06.26.06 - 2 Weeks Post-op

Tomorrow will be two weeks since my surgery. I'm feeling really good at this point. I'm not in any pain anymore. It still feels a tad uncomfortable getting up and down or lifting heavy objects. The only pain I can still feel is when I'm rolling over in bed and trying to get comfortable - that still hurts sometimes. The scab on my lower incision came off the other day. Now it looks like I have a hole in my tummy! I don't know, they stitched it up weird or something, because the skin looks pinched or puckered or something. There is still a scab inside my belly button. I don't like to touch it...it feels really strange and kind of hard, which freaks me out. My belly bruises are gone finally, but I still have a huge bruise on my left hand from where the IV was. It literally has not changed in appearance for over a week. I hope it's not a permanent bruise or something, because it looks disgusting. I think my belly button is going to be a totally different shape now, which is kind of sad. I liked my old one. Maybe it's still swollen though. I can't really tell anymore. I'll post a picture in a few days. I'm still having a little bit of brown discharge, but no more bleeding or blood clots (some of them were pretty nasty). So, for now I'm just taking my prenatal vitamins and estrogen pills every night until I go back to the doc on July 5th. I hope she gives us the go-ahead to TTC. It's been a couple of months since we've been able to try. I just feel like it's wasted time :(. I started adding baby items like furniture, bottles, etc. to my Target wish list the other day because I was bored. I love looking at all their baby stuff.

06.19.06 - Surgery is Over!

I think I finally have enough energy to sit here and type up my surgery details. It's definitely been a long and painful last week. I'm going to break it up day by day.

Tuesday - Surgery day. I got a pretty good night's sleep the night before, but I had to get up awfully early (4:50) to get ready to head out to the Surgi-center. I was so hungry from not being able to eat the day before, which was making me pretty slow-moving. We got to the Surgi-center at 6:15, got registered, waited a few minutes, and then they called me back. They wouldn't let Adam come back with me at first, which I hated because I was really nervous. They asked me some more questions and such and then gave me my gown and hospital booties to change in to. After I changed, they took me back to a bed and got me a nice warm blanket fresh from the dryer (it was absolutely freezing in this place!) and started my IV. In all honesty, the IV made me more nervous than the actual surgery because I hate needles! The nurse did an awesome job though and I really didn't even feel it at all. I didn't want to look at it though, so I kept my hand under the blanket at all times, haha. Dr. Irianni came back and talked to me for a while. He drew me some pictures and explained exactly what he was going to do (he did the vaginal part of the surgery...Dr. Dabinett did the incisions in the belly part). Finally, Adam got to come back and sit with me until they were ready to wheel me off. Dr. Dabinett came in and talked to us for a few minutes and then she went off to get ready. The anesthesiologist met with us, asked some questions, and then gave me some "I don't care" medicine in the IV that pretty much makes things fuzzy to remember after that point. I remember kissing Adam good-bye and telling him I loved him. I don't remember being wheeled into the OR, but I remember once I was in there that I was cold and told them that my blanket was falling off, haha. The surgery took an hour and I woke up about two hours after it was over. I remember being the coldest I have ever been in my life. I was just shivering. They wrapped me in blankets, even putting one around my head. They gave me some painkillers and some medicine for nausea, just in case I needed it later. Then they made me stand up to get dressed. As I stood up, I saw a HUGE blood stain on the sheets of the bed. I didn't feel nauseous at all until I saw that. Then I had to dress myself (I really could have used a little help, but the stupid nurse just left me there). After I was dressed, she walked me over to the other side of the recovery room to a recliner and then finally brought Adam and my mom back to see me. I wasn't in too much pain at this point, just really groggy. Dr. Dabinett came out and talked to us (she actually had already spoken with Adam and mom out in the waiting room right after surgery was over) and explained how the surgery went and what she found. She said Dr. Irianni is confident that he got all of the septum removed. She did find some endometriosis on both of my ovaries (which explains all my painful periods and why we haven't gotten pregnant yet) which she removed, so she had to make a second incision to do that part. She said the best thing for me now is to get pregnant as soon as possible, because the endo will come back. After she left, the nurse helped me to the bathroom so I could pee (and then get nauseous again at the sight of all that blood) while Adam pulled the car around. They helped me outside and up into the car and we were on our way home! The car ride wasn't too bad. I was dreading walking up to the third floor when we got home, but it wasn't bad either. I really wasn't in too much pain at this point yet. I planted myself on the couch for the rest of the day and only got up to use the bathroom. I couldn't get up by myself though, so thankfully Adam helped me each time. I think I ate a little bit. I don't really remember. I slept well on Tuesday night too I believe.

