Nineteen ninety one was another year for the books. In the Spring of 1991, I discovered I was pregnant again How can this continue to happen. All the precautions in the world are taken and still I have to face difficult decisions.
I decided to have a tubal ligation. I would end this one way or another. I knew I never wanted children of my own. I had seen the doctor when I was twenty seven and wanted this done, but I was young and the doctor knew I had recently divorced, so he thought I should keep my options open in the event I met a man who wanted children. I was not opposed to adopting, but I had no desire to have my own. I had the surgery on Friday. Tina Marie was there with me every step of the way. No one else. Not Chappy, not my parents, just Tina. She was always there for me.
We were anxious to get home to watch Dallas that night. I had my surgery in the afternoon, but I had a hard time coming out from under the anesthesia. Tina sat next to my bed waiting for any sign of life to appear. I woke up at one point, sat straight up in bed, fully awake, asked her what time it was and she told me it was six. We had to get going and within seconds, she told me I passed back out again. This went on forever. I finally woke up and was some what coherent. The ward was closing at ten and if I didn't get out of there, they would keep me overnight. Well, now you've challenged me. But not only did I have to be out by ten, I had to pass some damn tests! I was not up to being tested on whether I could urinate or not! I tried but it wasn't happening. The nurse insisted she could not let me go until I had voided. So I sat and sat and sat waiting, but nothing was happening. It was getting close to the bewitching hour and she was tidying up for the evening. She had been standing out side the door but she had things to do, so she told me she'd be back. Can you believe that I voided as soon as she left. Or so that is what I told her. I was free to leave the building!
Tina shoveled me in the car. I was still really groggy and off we went to get home in time to watch our show. She pulled out of Sparrow Hospital and I swear flew over the railroad tracks! My stomach felt like it came out of my eye sockets! She got me home and inside, but I honestly think I must have passed out again as I was having a hard time keeping my eyes opened.
She slept on the floor next to my bed for days on end. I couldn't go back to work. I had developed a blood clot in my leg and I had not been able to go to the bathroom since surgery. Tina waited on me hand and foot. She is just the best little care giver you could ask for.
My parents came home from Florida for the summer the week following this surgery and I was still in bed. My family physician's stand in had written a script for medication without checking my chart and prescribed a medication with penicillin in it. I am highly allergic to penicillin and so I was dealing with the side effects of that as well.
Mother came into the house and saw me holed up in my dark bedroom and made it very clear to my father that she could not stay as she'd "catch" whatever I had and so they left and drove up to the lake that night. I was so angry with her that she was so uncaring, but that is just my mom.
Chappy would come over and stand near the bed, but every time Tina came in to the bedroom, he'd back away and lean against the dresser. She sensed this and so she'd started playing with him. She would leave and give him just enough time to stand by the bed and she'd pop in and he'd quick back away from the bed.
Work was insisting that I return immediately. I had to have my legs above my heart and they said they would accommodate this. How do you accommodate some one with a desk job, on a computer with their legs above their heart? They had it set up that I could sit in my chair with my legs up on my desk to work. It was so uncomfortable and I was already in pain, but I gave it a try. It didn't work. I got worse and more complications set in.
I thought I was never going to recover, but I did. I contacted the doctor who performed the surgery but he refused to see me. I contacted Sparrow Hospital. They had been one of my client's when I worked for the hospital association. I called the risk manager, who was my contact there and I told him of the problems I had incurred from the surgery. I suggested that they may want to make it right with me. I had secured the records from the doctor and discovered he did not use a compression machine which keeps the blood circulating in your legs during surgery and the result was the blood clot that had formed and caused so many complications for me.
I didn't want any thing above and beyond what I was out. Medical expenses and time off from work. I assured the risk manager that it would be cheaper to settle with me if I didn't get an attorney and he agreed. He cut a check for what I had asked for.
I don't know how I would have made it through that difficult time if it were not for Tina Marie.
The year 1991 ended on a rather odd note, my relationship with Chappy was on solid ground, but Webby was not accepting of the fact that I no longer had time for him. He kept wanting to see me, but I told him that I had no interest and he needed to move on. He was married. He had bought me Christmas gifts and wanted to bring them over and I told him not to.
I had shared with Chappy my relationship with Webby and he wanted to take care of it, but I told him I would. We came home one night from a movie and my front porch was filled with presents. They were of all sizes and all addressed to me from Webby. I carried them into the house. Chappy wanted to know what I was going to do with them. I told him I would return them to Webby, but Chappy insisted that he would and he packed them up in the car and drove over to Webby's house.
He never told me what happened that night. He didn't tell me if he rang on the door bell and confronted Webby or if he just left the gifts outside. His sister lived across the street from Webby. He had been gone for a while and I was panicking wondering what he was doing. When he returned, he told me he took care of it and that was all that mattered. He stated he stopped at his sister's to make sure the message was delivered and when he knew it was, he came home. I have never had some one take care of my business. I didn't like that he handled it the way that he did, but I had to realize that he was protecting me from whatever he thought was harmful and that is what men do for the women they love.
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