Surgery

Saturday morning I woke up at 4am feeling a little weird. I was nauseated and felt as if I needed to go to the bathroom...but I couldn't go (I know...TMI). :) I slept off and on until about 7:30. We got up and I cooked breakfast, but still didn't feel great. We kinda took our time hanging out before we left to go pick strawberries. Oddly, I felt ok while I was walking around. We came home and ate lunch. I started feeling bad again. I tried to be "brave." We went to the hospital to see a friend's baby. She was so cute, by the way. Before we left, Kevin kept asking me if I really felt like going, but I really wanted to go. We got home and were getting ready for another friend to come over for dinner. I thought I had gas and needed to burp. At one point I laid down on the floor and asked Kevin to beat my back. He did, and Kayden helped. :) It was actually cute and I would've swooned over it except I felt horrible. My friend called and I told her to go ahead and come over even though I wasn't feeling great. This turned out to be a good move. I started feeling much worse (luckily I hadn't eaten dinner). I looked at Kevin and Nina and told them that I felt like I needed to go to the ER. They both agreed. Nina googled and found that all of the symptoms I was having were from either gall stones or a gallbladder attack.
We got to the ER about 7:00pm. I was in so much pain by then that I asked for a wheelchair and I was in tears. We told them that we thought I had gallbladder issues. We only really sat in the waiting room about 15 minutes before triage, but it felt like about 15 hours. WakeMed North has a wonderful ER. After triage they sent me back out to the waiting room where we sat for probably another 15 minutes before they got me to a room. Again...not bad, but I felt horrible so it felt like a lot longer. On a side note...they use the pager system like you would have at a restaurant. It's kinda cool and a good way to protect privacy.
When we finally made it back to a room we told the MD that we thought I had gallbladder issues. He asked me some questions about my pain and where it was. He told me that it sounds like gallbladder, but he will get me some pain meds and then they will do an ultrasound. I told him that I would be his best friend if he would get me some pain meds. He responded, "Now, that's an offer I can't refuse." And then he walked out. About 5 minutes later the nurse came in with some meds for my pain and my nausea. It didn't completely get rid of either one. So, later she came back with some more pain meds that had nausea meds in them. That completely got rid of my pain, but it also made me extremely anxious. I all of a sudden told Kevin that I couldn't stay there anymore. I jumped up and told him that I felt like I could run a marathon as I was jumping up and down with an IV sticking in my arm. He was freaking out and hit the nurse call button as fast as he possibly could. :)
So, she brought me some Adivan. WONDERFUL medicine. After that all I wanted to do was sleep. But no can do. The Ultrasound tech was not so gentle and kept trying to give me commands. "Kayte, take a deep breath and hold it. Now, Kayte, Breath." Over and over again. I have no idea if I was actually doing what she was asking me to do and I remember one time actually thinking that I was supposed to be holding my breath and very aware that I definately was not. :) She also kept digging into my ribs and I kept telling her it was hurting. She, however, only apologized and kept going.
Long story, coming to an end, it is gallstones. I met with a surgeon yesterday who said he could do 1 of 2 things. He can do nothing which according to him "isn't really doing anything" or he could take the gallbladder out. I voted for taking the gallbladder out. So, Dr. Roy with WakeMed Surgery will be taking my gallbladder out on Friday, May 7 at 7:30 in the morning. This is the day before my birthday, so the one thing I will be guaranteed is that I get to be lazy and pampered on my birthday and Mother's Day. :)
Please pray for me that everything will go well. Pray for my sweet husband who is worried about me. :) Pray for the surgeon that he will have steady hands, lots of rest the night before and wisdom during the surgery. This is an extremely common surgery (a lot of people I've talked to this week have had it done). I'm confident in the surgeon but most of all I'm confident in my God who will protect me and sustain me within His will. :)
Thanks for your prayers. Thanks also for reading this long post. :)
Until next time...

Back in the swing of things...maybe

So, first thing's first...I hope you all enjoy my new design. A very special "Thank you" to http://blog.lproof.org/ and http://www.fabulouskcreative.com/ for the wonderful gift. I love the new look. What do you think?

OK. So, we've been home for about 4 days...and I'm just now getting settled in. We had a wonderful trip, but it is very nice to be home. What have we been up to?

