Wednesday, May 9, 2012

You Can't Keep a Good Granny Down... At Least Not For Long!

Dear Friends,

I've been running this blog post around and around in my head for several days now... I'm still having trouble with my attention span, along with a myriad of physical complaints... so the words have stayed in my head until today... or tomorrow... or whenever I finish this missive and get it published.

Mr. G (THE most wonderful husband in the world, my knight in shining armor, my best friend, my everything in life) has done his best to keep you wonderful "friends I have never met" up-to-date as much as possible, and answering your questions as much as he could. If he seemed vague at times, it was because he felt it was up to me to give you the details of why I've been MIA for the past several weeks... and today I have summoned up the strength, stamina... and attention span... to let you wonderful people know just what's been going on in my world recently.

I thought about trying to be witty and creative by starting out with a story of what could have been a "near death experience" I had while I was in the hospital, but was more likely a drug-induced hallucination (those were some GOOD drugs!)... anyway the world (or heaven?) was made up of beautiful purples and lime green colors and sunflower yellow light... I could hear my Mama's laughter, and someone was blowing a gentle cool breeze over me and I was so comfortable... and there was a clock... with all the right parts, but for the life of me, I couldn't tell what time it was and even that was wonderful... because the pain was gone, and I was buoyant and bubbly with delight... I wanted to stay in that place and never come back... but reality came quickly enough...

I thought about explaining how the deadlines where I work are so vital each week in a small weekly newspaper office with a small staff and especially ONE particular Tuesday and Wednesday of each month it's vital for the entire (4 person) editorial staff to be there to get the BIG paper out to the printer (half Tuesday, half Wednesday).

I thought about pointing out that through several life changes and job changes over the last few years, Mr. G and I found ourselves without medical insurance and how we've been very careful for the last two years to pay CLOSE attention to our bodies and keeping doctor visits to a minimum (I hate doctors anyway, too many are in the business for all the wrong reasons and I have a problem with that, so I only go when absolutely necessary!) We try to stay healthy and keep enough money ahead in case we need a doctor, but we are realistic enough to realize that in a real emergency, we might not be quite prepared enough.

Instead of telling you all that in any kind of witty, clever way (I just don't have it in me yet!)... I have decided to present you wonderful, caring friends with a timeline of sorts of the past several weeks and how the scariest thing that has ever happened to me personally has played out... here goes...

April 17, Tuesday (major deadline day at work)... I worked the entire day, even though my stomach just didn't feel right... it felt swollen and achy and tight and it hurt, almost like late stage labor pains. After work, I drove home, got a heating pad, took a couple ibuprofen and lay down... After Mr. G arrived home from work, made himself some dinner because I just didn't feel up to cooking, and we watched a bit of TV, we headed to bed, I was still very uncomfortable and within an hour or two began the throwing up phase... every 15 minutes to half hour I threw up until there was nothing left inside me and yet I still threw up... dry heaves, yellow bile, green bile... nasty... by morning the vomiting had slowed down but I still hurt and felt horrible... stomach virus, I thought... and there was no way I was gonna make it to work... even on a tight deadline day...

April 18, Wednesday... I stayed home. Mr. G went to work... I spent the day in quite a bit of pain, the only relief I found was soaking in a hot bathtub which I did... several times that day... and slept as much as the pain and nausea would allow... I didn't eat or drink anything all day... I couldn't... it came right back up. When Mr. G came home and saw how bad I felt, he tried to feed me some broth and as much liquid as he could get me to take. By bedtime it was clear that I was in too much pain... too much!!! At Mr. G's insistence, I got in the car and was taken to the local ER at a small hospital near our home. By the time we arrived, I was in so much pain I couldn't walk into the ER and had to be taken in by wheelchair. (Folks, you gotta understand... I DON'T GET SICK and even if I do I GET OVER IT QUICK... Mr. G was beside himself scared to death) The skeleton staff at the tiny ER ran blood tests, I peed in a cup, after 8-10 tries due to my severe dehydration, they found a vein and began running fluids through me... they tried several pain meds, the first two or three didn't even begin to touch the pain I was experiencing. They found a urinary tract infection... I was prescribed sulfur based antibiotics, pain pills, and nausea meds and sent home.

April 19, Thursday... Silly me insisted Mr. G go on to work, that I would run pick up the called in prescriptions and start on them... I never made it... I spent another day in between hot baths and pain waiting for Mr. G to stop on his way home to pick up the meds... the pain became manageable as long as I took the pain pills... the antibiotics immediately caused yeast (thrush) in my mouth... a white coating that also became bloody and painful within a few hours.