Wednesday - I woke up in soooo much pain! Ten times worse than the day before. I think I ate bits and pieces of things, but I didn't really have much of an appetite. I basically just rested and answered a million phone calls from friends and family. I also was incredibly itchy everywhere. It was very annoying and made it hard to fall asleep. I got to take a shower and remove the bandages for the first time to see what my belly looked like. That made me nauseous. It was worse than I expected. I was only expecting the one small incision inside my belly button and then I take of the dressings and there is that, along with a laceration a couple of inches long and another incision along my bikini line.

Thursday - The worst day ever. I was still in a lot of pain, but I was also feeling extremely nauseous for the first time since I got home. Adam called the doctor's office to see what we could do about that and also told them about all the itching. They said that both the itching and nausea were from the Percocet (yet another allergy for me!) and prescribed a new painkiller. Mom brought me my new prescription and I took it right away. The nausea persisted for the rest of the day though and I decided to just stop taking painkillers all together. I'd rather deal with the pain than deal with the nausea. Mom stayed for most of the afternoon and then Dad sat with me for a little while because Adam had to go to work for a bit and Mom had a haircut appointment. I ate a little dinner later that evening. I tried to take a shower, but I still couldn't really do it by myself, so Adam helped with that.

Friday - Finally...I woke up feeling better for once! The nausea was gone, thank goodness. Of course, I was still pretty sore, but nothing I couldn't handle. I was getting up and down by myself finally too. Mom came over for a while because Adam had to go back to work for the day. I got my appetite back finally this day too. Adam brought home a Papa John's pizza for dinner, mmm!

Saturday - Feeling a little better each day now. Still sore, but I was able to make it to a friend's wedding that afternoon. I just told the usher to walk slow when he was seating me, haha.

Sunday - Again, feeling better. I made it to my family reunion picnic, so that was nice. It was hard though, because I laughed so much and laughing really hurts still.

And now it's Monday. I'm still sore and swollen, but I'm doing a lot better. It pretty much feels like I've just done a thousand sit-ups and my stomach muscles are sore. The incisions are a little itchy at times, but no pain there. I can get up and down with no problem, although I'm still a bit slow at it. I'm by myself all day today, so I'll have to do everything on my own. That shouldn't be a problem though. I'm still bleeding a little, but I'm not even wearing a pad at this point. I hate them. Way too uncomfortable for me. I passed a few blood clots earlier in the week, but none in the last few days. Hopefully the bleeding will stop shortly.

It's funny all the little things I've taken for granted. I really miss sleeping on my stomach. It's still too painful at this point. I miss being close with Adam...cuddling is hard, can't have any tickle fights, and no sex for two weeks :(. I now look forward to the day when laughing and sneezing isn't painful.

Wow, that was long. I think I need a nap now. I added pics in the photo gallery of my incisions, bruises, etc., so make sure to take a look if you don't have a weak stomach. Thanks to everyone for all the messages, calls, flowers, cards, gifts, prayers, chi, and everything!!

06.13.06 - The Before Shot

We're on our way out the door for the surgery now. I wanted to post a before shot of my tummy before they cut it open and fill it with carbon dioxide. You can see my lovely dent from a previous appendectomy.

06.12.06 - Bowel Prep Day

Thank goodness today is just about over. It was worse than I even anticipated. I didn't think I'd really be spending that much time on the toilet, but I've been keeping a running tally and right now it's at 16! I'm sure I'll add a few more to that before bedtime. The phosphosoda stuff I had to drink was just plain revolting. It made me so nauseous. I'm still pretty nauseous. I'm absolutely STARVING, but the even the Jell-o I'm allowed to eat just makes me want to puke. Now I'm off to blow dry my hair and probably into bed early. My surgery is at 7:30 tomorrow morning and we have to be there at 6:15 - wish me luck! And pray for Adam too. He's going to be a wreck.

06.08.06 - I Didn't Pass Out!

