Emergency surgery was not in my New Year's plans.

Jan 16, 2026 10:36 pm

Hi friends,

This one is a little shorter than planned, and there’s a reason for that.

Right after I sent the last newsletter, I had a surprise detour to the ER. I woke up with moderate chest pain in the middle of the night, with none of the classic heart symptoms, but enough that I didn’t feel great about ignoring it.

By the morning, I was sitting in the ER getting checked out.

Heart and lungs were ruled out quickly. Labs suggested pancreatitis, and the plan was to send me home with pain meds and instructions to let it calm down.

Luckily, the doctor decided to do a CT scan before discharging me. That scan showed the real culprit: a gallbladder full of stones, one of which had blocked the pancreatic duct and caused the inflammation.

So instead of going home, they shocked me with the announcement that I would be having surgery that afternoon. Definitely not part of my New Year's plans!

Luckily, I didn't feel nearly as bad afterward as I has with the appendectomy I had in my 20s. However, a few days of recovery left me feeling “mostly fine” and then discovering very quickly that I am, in fact, not fully fine yet.

A quick update on how I'm doing and a few things I learned below. And, as always, thank you for clicking, sharing, reviewing, and supporting this newsletter and my writing!

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2-week Post-Op Update:

My incisions have healed up nicely, and only the central, biggest one, with a knot of internal stitches below it, still hurts when I do too much. I expect in another few weeks I'll be completely back to normal.

What did I learn?

First, rest actually matters.

Not just lying down, but real rest. Sleeping more than feels necessary. Sitting instead of standing. Letting things wait, which is hard to do as the mom who is always going and doing.

Second, don’t do everything you can do.

Even when the incisions don’t hurt much anymore, your body will absolutely let you know if you overdo it. For me, that shows up as sudden exhaustion rather than pain. It’s sneaky.

Third, herbs are awesome

My homemade comfrey ointment has been surprisingly helpful for soreness and healing around the incision sites. I also used some comfrey root tea for an occasional compress to speed healing. It doesn’t fix everything, but it helps a lot.

Fourth, healing can start and stop.

Some days feel great. The next day feels like you took a step backward for no obvious reason. Apparently that’s normal, even if it’s annoying.

And finally, there is one upside I am fully embracing.

It is the perfect time to binge-read books with zero guilt!! Doctor’s orders, basically. Woohoo!

I’m healing well, just slowly, and trying to be better about listening to my body instead of negotiating with it. Thank you for all the kind messages, patience, and quiet support while I’ve been a bit off schedule.