one of the things i hate most about cooking is that the actual event -- the meal -- is so much of a blip compared to the preparation and the follow-up. eating what you cook takes all of 15 minutes, when the shopping, chopping, stirring, and whatever you do to make the food as well as the cleaning up and the washing dishes that follow are such huge time and effort sucks. turns out that surgery is much the same.
i had my surgery yesterday, and i can't believe how fast it was over and how relatively simple it was for me. but of course, the prep and now the recovery are much more substantial. here's how it went down...
i followed the liquid diet on monday, the day before the surgery, as planned. it wasn't awful until that evening, when the hunger had given way to a general feeling of wooziness. i stayed up as late as possible to drink water, since i knew i couldn't have any the next morning. i actually woke up briefly at ten minutes after midnight and took an illegal sip from my water bottle... just to hold me over.
7:30am woke up, showered and got dressed to go. i couldn't wear any kind of lotion or cosmetics at all, or my contact lenses, but i did put on some deodorant. c'mon, it was going to be nearly 80 degrees. i have some standards.
8:30am my mom and i walked to the hospital. it was a lovely walk on a lovely morning, and i soaked it up, knowing i probably wouldn't get much more exercise or outside time this week. i was supposed to be there at 9, and we got there a few minutes early.
9-11am in the surgical prep area, they took all my vitals and i had to pee in a cup (difficult since i had hardly any liquid in me). they gave me a gas pill and a pain pill (and i got to drink a tiny bit of water with them! glorious.). they put in the IV and explained how everything would go down. they said the surgery would likely take between an hour and an hour and a half. i spoke with the anesthesiologist and her assistant (who warned me that i'd get a breathing tube down my throat), as well as a couple of nurses who would be helping with the surgery, and signed a bunch of paperwork. they put me in a ridiculous purple gown and pants and socks, and mostly my mom and i sat around waiting. i really wasn't nervous, though... just so anxious to have it over with.
11am i walked with the nurse into the operating room, which was pretty cool. it was huge and looked just like in the movies, with the huge round bright lights above the table and all kinds of tables and trays with instruments all around. there were about six people in the room when i got there, including the doctors and nurses i'd met so far, and the doctor who would be doing the surgery. they got me up on the table and situated correctly (my butt had to be in a hole, which made me giggle) and then they took my glasses off and the nurse delivered them to my mom, who was waiting outside.
they hooked up my IV and wrapped that arm tightly to my side with my thumb in one of those pulse monitors. my other arm was stretched out on a little board next to the table. they told me that they were going to start my IV with some medicine to "relax" me, and then they'd put on a mask to start the general anesthesia. once i was really under, they'd put the breathing tube down my throat. i'd probably wake up as they were removing the tube, and the whole thing would be over. the anesthesiologist specifically said, "we'll tell you when we're starting the anesthesia, because it works really quickly." so i thought i knew exactly what to expect.
so i have no idea what actually happened, because the last thing i remember was them starting the IV, which was just supposed to get things started. the assistant anesthesiologist said, "you're probably starting to feel a little relaxed, which is fine..." and then... i was out.
they did three things during the surgery: one was the laparoscopy, when they looked for endometriosis to remove; the second was the hysteroscopy, when they looked into my uterus to make sure things looked normal; and the last was the D&C (dilation and curettage) when they removed the lining of my uterus since it a) had at least one polyp, and b) wasn't properly formed to support a pregnancy. i knew nothing of any of this while it was going down, thankfully.