April 20-22, the weekend, Friday-Sunday... Spent the weekend taking the pain pills and antibiotics, sleeping, ingesting liquids only and making the decision by paying attention to the fact that my body was NOT getting any better really... I would call my local doctor on Monday.

April 23, Monday... Called local doctor... would not be able to see me until Tuesday afternoon at 2 p.m. Another day of hot baths, pain meds, sulfur drugs...

April 24, Tuesday... 2 p.m. the usual long wait at the doctor's office waiting room. Mr. G had taken time off to take me to the appointment, I couldn't drive... after a bit of explaining what had transpired over the preceding week, Dr. Rhoe agreed with me... something was going on besides a UTI and I needed more tests at a more up to date facility... We arrived at Providence NE Hospital about 5 p.m. for an ultrasound and CT scan of my abdomen (Dr. Rhoe and I were both thinking possible gall bladder problems, I was hurting in the upper right area of my abdomen... at least that's where the pain seemed most intense, I hurt all over).

Things get really fuzzy for me after this point... I was given some super strong medication to keep me comfortable while they tested and probed...

I'm still not sure why it was so difficult to diagnose... some say the UTI masked it, others say other things masked it... who knows... but after several hours, they found out what was causing all the trouble...

My appendix!!! And not only did I have simple appendicitis, my dear appendix was abscessed and it had ruptured, filling my entire abdomen with its poison...

I had a feeling over the next little while of being wheeled like the wind from one place to the other and finally to the operating room for an emergency appendectomy around midnight... and no simple laparoscopic  surgery would do in my case... I had to be cut from stem to stern (an inch above my belly button to the top of my pelvic bone) so the surgeon could clean out all the spilled poison and abscesses.

After a successful cleansing of my insides, the anesthesia team began bringing me to wakefulness... another complication...

They explained to me later that apparently my body had been so traumatized for so long and had worked so hard to survive that it was just too tired to fight any more after the surgery was over...

I couldn't breathe on my own... they kept trying to wean me off the ventilator and I kept stopping breathing, my lips turning blue. They tried again and it happened again. Finally it was decided to keep me on the ventilator and I was whisked to ICU, where I spent two days with the ventilator helping me breathe and another day in ICU after I was taken off that breathing machine, before I was put in a regular room for a night or so, then home to continue my recovery.

That's my story... I almost died twice... once due to my appendix rupturing and filling my body with its poison, then the not being able to breathe... but thanks to a wonderful surgical team, wonderful nurses, a strong, healthy constitution, a supportive husband who was with me every step of the way, prayers and love from my dear family, friends, and workmates... I'm still here... and getting better every day. It's taking time but I'll be back to normal before we know it!

I had to go back for another test a few days after I came home from the hospital due to some complications... I began running a fever that wouldn't go down... the doctor feared pockets of abscess could have developed... but there were none and I was simply put on another course of antibiotics to help rid my body of any residual infection... the fevers lasted over a week but have finally settled down the last day or two.

I haven't been online since I've been home from the hospital because I have had almost no strength (but it's been gaining a bit every day), it's been difficult to sit up at the big computer for long periods of time, and the incision in my tummy has made using the laptop difficult... PLUS I guess all the meds, the pain, and the fever have wreaked havoc on my attention span... I'm like a three year old with ADD! Can't focus on anything for more than a few minutes at a time... I'm working on that.

I've missed all my wonderful Facebook "friends I've never met" and plan to begin over the next few days to get online for a few minutes a day and build back up. I wanted to get all this down in one post first and that's been a struggle over several days... I wanted you all to know what's been going on... Mr. G has read to me all your well wishes, questions, concerns, and precious love and support. You all deserve to know what has kept me away.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for you friendship and patience...

Still kicking, just not so high or hard just yet!

Canning Granny

68 comments:

  1. Oh Granny, I'm so glad to hear from you. I was so worried. Mr. G was a saint to keep us posted a little bit.. and answer questions. My you heal quickly. You are loved. :)

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  2. Oh, Sweet Jesus! I knew we were praying hard for a reason. Now we know why! I'm so glad you are on the mend! You have really been on my heart. Continuing prayers for a complete and speedy recovery! {{{{{{big hug}}}}}}} Tell Mr. G thanks for the updates! ♥

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  3. get better fast granny you have been missed!!!

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  4. Oh Granny, I am so sorry!!! Thank God for doctors and medical teams that care..Will be praying for you...:O) please take care and although we miss you terribly, you must listen to you body and rest, rest, rest!!! Love you!

