Have you seen my spleen lately?

Well, it's official...I no longer have a spleen OR a tumor (and about a third of my pancreas is gone, too). Apparently the tumor was about the size of a golf ball, which is bigger than I expected. I wanted to see it but it was already sent to be biopsied. I know that's gross and, honestly, out of character for me, but it's not every day you can see something that was growing inside of you.

Anyway, the surgery went well, apparently I didn't bleed much and it took about 2 hours instead of the scheduled 3.5 hours. I got some good drugs and don't remember anything past being wheeled into the OR. Also, I got my first epidural! He said that they recommend it for abdominal surgeries b/c they can be especially painful with all that muscle. I wasn't sure about having it since I skipped it for my own labors, but in the end I decided to go for it. It's still in and will probably remain until I get ready to leave. It's a very weird sensation to have absolutely no feeling in my leg. It kind of feels like it's fallen asleep. I'm not too crazy about it. But it does keep my pain to a minimum. My pain is pretty manageable right now although yesterday was sort-of a worst-nightmare scenario. Upon waking up from surgery in the recovery room my voice was totally gone, I couldn't move any part of my body, and I was in excruciating pain. The staff was working on another patient and didn't notice I had awakened, so there I was, in the worst pain of my life, rasping, "Uhhhhh", trying to get someone to notice me. It felt like an hour but was probably only 5 or 10 minutes. Other than that, though, I've felt pretty good.

The nurses are telling me my recovery is going well and they expect me to stay the minimum (maybe 3 days). Thanks for all your prayers and thoughts!

As for the house...we are mostly moved in but it's still a little crazy. Thankfully Grant's sweet grandma and sweet mother are helping so much and have even volunteered to clean the old apartment. They're pretty much saints :) This is all on top of watching Maggie while I'm in the hospital. They're going to need a vacation from their vacation!

I'll post another update soon and hopefully I'll be out of here quickly!

I'll post some Maggie photos and stories soon, I promise!