I finally got the official records from my surgery. I pretty much already knew everything, but two things surprised me:
1. I had a lot of adhesions. Like, everywhere the surgeon went, he found adhesions. I assume this is from the other 4 surgeries I've had. They were especially bad on and around my ovaraies (hence the oophoropexy). When I talked to him he didn't go into too much detail about this, but the report makes it seem like I am covered in them, which might explain why I am still in pain.
2. My surgeon sent 6 samples that he excised (it did say specifically in the report that he excised) to the lab. The pathology report came back as showing "no endometriosis found" on 3 of the samples! If there was no endometriosis found, what was that tissue? Obviously nothing too bad, but it makes me wonder how much endo I had if I am still in pain.
So now I am back to square one, it feels like.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Been awhile...
As usual, it's been awhile since I blogged. Although when the title of the blog is "My Big Busted Uterus", you're kind of limited as to what you can write about! Maybe I should have another blog that talks about something fun! I can call it "NoUterusTalkAllowed".
Last month I had horrible cramps, which was my third post-op period (and it also came a week early! yay!). I have also been feeling a pulling sensation in my lower abdomen, like I had before my surgery, and what I assumed was my ovaries pulling and twisting themselves into my uterus. So, I'm not sure what is going on. I'm going to go ahead and be a pessimist and say the surgery didn't work. Period #4 is due this week, so I will see what happens.
Last month I had horrible cramps, which was my third post-op period (and it also came a week early! yay!). I have also been feeling a pulling sensation in my lower abdomen, like I had before my surgery, and what I assumed was my ovaries pulling and twisting themselves into my uterus. So, I'm not sure what is going on. I'm going to go ahead and be a pessimist and say the surgery didn't work. Period #4 is due this week, so I will see what happens.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Cramps... again
Last Wednesday I got my second post-op period, and it was painful. I was only one month out of surgery, so I tried not to get too down about it, but it was hard. Here I am popping Aleve every 4 hours, once again. Here I am worrying about calling off sick, once again. Here I am planning my life around my period, once again. It was depressing. I was seriously excited about having a pain free period! Which is kind of lame, I guess. I really hope next month it gets a little better. I swore that was my last surgery, and I meant it!
Monday, August 17, 2009
Follow-Up Appointment
So I had my follow-up appointment for my surgery. Overall my doctor didn't really tell me anything different than I already knew, which was good. He did say my ovaries, especially my right one, were pretty damaged. He also did an exam and it was the first time ever I have not been in excruciating pain during or afterwards. It gave me a lot of hope!
I am supposed to get my 2nd post-op period this Friday, so we'll see how it goes!
I am supposed to get my 2nd post-op period this Friday, so we'll see how it goes!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Surgery Update!
I can't believe it's been a month since my surgery! I was taking a break from email and things got pretty busy at work. This is going to be pretty long, but I know it always helps me to read other people's experiences, so I wanted to share my story. Let me give a quick recap:
Surgery was on July 13th, and overall it went well. It took longer than I thought, about 2 hours. In the surgery my doc found:
Endo on my cervix, ureters, uterus and ovaries. Nothing on my bowels! He said it was moderate, not severe. I have really cool pictures of everything that I wish I had digitally to share. He excised all of the endo.
My ovaries were the most damaged. He did this crazy thing with my ovaries, called an oophoropexy, because apparently both my ovaries were twisted and deformed from endo. They were actually sticking to my cervix! The pictures make it look really gross. No I wonder I was in so much pain! So through the oophoropexy he sutured them up and suspended them to allow the area behind them to heal. When he sutured them up, there were 2 tiny incisions on my lower abdomen with little tubes in the shape of a circle that helped hold them up, or anchor them. Very weird feeling.
Including the incisions for the oophoropexy, I have 6 incisions total from the surgery.
Recovery, as always, was a struggle. I have low blood pressure to begin with, and right after surgery it always drops really low and I have a hard time staying awake. My blood pressure immediately post-op was 70/54! I was in recovery for about 3 hours.
Then, of course, you have to pee before you leave, even though you haven't had anything to drink for 24+ hours. After finally peeing, I was sent home around 4:00 with some Percocet and Ibuproferen. So much for being home by 1:00!
I had a really hard time recovering until Thursday. I could not stand up because of the oophoropexy, and it was extremely uncomfortable. Not painful, but I literally could not stand up straight. I ended up taking the whole week off work. I was also leaking a LOT of fluid from the 2 incisions where my ovaries were suspended. I was going through bandages about every 2 hours. It was pretty gross.
That Thursday I went to the doc to have my ovaries "cut loose". WEIRDEST FEELING EVER! He snipped the little plastic tube and I could literally feel my ovary fall back into place; like a little marble or ball being dropped into gel or jello. So weird.
After that, I felt so much better. I was able to walk around and sit up more.
The pain from the gas was also pretty bad this time. I actually had pain up until 2 weeks after surgery.
After 1 week off I went back to work, but I took a few half days. I was still feeling really tired and not totally myself. I was also still very bloated. That didn't totally go away for about 2 1/2 weeks.
About a week and a half after surgery I got my period. It was very painful, and at first I felt anxious, and immediately thought "it didn't work!". But I figured I was still healing inside so that's to be expected.
I am now almost 4 weeks post-op. I feel pretty good, although I never really had pain separate from my period, so the true test will be next week when I get my period.
