At the beginning of the month I asked Jesus for a word that would describe my month or a lesson I will learn in Albania. He gave me the word, “light” and I had absolutely no inclination as to why.
Until I was laying in a hospital bed with thoughts of surgery and I looked at the dim lightbulb above my bed. It was in that moment that God whispered, “Look Hil, I’m here too. Look at the light and I’ll remind you that you’re not alone.”
Earlier that morning, around 3:00am, I woke up with intense abdominal pain. After I passed out on the bathroom floor and crawled to wake up my teammates, we were on our way to the hospital.
Long story short, I had acute appendicitis and they operated on me around 10:00 am. Here are some highlights from my appendectomy adventure:
It seemed as though there were no wheelchairs available in the entire hospital because they made me walk everywhere….yep I even walked into the operating room and had to get on the operating table all by myself #selfsufficient #independentgal
I had to get an ultrascound….it wasn’t exactly how I pictured my first ultrasound but it is confirmed, the gel is indeed very cold.
I asked if they would do it laparoscopically and they said no. So now my “world race tattoo” is my two inch incision on my stomach.
They made me write out my own consent form. Think: “My name is Hillary Barry and I have been informed that I have acute appendicitis. I consent to having an appendectomy…ect.”
Every room where I found the light, I found Jesus and I felt peaceful and no longer nervous or scared.
They wouldn’t give me any pain medication because, “We don’t want you to feel better and then leave the hospital.”
They gave me a surgeon, anesthesiologist and a nurse that spoke English. SO THANKFUL.
In the pre-op room, we tried to convince a sweet Albanian woman that Emily and Jacob were married…but they wouldn’t go along with it. Sidenote: always go along with the sick girl’s jokes.
The gurney ride out of surgery was less than smooth…see Emily Brinkman for more details of her frustration and my painful grunts.
I got a room with not one but TWO roommates! Wohoo!
My roommates families really helped us out a lot. They translated for us and helped me, countless times, with my IV.
For some reason the hospital did not have toilet seats on their western style toilets…so thank you Lindsey, Krystal, and Emily for helping me go to the bathroom.
My bed was next to a window that lead to a courtyard. Super helpful when I had a lot of visitors…super creepy when random people spoke to me through the window.
I spent the night in the hospital and sweet Emily slept on a sleeping pad underneath my bed…she only took a few kicks to the sleeping pad from the nurse.
At no point during my stay in the hospital did they ever take my vitals. Kinda concerning, isn’t it?
Hospital or museum? At one point a ton of people came in during visiting hours and they kept starring at me and pointing at me and saying, “Americano!”
And then I got discharged and I hobbled to a coffee shop called, FRIENDS.
Hey, it wasn’t my favorite experience but it is now one heck of a story. Praising Jesus for just how far He has brought me and for a relaxing recovery. I’m posting up in a hotel until I leave for Macedonia on June 27th.
