It's been a week now since I've had my surgery-and all things considered, I think I'm doing very well! I am so glad that it's over and that I'm on my way to being fully recovered!
Last Wednesday, we had to be at the hospital at 5:30 in the morning and we got there a few minutes early. We went to the place they told us to go, and when we got there they could see me scheduled for surgery in the computer, but it was like they didn't know where I was supposed to be (because we were told to go the incorrect floor). After at least 10 minutes of waiting, they figured it out and sent us to admittance where we had to wait at least 30 more minutes to get checked in. I did not sleep good the night before; I was partly a little anxious and part of it was that I had cramps and back pain too. I just kept telling myself that this was the last day I would have to deal with this!
After we got checked in it was probably about 6:30, and we waited for my parents and sister to get there so I could say "hi and bye" before going to get ready for surgery. It was funny because the older man that took me back to get ready asked if I had "hugged and kissed" my family. I had to go by myself this time to get undressed, etc, and they let Landon come up to see me about 10 minutes before they had to take me back to the operating room. All the nurses and staff were very, very nice and reassured me as much as possible. I was kind of trembling a lot at this point because 1) it was very cold in that room, and 2) I was starting to get more anxious to get things over with. The HUGE "gown" I had to wear had this neat hose they put in it that was a heater/cooler, so they got me hooked up to that to warm me up some and that helped with the trembling. They checked all my vitals and my heart rate was about 125 (I think normal is about 70-80?)!
So I got to see Landon for a few minutes and the anesthesiologist began giving me a couple of shots into my iv to start making me drowsy. They also gave me a shot in my right thigh at that point that they said I wouldn't remember, but I DID! I don't remember what it was for, but it stung really bad. I remember that Landon prayed with me and then kissed me when someone left the room for a minute, and I was able to start relaxing a little bit. I remember being wheeled into the operating room (the clock said it was almost 8am) and seeing all the huge light fixtures hanging down from the ceiling (they were not turned on yet). I remember them telling me to "scoot" on the table a little bit, and they put this seatbelt-like thing over my ribs to keep me in place (I didn't recall the seatbelt thing until the next afternoon when I realized my ribs were really sore, and I couldn't figure out why). I think I remember them putting an oxygen mask thing over my mouth and nose, but I'm really not sure what happened then.
I think Landon said they let him know the surgery was over sometime between 11:30 and noon. It was around 9 that I was totally under and they had begun.
The very next thing I knew, I was awake in the OR and someone was telling me the surgery was over and they "got it all". I tried to swallow and my throat, mouth and lips were very, very dry. I don't remember being wheeled to recovery, but suddenly I was there and I remember croaking out "it hurts, it hurts". It wasn't severe pain, it just felt very, very strange and sore. I remember my nurse (he was really good) telling me it wouldn't be long and they would give me something. I think the mask was still on me because I remember them taking it off later-though I don't know how much later that was.
I don't know how long I lay there, drifting in and out of drowsiness, trying my hardest to wake up and ask to see Landon. They started giving me little bites of ice chips after a while, and I could finally ask what time it was: 12:20. Then I asked when I could see my family. I don't know how much longer it was before Landon came; much of the time was fuzzy that day. But I remember him coming around the corner and my heart apparently leapt from my chest. Landon said that when I saw him my heart rate jumped up to about 130! The first thing I remember was I reached out my wobbly little arm to him and he took it, then he asked me if they told me the good news, or something like that. I didn't remember, so he said they got it all and it was benign! I felt like I was smiling really big, but I bet I looked like a big goober. :)
The rest of Wednesday is a bit of a blur. I remember Daddy and Lollie coming in to see me before they had to leave, and then Mama came in. I think all of them said something about "having us a baby soon", or something like that! After that Landon and Mama took turns for a while coming in and sitting with me. Landon must have felt like it was the longest day ever, plus he was having so much trouble with his sinuses that day too. But he stayed with me as much as possible, sitting beside the bed and sometimes talking, and then just holding my hand when I got too sleepy to talk anymore. Daddy came back later, and Phil & Tonya came to see me too. I ate lots and lots of ice chips because I was so thirsty, and tried to doze whenever I could. We ended up having to stay in recovery until about 9:00 that night because they couldn't get a room for us to open up. Nurses kept coming and going to check on me and look at my incision. Oh my goodness, was my entire abdomen extremely tender that day! The first few who had to check me kept sliding the gown up over my tummy and I just whimpered and gasped until they were finished. Landon was so sweet and kept holding my hand and telling me that I was doing good and that he was proud of me. Finally one of the nurses pulled the gown straight up instead of sliding it, so the others followed suit after that!
