Surgery details

A novel by polkadot

Here is all you ever wanted to know and more about my surgery experience.  You might want to get comfortable because this is long.  :)  I didn't sleep much the night before surgery.  We set multiple alarms to ensure that we woke up on time (in the middle of the night).  I totally expected to be a nervous wreck and possibly even nauseous...but amazingly I felt pretty calm when I woke up.  Praise God.  DH and I arrived at the hospital at 6:00 a.m.  They took me back to a room so I could change into a gown, non-slip socks, and a lovely pink surgical cap.  The nursing assistant covered me with a thick sheet (nice and warm!) and hooked me up to a machine that took my vitals.  I still wasn't feeling too nervous at that point, and my blood pressure proved it—it was under 115!  Seeing that actually calmed me down more.  The nurse was even impressed.  I take no credit of course for that.  It was all grace.  :)  When she starting setting up to insert the IV,  I warned her that my previous experience with an IV resulted in me fainting.  Maybe she was going to do it anyway, but she gave me an injection of lidocaine to numb up the area first.  Unfortunately, the lidocaine didn't quite go in the right place, so I could feel the IV going in.  She felt really bad and apologized several times, but it turned out fine.  Honestly, the IV was my biggest worry so I was relieved when it was over.  :)

I had a stream of visitors after that—anesthesiologist, nurse anesthetist, other staff members, and finally Dr. C.  I was asked several times to confirm my identity and to list the procedures I was going to have done.  At one point, there was a person on either side of my small bed reading my medical file (which was on my lap) aloud to each other so they were both sure the plan was correct.  :)  Since I "passed" their paperwork inspection, they gave me a blue surgical cap to wear.  Then DH came in for a little while. I'm sure I was quite a sight to behold with all of the cords and things attached to me.  ;)

I remember being rolled into the OR and was surprised that there were so many people in the room...definitely more than you see on tv shows.  hahaha  I didn't really get a chance to look around much before I went to sleep—it happened very quickly.  When I woke up, I was in a small room with the lights dimmed.  DH appeared shortly after that.  I was comfortable and warm and not in pain, but I don't remember much else.  I begged DH for details from his conversation with Dr. C (which happened while I was still sleeping).  He wanted me to relax and not think about the results.  This made me worry that there was bad news...so I was able to pry some info out of him—some endometriosis, open tubes, no polyp.  He started to tell me that the resident was afraid during the surgery so I made him stop talking.  Those details could wait.  ;)

DH helped me get dressed.  Ladies, let me tell you—lounging pants with a flat panel around the waist instead of a drawstring or elastic band are the best!!  At some point the pain set in.  The nurse gave me a pill orally which helped for a while but made me nauseous.  Then a second type of pain started—it felt like really bad menstrual cramps, so she gave me something in my IV.  DH sat on the side of my bed and held my hand for a long time until the pain subsided.  Then the nurse started asking if I had to urinate.  (DH shared with me later that he thought it was a silly question...the nurse had told DH earlier that they had emptied my bladder during surgery with the catheter, and since I hadn't had anything to drink since midnight, DH knew there was no way I would be able to urinate when she asked...)  She gave me a large cup of water to drink.  It's hard to drink let alone chug water when you're slightly nauseous.  Once I finished the cup, she took me to the bathroom down the hall in a wheelchair.  I don't know if she was expecting my kidneys to work instantaneously, but it did seem a little premature to be heading to the bathroom...  ;)  I tried but it didn't work.  So she took me back to the room and did an ultrasound to measure how much was in my bladder. 100 cc is not enough, so she gave me more water to drink and fluids in my IV.  DH amused himself by announcing how much fluid I had received at various intervals.  Trip #2 to the bathroom was unsuccessful.  The nurse seemed to be getting impatient.  If I could have willed myself to go, I would have!  I knew that we could go home as soon as this was accomplished.  Ultrasound #2 showed 200 cc, which was still not enough.  The nurse went on her lunch break so a different nurse took over.  Nurse #2 was less impatient.  Trip #3 was still unsuccessful but only because I could not make my muscles work—I could tell that there was enough urine available but nothing happened.  Doing Kegels didn't help either.  It was a bit scary actually—I thought maybe a nerve or something had been damaged during surgery.  The only specific detail DH had told me about his conversation with Dr. C was that there was "endo on my ureter," and the resident was too scared to remove it because of its location, but Dr. C removed it anyway.  This was going through my mind the whole time...  The nurse suggested that I try walking around, so DH escorted me up and down the hallway.  DH actually offered me his arm and said, "Would you take a turn about the room with me?"  (a reference to Pride and Prejudice, which made me smile)  :)  Finally on trip #4, about four hours from the time I started drinking water, I had success.  It wasn't much as I really couldn't make my muscles work well but it was enough to let us go home.  (It took about a day for those muscles to go back to normal...I wish I had been told that ahead of time...)  I was so relieved.  So was the nurse.

