Little Choly Shaffer

Yesterday was Ryan's sister's birthday, and we had to miss the whole thing because you know: birthing a gallbladder. So as a birthday gift, Ryan told Bre she could name the gallbladder. So she named him Choly, which is short for cholecystectomy, which is apparently the fancy pants name for gallbladder removal.

So anyway. THANK YOU SO MUCH for all your kind words and thoughts and prayers and texts {you get the idea} throughout the day yesterday! I have a full report for you today, but before I get to that, IT'S PODCAST TUESDAY!!! So here's a little bit o fun for you.

Listen to the podcast here.

Now. Back to Little Choly. 

When I had my surgery, it was early in the morning, and we were home by lunch. Ryan's wasn't scheduled to START until 2:45 p.m., and I was pretty sure by that time, we'd be lucky to see 2:45 Central time! Forget Eastern! 

He actually worked all morning, because he saw no reason to sit home and burn half a vacation day when he could work. So he got home, changed his clothes, and we headed to the hospital for the great removal of 2017. He was so cool about the whole thing. While he waited to be called back, he read the sports section.

When they called him back, I wasn't allowed to go at first, which is apparently a new HIPPA thing, and I am not a fan. So he went back and I vented to my sister about my thoughts on the matter, and after a while, they finally came to get me.

My parents came to sit with me during the surgery, and so did Ryan's dad and step-mom, so we all just hung out, awaiting the thing to start.

They finally came to get him, only about a half hour late, which I didn't think was so bad!! He looked awfully cute in his hairnet. {Highly effective, too, I bet.}

They wheeled him off, and much to my credit, I did not cry a single tear. Not when I said goodbye, not when I walked out to the waiting room...not at all. I credit Sunday's massive meltdown and the power of the many people praying for us yesterday with this miracle of unexplainable proportions.

I had taken my coloring book and journal and other activities for the waiting room, but I spent most of my time talking to our parents and answering texts from folks who wanted to know how things were going.

The nurses told us it would take about 45 minutes for the surgery, and 45 minutes ON THE DOT later, they came and called for me to go back and meet with the surgeon. While I sat in the consult room, I heard someone groaning in the hall, and I heard a doctor say, "You're waking up. It's okay." I knew it was Ryan, and I hated it that he was hurting! {I know. It's sort of a by-product of surgery.}

The surgeon met with me and told me everything went great, all looked healthy, minus the gallbladder of course, and he got it out with no problem! He even had an 8x10 of pictures from the procedure we could bring home to frame. LOL!

So when I went back into the waiting room with the family, I said, "IT'S A GALLBLADDER!!!"

We waited a bit and then they said we could go back to see him, two at a time. Now you should know, this was Ryan's first surgery, so we had no clue how he would respond to anesthesia. I was praying my heart out that any reaction would not involve throwing up, as that is the ONE THING I cannot handle.

So I asked him about every two seconds if he was feeling okay. Sometimes he was, sometimes he wasn't. But in between the answers, he was SO FUNNY. He could NOT open his eyes. Said he felt so heavy. Kept asking me to scratch his forehead because when he picked up his hand to scratch it, he couldn't find it. I laughed right out loud. He was so cute and funny. And yes. I took video. :)

I told him I wanted a selfie, and he said he would smile. This is the smile.

He's so cute, even all loopy and out of it!

He also kept asking, every five minutes or so, what the doctor said. I kept telling him it all went well, and he just wanted to know if we got to keep little Choly in a jar.

Uh no.

He really struggled to wake up - much more so than I did. And when we got him up and dressed, the nausea hit full force, and that began quite a rough few hours where he just couldn't get it under control.

But I had to bring him home and be the caretaker, even if that scared me to death and was probably the worst thing for him. {The nurse at the hospital probably wanted to call for a well-being check on us!! I don't think she had ANY confidence in me when we left. Me either, sister.}

When we got home, my parents brought over food, which I hid in the garage and ate, so he wouldn't smell it. And our friend Shawn came to visit, so he stayed with Ryan for a bit while I calmed down. THANK YOU, SHAWN!!!!!

As the evening went on, Ryan felt better. He ate some crackers, then wanted a cereal bar, then asked for some soup, and even had some coffee. {No food all day will catch up to you!!}

He'll be off work for the week, and we'll do our best to get him on the mend quickly!

THANK YOU for praying with and for us. Such a blessing.

And we'll leave you with our two-years-apart-almost-exactly photo opps.