We finally got to our private room around 9 that night, and we were both exhausted. Landon slept on a chair that folded out flat, but I'm sure it wasn't very comfortable. There were still nurses coming in and out every few hours to check on me or give me medicine, so we got a little sleep, but not a whole lot. Around 5 in the morning the nurse came in and helped me to stand up for the first time after the surgery, and I sat in a chair for about 15 minutes. It felt sooo weird to stand up! It wasn't painful really, it just felt like I was extremely sore and hadn't moved for a really, really long time. At this point I was still on the iv drip, so they removed that and the catheter a few hours later. I was able to go to the bathroom right away on my own, as long as Landon helped me get up! It was really slow moving that day, but I got up several times and we walked out in the halls a little bit too.
My doctor came by at some point (it was the first time I'd seen her after the surgery) and told us again that the cyst was benign. She showed with her hands how big it had been, and it was definitely larger than a grapefruit or softball! She said it had already twisted on itself (that's some of the reason why I had such awful cramping) and there was some external bleeding and abscess too. It was so big that there was hardly any ovarian tissue left on the side where they removed it; however, she said that my other ovary is "perfect", so very good news there! I had been drinking juices that morning, so she cleared me to eat whatever I wanted then. Some of the hospital food was very tasty, but some of it was just awful! I was really hungry most of the time, though, so it really wasn't too terrible overall.
Landon and I helped pass the time by watching movies and tv on his laptop, and some of our family came by again to visit for a while. I was feeling so much better than I expected, so the nurses kept telling me I'd probably be able to go home the next afternoon. Friday morning around 5am one of the surgeons came in to remove my bandage. While still sore, the area was much less tender than it had been; I was nervous about them taking the dressing off because I thought it would start me gasping in pain again, but it wasn't bad at all. A few hours after that was when they said we could go home soon-they were happy with my progress and kind of leaving it up to me at that point; they just wanted my surgeon to come and see me one more time and they thought that would be right after lunch, so we're thinking it would be around 2 or 3:00 at the latest that we could leave.
Well, it ended up that my doctor had another surgery that afternoon and didn't get finished to come officially release me until about 8 that night! It was around noon or so that Landon started packing all our stuff up, I finally got dressed and we called to let my mom know we would be leaving soon. So we got a little stir crazy by then since we weren't sure how long we'd have to wait. Landon ended up going a bit later and picking up Giselle from boarding and took her home while Mama stayed with me, then he got back around 6:30 or so to wait with us again.
They already had all my discharge info ready, and we saw my doctor about 8:00. She was very pleased with my progress, and told me to of course take it very easy. I'm not supposed to drive or walk Giselle for a month, and I can't lift anything over 5 lbs. I have a follow-up with her on May 6th, and they've already called me to let me know that the cyst was definitely benign (it had to be sent to pathology for complete testing). There aren't any stitches to be removed either; they used a surgical tape to close the incision, and I can take it off in about another week or so. They said after 10 days I could remove it, but I'm going to wait the full 2 weeks just because I can!
Landon went and got my prescriptions and some ice cream for me while Mama drove me home, and we got back around 9:30. It was so incredibly amazing to be home! I am just so thrilled with how everything turned out that I couldn't be more content with puttering around the house for the last few days. Mama was here until last night, helping me with all the stuff I can't quite do yet. She washed all our clothes, kept my kitchen clean, cooked for us, and kept me great company! I even watched To Kill a Mockingbird with her one night; it's one of her favorites, but it was my first time seeing it. I really enjoyed it, and now the book is on my reading list! We also watched some great old school shows, Get Smart and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. I haven't felt bored at all yet. I have been pretty tired though; I'm getting up and around a lot, more each day, and it tires me out quick right now. I still have to sleep propped up on two pillows, and I am getting tired of that. It makes me stiffer since I can't move around quite as freely, but I'm hoping to be able to side-sleep again within the next week. I really like sleeping on my tummy, but I have no idea when that will be comfortable again!
I got out for a couple of hours last night, the first time I've been out since coming home. We went and ate dinner with Mama before she went home, then went in Target for about 10 minutes. I ADORE Target, but I was ready to go about as soon as we got in there last night! I was so tired from sitting up at dinner (when I'm sitting I normally have a pillow behind my back right now), and just walking around that short amount of time wore me out. I didn't sleep well last night for some reason; not because of pain, I just had lots of bad and strange dreams that kept me waking up a lot, so I'm pretty tired today. I think it's time for a nap!
Well, maybe I'll watch an episode of Mary Tyler Moore first. :)
