Montana Family (Dogs Included)

Noticably absent from these pics, of course, is Pat. Unfortunately, he was only around for the first few days (most of which I wasn't feeling that great), and not much went on the way of excitement during that time. Also missing is my stepdad, who was in Washington for a baseball tournament for most of the time I was in Montana. Such is the life of a baseball dad, I suppose.

The Homeland

Sunsets, mountains, the Yellowstone River, fishing, cow crossings. Oh, and my Happy Place, on a chair with the sun shining on my legs with a good book in hand. :)

The Time I Needed an Emergency Appendectomy

By now, I think most of you who read this blog are well aware of the events preceding our 4th of July trip to Montana, but just in case, here's all the details.

I woke up on the morning of June 28th with a killer stomach ache. Aside from your average indigestion or heartburn, I never get stomach aches, so I immediately knew something wasn't right. Although I tried to convince myself that it was some sort of flu bug, so I immediately crawled back into bed to try and sleep it off. Later that afternoon, the pain had moved to the right side, and I called my mom, who advised me to at least get checked out at the Urgent Care. They took one look at me (or feel rather), and sent me straight to the ER. After roughly 3 hours of waiting (the ER was one busy place, as that day was the first triple-digit day here in Sac and there were many people suffering from ailments caused by the heat), I was finally admitted. After a couple nasty cups of that orange, sugary contrast fluid and a quick trip through the CT machine, the doctor diagnosed me with an infected, swollen appendix. Apparently there were three of us who were admitted that night for appendectomies via the ER, and I was second on the list. I went in for surgery around 2:00am, and was back in my hospital room around 4:00. I spent the next 12 hours in the hospital, and was released upon being able to prove that some of my body's systems were back in working order (I'll spare you the details), and was back in my bed less than 24 hours after entering the ER. The surgery was laproscopic, so it was minimally invasive (I only have 3 small incision marks which are now mostly healed). But this left me with the false impression that my recovery would be easy (boy was I wrong). And I was absolutely crushed about the prospect of canceling our trip to Montana to see friends and family. So after all of 24 hours at home, we packed up the car and made the 15-hour quest to Montana. Pat drove the entire way (have I mentioned how much I love this man??) while I rested comfortably in the back seat, knocked out by narcotics and sleeping like a baby. Those first four days or so were more painful than I anticipated, but I'm proud of the fact that despite my seemingly bad luck when it comes to medical issues, we were able to make our trip and spend some time with loved ones. Pat left Montana after five days, as he had to be back to work, and I spent the following week in Montana, and then jetted off to Las Vegas to visit my friend Christie for 5 days.

[Let me make the following disclosure about spending time in Vegas with someone who actually lives there. We did not booze it up. We did not go clubbing. We did not gamble. We didn't ever even set foot on the Strip. Totally different experience than what you'd expect, right? There's a whole Vegas scene that exists beyond what goes on downtown, you should really check it out if you have a chance].

Anyway, as usual, I have many, many pictures from my travels over the last few weeks, so I'm going to have to separate them into a few posts.

First of all, here are a few pics from my latest hospital stint:

An artist (or rather doctor) rendering of the size and location of the appendix.

Pat trying to catch a few winks. He slept for all of 2 hours before having to leave to view a townhouse that we were looking at renting (we're moving this weekend!!!!)

Ok, that's all for now. More pics to come...