***Disclaimer***
If you are a man, I strongly urge you to IGNORE this
post. If you don’t listen, you’ve been warned!
***End Disclaimer***
For as long as I could remember, I’ve always had “female”
problems. Things never worked the way they were supposed to. Doctor’s tried
birth control, but I was too young and never them daily like I was supposed to.
And as I grew older and did, there were still issues. We pretty much knew that
I had a nasty disease called Endometriosis (as did my mother and likely, my grandmother).
However, the only real way to know/diagnose was to have an exploratory laparoscopy.
So, before heading off to college in 1999, I had my first one. My worst fears
were confirmed.
From there, I always knew the day would come, just never
knew when. The day I’d say ENOUGH and lose my chance of any babies growing in
my own belly. In August 2007, when I had my 2 week post-op appointment after my
fourth laparoscopy, I decided there would not be a fifth laparoscopy. It would
be a hysterectomy. I hoped that day would be years from then. And it was.
I made it until
about my body rebelled again in 2011. At the time there was another option
though – I could have an endometrial ablation. Basically, this procedure
cauterizes the entire lining of the uterus. In September 2011 this is the
procedure that left me unable to have babies grow in my own belly. Chances of getting
pregnant are low, but women have to use birth control or get their tubes tied,
because if pregnancy occurs, then they have to go through an abortion. I chose
pills. But in February 2012, I was so paranoid of pregnancy; I opted to get my
tubes tied (well, clipped with filsche clips). This was done in March 2012.
In November 2012, my body was not taking to the endometrial
ablation as it should have. Then I was fine. Or so I thought. It happened again
in February 2103 and I approached my doctor after having gone through such
extreme pain from ovulation that prescription pain medication didn’t help. I
asked for my hysterectomy. I knew it was time. We made an agreement – I would
go in and get an ultrasound and if it was clean, I would get my surgery. So, I
had my ultrasound (knowing the results would be clean) and they came in the
same day showing everything was normal.
Initially, I was going to just have my uterus taken out.
However, when I had my pre-op with my doctor, I asked him to take out my left ovary
– this is the one that caused the ovulation pain with no way to relieve it and
it has been a problem for me since day one. He did warn that right ovary may
take on the pain, but agreed to let me try what I wanted and respected my
wishes (he’s awesome like that). I did, however, ask that by keeping my right ovary
I could do a surrogacy in the future if it’s THAT important to a future husband
(which at this rate, I honestly don’t see happening, but that’s another story).
Surgery was set for March 27, 2013.
The stories about being in the hospital are interesting –
and this did include an overnight stay, which I was SUPER anxious about. I
brought my own pillow and a throw blanket which I used to cover my arms. Now,
once they got me into pre-op, I got 2 IV lines. I’m a VERY hard stick and BOTH
nurses did a great job getting me on the first stick on each side! My right one
was in my hand, left one was I guess in my wrist if you were to follow down
your thumb. One was regular fluids, the other was as well, but also had
electrolytes too. When then anesthesiologist came in, she gave me something to
calm me. We found my doctor was running a little behind, no worries, except my
poor friend Pam was waiting for awhile my surgery was 2 ½ hours. My surgeon
came in. We chatted for a minute. But we had to pull him back in because he
didn’t mark the ovary that was coming out. My surgery was robotic assisted laparoscopic.
I get in there and the first thing I notice is the room is HUGE! In there, I
also got 2 of everything. I had Baby Kazi perched on my chest, was asked if I
was ready to sleep, said yes and it was lights out. (Luckily, the lights out
happened BEFORE they put me in position, because it’s with my head down, feet
up…LOL!)
I don’t remember much about recovery at all. I don’t
remember how I got into my room (which by the way was in the maternity ward). I
remember my friend Pam being there when I opened my eyes saying it was late and
she was heading home. I don’t know if, or what I said, but it was lights out. I
remember trying to eat the crackers but my mouth was so dry I’d have to drink
water to get the crackers down. I think I buzzed the nurses every hour and a
half. Food and pain meds. LOL! They would put my food in the fridge when I was
done and I never thought to get it myself (not that I could, I had a catheter
in me). They took very good care of my annoying butt. When I first tried to
eat, I put a piece of turkey in my mouth I closed my eyes to sleep! Then my brain said chew and
swallow you moron! It was very interesting to say the least. One of the nurses
told me to put a pillow behind my back so I wouldn’t run into the railing. They
also brought me a heating pad. By morning, I was pretty awake, albeit, dopey. I
was cleared to eat anything for breakfast and had French toast with strawberry
syrup and yogurt with granola. I also had apple juice. Once the catheter came
out, they continued to monitor my output. I buzzed again saying if they want me
to pee I need something to drink. Worked well. Once I got home, it was Thursday
and I slept Sun, waking up every 4-6 hours for pain meds. I don’t recall much
during this time. The day I woke up, it as April 1.
All in all, I lost my uterus, left ovary, left tube (including the
filsche clip) and my cervix. I’m happy my cervix is gone. It had pre-cancerous
cells back in, oh, 2002. I had a colposcopy in November 2002 and a LEEP in 2003
(or maybe the other way around). No pre-cancerous cells until February 2012.
And a pap every 6 months since then and I can’t quite recall if there was only
one good one or not.
I went in today for my 6 week post-op appointment. And I’m
still healing well. I’m not 100% yet. But my previous restrictions have been
lifted which is awesome!
I’d like to give a shout out to a book I’m trying to win
a signed copy of (right now, there’s only one and the contest is only giving
away 2). It’s called Single Infertile Female. It’s about a woman and her journey
with Endometriosis, which has left her infertile. I won’t give away the ending.
The contest inspired me to write my blog about surgery today rather than
waiting. Her book can be seen on amazon.com here: http://www.amazon.com/Single-Infertile-Female-Adventures-Infertility/dp/1483911330/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368050628&sr=1-1&keywords=single+infertile+female
