Surgery and More

I am sorry I haven't updated yet after my surgery. Much has happened :)

Surgery went well. It was longer and more involved then initially expected. Dr. W. did a deep excision of endo under the right uterosacral ligament (2 places), the posterior cul-de-sac, and the endometrioma in the right abdominal wall. The endometrioma actually went through to the peritoneum, and she could see a collection of old "chocolate" material with the laparoscope. Because the lesion was so deep, I ended up needing a mini laparotomy, not a simple excision. Surgery was supposed to take an hour and a half, and ended up taking nearly 3 hours.

I woke up and felt OK, just very tired and very stoned. I did not get sick :D (a BIG thank you to my anaesthetist. I didn't get to see her after surgery, but she was great! Know you are VERY appreciated!) I didn't stay in the PACU very long, I then went to my room. The first few hours are a bit of a blur. I might have been sleeping, but I might have just had my eyes closed, I don't know. I remember looking at the clock every 10-20 minutes or so. I also really had to pee, but I couldn't because I was way too dizzy when I tried to sit up on my own.

Eventually I was able to get up, and I also go my cell phone (dangerous). Evidently the guy in the room next to me couldn't feel his penis. And, I, in my highly medicated state thought it was the funniest thing ever and decided to text most of the people in my phone about it. At 2 am. Again, guys, I am sorry...

I couldn't sleep, so I ended up talking nutrition with the night nurse for quite a while. Damn, those heparin shots hurt. I still have bruises. I am really tired and this is starting to get random. I will continue in the morning if I am not so exhausted and sore.
xox

Surgery Tomorrow

OK, I am really starting to freak out a bit now. My surgery is tomorrow and feeling very very real. I have to be at the hospital at 12:15 and surgery is at 2:15 for an estimated hour and a half-two hours, and then discharged home on Tuesday if everything goes as planned. I know it will all be OK, but I am still nervous as hell, mainly again with the emetophobia issue. I don't care that they are cutting me open, I just don't want to get sick. I would rather die on the table to be honest, no joke.

I am presently on a clear fluid diet and drinking 2 pouches of Pico-Salax to prep for the surgery. It is so yucky with even yuckier effects. Not so pleasant. I am just tired and stressed out and rambling, don't mind me. I am trying to relax and breathe and minimize my anxiety, but it is hard. I am the type of person who analyzes things to death, so trying shut my brain off and relax is a very foreign concept.

Lap #3 March 16, 2009

I had my appointment with my endo specialist yesterday, and have officially booked lap #3 and excision of rectus abdominis lesion for March 16, 2009. The bad news is that I will end up staying over night at the hospital as well, so I plan on shelling out the extra cash to get a private room (vs the standard 4/room- yikes!) I don't think I could handle being with 3 other strangers recovering from their surgeries. I would be an anxiety nightmare, unless they doped me up with a lot of Valium, but I would rather not. She also recommends 2 weeks off work and life to recover, and 8 weeks before resuming all normal activities.

So at this point, it is just a waiting game until surgery. Hopefully the next 2 months will go by fast and the recovery even faster. Even though I have done this twice before, I still get nervous, so I hope everything goes easily and quickly.

CT Postponed

Today I got a call from the hospital saying their CT is down, so now my CT is postponed until next Tuesday. So frustrating!

Abdominal Mass

So for the past couple of years, my pain has been steadily increasing. About 1 month ago, I got really, really sick all of a sudden, and realized I had a hard mass in my right abdomen, just slightly above and lateral to my belly button. I had gone into work, and was sent home because I was so unwell. There was no way I would be able to see my family doctor, so I went to a walk in clinic near my house. Once I got there, she did a brief exam and sent me straight to the nearest ER, thinking I had an acute case of appendicitis. Once there, instead of waiting for hours before seeing a doctor, I had a private room, changed into a gown, and was seeing a doctor within 20 minutes.

After the med student had made his assessment, his supervising doctor came in to check me again. She was dead set that I must have PID (I don't, and I knew that, but she didn't want to listen), gave me the most painful internal exam possible, and left. The lab tech came in for 14 (yes, I counted) vials of blood, and a nurse came in regularly to test my vitals. After waiting for the blood work to come back, they realized that I did not have appendicitis, and was given a requisition for an ultrasound. She had no idea what was wrong with me. So I went home for the night.

The following morning, I got a call from the radiology department at the hospital to come in for an ultrasound. Usually my ultrasounds will take 15-20 minutes, tops, this one took an hour and a half (of scanning). After the U/S tech got all of his views of the mass, he left to show the attending radiologist. He came in, to "have a second look", and more and more doctors started to trickle into the room to look at me like a lion in the zoo. Ever see the Grey's Anatomy with the "pregnant" man with the teratoma? It was kind of like that. I was starting to freak out a bit because I was starting to think I had cancer or something. Finally, they decided that I have a large endometrioma (a cyst full of endometriosis) growing inside my abdominal muscle wall, which is quite rare. They think that some endo had been transferred in a previous lap. Usually if endometrial tissue gets transferred surgically, it is direct uterine endometrial implantation during a C-section. So what that means is that I am kind of a medical freak.

So I got back into see my endo specialist about 2 weeks after my hospital trip. She wants more views of the mass, and has me going in for a CT scan this coming Wednesday. The bad news is that this will likely need to be removed surgically, and it can't be done laparoscopically, so it will be a much more diffucult recovery and I will have a big scar. I am hoping that it will be possible for her to remove the mass and laparoscopically remove the typical pelvic endo all in one go. We will have to see what the CT shows on Wednesday.