I'm actually up before my kids this morning.

It's weird to be sitting on the couch in a dark, quiet house.

I spent half the night on this couch.

I woke up at 3 with an awful back ache from sleeping propped up and on my back. Probably didn't help that I was stuck in a chair all day yesterday either.

I crept out onto the couch and tried every position I could, and about an hour later I found one that worked.

And i slept til 5:30.

I thought I'd take these quiet moments before the chaos to share about my day yesterday.

And if you are uncomfortable with reading the details of my duct surgery then I suggest you quit reading right about now...

I was scheduled for a ductogram at 7:30am and surgery at 9, so dave and I were up at 5am and out the door by 6.

My mom had come to the house at 6 to fill in for me for the day :)

I had school clothes laid out, and backpacks, lunches, and p.e. clothes packed.

We got checked in and settled in a little pre-op room.

Our home for the day.

At 7:20 I was taken down to the mammography room and they started in on the ductogram.

Not the most fun I've ever had.

The radiologist could not get the needle into the duct.

It felt like he was missing the opening.

He kept trying and trying and I was sweating and shaking and trying to keep my mind elsewhere.

After bruising the life out of me he finally gave up and called for another radiologist to try.

I was so thankful when he quit....

The second guy got it in on the first try but it fell out as he was injecting the dye.

So yet one more needle prick and then we were good.

Now I've been telling everyone how mammograms just aren't that painful, but after being pricked that many times and with a needle inserted in there.......ouch!!

They then leave the dye in the duct for the surgery and tape it off so it stays in.

It's an awful feeling having the dye sit in there. It burns and makes everything ache....

So needless to say I was already feeling pretty battered by the time they wheeled me back to dave.

But it was 8:30, so I comforted myself with the fact that it would all be over soon.

And I was wrong. At 9am a nurse came in to let us know that the surgeon was being delayed at another hospital. It would be a couple of hours before we could move forward.

Pretty discouraging for us, but we did our best to settle in and pass the time.

And I did my best to ignore the pain from the dye and my growling stomache. :)

Finally it was 11am and I had just started to doze off when the nurse came to tell us that it would be a few more hours at least.

So dave left to go find himself some food (I was so jealous!)

And I fell asleep.

Woke up at 12:30. The surgeon finally arrived at 1pm, and they wheeled me into surgery at 2. I was so ready to be knocked out by that point :)

And when I woke up it was 5:15 :)

And I was told everything went fine. And that the surgeon had found a second duct that had needed to come out too. Which made me glad because I kept feeling like there was more going on in there than with just the one duct.

We left the hospital around 6:30 I think, and we had to make a stop at Walmart to pick up my pain meds.

I don't know what made me think I could go in with dave, but I told him I wanted to come too. I was freezing and I wanted a big cozy sweatshirt to wear.

He dropped me off at the door and I told him I would meet him at the pharmacy.

Right about the time I found a sweatshirt I started to feel very nauseous. Very. And dizzy. And everything started to go black.

I was fighting with everything in me to stay on my feet. I saw dave and tossed him the sweatshirt and grabbed the keys. I told him I was gonna puke.

But after having a vision on myself curled up on the dirty Walmart bathroom floor I decided to head outside.

I grabbed 2 Walmart sacks on my way out.

But I couldn't make it.

I was going down.

I ended up collapsing into one of those motorized carts and passing out. With my head on the control pannel. :)

And I woke up to a lady patting me on the shoulder and asking me if I was okay.

It took me a minute to remember where I was and why I was on a motorized cart.....I told her I was fine, and then I decided to try again to get to the van. It was raining and getting dark and I couldn't find the car. And everything started to go black again.

I pushed the panic button on my keys and followed the sound of the alarm.

Once again I barely made it. I just kept thinking about how I could NOT collapse in the wet parking lot and draw a crowd or get sent back to the hospital. :)

I didn't even get the door shut all the way before I feel asleep :)

I remember dave shutting it and then we were home and the kids were running to me and I tried to sit on the couch but they wanted up, and Neiko kept jumping up and down on the couch beside me....

I had missed them, though. And I was so glad to see them and to be home.

And I'm so happy that it is all over.

And very thankful for all the people in my life who care and who are willing to help.

The meals, and help, and prayers. The get well cards from the kids at the school :)

The body of Christ is amazing. He is amazing.

Thanks everyone! Love you all so much!