9/15/2023: Another Life Changing Day

All had been going swimmingly after my life-saving surgery in 2021.  I have been running strong, hired a coach, met new and amazing people in the world of running that are now my dear friends, and really have the strongest and best tribe I have ever had in my life.

I ran a strong(ish) half marathon at River Run on 9/10

(Crazy how life can change 
in a week)

with hopes of crushing a goal at Towpath on 10/7 and running with the Ladies of the Land in a kick ass relay at Akron the week before.

Of course, best laid plans don't always come to fruition.

On 9/15, Friday, I went to school, like always. I felt ok. Around 7ish, when hanging out with my friends prior to starting the school day, I felt a bit off while sipping my coffee and chatting, but nothing that was alarming.  

During first period (730-819am); however, is when allllll the pain came rushing back. 

I knew something was wrong. 

I text Mark. 

He asked if I could come home. 

At this point, I was honestly going to try to stick it out, but as first period went on, I had flashbacks to 12/7/21 and the weeks leading up to my first life-saving surgery. I was in serious pain and it was not getting better. In the back of my head I knew what was happening to some degree, but I really did not want to admit it. I got a sub and left before the end of first period and made the hour drive back home. I had intentions of sleeping off the pain, and when that did not work, I tried a bath, but the pain just intensified. I kept Mark and my mom up to date, as I knew there was something serious going on. 

I called the office of Dr. Ornelas (my first surgeon). The nurse was not super concerned and made me an appointment for 9/21. As the pain continued to grow worse, I called back and she advised if the pain was worsening, I should head to ER. Dr. Ornelas was currently at the hospital performing surgeries so she could not reach him at that time.

When Mark got home from work, we headed back to St. Es in Boardman to the Emergency Room. I tried to be optimistic that I would not be there for a surgery by wearing my earrings and rings...dumb, but I was trying to trick myself. It did not work....crying face...

I was triaged and told to wait. About two hours passed, my pain worsened, you could see me writhing in pain if you would have walked through the waiting room. Mark went to ask if there was any way to be bumped up the list. They took my vitals again, and said while they didn't have a room available, they could put me in a hall bed in hopes of being seen sooner. We obviously said yes. It was at least comforting that Mark could come back with me this time (unlike in 2021).  

Another hour passed with nurses/doctors walking by but no one acknowledging my presence. I was so concerned with trying to offset my pain and breathe, I was oblivious. Finally, a woman who was making coffee and cleaning asked Mark if we had been seen as she could see how much pain I was in. Mark said no, and she said I will go stand by that Dr. until he comes over...and that is exactly what she did. 

The Doc came over, I explained about 2021 through tears and told him this felt like the same issue. I could not pin point pain, although it seemed to be more severe on the right, but then it consumed my whole midsection. He got a nurse over right after that who administered morphine, and said I would be going to get a CT scan, and they would be mad he drugged me prior, but he didn't care. He also joked and said to try not to throw up until I got back so he didn't have to hear it from the people administering the scan. His humor was great.

He just honestly wanted to make me feel better. I went to the CT scan, had that done, and by the time I was back from that, the morphine was already wearing off. I kept being told I would get more to control the pain, but that was a lie. The next time I got anything was about 3 (or more) hours later, when I was getting ready to undergo life saving surgery #2.  

Dr. Ornelas's resident came and told me the results were serious; I was suffering from a blockage and more than likely another malrotation. Mark called my mom at this point and once again told her she should probably make her way to the hospital.  Then, I was informed Dr. Ornelas would not be doing my surgery, which honestly made me want to leave the ER at that moment. I trusted that man with my LIFE once, and would happily put my life in his hands again. 

A stranger? I was not keen on that. 

Then I learned it would be Dr. Ornelas's partner, Dr. Orengia, who would be doing the surgery. This put my fears at ease a bit. However, once I met Dr. Orengia, I felt 100% confident I was once again blessed. He was every bit as awesome as Dr. Ornelas. It also made me chuckle (as much as one can when in debilitating pain) that he knew I was a runner because of the thank you and pic I sent to Dr. Ornelas after completing my first half marathon after the 2021 surgery.

As I got prepped for surgery, he had to again give us the options: laparoscopic was an option depending on what they saw, cut me wide open if too big of an issue...possible ostemy bag. I was in tears, scared, nervous. I met the team who was going to put me under and walked me through the process.

 Finally....soooooooo many hours later, I was heading back for life-saving surgery #2. I only remember the nurse, Zack, saying we are going to make you comfortable now...and the next thing I remember is the nurses in recovery, who asked if I would like ice chips...YES!!!! I have never had anything that tasted so amazing. I was still out of it, but the nurses in recovery were very funny and kept including me in their conversations to help me come out of my drug state. 

Around 930pm, I was finally making my way up to my room, where I would spend 2.5 days. 

Mark and mom were waiting for me.  Soon after, Dr. Orengia came to check on me and tell me the news. I was pretty optimistic as I didn't have as many tubes coming out of me as the 2021 surgery and they let me move myself from the one wheelie bed to my hospital bed. Dr. Orengia was thrilled to tell me, I only had 3 laparoscopic wounds from today's surgery, so while my recovery would still be long, it would not be near as long as surgery number one. You can only see two if you zoom in on this pic; the other one is below the belt! My stomach region is becoming quite the terrain for scars.

He provided a picture to show/tell me what happened (located at the end of the blog). 

My bowel decided to wrap itself around scar tissue from surgery number one, which resulted in everything once again being cut off from my body. He said if I would have come in a few hours later we could be in a very different position. 

I had no real complications while I had my stay other than the nausea from eating, which I still have and crazy low blood pressure. At the lowest it was 80/46. The BP seems to be at a steadier rate now that I am home.

Now, I know  Dr. Ornelas told me this could happen again, but NO WHERE, IN MY WILDEST IMAGINATION, would I have guessed I would be having my second life-saving surgery in 2 years. I was (still am) mad, upset, questioning...ESPECIALLY with the timing..my racing plans and everything I worked so hard for flew out the window. I am keeping my thoughts very G here, but trust me, there were cuss words and tears. 

I hated having to text my coach and say, NO RELAY...NO HALF.

I have at least 3 weeks off from work. I am hoping to get cleared to still savage a race or 2 before the end of the year. I am trying to stay optimistic. Is it hard? YUP. Especially when I am still struggling with really eating food and not feeling nauseous. Doc told me this would take some time as my bowel was "VERY ANGRY". I am also having bathroom issues, which is to be expected.

The bottom line is this: KNOW YOUR BODY! Know pains that are normal and pains that are not, so when you need help you seek it out. I learned last time I likely have a  very high pain tolerance, so when I say I was at a 5/10 on the pain scale, for most people it would be an 8 or 9/10.  I know when I feel "that feeling" I need to act, and I am glad the docs and nurses at St. Es listened to me and what I thought was going on. 

Also, as always, thank you to my friends and family who continually reach out to me and check on me. I appreciate you all more than you will ever know. Soup, flowers, welcome home signs, cards, dinos, TikToks sent, comments on posts, gift cards...THEY ALL MEAN THE WORLD TO ME BUT NOT AS MUCH AS THE PEOPLE <3

PS- I will get a pic with Dr. Orgenia at my follow up!

Literally have the
best coaches/friends <3

BFF!

I mean...this welcome home <3