Friday, September 10, 2010

Blessed Are The Flexible

I got thrown a huge curveball this week - I had emergency surgery Wednesday night to remove what initially was thought to be an infected appendix but what turned out be a burst ovarian cyst. That means I was out of work and school for two days. So, how do I hit this one out of the park? I'm still trying to figure that one out.

I initially went to the ER Tuesday night with severe abdominal pain, but because there were 50 people ahead of me, I decided not to stay but went home, doubled up on nighttime pain medication and went to sleep. I felt a little better the next morning, knowing I had to make it through my Spanish exam (which I got a 60, or D- on, so I didn't fail it). The pain on my right side got worse as the day went on and I finally left school at 2. I went to my doctor's office. After having to peel me off the ceiling when he poked that one spot on the right side of my abdomen, he immediately sent me to ER. Once there (and five hours later), the ER doc and surgeon both diagnosed "your garden variety appendicitis". However, once the surgeon got in there, he found something totally different. He cleaned everything out and removed my appendix anyway ("You'll never get appendicits!").

My oldest son and his fiance were with me in the ER and my youngest son came up from Chattanooga to spend the night in the hospital with me. My daughter cried because she could not be with me. I am blessed with three of the best children in the world!

When I woke up Thursday morning, I immediately began to call my profs to let them know I would not be in class Thursday or Friday. When I got home, I emailed my classmates to ask for notes. I was reminded that I have an exam today in Geology 202, which I will have to make up next week.

The lesson for this post is --> COMMUNICATION. If you know you are going to have a situation that takes you away from school, let your professors know. Ask for help from your classmates. Don't just fall off the face of the earth for a few days. Profs are much more appreciative and more willing to cut you some slack when you keep them in the loop. In fact, one of my profs assigned a classmate to take notes for me. But then, I make sure my profs know who I am by the second day of class just for this very reason.

Communication - with your profs, with your classmates - is one of the pillars of a great educational experience. You never know when you might need a favor. Stay tuned . . .

2 comments:

Nicki said...

I hope you are feeling better!!! You are right about open communication with your professors. They were all sooo understanding when my mom died. I took a week off and my Advanced Composition Prof. allowed me to turn in my final paper late. (I was frantically trying to write it as I was sitting in the room watching my mom on life support). Way to go for not failing the Spanish test! I am sure you didn't want a D but at least you passed it. I don't think I could have done that while in the pain you were in! Muy bien!!

cupotea said...

I can't believe you managed to go to your exam - I had appendicitis as a kid and the pain was just intolerable (I know yours turned out to not be your appendix but obviously the pain scale must have been very similar). Well done you on passing it!