My blood work this morning went really well. This is the second time in a row that I haven't felt sick or like I was going to faint afterwards. Maybe I'm finally getting used to it. It helps when you have a nice nurse like I did too. We stopped at the pharmacy afterwards to pick up my prescription for Percocet. Of course, being Anthem BCBS, they wouldn't pay for the name brand, so I ended up with the generic Endocet. It doesn't matter really. They do the same thing. I'm just hoping I won't have to take many of them! We also picked up the Fleet's Phospho Soda for my bowel prep on Monday. I think I'm dreading that more than the surgery now. After we got home, I ripped off my band-aid. I don't know why the hospital can't get some decent band-aids. They are so painful to pull off! I think next time I'll bring my own or just hold the gauze on there myself until it stops bleeding. So, now I have a sweet bruised and red inside of my elbow. I'll post a picture just so you'll feel sorry for my pretty little damaged skin, haha. Okay, no more complaining from me until Monday now! And I think on Tuesday morning I'll post a "before" belly pic before I leave for the Surgi-Center. Oh, and AF is finally coming to a halt after 12 days...which doesn't really matter because I'll just be bleeding again after surgery for a while.

06.07.06 - Pre-Op

My pre-op appointment with Dr. Dabinett was this morning. We learned a little bit more of what to expect on surgery day and got our questions answered. We both completely forgot to ask about Adam's SA results (duh!), so I'll have to call them back. We might just wait to ask until the day of surgery. We're figuring that if she didn't make a point to tell us the results, they must be pretty normal. So, we found out that surgery will be about 45 minutes (depending on what they find...it may last longer). It will be around 8:45 in the morning, but we won't know for sure until the day before (ah, memories of being a surgery coordinator myself). Getting upstairs the day of surgery might be a problem. She said she wouldn't recommend climbing them by myself since it'll feel like I've been punched in the stomach, but that's up to me and how I feel. There's really no other option, so I guess I'll have to suck it up and just do it at a slow pace. She may have to make two incisions, so I need to be prepared for that. They will be checking for endometriosis too and will remove that if they find any (I'm betting they will). I'll also have to take estrogen pills for a month after the surgery. I have to have blood work done tomorrow...could have done it today, but Adam and I were in separate vehicles and it wouldn't be good if I had to drive home by myself since I usually get really light-headed and faint. The day before surgery I have to do a bowel prep (lovely, eh?). I basically have a liquid diet that day and have to drink this stuff that will empty my bowels. I can only eat jello (as long as it's not red or purple) and bananas (which I'm allergic to - go figure). That will be a fun day spent in the bathroom. Maybe I'll borrow Adam's laptop and play the Sims in there, haha. I've spent the rest of the morning filling out a folder's worth of paper work and reading over my instructions and payment information. They will be filing with insurance and then discounting what the insurance doesn't pay, so it may not be too awfully bad after all. Of course that's just the fee for the doctor. We still have the facility fee and anesthesiologist fee to worry about.

06.06.06 - Hot Flashes

How could I forget to mention the hot flashes!? That Lupron is sure a trip. If you know me at all, then you know that I am always, always cold. Now all of a sudden I'm sweating bullets and then a minute later I'm freezing again. It's annoying.

06.05.06 - Eight More Days

The countdown to my surgery continues. It's really just been consuming my life thinking about it, especially as it gets closer. Only eight days left now though, so it is inching slowly closer. I'm still not scared about it yet. The financial strain is definitely scaring me, but not the actual procedure. I know I will probably be in a fair amount of pain for a while, but I might actually enjoy just vegging on the couch and being waited on hand and foot by my lovely husband. Poor guy. I think he might be more stressed about everything than I am. Anyways, this has been the longest AF in recent memory. This is already the 9th day with no signs of her departure in the near future. I'm blaming the Lupron. I guess the idea was to clear everything out of me to make the surgery easier for the doctors. No extra stuff to have to work around. I'm finally starting to feel better though. I was pretty crampy for the last eight days. We still haven't heard about Adam's SA results. My pre-op is Wednesday though, so we'll be sure to ask about it then. I'm thinking of making a list of questions to ask actually...mainly "will I be able to attend a wedding and a family reunion the following weekend and not be in too much pain?" and "is it okay to walk up three flights of steps to our home after the surgery?". I hope the answer to both is yes!