Last Thursday two surgeons took out a foot of my small intestine and 2 inches of my large instestine. According to ask.com our a human's small instestine is approximately 20 feet long and a human's large instestine is approximately 4 feet long, so really I only lost a tiny portion of my digestive system--nothing big enough to give me side effects when I eat. The exciting thing is...the Crohn's Disease is gone! The doctor compared the pieces of my intestines that they took out to a garden hose that had been squished in the middle--essentially blocked. Now that part is gone and my digestive system is learning to function like a normal person's. And praise God I'm out of the dark in terms of complications from the surgery. No one is ever cured of Crohn's Disease but there's a 50% chance I'll never have to have surgery again and deal with the major effects of it again--so pray for that. The surgery went really well and the main surgeon was really, really happy. I am in minimal pain--I've only been taking Tylenol only for the last day and have been eating solid food--how exciting to eat:) The best part is I was released from the hospital Monday morning so my stay time there was on the short side. And I now have an incision about 5 cm long vertically across my belly button--I have a picture but won't post that:)
I'm done with medical talk for those of you who get queasy at that type of stuff. I am now staying at my friend Sophie's apartment. She and my friends Becca and Sarah are trading off days to stay with me over the next couple days to make sure I'm okay. I have been amazed throughout this whole surgery experience by community. If you had told me a year ago that I'd be having major surgery across the country I would have said you were absolutely nuts. I have been overwhelmed by the numbers of people coming to visit before and after surgery and people calling and praying. I think surgery has made LA home to me. It has become a place that I had a crisis and was cared for in the midst of it--in a way that I never imagined. I was driving to a doctor's apointment two days before the surgery on the freeway heading into downtown LA. As I approached the city skyline it hit me--I really like it here. The community makes it home but I love the culture, the city, my school... It's taken a year to get to this point and I'm sure there is more transition to come, but right now I'm really happy.
A big THANK YOU to my friends (on both coasts) for your support and prayers--you have been amazing.
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