1989~ My Hysterectomy Adventure!

Summer of 1989, I took five weeks off from work to have a Hysterectomy.

My doctor had found a fibroid in my uterus it was the size of a grapefruit.

He sent the fibroid off and said it was not cancer.

He also said that I could not do any heavy lifting or driving for 5 to 6 weeks after the surgery.

I remember checking in at the Hospital in Muscle Shoals where I was prepped for surgery.

I hate knives and the thought of being cut is terrifying so needless to say I was very nervous about the upcoming surgery.

When my nurse came in she said are you nervous about the surgery? I said yes.

Then the nurse said, “I am going to give you a shot it will relax you.”

The surgery went well and they had me up walking the next day. 

During the surgery, my abdomen was filled with air.

My stomach looked & felt like a balloon ready to pop.

They gave me an enema to relieve the gas, but it did not work.

The nurse said that I needed to walk to relieve the gas.

I walked up and down the halls of the hospital but found no relief.

Finally, I went to the restroom and found relief, it sounded like the air coming from a hot air balloon or a stack of whoopee Cushions.

I was released from the hospital and my middle son came to the hospital to pick me up.

I had a prescription that needed to be filled so we stopped at Kmart’s Pharmacy in Muscle Shoals.

The prescription was for the pain it was Tylenol with codeine.

The doctors wanted me to walk so I walked inside K-mart with my son to get the prescription filled.

A week after I came home from the hospital my daughter-in-law said we are going to the Birmingham Zoo do you want to go? We can rent a wheelchair to push you around.

I had been cooped up in the house for a week since my stay in the hospital and I was ready to get out.

It takes about two and a half hours to drive to the Birmingham Zoo, when we arrived we purchased tickets and rented a wheelchair.

I was still very sore from the surgery, and as I was pushed into the wheelchair I could feel every bump and pothole that we hit.

It made me appreciate people who have to ride in wheelchairs all the time, especially rented ones with no extra padding.

Riding in a Wheelchair

At the Birmingham Zoo, we saw the African elephants throwing dirt onto their backs. We saw giraffes eating leaves from very tall trees. We visit the cages of the Siberian tiger, the roaring lions, the cheetah, the Black Panthers, Snow leopards, and the Jaguar.

We visited Monkey Island which housed hundreds of monkeys.

We saw a family of Gorilla with the mother feeding her young.

We went into the reptile house and saw rattle Snakes, copperheads, coral snakes, Boas, Anaconda, dragon monsters, chameleons, helmet lizards, Iguanas, and many different species of frogs.

Our next stop was to see the Roman God Vulcan atop Red Mountain, he overlooks the city of Birmingham. The Vulcan is 56 feet tall and there is an elevator that takes you to an overlook encircling the statue. 

I had a wonderful time at the Birmingham Zoo & The Vulcan but was sore the next day and I had to take several Tylenol with codeine for pain.

A few weeks later I rode to the Space and Rocket Center with my son and his wife. 

This trip was also fun but I had to take Tylenol with codeine because my stomach had not completely healed from the surgery. 

I spent my time sunbathing on my back porch during the day.

I spent time at the Birmingham Zoo, at the Vulcan, and at the Space and Rocket Center with family.

I went back to the doctor for my six-week check-up and the doctor said I could go back to work.

I was ready to head back to work and it was wonderful to be able to sit behind the steering wheel of my own car.

🚌🚌🚌🚌The Bus ride and the Driver

With one bus, a token, and a senior bus pass, the family walked out the door of the Ronald McDonald House.

They walked down to Thirty-ninth and Chestnut Streets to take the Septa Bus to downtown Philadelphia.

The long-awaited bus comes to a screeching halt.

Immediately the driver spots the little girl in the wheelchair.

The front door is left closed as he patiently walks to the center of the bus to lower the lift.

When the lift is level with the road, the bus driver gets out and wheels the little girl onto the ramp.

He raises the lift back up and rolls the wheelchair into place, he buckles and straps the little girl in the place. 

The bus driver struggles to keep his cap on his head, because the little girl in the wheelchair, keeps pulling at it. 

The little girl had everyone on the bus in stitches.

When the bus driver completes his task, everyone on the bus claps because of his patience with the little girl.

The bus driver walks back to the front of the bus, he opens the front door, and lets the rest of the passengers load onto the bus.

The passengers are putting tokens, cash fares, or scanning their bus passes on the transit service as the bus scurries away.

The buses rule the narrow roads as they travel downtown. 

A conversation between the little girl's grandmother and an older woman began.

The woman said, “I once went to the hospital to hold the babies but they would not let me because I did not have insurance.” They missed a great opportunity.”

The bus arrives at Sixteenth Street and this is where the little girl is again wheeled to the chairlift and onto the sidewalk.

The family thanked the driver, he once again opened the front door, passengers loaded onto the bus, and he scurried down the street.

At Liberty Square, the family visits the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and the grave of Benjamin Franklin.

The family decides to take the seventy-minute amphibious DUCK.

There is no chair lift, the little girl has to be lifted onto the Duck, and her wheelchair is left behind.

The little girl squeals with laughter as the wind hits her face and when the DUCK hits the water, she squeals even louder.

It was very dark when the DUCK ride ended.

The family pushes the little girl safely back to Sixteenth Street where they ride the bus to Chestnut and Thirty-ninth Street.

The family arrives at their stop, the little girl and her wheelchair are unloaded, and the family walks safely back to the Ronald McDonald House.

There has been a lot of violence going on outside the downtown area of Philadelphia.

Just the day before there had been a police officer shot in the face during a routine traffic stop.

The next day the family takes a taxi to the airport.

After the mother pays the taxi driver, she soon realizes that she has been taken to the wrong airport.

The mother takes out her cell phone and calls Angel Flight. Angel Flight, in turn, calls the pilot and tells him what happened.

Angel Flight told the family to stay where they were and the pilot was on his way. 

Angel Flight, is a free service (privately owned airplane pilots) who volunteer their services for people with special needs children.

The little girl had to be loaded and unloaded onto three different airplanes, the little girl did not mind for she was going home.