All to Jesus I surrender, all to thee I freely give...

I write to you all with a humble heart. I sit and type, fighting back the tear's and praising the Lord for allowing me to continue living the life He has SO richly blessed me with. I will give you my take of the happenings of yesterday and let you know how I am doing today.
Yesterday was both a whirlwind and a fog for me. I didn't get much sleep Tuesday because of the constant flow of interruptions due to the insufferable pain that the medication barely touched and the nurses coming in to check on me. I was in bad shape to say the least. I had to be given potassium. OUCH that stuff burns. Coupled by the fact that my vein that housed the IV had infiltrated. For those of you who don't know the needle actually goes through the vein and the fluid fills in the arm. It was so painful that I was crying out in pain and the poor nurse couldn't start another IV because I was so dehydrated my veins were not cooperating. Finally another nurse put the IV in after digging around in my arm for a while. They were then able to give me pain medicine. My arm is actually still swollen as all of the fluid is not yet absorbed, but all feeling has returned. I was blessed by the nurse that took care of me yesterday. She was a Christian and let me know that she was praying for me throughout the day and during my surgery. I think I began to realize the severity of the situation during my second catscan. The women opperating the CT were whispering on the phone with my doc during the test and there was a cloud of quiet concern in the room. I was told that I would come back in 2 more hours for a third CT and was taken back to my room where Stephany Weldon greeted me with scripture passages and encouraging words from a book we had once studied together. It was a taste of Heaven and a true blessing. Aaron and his parents returned from lunch and soon after that the nurse rushed in and told me I was going to have surgery, right away. I quickly signed some consent forms and we all headed for the OR. Aaron and I prayed together and he and his folks went to the waiting area and I was taken to a prep room. In the silence of the moment I was struck by the fact that I was in real danger. Things did not look good and I needed EMERGENCY surgery NOW!!! I prayed that God would calm my heart and that he would carry our family through this trial. He did. The surgery was a success and I woke up feeling no pain and I was starving. STARVING!!! My parents brought the boys to me and I had a wonderful visit with my son's, parents and hubby. I slept fairly well last night and today my only discomfort is some aching in my neck and shoulders as well as my lungs, I guess from being intibated.
I still can't wrap my head around all that has happened in the past few days. I know the facts... I could have died. I finally have some answers. I had a birth defect ~ What?? Nice to know, 29 years later.:) I didn't have a kidney stone, just a crappy ureter.
The Lord was there during the entire situation. He made himself visible through my caregiver's, phone calls, visit's and His word.
The future...
Okay here is the crazy part. I am going to have a big surgery in September. I will be in surgery for about 2 hours and my hospital stay will be 5 to 7 days followed by 4 - 6 weeks of recovery at home.
Today, I have no back pain! Praise the Lord!! I am gearing up for the next phase of my journey and soaking in as much of my boys as I can.
Thank you to all who have prayed and helped our family through this trial. You are such a blessing.
God is good. He is faithful and true. His grace carries us. Praise the Lord for blessing me through this trial and never letting me out of his grasp. Tonight, I rest in that.