Hello friends, fellow bloggers, and anyone who is interested, I just wanted to let you all know that I will be taking a break from blogging for a while. I’m tying up all my loose ends and packing away my glue gun. I will be going in for surgery on January 12th and I need to use my free time for the next month to clean house, organize, and make/freeze meals before my upcoming surgery and recovery. If I finish up my “To-Do List” early, I may be back before the surgery but for now, I’m going to be busy with other things.
Just so no one will worry unnecessarily, I’ll quickly explain my situation:
Sadly, I need to get a hysterectomy. After years of seeing multiple doctors and trying multiple alternatives to correct my problems, my husband, and I have decided enough is enough. I’ve mourned terribly at the thought of not having more children for God, but I need to be a healthy wife and mother to the family God has already so graciously given me.
This surgery will require at least two days in the hospital, but it could possibly be 5 days if I have scar tissue on my bladder. (which the doctor said is a possibility), plus 6 weeks recovery.
My sweet mother will be helping to watch our 9 kids. Our kids are well behaved, but our baby, who’s 7 months old is very attached to me. So this will make things a bit harder for him and my Mother. Please, pray for them, too!
So I’m going to take this minute to wish you all a very blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year! May you all truly find Jesus during this wonderful season!
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I pray your surgery goes well (and also all the \”prep\” work). Have a wonderful holiday!By the way, I love the shell ornament craft. That's how I first found your blog.
Hi Jennifer,You will be in our thoughts and prayers…have a wonderful Christmas!
My prayers and thoughts are with you and your family, Jennifer. I'm sure Our Blessed Mother will be holding your hand during this time and during the surgery.Are you familiar with Doctor Thomas Hilgers at the Pope Paul VI Institute? He has done a lot of research into this area (not just fertility, but some of the other issues that affect women). Perhaps he — or a doctor he has trained — could help you avoid a hysterectomy. Here's his website:http://www.popepaulvi.com/I know he's been training more and more doctors around the U.S. to use his system.Blessings and prayers,Cheryl Basile
Dear Jennifer, This must be a difficult road you are traveling. Thank you for sharing with us all. Sometimes, that can be a comfort when we share, and I do hope all our comments give you comfort. I have a friend who had a hysterectomy, and she had a remarkably swift recovery and was back at work about 4 weeks later, and felt ready to come back sooner. Having said that, each person is different, and you should take whatever time you feel your body and soul need to recover and mend. My parents taught me to always seek a second opinion before embarking on a difficult decision. i hope you have done that and it sounds as though you have (not trying to tell you what to do). God bless you. We'll save your seat for you, and wait for you to come back!! In the meantime, you are in my prayers from now until you're healed. God bless you.
Thank you all for your prayers and kind words.My husband, Jon, and I have tried all that we could think of to avoid this end. I have been bleeding erratically and heavily for years. It's only gotten worse overtime. Anemia has become a huge problem, and pregnancy was the only thing that would stop my breeding for any length of time. I had been to 4 different doctors. One of those four was a Na-pro doctor, which Cheryl so kindly recommended. After several tries with different techniques, all four came to the same conclusion: Get a hysterectomy or get a Uterine Ablation. I didn't want to give up the possibility of having more children, but last summer when I just would't stop bleeding it became obvious that we needed to take a big step. So after many conversations with priests and Catholic apologetics, I got the uterine ablation. This procedure burns the lining of your uterus, making your body unable to collect the blood needed for a woman’s monthly cycle. But it also makes getting pregnant almost impossible. I guess the tiny chance of having that option open made me lean in that direction. But sadly the procedure didn't work. I'm one of the lucky 5% who can't be helped using this procedure. Now I'm bleeding again and when I'm not bleeding I'm cramping very badly! Now compared to the cramping, the bleeding seems like a blessing! The uterine ablation did help me a little so I'm not as anemic as I was months ago, but if I continue to bleed the way I have been, my anemia will only worsen. Well, I better go. My sweet little “Cherub” has fallen asleep to the sound of my typing. I better lay him down and get something done. Thank you again for all your prayers and helpful words! You have all been so wonderful in making my day a little brighter! God Bless! ~Jennifer
Jennifer,This must be very difficult for you and your family, especially around the holidays. I will be keeping you all in my prayers – you and the baby in a special way. I love “Cherubs” 🙂 I've had a lot of problems with very heavy bleeding and cramping over the years (endometriosis,which also seemed to be the cause of my fertility problems) so I understand how debilitating it can be. May Our Lady be with you in a special way during this time.
