Chronic Pain Update and Spiritual Promptings

I will be having a hysterectomy soon. I have mixed feelings about this, but I am hopeful that everything will turn out well, and I will be healthier afterward. Allan and I, and our family, have prayed a lot about this, and we feel really good about it.

We saw another surgeon last Wednesday. He specializes in colonic pull-throughs (which is what was done when I was an infant) and will be helping the other surgeon. Basically his job is to get through the scar tissue and around the colon so the other surgeon can do his job. He was very clear that while he would do his best there is a very real chance that he could hurt my bowels resulting in a temporary ostomy (lovely, at least he said temporary). He also said that as long as he could move forward laparoscopically it didn't matter how slow he had to go, he'd keep going. But, there is also a real chance that they won't be able to move through the scar tissue and will have to do a laparotomy, which is an 8-12 week recovery. Eesh. If they can do it laparoscopically then it will be a 4-6 week recovery.

Occasionally throughout my life I have received some really strong spiritual promptings and guidance. This is one of those times.

The first one I remember was to not date a certain boy. Unfortunately I didn't follow that one, but I did learn a lot about hearing, understanding, and following spiritual promptings through that experience.

The second was to not marry that certain boy and to serve a mission instead. Thankfully I followed that one. :)

The third was to move closer to the university I was attending and to get a different job. I followed that one as well and shortly after met, and married, Allan.

The fourth was to stop attending the university, quit my job, and become a housewife. That one was difficult for me to follow, but I did it and have never regretted it.

And the next one was now. To have a hysterectomy.

Each of these promptings has been incredibly strong and have come in ways that were undeniable. I've learned to trust these promptings and follow them even when I don't want to and don't fully understand. They always bring so many blessings.

In church today one of the men who was speaking told a story of how he broke his nose playing football in high school. For the next 30 years he struggled to breath through his nose and suffered other problems from that injury. With encouragement from his wife he went to a doctor and underwent surgery to finally fix his broken nose. He stated that it was very painful and took a long time to recover, but that when he finally did he was a new man. He had finally been healed!

This resonated with me a lot today. This is going to be painful and take a long time to recover from. I may have to undergo hormone replacement therapy among other things. But, we are hoping that when I finally do recover and adjust to the new things that this brings I will be healed.