, because we curl up on the couch under a blanket, sip coffee, eat breakfast, and he lets me read him things I find of interest while I peruse the Huffington Post.  Even if he doesn't find them as interesting or sometimes infuriating as I do, he pretends well.  This morning I found this gem.  As I read these out loud to Ryan, we both decided we do about three of those things in different variations than the article depicts, and then talked about a few other things we could think of if we made our own list.

We went about our day after that, going on a hike, I helped Ryan haul some firewood, normal household chores, but that article kept coming back to the forefront of my mind while we had this normal day together.  I began to think about how many articles I see on the regular about how couples irritate, annoy, anger, each other and how to fix it.  I am completely aware relationships are far from perfect for anyone, they take work, daily work, but I commonly see articles expressing the negatives and not really celebrating the positive, the day to day.  So, I have decided to make my own list.  Not a list of what Ryan and I do to annoy each other, but just a few of the many reasons I love him and how he's made me smile in the last 48 hours.

1.  When we decided to grab a very quick lunch in between all the other things we decided to do on Saturday, and we unwrapped our corn dogs and mine was burnt, he took it out of my hand and gave me his non-burnt corn dog.

2.  Instead of watching Sports Center on Sunday morning, he tells me I can watch "Say Yes to the Dress", because he knows it's what I do every Sunday morning when he's at work, even though he doesn't say that.

3.  When I complain for the 25th time the light in my bathroom isn't working, he fixes it for the 25th time.

4.  He paints the ceiling in my shower yellow, one of my favorite colors, even though it's his least favorite color in the world, as a surprise for me.

5.    He rubs my back almost every single night knowing it helps me relax and puts me to sleep.

He continues to do all these small daily thoughtful things, even after I have grabbed Twizzlers out of hands on countless occassions and thrown them across the room, just because every time I do it he still has a look of surprise on his face that makes me laugh until I cry.  (Perhaps I need to work on doing more little things or him!)