God answers prayer

Since my surgery was postponed last week Thursday I decided to make the most of my pain free weekend :) I finished cleaning my room and prepared for craft and Bible Club on Friday.

Having fun making pattern with paint

Reflecting God's holiness

On Saturday I went to the last planning meeting for Ekklesia camp which will held on Carnival Monday and Tuesday. This is a free evangelistic camp which is held in the Point Fortin community for persons of all ages. I was able to brainstorm with the teachers for the 6 & under age group for ideas in presenting the theme of God's Gym to the younger children.

Teachers listen attentively as Aunty Carol shares about the theme

On Sunday I fellowshipped with my St. Augustine church family and it was uplifting as always. Sunday afternoon I headed to the hospital and had to go through all the preparations which had been done last week Wednesday night. I had a new roommate, and began talking with her. I also visited 'Pebbles' who was in the room next door. She was experiencing pains and was not feeling her baby moving so I prayed with her and for her baby.

On Monday, they prepped my roommate for surgery, but then found out that her blood count was too low so she had to return on Thursday. She was not pleased, but I encouraged her that it would not be too bad to have to come back, based on my experiences. They decided that, since my surgery had been postponed, they would tackle me first. I was grateful that I had a fresh team of surgeons and nurses to attend to me :)

The nurses in theatre were super sweet. They took off the AC in the waiting room because they realised I was freezing. When I got into theatre, they rubbed my arms and back to help keep me warm. The radio was tuned in to 107.1 so there was worship music playing in the background. One of the nurses prayed a powerful prayer before the surgery started.

I had told the anesthesiologist that I preferred for  him to put me to sleep, rather than giving me an epidural. He explained the benefits of the epidural (less drugs, less side effects, easier to manage during the surgery) and said that was the standard procedure for my type of surgery. However, 15 minutes after administering the epidural I was still able to lift both my legs "like if she is a high jumper" according to my doctor, so they had to knock me out. Before they started, the doctor examined me and said he could not feel the fibroids. I warned him against cutting me for no reason and the nurses laughed and said their doctor would not cut me for no reason.

After I recovered from the anesthesia the first question I asked the nurses was if they found the four fibroids which were on my ultrasound. She said they found more, but they would let the doctor tell me about it. The next day I found out that they removed 25 fibroids from my uterus. I have no idea how they all fit in there :)

Post surgery, still high on drugs :)

I was bedridden for the day of the surgery, but by the next day the nurses helped me get off the bed and move around. The pain is more when I move, but it's not unbearable. I just need to move really slowly, like an old woman LOL. The nurses in the hospital were really nice, checking me during the night to see if I needed any more painkillers, and very gentle in attending to me.

I don't have data on my phone, and I knew my whatsapp would have been clogged with messages from people enquiring about how I was doing. Bmobile has an option for you to get two days free data when you top up, but you normally have a limited time to activate it. I had topped up on Wednesday before I went to the hospital, but I didn't get the option to choose my reward. So I was pleasantly surprised when I got a text on Monday, telling me that I still had time to claim my reward! It was really good to be able to connect with those who had been praying me through and to share updates with my friends and family all over the world.

Some of my friends who reside in the northern part of the island were concerned when I said that I would be doing the surgery in Point Fortin. Some never knew there was a hospital there, and others thought it was "too far". However, my Point Fortin posse was with me all the way, visiting me during both the lunchtime and afternoon visiting hours, bringing gifts of soup, flowers, fruit and get well cards, and making me hurt my cut laughing. I really appreciated the demonstrations of love and support from my Point peeps!

Some of my first visitors

Big up my Point Fortin famaleeeeee!!!!!

Big lime in de hospital

My gifts ;)

This morning the nurse told me that I would be discharged today, and that if I didn't have a bowel movement they would give me something to ensure I had one. Thankfully, I didn't need any help so by the time the doctor made his rounds, he declared me good to go. The ride home was not as painful as I expected it to be, and I got my first visitors at home since being discharged.

Can you feel the love?

Dey come from far to look for me :)

I must express my heartfelt thanks to all who prayed, visited, called, sent emails, texts, whatsapp messages or called to show their support. All glory to God for a successful surgery, and I am continuing to trust Him for a quick and minimal pain recovery, and no reoccurence of fibroids. As much as I experienced His favor throughout, this is not something that I would like to go through again.

Oh this morning when I was walking, I saw that "Pebbles" had her baby boy last night and both mother and baby are doing fine. I am also in contact with my new friends that I made on the ward, and trusting God that I can be a source of encouragement to them.

I can truly look back at this experience and testify that God is faithful and He does indeed answer prayer!