Night Life In the ER

Well, I've had an exciting week of medical adventures. Last week, I was having a few vision problems and had to have an MRI. Turns out that I had suffered from an Aura Visual Migraine. Something I've had to educate myself on this past week.

A more intense medical journey began for me on Wednesday night however. I woke up in the middle of the night with excruciating pain in my lower right abdomen and could not even lay down because my entire body jabbed with pain and spasms. I called my doctor to schedule an appointment and as usual, she fit me right in. When she began to examine me and asked me to lie down on the table, all I could do was scream and cry because the pain was so extreme. It literally shot all the way up past my shoulders!

She ran a few tests and discovered that my WBC was elevated and that I had a bit of blood in my urine. She figured that I probably developed a kidney stone so she scheduled a CT scan for me. I was reluctant to believe I had a stone. I wasn't vomiting or anything, but figured I may be in the early stages of it if my doctor thought so. I've never had them before so it wasn't my job to diagnosis myself.

I called to tell Ray that I had to be in Winston for the scan and almost immediately he announced he would leave work to come home and take me himself. That was not something I expected of him at all. I've been so use to taking care of myself when I've been ill in the past that it was very meaningful to me. Here's a perfect example:

Three or four months after we moved to Atlanta, I became very ill early one morning and had to get Brady off to school and drive myself with Brandon to the Emergency Room. Brandon was only 4 at the time and we didn't know very many people at all except for the few acquaintances I had made at the church we had been attending. Eric was completely unreachable. I didn't have a cell phone back then and had to rely on the hospital to call my parents back in WV and have them to try and help me get a hold of Eric. My parents tried calling the post and commander until they had reached him. I had called my pastor and he helped me find someone to take care of Brandon for me and helped me arrange for Brady to be picked up from school at the end of the day.

They thought I was going to have to have my ovaries removed and they were already planning on during surgery on me. Understand that I showed up in the ER around 7:30 am and it was around 2 pm when they were discussing surgery. I still hadn't heard from Eric. His commander called to check on me, but nothing from my so-called spouse.

Finally, they announced that I had a severe kidney infection due to having a congenital kidney. Something that neither my parents or I ever knew I was born with. One of the gals from the church came by to take me home from the hospital that evening around 6:30 p.m. Around 7:30 that night, Eric arrived at home and I'll never forget the words he spoke to me. "Guess you weren't that bad if they sent you home now are ya??" There was no how are you? I'm sorry I didn't make it to the hospital..........I'm sorry I didn't call....Do you need anything?? NOTHING!!!!!

Last night, I experienced what it's like to truly have someone care for you. My doctor called and spoke with me immediately after my CT Scan was done and instructed me to go directly to the ER because there were no stones, but bleeding in my pelvic area. Yes, I got scared.........the last thing I wanted was to be admitted to the hospital. Especially one that I didn't even know anything about! Ray didn't leave my side for a second and I truly believe that if they would have admitted me, he would have stayed right there the entire time. He spoke up when he was curious about my care and I knew that I was safe just because he was there. He didn't even take a smoke break!! Now THAT says a lot!


After they doped me up on morphine and ran all their great tests they came to the conclusion that I had a ruptured ovarian cyst. Of course, a few of the nurses were a bit more concerned over Michael Jackson's passing than on me..........but I had the best medic in the world taking care of me. I am so truly blessed having him in my life. He has shown me so many great things about a relationship. He makes me feel cared for and safe.

Now I just have to lay around for a few days, pop some pain killers (which are totally making me feel groggy and icky) and regain some strength. Thanks to all my great friends who started that prayer chain last night and sweet, sweet Kara was ready to hop in her car and head for the hospital. What else could I possibly ask for in life? I have so many things to make me happy..........even when I dying in pain!! LOL

When Heaven Calls....

For those who are very dear to me know that we experienced a loss in Ray's family on Wednesday. It was a quick and unexpected loss and I believe that has been the hardest part for everyone. Two weeks ago, Ms. Mildred was sitting at the flea market trying to make an extra dollar to purchase those Marlboro cigarettes she loved so much. A few days later, she was roaming around Wal-mart. That was her last outing........

I've only known Ms. Mildred personally for about 9 months. I've had the privilege to speak to her on the phone during the years though. But I had come to love her. She was so fiesty and bold! She didn't hold back speaking her mind. Every time Ray would leave the room, she'd start telling me stories about him. I spent a Saturday afternoon with her over Easter break and she boldly announced that she knew Ray loved me because she had never seen his eyes light up before as they did when he was with me. She told me that she didn't worry about him anymore because she knew I took good care of him. Then the real lecture began..........if he ever hurt me then I was to come to her and she'd take care of me! haha She was just so much fun to be around and I loved listening to her stories (especially the one's about how much she hated Katie, the ex! hehe).

She reminded me a lot of my mamaw back home always wanting her hair done. I miss my mamaw a great deal so I enjoyed making sure that Ms. Mildred had the oppurtunity to get all dolled up. The last time we went she wanted to get all spruced up for some fella she had her eye on at the flea market!! She was always so enthused when I'd show up to visit her on my days off from preschool. I'm thankful that I did get to know her as much as I did, but wish that I could have known her for many more years.


She was so excited about Ray finding Joshua. She was always asking about him and told me that when he finally came to NC, we were going to have a big dinner to celebrate! Josh wanted to try and fly in a few weeks ago but the funds weren't there to make it happen. If only we had known then what we do now.

I have been so proud of Ray during the past few days. He has really stepped up and made sure that his Mama's wishes were taken care of. I've seen a side of him that has never been visible before. Part of it I hated to see because I don't like knowing that he is in pain and hurting. The other part was so nurturing and mature that I know that I am luckiest woman in the world to have him in my life.

Please continue to pray that God will reign His mercy and comfort down upon the family and envelope them in His safe and precious arms.