I am new to your blog and am very sorry to hear about your having, at such a young age, to get a hysterectomy. I can never really understand why dr.'s can't figure out what is wrong. Do they give up too soon? Praying that everything goes well for you and that you don't have any comlications. And that your baby is too traumatized at not having his mama around. Have a blessed Christmas.
HI Jennifer,You are brave to make this choice to be able to be the mother God called you to be! I will pray for you and your family that this Advent Season is filled with graces and blessings and that your surgery will be uneventful and smooth. May your recovery go quickly!
Your intentions will be added to our prayers and Christmas Novena.Ad Jesum per Mariam, Lena
My prayers are certainly with you. So glad that you have family to help.Jill L
Jennifer,I came over to your blog to say Hi and grab your blog button for my new blog look and I read this post. We will keep you and your family in our prayers during this trying time. May God's healing hand be on you and may you have a blessed Christmas and new year!
Thank you, ladies!! I feel very blessed to have all your prayers! I'm now mentally ready to go for this surgery!!! I'm ready to be done! I'm still working on the meals and organizing, but I feel good about how things are going!I did talk to the doctor again at my final physical and I asked him again what the name of the thing he thinks I have is:(I can never remember) it's Adenomyosis. It's an enlarging of the uterus wall, and the enlarged uterus wall grows into the uterus muscle. This creates cramping and deep pockets that hold extra blood for each cycle. They don't know why it happens, but they think it's genetic. My Mom thinks that's what they said she had all those years ago when she had her hysterectomy. Yup, sounds genetic!! Better go, my “Cherub” fell asleep to the sound of my typing again and I'm off to wrap the last few gifts!
May you all have a blessed Christmas!! ~Jennifer
Oh, BTW, please pray that I can get rid of this cough I have. It's just a cough and I've had it for almost 3 weeks. The doctor said if I can't kick it before the week of the surgery we need to call off the surgery. 🙁
I'm sorry to hear that, have you head about Dr. Mcdougall. Given I don't know all the details of your situation but he has been able to cure many many things without the need for surgery. It's a bit close now I realize but if it allows you to have more kiddos for God it might be worth looking into. May God bless your decision.
Hi CeAnne! Thanks for telling me about Dr. Mcdougall. His information looks very good, but my situation is getting rather urgent. My bleeding is getting worse and my cramping has tripled in just the past week! 🙁 I feel like a horrible mother! I've been unable to do much to help my *Little Loves* this past week. The doctors now think I have Adenomyosis since nothing else has helped. But they can only tell after my uterus is removed. I guess having 9 babies and three miscarriages in less than 13 years didn't help that!! (My uterus want's to retire early)But I wouldn't change any of my decisions of the past 13 years. I'm very happy that I was blessed with all 9 of my awesome kids!I'm still going to look into Dr. Mcdougall's information, too. It looks good even for a healthy person. 🙂 And I'M GOING TO BE A HEALTHY PERSON!! 😉 Thank you for the prayers and the helpful information! God Bless!
Jennifer, I will pray for your surgery and recovery; may all go well and your health improve. I have just been diagnosed with Adenomyosis myself, but my situation is barely beginning and my symptoms are mild compared to yours. I will pray also that doctors learn more about what causes this and how to treat it, and for others who have this condition, that they may find relief.My doctor did tell me that sometimes after pregnancy the uterus does not contract back the way it should, that it doubles over on itself instead. I know that you have prayed about your decision; God has plans for you to care for your family and you must do this to achieve that plan.
Oh, Elisa! I'm sooo sorry for you! Yes, this is something no one should have to deal with. There is so much that these heart-filled doctors don't know. They want to help, but the truth is only God has the perfect solution and answers. I will pray for you. I started having problems when I was just a teen. (Like my mother) It only got worse after I had each of my babies. I had the pleasure of not knowing what was coming, and the hope of believing that I could fix this. If you already know that you have it, that can make it harder. But may you have the strength to deal with what is yet to come. When God kept blessing my husband and me with baby quickly followed by baby we both had a feeling that God was allowing it for a reason. I see now what His reason was. Praise be to our Awesome God!! Take care of yourself! And if your anything like, you need to TAKE THE IRON SUPPLEMENTS!! Anemia was my worst enemy. God Bless! ~Jennifer