weekending

 

Happy Monday, friends! I hope you had a good weekend! I'm linking up with Holly and Sarah for today's post. 

My very uneventful weekend started very eventfully: I almost called 911, but settled for my best friend taking me to the ER. I started having some weird stomach pains on Wednesday afternoon; they subsided some overnight and were more tolerable on Thursday while I was at work. That night when I ate dinner, I felt like something was terribly wrong with my stomach; I wasn't sure if it was appendicitis (even though the pain was on my left side, not my right), or a mass on one of my ovaries or what, but the pain got worse and worse until I knew that the medicine wasn't working and it was only intensified. I literally almost just called for an ambulance since I was at home alone, but I called my Missy instead and she drove me there around 9 that night. By the time we arrived, I was convinced that I had kidney stones...but after some testing, that was ruled out, and the CT scan on my stomach was clear. Believe it or not, all of this excruciating pain was because of a pinched nerve. 

I've had something going on with my back for months now, but because of my crazy life, I've been ignoring it, hoping it would resolve itself. It didn't and nearly took me down when it hit the hardest! After blood work and the CT scan, it was good to know that I wasn't going to have to need emergency surgery; I sincerely thought that it was going to end that way, because never in my life have I been in that much pain. I would have preferred childbirth over the pain I was experiencing; I was unable to sit, stand, walk, or lay down at all, and while I waited in a wheelchair in the ER, I was nearly screaming as I sat in the waiting room. 

I am thankful for how it all played out; God gave me the wisdom to go to the ER through my friends who were talking about it back and forth with each other (one of whom is a physician's assistant). I am thankful that it is a very treatable issue, and that Graham was there to meet me in the ER shortly after I arrived. He was the one I kept having to get wheel me to the restroom, because when the pain would hit, waves of nausea would almost make me sick, so I was guzzling water to fight from being sick in the overly crowded ER. I'm laughing because he had to wheel me back and forth no less than fifteen times. 🤣

I was discharged from their care around two thirty a.m. Friday morning after receiving four vials of medication in my IV: an anti-nausea med, a steroid, delaudid for pain, and a muscle relaxer. I was feeling pretty good by the time I left, and everything inside me unclenched after it all started flowing in my body. I was able to get four solid hours of sleep when I got home, and I spent the day resting with Chloe nearby at all times. Jonah stayed home with me all of Friday, and sweet Marilyn brought me food to eat for dinner that night and to freeze the rest of for later. I watched movie after movie and alternated between that and napping for twenty-four full hours! I got in touch with my friend who is a chiropractor, and she moved Heaven and Earth to get me into her office early Saturday morning, so Mom came and drove me there. I'm so grateful for my mom! 

While we were out, we grabbed some lunch at my favorite salad place, then she ran me to Walgreens to buy two last things for Christmas and stockings. After that, I was home for the rest of the day resting, and then I was actually able to work a partial morning at church yesterday. I really, really wanted to do that, and I'm glad I did. I'm also glad I left when I did, even though I really wanted to stay for the whole service. My friend Kelly came in and took over for me, though, and I came home to change and take it easy for the rest of the day. My Noah made it home by around three thirty that afternoon, and I was so glad to see him! Jonah made some repairs around the house for me yesterday while I assisted, and it was just an easy and quiet rest of the weekend. I'm so thankful that I was already done with Christmas, the wrapping and all of the details that I usually leave out until the last minute. God knew that this would end up happening, though, and He is the one who gave me the idea of the goal to finish early. Now I know why! I am also grateful to tell you that I feel so much better; I'm still in a lot of pain, but it is so much better than it was on Thursday, and it just keeps improving. It's more concentrated in my back now, and it turns out that it's a pinched nerve in my upper Lombard, also known as L1 or L2. 

On a lighter note, while I was at home Saturday, I took some pictures to post on socials for my memories and to look back on, so I thought I'd share them here with you today as well, since I didn't do anything else all weekend. I thought it was appropriate since I never shared my Christmas home tour this year; this one is special since it'll be my last Christmas in this house that I've lived in for the last 21 years. I hope you enjoy! Come on in, friends! 

These are all of my favorite things in my Christmas home. I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the things I've loved looking at the last couple of months. I always miss these items when I pack them up each year; I know they'll bring me more joy in the years to come, even when I'm in a new place. I'm excited about what lies ahead for me in the coming new year! I know I'll have moments of sadness, but I want to focus more on what is ahead of me rather than looking back on all that was. I know that both have a time and a place, though, so I'll roll with the feelings as they come. Thanks for being here today to read my blog, friends! I'll be here this week, though I'm not sure which days just yet. I may surprise myself and post all the days this week! Who knows? I hope you'll come back to check. Love to all and Merry Christmas Adam! 

Jenn 🖤