So that's my story. My post-op appointment was today, but I'll make a seperate post for that.
I have really high hopes that this surgery works. I'll certainly keep updating on (hopefully) being pain free!
Oh, and PS: The enema wasn't that bad! Not good, by any means, but I lived through it.
Surgery was on July 13th, and overall it went well. It took longer than I thought, about 2 hours. In the surgery my doc found:
Endo on my cervix, ureters, uterus and ovaries. Nothing on my bowels! He said it was moderate, not severe. I have really cool pictures of everything that I wish I had digitally to share. He excised all of the endo.
My ovaries were the most damaged. He did this crazy thing with my ovaries, called an oophoropexy, because apparently both my ovaries were twisted and deformed from endo. They were actually sticking to my cervix! The pictures make it look really gross. No I wonder I was in so much pain! So through the oophoropexy he sutured them up and suspended them to allow the area behind them to heal. When he sutured them up, there were 2 tiny incisions on my lower abdomen with little tubes in the shape of a circle that helped hold them up, or anchor them. Very weird feeling.
Including the incisions for the oophoropexy, I have 6 incisions total from the surgery.
Recovery, as always, was a struggle. I have low blood pressure to begin with, and right after surgery it always drops really low and I have a hard time staying awake. My blood pressure immediately post-op was 70/54! I was in recovery for about 3 hours.
Then, of course, you have to pee before you leave, even though you haven't had anything to drink for 24+ hours. After finally peeing, I was sent home around 4:00 with some Percocet and Ibuproferen. So much for being home by 1:00!
I had a really hard time recovering until Thursday. I could not stand up because of the oophoropexy, and it was extremely uncomfortable. Not painful, but I literally could not stand up straight. I ended up taking the whole week off work. I was also leaking a LOT of fluid from the 2 incisions where my ovaries were suspended. I was going through bandages about every 2 hours. It was pretty gross.
That Thursday I went to the doc to have my ovaries "cut loose". WEIRDEST FEELING EVER! He snipped the little plastic tube and I could literally feel my ovary fall back into place; like a little marble or ball being dropped into gel or jello. So weird.
After that, I felt so much better. I was able to walk around and sit up more.
The pain from the gas was also pretty bad this time. I actually had pain up until 2 weeks after surgery.
After 1 week off I went back to work, but I took a few half days. I was still feeling really tired and not totally myself. I was also still very bloated. That didn't totally go away for about 2 1/2 weeks.
About a week and a half after surgery I got my period. It was very painful, and at first I felt anxious, and immediately thought "it didn't work!". But I figured I was still healing inside so that's to be expected.
I am now almost 4 weeks post-op. I feel pretty good, although I never really had pain separate from my period, so the true test will be next week when I get my period.
So that's my story. My post-op appointment was today, but I'll make a seperate post for that.
I have really high hopes that this surgery works. I'll certainly keep updating on (hopefully) being pain free!
Oh, and PS: The enema wasn't that bad! Not good, by any means, but I lived through it.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Surgery is Tomorrow!
We have to be at the hospital tomorrow at 5:15! The Husband is not going to be liking that. Surgery is at 7:15. Barring any complications, I really hope to be home by around 1:00.
I was allowed to eat a light breakfast this morning, which surprised me. I had a couple scrambled eggs. Only clear liquids for the rest of the day. I am going to clean the whole house today and try to keep myself distracted. Maybe I'll make some Jello!
I am still pretty nervous about tomorrow. Of course, I had to go and Google "Laparoscopy complications". Why on earth would I do that?! Apparently the two most common are burning of the bowel and lung embolisms from the CO2 gas. Not really what I wanted to hear, but these complications almost always happen with inexperienced surgeons. My surgeon is the Chief of Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery at the university women's hospital, so I do feel confident in his ability. I've certainly had surgery before with less qualified people!
Oh yes, don't worry, I'm still freaking about the enema. I was mortified walking around CVS trying to find the "Enema Aisle".
I'll try to post an update sometime tomorrow or Tuesday, depending on how I'm feeling. I hope I'll have some positive news to report.
I was allowed to eat a light breakfast this morning, which surprised me. I had a couple scrambled eggs. Only clear liquids for the rest of the day. I am going to clean the whole house today and try to keep myself distracted. Maybe I'll make some Jello!
I am still pretty nervous about tomorrow. Of course, I had to go and Google "Laparoscopy complications". Why on earth would I do that?! Apparently the two most common are burning of the bowel and lung embolisms from the CO2 gas. Not really what I wanted to hear, but these complications almost always happen with inexperienced surgeons. My surgeon is the Chief of Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery at the university women's hospital, so I do feel confident in his ability. I've certainly had surgery before with less qualified people!
Oh yes, don't worry, I'm still freaking about the enema. I was mortified walking around CVS trying to find the "Enema Aisle".
I'll try to post an update sometime tomorrow or Tuesday, depending on how I'm feeling. I hope I'll have some positive news to report.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Surgery in one week!
Hopefully by this time next week I will be out of surgery! I won't know til Friday what time my surgery is, but I'm crossing my fingers I get an early time slot. I got my blood work done last week, I'm assuming everything is all good there. I'm trying to get as much as I can done at work this week so I don't have anything hanging over my head while I am out next week.
7 more days!
7 more days!
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