day three

let me first say that there aren't many pictures of the third day simply because that was the absolute worst day of them all and I was not a happy camper. I literally wanted to give up and die. I truly thought that I wouldn't even make it another day. First all the intense pain meds start wearing off that day and the pain became so intense that I cried all day long (at least if I wasn't sleeping). I only had my regular pain meds and then the awesome pain med button (which only gave you meds once in a while). I can't even describe the pain I was in. On top of that I had to get my walking in and my sitting in a chair in...and that was torture....complete torture. That day also is the day when they take the catheter out and that is quite uncomfortable, but not the worst part of the day. Then they came to pull my chest tubes out. I remembered that hurting from the first surgery but I had forgotten how badly it hurt. The nurse tells me to take a deep breath and then blow it out quick and while I blew out my air she pulled the tubes out....holy cow that was a horrible horrible feeling and sound. If you can imagine all those tv shows you watch where you hear that gross sucking/squishing sound when something is pulled out of a human body...well that's what it sounds like. it is pretty disgusting. My whole body was burning with pain. I was in so much pain that I would keep blacking out (which I was okay with cause I would just sleep for a while and not be completely aware of the pain). Then they took me to do x-rays, I mean really right after taking all that out, people come on. I couldn't even stay focused. It took all I had to stay standing while they did the x-rays and as soon as they put me back in my wheel chair I blacked out. I woke back up still in the x-ray lounge and tried my hardest to stay awake, but all I remember is the blurry tv and everything spinning out of control. Once they brought me back to my room I decided I would get some chair sitting in and as soon as I sat down everything went fuzzy and then black. That is about all I remember of that day. ABSOLUTE WORST DAY. I didn't want to go on.

day two

I honestly don't remember much of day two. Everything was such a big blur. The only thing I really remember is holding on tight to my heart pillow so my chest wouldn't hurt so bad when I had to cough, talk, laugh and even breathe.

Add another heart pillow to the collection :)


I also held on to my cute stuffed kitty that my grandma Louise sent me. I actually woke-up one night, as the nurse came in, to find myself petting the stuffed cat. I think I might have missed my own kitties a little much :) that kitty helped me out so much, makes me cry right now to just think about it. Thank grandma!

oh and root-beer popsicles tasted so yummy :)

day one

so instead of inserting my journal in here (which is very detailed and long) I will let the pictures do the talking :)

Here is my poor hole that had re-opened after being fixed the first time


all patched up and time to repair the valves (the blue lines are from the surgeon showing us on the picture everything he did)


in ICU trying to open my eyes, give a thumbs up and smile for the camera. I don't really remember anything else except screaming out the words "I love" and then blacking out. lol

again, trying to open my eyes. I was dying of heat so they tried to help me cool down with a cold rag. Didn't really help though. I was sooo hot


my awesome parents looking over me as I come out of surgery. I have an amazing family, I can't even imagine what it's like to sit and wait while someone goes in to have a serious surgery done.


hooked up to all the machines and stupid breathing tubes. luckily I didn't remember any of that part. whew



my first walk after surgery. It was horrible and so difficult. I made it about ten steps before I started crying due to the intense pain and nausea. I thought I was gonna pass out right there and break my sternum back open.

life...oh life, starting in good ol MN

yes, life has been crazy! what more can be said. so let me start with where I left off and brace yourselves cause I have tons to catch up on...yes TONS! so the last I wrote was right before surgery so I am going to start there. I will save you all the long long story of it (that will stay in my journal) but I will give you the short version. here we go.

so ty & I flew off to the beautiful state of MN in August of 2009 where I would be having a wonderful second open-heart surgery. The plane ride was full of anxiety and stress but ty was amazing at getting my mind off it most of the time. We got there and spent a few days just playing around, going to parks, taking pics, going to the zoo and eating waaaay too much food. Which I have to give a shout out to the best grilled cheese sandwich I have ever tasted in my LIFE. It was amazing. Sad to say that those few days went by much too quickly! The day before surgery came and instead of playing around town I was forced to spend the day at the hospital doing tests in preparation for the next morning. My stomach was literally swimming with anxiety. After all the tests ty & i went to pick-up my parents who were coming to spend the next few days with us. They are awesome! So now with what I can remember and all I've written down I will share a bit of my experiences from surgery (in the next post).

I'm back

okay so I am back...I decided I love having my own blog and I am gonna keep it. so there! I will be blogging like crazy for those who care to know what we've been up to. so hey ya'll I'M BACK!!!

Leaving...

I hate to do this but I am leaving this blog...I will now be posting only on my Cahoon Studios blog. I know it's a sad day, but I can't keep up with two blogs and I usually write about the same things on both of them, so this will be a lot easier for me :) so if you still want to keep up on my life and all that jazz then follow me and Ty at http://cahoonstudios.blogspot.com/ I will still be following all of your blogs!!!! Catch ya'll later!

SURPRISE

My cute in-laws threw me a surprise heart surgery party. They told me earlier in the week that they were going to have a surprise party for megs (my sis-in-law) cause she is leaving for college. So like the good secret keeper I am, I didn't say a word!! Honest! So the night of the surprise party came...I wrapped megs present and ty and I headed out. We walked in the backyard and everyone yelled "surprise" and so did I (thinking megs was walking in behind us and that we were just late). Then I realized that everyone standing in front of me (family and friends) all had little round buttons on that said "I (insert a Heart) Whit." It was such a fun party. I truly am blessed for the wonderful friends and family I have!! I LOVE YOU ALL!

Count Down: 3 days till we leave

7 days till surgery