    Libby

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  5. Wow... so glad you are on the mend. I can totally sympathize with the lack of attention, I had my gallbladder removed Friday and I can't concentrate on anything longer than about ten minutes or it irritates me or I move to something else without realizing I have! Will be praying for you.

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  6. OMG - how scary for you and Mr. G. So glad you are headed in the right direction now! Go slow - it will take a while to get your strength back - don't overdo it! Sending prayers and lots of (((HUGS)))!

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  7. Geez! Quite a story! I don't know why they don't diagnose appendicitis better these days either..the very same thing happened to my son in law..turned out to be a MAJOR operation instead of the laproscopy it used to be. So glad you're better. So glad you survived. And, I'm no religious nut or fanatic..but I wouldn't be so quick to write off the "near death experience". It's one way to take away THAT fear! Good luck and prayers for your recovery!

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  8. OMG you have been threw a lot. You take your time and get better soon. Prayers & lots of hugs.

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  9. Sending healing energy your way, you poor thing! THis all must have been traumatizing! I'm concerned for your bills - I hope that you can get assistance of some sort, it's there for these very situations. Good luck with healing fast! Your mind and spirit as well as your body!

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  10. Thank you so much for letting us know...it's amazing how much we can develop true love and friendship through the internet. May your recovery be swift and complete....God bless you.

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  11. Oh you poor thing! I'm sending strong, healing vibes your way and pray you'll be as good as new in short order. Take care of yourself!

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  12. So glad you're feeling better and sorry you had to endure all that pain. I too was stubborn about going to the ER because of lack of insurance and fear of putting us in debt when I was in EXTREME pain. I didn't know there was 10 lb cyst on my ovary, the size of a basketball, that had wrapped around all my organs up to my chest. I too was cut "stem to stem" but had a wonderful doctor and nursing staff and a year later the scar is shrinking. The best medicine for healing for me was working in my garden once I was able to get outside, helped heal those muscles that had been cut and also healed me mentally and emotionally. Wishing you a fast recovery and with God's blessings, you'll be in your garden very soon ... healing and feeling like yourself again. May God bless.

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  13. Prayers for a full recovery Granny...Take it slow and get lots of rest...let Mr.G take care of you..

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  14. OMG, glad to hear you are on the mend. Mr. G thank you for taking car of our dear facebook friend. Please take care of your self look forward to more updates once you have recovered.

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  15. So Glad you are back. Wish you a speedy recovery. God Bless.. Sincerely, Diane

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  16. I have truely missed your daily post and I'm so glad that you are on the road to recovery. Get well soon and prayers for a speedy recovery.

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  17. Dearest Canning Granny,
    I am now so afraid of appendixes or is that appendices? My dearest eldest son had an emergency appendectomy three weeks ago. He was so sick the week before but like you thought it was a virus or our familial tempramental intestines. By the time he went in in the middle of the night to the ER and got a CT, it was hanging by a thread and very "angry" according to the surgeon who took it out. Like you he had remarkable experiences with the pain killers which were absolutely necessary! Unlike you, he was good with a laparoscopy. Thank God for that.
    I hope you are recovering and am so sorry for the harrowing experience. Grateful Mr G was there. Please take care and keep writing. There are likely canning,food,garden analogies that will work for your recovery.
    Best,
    Grace

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  18. Oh goodness!! thats scary but what a great hallucination or NDE you had. I am glad to hear you came through just sorry you went through so much. Hugs and prayers sent your way.

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  19. It is unbelievable how much we worry about someone we have never met. Just proves we all have some kind of special connection with each other and need each other in some way. Prayers really reach out. Continue your improvement. Missed you. JA

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  20. be well my friend,and the next time (hope there is none) PLEASE LISTEN TO UR BODY!! as a retired nurse when u r in that much pain,there IS something up!! could have been worse thank fully not but there is so much else it could have been,please take care of ur self,,rest and the page should be the least of ur worries! it will still be here when u are back up to it!

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  21. What an awful time you've had! You & your family must have been terrified! I am so glad that you are on the mend now though. All you can do is take it easy, don't rush things & let those who love you look after you!

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  22. Oh my gracious! I am in tears! Thank you God for answered prayers! Mr. G was an absolute sweetheart respond directly to folks (even lil 'ol me!) and trying to keep everyone up to date on you. I'll still keep 'a praying that you keep on recovering! Take it easy, lots of rest and don't worry about anything else but getting your strength back! Bless your hearts!

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  23. Thank goodness you are alright!!!! Sending warm thoughts and prayers for a speady recovery.