I slept in the car for about an hour.  Then we stopped at a Walm.art along the way to fill my prescriptions.  I thought it would be good for me to be up and walking around, so I went in with DH.  I was doing well for about 15 minutes, but perhaps it was too much activity too soon because I started getting nauseous.  Luckily I made it to the restroom in time.  It would have been rather embarrassing if I hadn't made it.  Afterward I felt much better but retreated to the car to take it easy.

We made it home around dinnertime.  All I could manage to eat was applesauce.  I had been instructed to take the prescription ibuprofen on a schedule for the first 24 hours whether I was in pain or not.  I was surprised that they also gave me oxyco.done...I thought my pre-op instructions said I should just take over the counter ibuprofen as needed.  However, I was very thankful to have it.  I learned quickly that the ibuprofen only relieved the uterus cramping, and that the oxy.codone only relieved the more generalized abdominal pain.  I was able to sleep for a few hours at a time between doses.  I also learned that if I had extra abdominal pain between doses, it meant I had to go to the bathroom.  (I had absolutely no other indication that I needed to urinate—no urgency, nothing.  In fact, I still don't.)

The next morning DH had to go to work, so he set up everything I needed near the bed.  I planned to spend most of the day in bed because the oxy.codone makes me dizzy and nauseous if I walk around much, and I was still pretty exhausted after two nights of little sleep.  Plus getting up from the bed by myself was still difficult and painful.  When both pain medicines kicked in, I was able to take a nap.  When I was awake, the heating pad helped a lot.  DH called during the day to check on me.  By the time he came home, I was feeling so much better.  My appetite was back finally, and I wasn't needing the oxy.codone as much.  I tried to walk (hobble) around as much as I could.

Then after much anticipation, it was time to listen to Dr. C's post-op report that DH had recorded.  Dr. C printed out pictures from the surgery and explained them all.  He didn't mention what stage the endometriosis was, but he found it in 5 spots: above the uterus, near one uterosacral ligament, under an ovary, right over the bowel, and near a ureter.  He was confident that he found and completely excised (cut out, not lasered) all of the endo, even the two spots that the resident was too scared to touch (bowel and ureter).  I appreciate that Dr. C was somewhat fearless in removing the endo.  :)  He said he did check the integrity of the bowel after removing the endo, and it was fine.  He found a small fibroid sticking off of the top of the uterus, but he didn't think it would affect fertility because of its location and small size, so he left it alone.  My tubes were completely open, and the fimbriae looked healthy.  He explained how he leveled off most of septum so it wasn't obstructing the uterus so much; the after picture looked really nice compared to the before picture  The whole surgery was done in under 2 hours.  He said we'll talk about the next steps at my post-op appointment in three weeks.  In the meantime, I am taking Premarin (estrogen) for three weeks (to build up the lining so it doesn't stick together where the septum was removed) followed by Provera (progesterone) for 10 days (to stabilize the lining).  How Dr. C described it:  If the lining of the uterus is like a lawn, estrogen is the fertilizer, and progesterone is the lawn mower.  When I stop the Provera, I'll have a withdrawal bleed and then go back to normal cycles.  I also have a stent (balloon) in my uterus holding it open to prevent adhesions.  It can be removed after three days (by DH or me).  The cord is like a large, plastic tampon string, and I am looking forward to life without it.  :)

I am remembering you all in prayer and offering up my pain for you.  I am trying to be patient during recovery, but it is hard, and I admit I have cried a couple times.  DH has been so supportive and an amazing caregiver, and he has been helping me try to stay positive.  Thank you again for all of your prayers.  They mean so much to me.  :)