Anointing of the Sick

I have wondered for a while if infertility is an acceptable reason to receive the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick.  Somehow it happened that every time the thought crossed my mind, I was nowhere near a computer to look it up.  I knew the sacrament was for the seriously ill, but how serious did the illness have to be?  I have known people to receive the sacrament before having surgery.  DH suggested that we just go to our priest for the answer.  So we did.  After Mass on Sunday, we were sort of able to pull Fr. aside amidst the line of exiting parishioners greeting him on their way out.  I said I was wondering about the Anointing of the Sick.  Fr. looked all worried and asked if I was the one to be (possibly) anointed.  When I nodded, he asked why I was going into the hospital.  (I had not said I was going into the hospital...that was his assumption.)  I said I was having surgery for infertility.  That was all he needed to hear, and he said, "Let's do it right now."  Before I could answer he was halfway to the ushers' room so he could wash his hands.  By the time we reached him, he already had the holy oil.  (He wasn't wasting any time!)  He led us to the back of church.  DH stood next to me as Fr. started to pray over me.  He placed his hands on my head, was silent for a few moments, then continued to pray out loud.  By that point I couldn't hold back the tears anymore--it was so moving.  Then he anointed my forehead and hands.  I felt the most incredible peaceful feeling come over me.  Afterward Fr. promised to pray for us and to ask for the intercession of St. Paul of the Cross, who was known during his lifetime to be a powerful intercessor for couples who could not have children.  (I did not know that.)  Fr. said women would travel long distances to ask him for prayers for this very reason. 

Since the Anointing, I have been feeling a lot less anxiety about the surgery itself.  :)  I can't believe it's less than a week away!

I had my pre-op appointment last week.  Aside from waiting 1.33 hours to be seen, it was uneventful.  A doctor I had never met before reviewed the consent form with me and answered my questions.  I asked if they found too much endo, would they turn the surgery into a laparotomy (bigger incision, much looonger recovery time) to clean out all the endo (no).  I learned that they are doing something called chromotubation instead of the HSG.  The concept is the same—squirt liquid in the uterus and see if it spills out the tubes—but instead of viewing the results on a screen like they do with the HSG, they watch live during surgery.  She said if no liquid spills out, it's not a conclusive test, so then I might still need an actual HSG.  Let's hope that is not the case... 

Then a nursing assistant gave me the instructions on how to prepare for surgery.  No bowel prep.  Nice.  :)  I just have to wash with antibacterial soap the night before and morning of the surgery and not eat or drink anything after midnight.  The not eating part won't be a problem, especially if the surgery is in the morning, but the not drinking part will be harder.  My water bottle and I are attached at the hip.  ;)  Given the long drive to the hospital, I told DH he has to hide my water bottle so I don't accidentally drink some.  There's a big note at the bottom of my surgery prep sheet that says your surgery will be canceled if you break this rule. 

After receiving my pre-op instructions, they sent me to the lab for bloodwork.  I had to laugh...one of the tests ordered was the HCG/pregnancy test.  I should have e-mailed my doctor ahead of time to cancel that, although I suppose it might be a routine test for all patients.  With the timing of this past cycle, we decided to avoid pregnancy (and we ended up not using any days pre-peak), so any conception would have been of the immaculate variety.  ;)  This was my first ever pregnancy test of ANY kind...and it was during a cycle when it was impossible that we conceived.  And as it turned out, they e-mailed me the results on Valentine's Day.  Good thing I already knew what the results would be...  ;)