1:15pm the next thing i remember, i was being wheeled out of the room, and the assistant anesthesiologist was over my head, saying something. i thought i had accidentally passed out before the surgery even started, and i said, "i'm sorry, i think i fell asleep for a few minutes," and she laughed and said, "yes, you fell asleep. you're all done now." i had NO clue. it's still a little baffling that so much happened to my body without me even being aware of it.
at that moment i was mostly aware of my throat, which was super sore from the tube, and i was so dehydrated. i was also super groggy from the anesthesia still. they pushed me into a station in the recovery room, and after a little bit my mom could come in and say hi for a couple of minutes. she said she was starting to get a little worried, since i was in surgery for over two hours, which was longer than we were told. the nurses were checking in, making sure i was waking up and feeling ok. they brought my some water, which was fantastic, but i think i drank it too fast and then i got nauseous. when i tried to get up the first time, i was super shaky and couldn't even sit up. i was also pretty sure i was going to throw up, though i never did. but i ended up being in the recovery room for about two hours, because they needed to rehook me to an IV to give me some sugar water.
the nurse went over the post-surgical instructions with us (which my mom had a sign as a "responsible adult" since i was still under the influence). basically i knew all of the directions: take it easy for a few days, start off easy on food and move onto more solid and heavy things, "nothing in the vagina" for four weeks, expect some bleeding and cramping and soreness.
3:15pm eventually, the nurse and my mom helped me get dressed and took out my IV and all, and i stumbled my way to the elevator and downstairs (i said no to the wheelchair... i wanted to pretend i wasn't a total invalid) where the hubby was waiting in our friend's car to take us home. i was still pretty dopey at this point, and having trouble swallowing. i spent most of the car ride home thinking i was going to throw up. but again, i didn't.
when i got home, it was straight to the couch where i dozed and watched TV mindlessly all evening. i made myself stop dozing after awhile because the "dreams" i was having when i passed out were vivid -- almost psychadelic -- and frightening. i was definitely still feeling the effects of the anesthesia. the biggest physical side effects were my incredibly sore throat and the burping! they had to pump my abdomen full of gas during the surgery so it was still working its way out, which made my chest and shoulders/neck sore (weird) and made me burp like crazy. i actually drank a whole can of soda (which i never do) to help me with the burping. it was like in charlie and the chocolate factory where they have to burp to float back down from the ceiling... burping felt so good. i also had trouble peeing at first, which i didn't expect, but i guess was from the anesthesia. i wanted desperately to eat, but my throat was too sore to tolerate anything other than tea and yogurt. even my mom's homemade vegetable soup was too much, so i just drank the broth.
7pm the doctor who did the surgery called to check in, since they were so busy at the hospital that we weren't able to talk to her in the recovery room. the good news is that they found a LOT of endometriosis during the surgery ("extensive," was the doctor's word), which is why it took longer than expected! she said that everything went smoothly during the surgery and that both of my tubes are open and healthy. that means that my doctor was right, and that this really could be all we needed to do to conceive. what a relief!
10pm by bedtime i was just starting to get a little sore around my incisions. i have three incisions: one in my belly button, one a little further down on my left side, and one right at the top of my pubic hair on the right side. unfortunately, this soreness made sleeping difficult. i could really only lay on my back because of the soreness, but the gas pains were making me really uncomfortable. i did a lot of tossing and turning.
DAY 2
today is much better overall. the anesthesia has definitely worn off and my throat is less sore so i can eat most normally, but the soreness of the incisions has increased. i am fine when i sit or lay or stand still, but moving between those positions is not fun. i took a shower, and that was a huge undertaking. i had to ask the hubby to dry off my legs and feet because i can't really bend over. my abdomen is still bloated, and the area around the incisions is bruised. the belly button one is the worst. but i am feeling much more human, and trying to move around and do some stuff as best i can. but, in truth, i have spent most of my time on the couch not doing much of anything. which i think is fine.
the doctor's office called to check in again, and said that even though i have dermabond (skin glue!) instead of sutures on the incisions that i should still keep my one-week appointment so that they can see how things look. and now it's just more of the same. hopefully the gas and the bloating will continue to decrease, and the soreness doesn't get worse before it gets better. my mom and my hubby are both taking really good care of me, so i can't complain. i am just so glad it's over, and that the results were positive... i can't wait until we can try again and really cross our fingers for success!
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