Last week we were in Paris, this week Dee's recovering from emergency surgery

Hey Fam, DeNeatra here. There's really no easy way to break this to your guys, but Kayin and I suffered a very traumatic event. Where do I even begin...

If you follow us on instagram, then you likely saw that when we launched the wHealthy Life, we were on vacation in Paris celebrating my birthday. But, not only was I celebrating another trip around the sun, but we were also celebrating how we worked tirelessly to go live with our new website and IG page. We were so excited. In fact, the morning of my birthday, I woke up at 2am Paris time to hit "live" on all our channels by 9am ET. I had it all planned. First Instagram, then the blog, vegetarian recipes, a youtube channel, and maybe even wHealthy yoga retreats. If you know me, then you know I'm a dreamer. If you don't know me, you'll soon learn that I'm a big-picture, grab life by the balls, go-getter that doesn't take myself too seriously.

The Launch

We hit "live" to much fanfare. Right after our FB post announcing our new venture, the phone alerts started rushing in. Kayin's medical colleagues, our family and friends, and even my advertising family all reached out congratulating us. I was on cloud 9.

After returning home, I was scheduled for a minor out-patient procedure. My mom planned to visit us for my birthday, and the timing was perfect because she would be able to drive me home from the 30-minute procedure. I was also still on PTO from work, so planned to enjoy mom's home cooking after I left the doctor, while I prepared for work the next day.

DeNeatra, we need to rush you into surgery...IMMEDIATELY

Are the words I heard as I was waking up from the botched procedure. I soon learned that the doctor made a perforation, requiring me to be rushed via ambulance right into an emergency surgery. My mom, not knowing what to do, immediately called Kayin who rushed to the hospital. He didn't want to mention this to my mom then, but had the doctors not immediately found the perforation, I could've....let's just say it was serious.

What was supposed to be a 30-minute procedure, ended-up being a 4-day hospital stay and an 6-week recovery. Guys, I had such grand plans for our new health and wellness brand. Yet, I found myself crying non-stop unable to process all I had been through.

But, here's the testimony...

For someone who is fiercely independent, I had to rely on other people for support.

My mom, who kept me company at the hospital during my entire stay, extended her trip for 3 weeks to continue taking care of me. I'm talking about cooking our meals, cleaning, and doing all the things moms do that make you wish they didn't live across the country. And when being in the house became too much to bare, she took me to the local farmers market and carried my goodies to make sure I wasn't lifting more than I was allowed.

Then there's my big-sister. Even from MI, she made sure that the medical staff, at the poorly-performed surgery's clinic, knew I was NOT to be played with. Within a week of my release, she, along with my 4-year-old niece and 7-year-old nephew were in ATL. Fam, I was spoiled with love.

This experience is also how I truly learned (or I should say, was shown) what "for better or worse" meant. Kayin immediately switched from "husband" to Mayo-trained GI. After his 12-hour shift, he would make the hour trek to come visit me at the hospital. When he got there he would look over my vitals for the day, speak to the medical staff about my progress, and even consulted the other physicians about making changes to their plans.

My Progress

For the past 8 weeks I've been physically recovering. I'm also seeing a therapist to help me emotionally recover as well. And, despite this unsightly war-wound I now have marking the occasion, ya girl is starting to feel like herself again.

Eventually I pray to be at a place where I'm back to dreaming up grand things for the wHealthy Life. But for now, I'm taking things one blog-post at a time. I hope you're still along for the ride.

xoxo

-Dee