Kevin finished up Chaplain School at Fort Jackson. We are especially glad because this was his 3rd trip down there to the school. Because he's in seminary they allowed him to split his time there into several different trips. We met some really amazing people and are looking forward to serving our country and our Lord alongside those amazing men and women. I have to say, I'm a bit envious of the ones who already have their permanent duty stations. You can pray for us that we will be patient and learn all we can while we're at SEBTS. Also, pray that God's will be done. We really want to go active duty when Kevin graduates. Pray that God will direct our paths without question.

While Kevin was at Chaplain School I spent time with my family. It was a fun-filled few weeks of going to the Children's Museum in Greenville, hanging out with family and friends, working my Mary Kay business and taking a few trips. I'll post some pictures as soon as I have time.

We are back in Wake Forest and it took me a few days to get my motivation up to unpack our stuff and clean the house. However, I'm finished...except laundry! I even got Kayden's room fixed where all her toys are now in her room! I'm so excited about this. Pictures will also come soon for this.

I'll post later about some of the amazing things Kayden is doing. She's becoming such a big girl.

Until then...

The Bible & a Toddler

I shared with you last week about my goals for 2010. I am doing fairly well. I've gotten a little behind in my reading plan, but I will get caught back up before the weekend. I've only missed a day or maybe 2. But it's better than I've ever been before when I've resolved to read my Bible every day or read through the Bible in a year.

The one resolution that I've kept faithfully so far is reading to Kayden. We're making our way through the Veggie Tales Bible Storybook. It is a great little resource. I like it because it has a page for the "problem" then it tells the Veggie Tales story (from the movie) then the same story from the Bible (it's a little paraphrased in preschool language and leaves out some of the more mature parts--ie killing, sexual sins, etc) and it tells you where the story came from. It then sums up the problem from the beginning using the lessons learned from the Bible.

Usually when I'm reading this to her it's right before bed while she's taking her last bottle. Then Kevin comes over and prays with us. Any other book I try to read her she either snatches out of my hands or tries to close before I can get past the 2nd line. :) I usually end up reading while she's giggling and running around the room. LOL

Well, this morning, my sweet toddler did the coolest thing. We were in the living room playing with her toys. All her toys and books are in the same place (and I believe at the time they were all piled up on the floor LOL). I said, "Kayden, do you want Mommy to read you a story?" I was prepared for her to run away or shake her head "no" or something crazy. I started to take one of the books still on the shelf and just begin to read. Then, I noticed that she was going somewhere. So, I watched. She stood up, walked around me, past her toys and over to the sofa. On the sofa was her Veggie Tales Bible Story book. She looked at me again and patted the book. I said, "Do you want Mommy to read from that book?" She shook her head yes. So, for the first time...ever...she climbed up in my lap and let me read the WHOLE story. She even turned the pages (appropriately) for me as I read. It was the sweetest moment. Too bad no one was around to catch it on film. :)

Hello, New Friend, 2010

The last week of 2009 and the first decade of this milinium, I spent a lot of time thinking about my "New Year's Resolutions." The very thought of this was ho-hum for me and I began to think of my resolutions for what they really are--goals. So, what did I want to see come out of 2010? This was an interesting thought for me. I didn't want to set too many so that they can't be accomplished, but I didn't want to set too few so that I had nothing to shoot for. I really want to see my life as an individual and my family be better at the end of 2010 than we have been before.

So, I decided to break down my goals for 2010 into categories--self (spiritual, mental and physical), family and business.

Here are my goals for this year:

Self
1. Read through the Bible this year. I have never done this before, so I started January 1 reading the Bible going through a reading plan. So far, it's rejuvenating and I'm so excited.

(on a side note, I had been praying that God would help me to be closer to Him this year and that He will open my eyes to the people around me and help me love people more. This was the sermon topic yesterday at church. I love it when God does that. :) )

2. Spend time reading (at least a couple of days a week).

3. Excersize 30 minutes a day at least 3 days a week.

4. Date nights at least 2X a month.

5. Read to Kayden every day.

The next few are for my business:

6. To meet 25 new people ever week.

7. 30 facials every month (all 12 of them).

8. To earn my Mary Kay career car by March.

9. To become a director in Mary Kay by June.

10. To balance family/home life with my Mary Kay business.

I put these goals in my blog so that you know what I am planning and I will be more accountable. I would appreciate your prayers for me that I will have the discipline to do this. Also, feel free to ask me about them throughout the year.

Happy 2010 my friends! I love you all!