Surgery Results

What a week we had.  I'm officially one week post-surgery and I'm recovering nicely.  Last Monday turned out to be a little more hellish than I'd planned, but all things considered, the day was a success.

Day of Surgery
I knew that the morning was going to be fun when the nurse setting up the IV in my arm said "Oh shoot, it's blown.  Sorry, darlin'.  I'm gonna have to do this again."  Take two left me with an IV in what had to be the smallest vein in my hand, so this week I'm sporting not two but three puce-colored bruises (the third still lingering from getting my blood drawn for all of the pre-op tests).  Matched with the ever present dark circles under my eyes, I'm sure I look like I've been experimenting with those "recreational drugs" that they asked me about while recording my medical history.  (Do you suppose anybody ever says, "Actually, yes, I do use recreational drugs"?)

Next, due to other surgeries that morning, Dr. D ended up being two hours late, so my procedure which should have started at noon didn't get going until after 2:30pm.

At least I was getting a pair of cute non-skid fuzzy socks out of this deal...
 
The Results
Although I'm waiting to get more detailed information about it -- things were lost in my Demerol haze and my family's translation of the report -- the surgery went very well.  My doctor was able to visually diagnose endometriosis as well as remove some scarring and adhesions, endometrial deposits, and an ovarian cyst via laser.  My husband said that he saw pictures of all of this, so I'm morbidly excited about seeing exactly what my doctor found.  Dr. D assured everyone that my case wasn't scary or out of the ordinary and that my endometriosis is moderate rather than severe, so I'm hoping that I won't be in quite so much pain every month once I've fully recovered.

The Night of the Surgery
Being prohibited to nurse Dinobaby for 24 hours and being unable to make said Dinobaby understand why his mommy couldn't hold or nurse him was MISERABLE for everyone involved.  Thank God for my wonderful husband who was up most of the night with him!

The Week Just Gets Better
We were also supposed to close on our first house last week.  Our mortgage company however gave us the total for closing costs a whopping four hours before we were set to close and the amount was astronomical. We had no idea that the amount would be that high at all (we were off by three or four thousand dollars!), but it would have literally wiped out every penny of our savings.  So, embarrassingly, we surrendered our earnest money and said, "No thanks."

While it would have been so nice to have a house, we're surprisingly relieved that we aren't buying one.  The extra time at the apartment will give us a chance to make it more homey, to save some money, and to appreciate what space we do have.

At the same time, Dinobaby is now WALKING!  He's showing me more and more each day that what I thought was sufficient for babyproofing is just an exercise that takes him a couple minutes to figure out before he's able to open/climb/pull/push/flip it.  I love my baby Hulk, but he's starting to give me a run for my money!

Surgery.

Well, it seems as though I've reached the inevitable point that my body has been approaching for the last five or six years.  Okay, that's probably a little too dramatic.  Let's try again.  It's not normal to be in pain every day, so I've finally decided that it's the right time to have a laparoscopy done to visually confirm my diagnosis of endometriosis and to see just how severe it is.  I have my pre-op appointment on the 18th, and then surgery on the morning of August 23rd.

I'm sure that most of you who might be reading are already familiar with these next few terms, thanks to my desensitization regarding the use of words like "ovary," "cycle," and "uterine tissue" in everyday conversation.  I really do need to apologize to some of my male friends for that one. 

For clarity's sake though, endometriosis is a disease in which deposits of endometrial tissue, such as that found lining the walls of the uterus, are found in other areas of the abdomen.  These adhesions act and react to hormones within the body just as the tissue within the uterus does, causing cyclical internal bleeding and, consequently, varying amounts of pain and discomfort for those who have the disease, not to mention a high percentage of infertility.  (Strangely enough, there has been no correlation found between the amount of pain experienced and the actual degree of severity of the endometriosis in patients.)

The laparoscopy is a procedure in which gas is used to distend the abdomen and an OB/GYN inserts a small fiberoptic microscope through an incision around the navel to observe the internal organs.  If endometrial tissue is present, they can laser remove it and collect tissue samples for biopsy.

Sheesh.  While I'm really glad that we'll finally get to know just how bad things are in there, I'm not looking forward to the few days that I won't be able to bend much or pick up heavy objects (22lb. baby, anyone?).  Plus, because of the anesthesia and pain medications after the surgery, I won't be able to nurse Dinobaby for the first days of recovery.  We'll see how all of that pans out.  Thankfully, my parents will be able to come down to help us while my husband is at work.  It's going to be a busy time.  Monday, surgery.  Wednesday, close on the house!  What a week.

Please keep me in your prayers. :)