These last few weeks have definitely been an interesting few for me. A lot has been going on, and although some would say I am just lucky, I would BEG to differ. I have had such happiness and love come from the people around me that I have now began to recognize. I have been so blessed, and I know that the lord is watching over me constantly. Before school got out and finals were to be taken, my grades in a class or two were very, VERY, horrible. Basically my grades were depending on the grade of my final exams. I studied all I could, and tried to get ahead, but I still felt like I didn’t grasp the concepts. So finally, the night before my tests, I asked my dad for a fathers blessing, using that priesthood I wanted so much to believe in, but had not yet had a testimony building experience, to help me KNOW it worked. But after that blessing I felt so much peace and comfort. As I took my test the next day I got 100% :) bringing also my lowest test score to the same percentage! I passed that class with a B. My other class I did so well on the State core testing and my Final, that I got a 95% IN THE WHOLE CLASS!!! (that class was physics! which I am not extraordinarily gifted in)
When that happened, I really felt that the power of the priesthood was also within my grasp, and my father’s loving hands. And if that one experience was not enough, the next week, at school I felt like I was dying, doubled over, my loving friends Sayer and Kenneth helped me to my mom’s car, where I cried from all the pain that was currently enveloping my body. When I got home, I asked for dad to, once again, give me a blessing of comfort and healing. He did :) he put his hands on my head and spoke those words that I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW needed to be said, leaving me with peace in my heart, and a few crackers to help keep the medicine down. Not knowing what the pain was, we dismissed it with menstrual cramps, even though we all knew something must be wrong if the pain was THAT bad.
After school continued on, and ended, I started working almost every day, once again, in fact, last Saturday, that same pain began, but worse. I layed in bed tossing, and turning, hoping it would disappear with a heating pad and some Aleve. It didn’t, it got even worse. Writhing on the floor crying, thinking I was not going to live. After scaring my little sister out of her mind, my mom decided that two months in a row was too much. We went to the doctor’s office and answered a lot of questions. Then getting tossed around from doctor to doctor, they concluded with having an ultra-sound. They found a spot that didn’t look so good surrounding my appendix, and they said my ovaries looked fine! But, ten minutes later, doubled over my mom’s lap in the waiting room, we found out I was going into surgery. I cried. Yes, not from the pain, but from the fear. I looked at the man across the room and said to mom, "he looks like he holds the priesthood, if dad can’t come, do you think we could ask him for a blessing?" Mom laughed at my first point of concern, seeing the doctors weren’t even 100% sure of the problem, and how it seemed to coincide with my menstrual cycle every time.
While my mom was on the phone with my dad, I could hear the concern in his voice and hers. I knew he wanted to be there, and I wanted him to be there too. I had never had surgery before. When my dad finally got there, and I was relieved. After listening to all of the surgical talk, and what was going to happen, and the possibilities of what could happen, I sat there, in tears once again. Not knowing how to handle this situation I just cried. Having my parents leave the room, the surgeon then proceeded to ask me questions that I had already answered with my parents there, do I drink alcohol, do I do drugs, am I sexually active.... no. No. NO! When they came back in and the surgeon informed them of all my, right, answers. Letting us have a few minutes of alone time, all the nurses and doctors left. My parents looked at me as if to ask if I wanted to do this.
NO I DONT!! But I gave them a reassuring smile with tears clouding my eyes. My dad gave me a blessing, his hands on my head, I once again, felt the power of the priesthood, the power of MY father, flowing through me. His words were beautiful and unpracticed; I knew I would be okay. As they wheeled me from my safe haven of a room (246), I had mom tell all my siblings I love them. My mom flashed a few pictures, that I am sure some of you have seen already on my facebook.
As the anesthesiologist put some drugs into my IV, I started to get dizzy, and the last thing I remember is looking the doctors putting socks on me in the surgical room. I woke up to a lovely nurse that tended to me. She moved my arm, I said "thank you" she put something on a table, I said "thank you", she did anything else I said, "thank you". Yes, apparently, while I am on drugs, I seem to be very polite.
Then when my parents came back into the room I just smiled, I was so happy. I wanted to know what had happened. They said that he removed a few cysts in another area that he saw and that, indeed, my appendix was not right, so he took that out. I have not weighed myself, but I think I might have lost some weight! :] That is not the only good thing that has come from this trial for me, I have 1) gained a greater testimony of the priesthood 2) hopefully gotten rid of that pain that comes often, and 3) lost some weight. I know that the Lord has been watching over me and continually blessing me, I know that he has been doing so through the hands of my loving father, and I know that my family and my friends love me! I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true gospel, and I have seen its truths with my own eyes and witnessed it with my own spirit. I love you all, and hope that my experiences can help possibly strengthen those around me. I know this has been long, but I hope that I can share what I know to be true with those that matter the most in my life. I hope and pray that this makes sense, especially since the lortab kind of makes me a little out of it. I pray for you all and thank you all for being in my life and being great examples to me. Yours for eternity,Paige Marie Loudon
