November to Remember part II

The nurses knew immediately I had a fever and they figured some type of infection. I am guessing at this point is when my appendix burst. Things are a little hazy at this point but I know my temperature was 104 and I kept asking for blankets. The nurses kept trying to cool me off with wet wash cloths and they were pumping my IV with different things. I was sent for an MRI.  The tech was very nice and told me he would have me in and out as soon as he could.  I just closed my eyes and prayed. MRI's are very claustrophobic... But before I knew it he was pulling me out of it and telling me the doctor/surgeon would have the results within an hour.

We were transferred to the delivery floor and there we met Merriam. We LOVED Merriam. She actually shares the same faith as we do which is VERY unusual, definitely not a coincidence she was our nurse that day.

I should mention that Dr. Manetta (OB doctor on call) and a general surgeon Dr. Dominguez came into my room before the MRI and explained a few things.  Dr. Manetta was fabulous and went over different scenarios and so did Dr. Dominguez. Everything from an emergency C-section to being induced to being sent home to exploratory surgery was discussed. My OB doctor reassured me that she could have the baby out within minutes if we needed to and that she had no worry about her early delivery. Eve was 2.5 weeks early and I was very worried about her lung development.

I really didn't think they would see much in the MRI. I was still in horrible sharp stabbing pain. The first doctor to come in was the anesthesiologist. He really wasn't allowed to say anything about the MRI but told us we should plan on a c-section and that he would be with us from start to finish. As we were talking a slew of nurses came in and started making preparations.  Merriam mentioned the fact that they usually do MRI's to cover their butts but they could definitely see I had a very sick appendix.  She also mentioned that in her 30 plus years of nursing she had never seen the MRI come back and show without a doubt the appendix was sick and had only seen a pregnant woman who needed her appendix out this close to delivery once or twice.

Dr. Manetta came in and explained how things were going to happen. Troy would suit up while they prepped me for surgery. They would get Eve out and then the surgeon would come in and get the appendix out. She told me to plan on having a horizontal cut to get the baby out and a vertical cut for the appendix. Eve had pushed my appendix from its regular spot in my lower right side up behind my ribs. That is why it was very difficult to diagnosis plus all my tests came back normal. She also advised me that I would likely need a blood transfusion because they didn't know how long the surgery would take. There was debate on whether they were going to do the surgery on the OB floor or downstairs in the regular OR. They decided to do the surgery on the OB floor because if  there was complications with Eve they could take her right to NICU. There was talk of bringing up certain surgery kits and stuff and my brain just started to go in slow motion. They wanted me in surgery within 20 minutes.

Was I ready for this? I have FEARED having a c-section... How painful would it be? Will I be awake? How will Eve do? How will Troy do? Will I die? Do I trust these doctors to perform this complicated surgery? Do I have time to call my kids and tell them I love them?

We had a limited time and called very few people to let them know. I figured the best way of getting the word out was facebook so I posted an update there.

I wanted another blessing before going into surgery which usually takes 2 priesthood holders. After asking Merriam if she knew of any LDS doctors/nurses in the hospital and trying to call the local missionaries Troy just went ahead and gave me a blessing by himself. It was beautiful. It was powerful. It was comforting. It was tender. It was just what I needed. All the thoughts of doubt and fear were gone. It was replaced with peace. A beautiful peace I don't think I have ever truly experienced until this moment as they placed the cap on my head and wheeled me into surgery.  

Troy and I kissed and he was off to suit up and I was off to the surgery room. As I entered I was SHOCKED at how many instruments were laying on the the tables. Some nurses were pulling out more as we rolled in and I wanted to say something like will you use all of those things? The room was extremely bright and there were several nurses hurrying about. Each one of them introduced themselves to me and I can't remember any of their names. There were 3 nurses handling all the tools/instruments one of them was training. I believe there was 1 OB nurse assistant for surgery and 1 training. The one training got really sick to her stomach during the surgery and had to sit down. She came to visit us the next day and told me about her c-section experience and convinced me to stay another day in the hospital. My nurse Merriam was with me the whole time and held my hand and reassured me things would be alright. I believe there were 2 nurses there just for baby Eve too. They had the NICU right outside the door just in case we needed it.  The anesthesiologist was fantastic and stayed by my head the whole time and kept me informed of what was going on.

The anesthesiologist began the spinal block and Merriam held me. Those things are AWFUL but a complete necessity and blessing. The first attempt I felt this painful zing and prick. So he pulled it out and tried going a few vertebrae higher. Second attempt was the same thing. He was frustrated. I was in horrible pain. And he said if this last try didn't take he would have to completely sedate me... Part III coming soon.