Journal Entry Feb 9, 1984
I’m in Columbus Hospital in Great Falls right now. I’ve been here since Jan 28th. I came in for gallstone surgery and it turned out to be a lot more complicated than anticipated. He (Dr. Astrin) practically had to rewire my whole insides. The stones had impacted against the bowel. He had to go in under the bowel and take out the common bile duct and scrape all the stones off the duct itself. Then he had to reconstruct the duct and reconnect it in a new location in the bowl.
In the meantime, the bile couldn’t get out for quite some time before the surgery so it had backed up into the pancreas and as a result the pancreas had started to eat itself. I guess it had been plugged up for quite some time.
It’s been a real up and down experience in here. Yesterday I spent the day trying to vomit. I kept gagging and couldn’t get it to stop. The dr. finally got me some medicine to help with the nausea and today I feel better.
President Burgess came in to see me today. I don’t think he knew how sick I was until he walked through the door. It was good to see him. He talked to me for a long time and then he gave me a blessing. I can’t remember all of it but I remember he commanded my body to be healed and to work properly again. He said all would function properly and in the right order. I could feel the power of that blessing. I knew it was the priesthood and that my body would respond to it. I had a beautiful peaceful feeling when he left. He also blessed Darwin through me and the children.
I know God lives and Jesus is the Christ. I know He is my Savior and I know the second coming is close at hand. I know that a Zion people are being prepared. I want to be one. I want to live with the Savior and with my family. I am tired now. I need to sleep.
Feb. 10, 1984
I’m getting really bored so decided to write. I have a hard time concentrating. People have told me that they would get me some tapes but haven’t gotten them up here yet. I sure hope they come. I need something to listen to.
The doctor came today. He said maybe the n/g tube could come out tomorrow depending on some test results. I sure hop so. It really makes my throat hurt. I would still not be able to eat but at least I wouldn’t have to feel this tube.
Time drags in here. I’ll be glad to be home. I can’t remember a lot about the whole first week, only that I was in a lot of pain and just wanted to be out of it. I guess I looked pretty bad and scared most of the people who came up to visit me.
Yesterday, the Bishop and Kay and Sonny and Margret all came. It was great to see them all. I still feel really sick. I hope I start to feel better. I want to be home but I don’t want to be if I’m not well.
Feb 24, 1984
I don’t even know the date. (I put it in later) They say I get to go home tomorrow. I’ve been here so long it feels funny to be leaving. (28 days) I don’t know if I’m ready. I know I can’t take over the house. I’ll be going to my mom’s place. She’ll take care of me until I feel stronger. I feel weak most of the time and I know I won’t be able to take care of my house. I hope that a week at moms will help me be stronger. They gave me my own antacid to dispense myself today. I’m supposed to have some every hour. I haven’t had any at all for several hours. I can’t think of anything else I want to write right now. I have a lot on my mind, too much to put into words. Mostly fears about the kids and what it’s going to be like when I get home. So much for now anyway. Me
Later–
When I got to mom’s house she could see that I was having some kind of reaction to some of the medications they were giving me. I was walking around like a zombie and in a fog. I couldn’t think well or talk well. She called the doctor and they took me off of the nausea medications (which are used with cancer patients) and I got better, less foggy and less like a zombie and could think more clearly. It took a few days but I started to improve right away and my mental state cleared up and I felt more capable. I was still weak but I was able to go home after a week at mom’s house and I could handle most of my tasks at home. The relief society came in and did the deep cleaning and the wash for a couple of weeks but I was able to cook meals and take care of the kids with Darwin’s help. He was working full time and going to school full time so he had his hands full.
I didn’t feel completely whole again for about a year, but gradually everything I was promised in the blessing came to pass. Dr. Astrin told me that he really wasn’t sure if everything he did would work right and he was really worried about leaks. However, I made a full recovery.