Life After Surgery And Life After Abuse

A Contagious Smile Podcast

Victoria and Michael share an intimate update on Victoria's recent arm surgery recovery, detailing the physical toll of nerve procedures, post-operative swelling, and

Key takeaways

• Victoria Kearns underwent arm nerve surgery requiring general anesthesia and a ventilator, resulting in significant fluid retention (11 pounds) and bruising from multiple IV placements.
• Michael and Victoria stress that domestic abuse survivors often face lifelong trauma, noting Victoria's own amputation and eardrum loss as permanent consequences of past violence.

Main topics

• Post-surgery recovery and hospital discharge experiences
• Long-term trauma and disability after leaving abusive relationships

Notable quotes

"Just because you get out of the relationship doesn't mean the pain stops. As far as survivors goes, you know, it could last for years. It could last a lifetime."

Conclusion

The episode serves as both a personal recovery update and a resource h

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:02) Howdy y'all. This is another episode of Contagious Smiles Unstoppable. You're here with Michael and Victoria, who is freshly out of yet another surgery. I want to thank y'all for your prayers, thoughts, comments yesterday while she was undergoing... arm surgery again for hopefully helped with her nerves and the pain that she endures every single day. So thank you all for that. She's a little hoarse right now, so y'all probably hear most of me talking. She had that, is it NG tube? No, an Speaker 2 (0:41) NG tube goes through your nose and down your mouth. I was on a ventilator. Speaker 1 (0:45) Ventilator, yes. So that goes down your throat and it kind of messes with your esophagus. So she's a little raspy right now, but she's gorgeous as ever. Whatever. She's a little puffy in her arm right now. Speaker 2 (0:58) Yeah. Speaker 1 (1:00) She only gained 11 pounds from the fluid. Speaker 2 (1:02) I've lost nine of them because I peed all freaking night. Like six times I peed. But I had Guinness World Record holding title there. Speaker 1 (1:09) Bruising all over her arm from the IVs. She bruises real easy. I had Speaker 2 (1:13) the first IV in my head. And then they decided to put it in my... Right above my wrist and elbow in the middle almost whatever Speaker 1 (1:22) But the hospital staff was amazing. They catered Speaker 2 (1:27) to Speaker 1 (1:27) her. The Speaker 2 (1:28) beginning. Speaker 1 (1:29) The Speaker 2 (1:29) end I'm not happy about. Speaker 1 (1:31) Oh, yeah. Speaker 2 (1:33) Because I never take pain medication, and I am always like, okay, I'm ready. Let's go, let's go, let's go, right? And then they made me go under general, which anyone who knows me knows I hate, because they were testing the nerves and whatever. They couldn't do a nerve block if they were doing nerve stuff. So, excuse me. Speaker 2 (1:54) I get back to post-op and I am like, I just want to rest for a minute. Please let me rest for a minute. And they all, they got my husband and daughter to come in and tell me to hurry up and get dressed and get out of there. Every room I had people post-op from other surgeries in there and they weren't shoving them out the door. But for whatever reason, they were like, you got to get dressed. You got to go. Let's go right now, right now. And I was like, I have to pee. And it was nonstop. I mean, I felt like. They literally pushed me out when I was like, I just need 10 minutes, please let me go 10 minutes and just lay here before you try to put clothes on me. And my amputated area is like. Speaker 2 (2:36) I don't even know how to explain what it looks like. It's large and in charge. It's all wrapped up and I can feel all the stitches. And, you know, he basically said he was going to cut from the tip of my nub to my shoulder. And I feel it. I feel it. And I had to turn off my spinal stem router for surgery. And they won't let me put that back on yet either. But they were what wasn't it they were just really trying to rush us out and post up. Yeah, that wasn't even polite like they were like, okay, try to go go go go go go like Speaker 1 (3:10) But one thing y'all should think about, and those of y'all who have been in an abusive relationship already know this, just because you get out of the relationship doesn't mean the pain stops. As far as survivors goes, you know, it could last for years. It could last a Speaker 2 (3:30) lifetime. Speaker 1 (3:31) And in my wife's case, it is a lifetime because she eventually lost her left arm. Speaker 2 (3:37) My right eardrum. Speaker 1 (3:40) so Speaker 1 (3:43) It's not Speaker 1 (3:46) It's not something that you know you can just Wash away. Speaker 2 (3:50) You can make yourself an even better version of yourself 2.0. I mean, I just had a birthday and I turned 29 again and again and again. But my body parts are only like anywhere from two years old to 15 years old. So I'm really kind of younger in that regard. Speaker 2 (4:08) Yeah, I just felt very pushed and then they were like, oh we're giving you antibiotics to go home on and all this and there's already at the drugstore and Then of course we call the drugstore and they're not there. They haven't been called in Speaker 2 (4:21) a mess Speaker 1 (4:21) mess Speaker 2 (4:22) yes it's a huge mess but I did try to go live in the pre-op room my husband can tell you and I was in there for probably three or four minutes and nobody came on nobody and then everybody started coming in the room so I had to turn it off but it did make a video that I'll post later today just saying here I am here we are again you know you could do it I can do it Speaker 1 (4:45) So, y'all listen. October 5th, the voting will be open for top host, top podcast host? Speaker 2 (4:52) Top host of 2026. Speaker 1 (4:54) Yes, top host of 2026. Y'all, this woman is amazing. She gives and gives and gives and doesn't ask for anything in return. Y'all be sure to vote when the voting is up. October 5th, my wife will post it here and how you can go to the link. Maybe a QR code. I don't know yet. Speaker 2 (5:16) I have to tell you, somebody asked me, because if we win, they give us $25,000. And they're like, what are you going to do with the money? And I said, we're going to put it right back into our peer-to-peer support, put it into our StrongerThanAMountain.com, put it into resources and courses for scholarships, because we're doing that all out of our own pocket. And we've given away a little more than 900 scholarships up to now. And we're moving the scholarships from where they were. to all under one umbrella, if you will. And that's thecontagioussmile.com. But I have built the contagious smile and stronger than a mountain. I think they're beautiful. They're just elegant and beautiful and welcoming. Speaker 2 (5:56) So yes, and I do apologize. My voice, I'm trying to drink lots of fluid so I don't sound like a frog, but I can't help it. But I had someone ask me when I was telling them about, we were talking about it in the OR before, because I don't do first set or anything, so I'm completely awake when I go in. And one of the guys knew me in there because it's my surgeon's same team. And he was like,