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  24. Oh my goodness! I am SO sorry to hear this happened to you. I had a same thing happen when I was 19 with my appendix and it filling my insides with poison. I ignored while taking finals in college. Long and similar story short, I too almost died and spent over 1 month in the hospital with 3 subsequent surgeries to clean out my insides and cure the raging infections (bacterial and fungal) in my abdominal cavity and in my blood stream. Thank the Lord that you are alive and for Mr. G. You are one lucky lady! Huge hugs and I am so happy to see you back!!! You were missed <3

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  25. Thank God you are safe and healing. Its a miracle that you are still with us. I'd miss you if you were gone. Prayers for a health, shalom, and an increase in your online passive income to pay those doctor bills.
    Chris

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  26. I'm just glad your still with us. As I know so is Mr. G and many others. I've only been a member of your blog for a few months. But I have learned a lot because of you and enjoy reading your posts. It's because of you I started my own blog.......... lol boy is that a work in progress lol I don't know how you do it...........I would like to share some of your posts on my blog if you dont mind. I could keep goin on and on but any how....lol............To you I wish for you to have a speedy recovery and god speed for your attention span and a full complete recovery. you are missed by many.

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  27. So thankful you are o.k. and on the mend! I will be keeping you in my prayers!

    Blessings,
    Jill

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  28. So Happy you are doing good now...Hugs and prayers to you !!!!

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  29. That happened to my best friend when we were kids (and 20 years later, we're still best friends), so I know exactly how Mr. G must have felt. I never cried so much as I did when I was 12 years old because the doctors said that after an appendix has ruptured, there's really no way to predict the outcome.

    SOOOOOOOOOOOO glad you're doing well! Here's to a speedy recovery and thank you for all that you do - I've learned so much from you. :)

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  30. ~Anne @ This Olde FarmMay 9, 2012 at 3:43 PM

    Very grateful you are o.k., thoughts and prayers are with you!

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  31. I am ever so glad to hear you are on the mend! I was worried when you hadn't posted anything in awhile, take care of yourself and I am sure 100% in fact the Mr.G will take GREAT care of you! Many Blessings to you & yours!

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  32. Oh, Granny, I'm so sorry that you've had to go through so much misery and pain! Please know that you were missed terribly and prayers were going out to you. And Praise the Lord for Mr. CanningGranny! Hoping you will be back on-line soon.

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  33. I am so sorry you had to go through all that. I am forever thankful to the Dr. who finally found out what was wrong with you and got you the proper treatment. One never knows when our bodies are going to do things like that. No matter how well we take care of ourselves things can happen.

    Please rest up and get back to 100%. Until then you will remain in my prayers :)

    Joanne

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  34. As an ICU Nurse, it was becoming grimly apparent to me what was going on with you as I read your story. I am SO thankful that you are on the road to recovery! I will continue to keep you in my prayers. Take care of yourself! (I call my feller Mr. G, too, LOL!)
    Zina

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  35. I am so glad your feeling better. I will continue to pray for your recovery.Take care.

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  36. I am so glad to hear you are starting to heal. I thought it was very special that Mr. G thanked all of us for wishing you well. So grateful that you have a good man to care for you. Don't push too hard, take it easy.

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  37. I'm so sorry to hear about your misfortune. I'm glad to hear you are recovering, we'll be here when you feel like kickin' it again! :D

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  38. So so sorry you had to go through this! My husband had a ruptured appendix in 1993 and nearly died from it also. His bowels stopped and his whole body swelled up..it was horrible. He was in the hospital for 2 weeks. So glad you are ok and I do know how bad that is! God is good and it just plain wasn't your time to go to heaven. Take easy and allow yourself to recover..it will take some time.

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  39. So relieved to know you're ok! Take all the time you need to rest and heal, I look forward to seeing your posts again in due time. Joslyn

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  40. How scary!!! You get some rest, us bloggers are a bunch of dedicated people and we will wait for ya!

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  41. I am so glad you found out what it was and got taken care of! How scary! Sure have missed your posts and will pray for your speedy recovery.

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  42. Glad you are on the mend. The hospital should work with you with the bills. I'm without insurance too with some medical issues.

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  43. OH wow!! I am SO incredibly happy you're on the road to recovery. I hate when something's wrong and nobody can figure it out ~ God bless the team that took care of you, and your husband for being such a rock. Welcome back! ♥

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  44. I don't know where your at but if there is anything I can do to help you please let me know. Sending you Love, Light and Blessings!!!

