Gallbladder Surgery!

Well, the big event for us last week was Sister B's gallbladder surgery. They found a stone in her gallbladder and some polyps on it as well. She did several other tests and the doctor decided it needed to come out!  The operation was last Monday. The procedure went well and she stayed in the hospital one night.

Here she is getting checked in:

All snug in her bed ... just waiting to be taken to surgery:

She is back ... looks pretty happy.

And, she gets a meal ... having not eaten for almost 24 hours. However, she wasn't too hunger, so I ended up eating most of the food.

She stayed the night in the hospital and got some breakfast as well.

Then we went home. It's been almost a week now and Sister B. is doing much better. But, she is still very sore.

Here's a post from Facebook that she wrote yesterday and this gives you a good update on things:

<< It's been 5 days since my surgery and I'll have to admit it's been heaps harder than I thought it would be! The actual surgery is healing nicely albeit uncomfortably. It's recovering from all that was necessary to perform the procedure that has presented the greatest challenge. Funny how they don't tell you about these things post op.... Like nausea, headaches, and being lightheaded. Like excessive amounts of leftover gas coursing agonisingly throughout your body with no hope of immediate relief. Like feeling like you have an alien taking up residence in your belly! Like being hungry and sick to your stomach all at the same time. What a whimpering baby I am! That being said if only to help others facing the same procedure, I am feeling better each day and have been cautioned to listen to my body, take it easy, and not to compare my healing pattern to others. The best part of this experience has been my friends! Oh how I love and appreciate you! >>

Here's a comment from a friend in Alameda:

<< Oh yes, how well I remember... the agony of the post cholecystectomy... they never tell you about the consequence of blowing your abdomen full of CO2 so they can see to lift your liver out of the way to cut the little troublemaker out.... You are better now? It takes about two weeks to get back to normal, as I recall. XOXO >>

So, things are moving in the right direction and Sister B and I took a wake to the lake this afternoon (1.2 miles round trip). We have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday and then she is hoping to make it into work by maybe Wednesday.

Thanks everyone for your support!!!

Area Council Meeting

We had our Area Council meeting this past weekend, so it was a busy week. Here's our Area Presidency (seated) and 11 Area Seventies:

The meeting was held in Auckland. We have two new Area Seventies, so we had them come into the office a day early so we could provide some training. While they were here, I reviewed the "My Famly 15 in 15" program with them:

Elder Sinjoux from Tahiti and Elder Leota from Sydney, Australia

We had some additional groups come in (a ward council from the Albany Ward) and nine of our local stake presidents. This allowed our Area Presidency to model some of the training.

Sister B, Debbie, and others worked hard on the meals and arrangements.

We were also able to review some of my ideas on how to automate the "New and Returning Member Progress" form, so that was fun.  Plus, in the last quarter, the number of members in the Pacific Area that have added all 15 names into familysearch.org has increased by 20,000. It is wonderful to see the progress.

It was a great event!!!