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  45. I am sorry that you have had to go through such a terrible experience. I hope and pray that you recover your strength and good health quickly. I know how it feels after surgery. Between the pain killers and "anesthesia brain", it seems like you can't focus on anything. Unfortunately, anesthesia brain seems to last for weeks. :-(
    Take your time and do things as you have the strength. You definitely don't want to have to start over.

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  46. What a trial you have been through...Thank God your healing...don't worry about us here we are patient and can wait. Thank you so much for updating us and make getting to 100% your most important goal now. We all love you! From another friend you never met :)
    PS. Thank you too Mr. G for taking such good care of our gal :)

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  47. Have been praying for you and so glad you are on the mend. Mr.G was wonderful in responding when I inquired about your health...Blessings as you continue to heal.

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  48. God bless you, may you heal quickly!

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  49. Thank you so much for sharing your harrowing experiences of late. I can't even imagine what you went through except for life changing personal experiences and that's not close either, I'm sure.

    Granny, you are a strong woman with a great man at your side. I am sooooo excited for your recovery, but sad for what you both had to go through. My prayers are with you for quick and TOTAL recovery and strength for your beautiful family to get through it with you. Blessings to you all!

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  50. I'm thankful you are beginning to get your strength back, but don't hurry. As much as we miss you, we want you well & strong. I think it says a lot about us when we're concerned for someone we've never met face to face...there is still a lot of good people in this world. Hugs to Mr. G, I know he's been a rock for you.

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  51. Bless your heart. We are all so thankful you are on the mend.

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  52. You poor thing! My husband went through the same thing with his appendix, but it ruptured while in the ER and the doctor sent him home telling him he was just stressed...ugh....don't get me started.

    Glad you are recovering!

    I just found your blog via Hickery Holler Farm and I've settled in and read the entire thing. I'll be checking in often!

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  53. Granny, you just keep on kickin'! It's good to know that you are okay, and that Mr. G is taking such good care of you. Heal well and be strong, our prayers are with you and yours. :)

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  54. Hello. I followed someone's link from Survivalist Boards to your blog. I'm not complaining, I'm just COMMENTING, that I believe you lifted my image off my blog for your header photo of the lady with the pots and pans. Just pointing it out.

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    1. Thanks for pointing that out, but I actually uploaded that image from a free clip art website. ~~Granny

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    2. Interesting. Now I AM annoyed (not with you!) - that's my image. Oh well. The Internet: Gotta love it.

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  55. oh my gosh!!! that's so scary, and i'm so glad you're alright!! i wonder what set off the appendix to burst like that, and i hate doctors and hospitals as much as the next self sufficient gal, but we're all happy you're on the road to recovery! :D

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  56. New to your blog (Love it). So glad that you are on the mend. That sounded so painful for you. I happy you are getting better pretty fast. I asked a question about canning brats recently, hope you get to see it. You keep on getting better, take care.

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  57. Oops! I wanted to type I'm, sorry

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  58. Granny I just asked another question on the brats posts. Please take a gander at it and let me know your expert advise please, please, pretty please. Thank you so much.

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  59. I found your receipe for caramelized onions can the be frozen and not canned

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  60. I noticed you haven't posted in a while. I hope you are ok.

    I also want to invite you the Carnival of Home Preserving on my blog today and every Friday. Hope to see you there. Laura Williams’ Musings http://laurawilliamsmusings.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks Laura! Still regaining my strength and haven't got back to any canning just yet. I'll get there soon! ~~Granny

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  61. Oh my goodness, I am just now seeing this! I hope that you continue to recover quickly! You are a strong lady and I admire you!

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  62. Looking for attention?:DD

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  63. Just found your blog today due to canning interests. I don't know you but I'm SO glad you're ok, truly! Appendicitis can be so scary!! I look forward to you feeling better and will definitely keep an eye on your blog.~Cindy Irene in Oregon

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  64. Wow! That is so scary. About a year ago my brother went to the ER with abdominal pain. He never complains. He is a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. The boy can break bricks with his hands. So, when he asked my sister-in-law to immediatly take him to the hospital. I knew it was serious. He was diagnosed with appendicitis. It explained everything. My mom dropped their kids off at my house to stay the night. She went to the hospital to be with her son. When she got there. He told her that they were waiting on an open surgical room. When one was available they would call the doctor. Long story short, 24 hours later, my brother was finally taken in for surgery. The doctor was furious. He said they never called him. He told my brother that he had a case if he wanted to sue. We were VERY fortunate that it didn't rupture. But, the doctor said it was so inflamed, he didn't know if he was going to be able to do the surgery laproscoptically. He didn't sue the hospital. We're not those kind of people. We were just happy that he was ok.

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