Recovering

I am now 19 days out from surgery. I thought I would share how it went.

Wednesday Oct. 26th. Archie and I dropped our boys off at church and drove up to Atlanta to stay with cousins. We arrived right at 11 pm.

Thursday Oct. 27th. We decided to give ourselves plenty of time to get to the Center for Endometriosis Care. It was only 30 miles from where we were staying but traffic that time of morning in the big city is crazy! It took us nearly 2 hours to get there. We arrived just a few minutes before my appointment time. I couldn't believe I was actually there! I learned about the CEC years ago and always hoped some day I would be able to get treatment there. Their Doctors have fantastic reputations for removing endometriosis, thus providing long term pain relief from this disease.

The nurse, staff, and doctor were all very kind. Everything was explained about the surgery. Adenomyosis was also suspected (causing a very painful uterus), so we decided to do a hysterectomy as well as excision of endometriosis. It was a big decision, and not one we took lightly, I did a lot of research and prayed about it beforehand.

After my appointment Archie and I did a little shopping, we got a few soft foods for me to eat after surgery, then we went back to where we were staying and I had to do a "bowel prep". It was not fun, I was not allowed to eat anything after breakfast and the prep made me nauseated. I spent the day between the toilet and bed.

Friday Oct. 28th. We got up early and headed to the hospital at about 4:30. This time it only took us just over half an hour to get there. We walked into the hospital about 5:15 am and registered. Right at 5:30 I was escorted into the surgical prep area. Archie had to wait in the waiting room but I was able to bring Sammy in with me. Sammy was one of Silas' sea turtles, his first big on that he received for his 4th birthday from Grandpa and Grandma. He took it in to all but his first surgeries. I didn't know if they would really let me keep Sammy with me, but I was going to give it a try. My PTSD was getting stirred up being in a hospital. Going through all of Silas' cancer treatments, spending so much time in hospitals, and having to say goodbye to him, have all left a lot of painful memories.

I changed into a hospital gown, they put in an IV and drew blood. They gave me a pill to swallow and then gave me some "happy juice", just like Silas received on many occasions. Archie was allowed to come in and spend a few minutes with me before they wheeled me back to the OR. He prayed for me and gave me a kiss and went back out to the waiting area. When I arrived in the OR the Doctor and Surgical assistant grabbed my hands and the Surgeon prayed for me, he prayed that he would do a good job and that I would be pain free in the future. I scooted onto the surgery table and then I went to sleep.

The surgery lasted about 5 hours, just a little longer than the estimated 4. I was in the recovery area for a while. I was in pain and disoriented. I asked the nurse if they found endometriosis during the surgery (it cannot be seen on any scans or tests so the only way they can know if it is there is to look inside), she said yes and I started to cry. All of these years of pain and it was finally confirmed what I had believed for years. I say I started to cry, I quickly stopped myself because it hurt too much. I remember talking about Silas a lot. Sammy was still with me. I don't remember what all I said. After a while they moved me to a room and Archie was allowed to join me. I don't remember a lot. Later that evening I was up and walking. I was still using a pain pump and they gave me some pills as well. I think I slept pretty well, the meds made me sleepy.

Saturday Oct. 29th. About 7:30 in the morning the Surgeon came in to see me. He went over my surgical photos with me and explained that in addition to what we thought was wrong, he also found a lot of adhesions, some from my gallbladder surgery. He removed those as well as my appendix. I finally had stage II endometriosis confirmed! Stage II is the most common stage to be discovered. He was happy with my progress and released me to leave the hospital. Archie and I pretty quickly got ready and headed back to his cousin's house. The drive was somewhat painful, I had 3 small incisions in my belly and was wearing a "belly binder" for support. I was told to start my medicine routine as soon as we got to where we were going. I did, pain meds every 3 hours around the clock. This was not pleasant, I hate meds. I hate having to eat to take them. But I was in pain. For the next few days we ate, slept, watched movies, and slept. I don't remember a lot of it due to the meds.

Tuesday November 1. We got up late in the morning and packed up, well, Archie packed up. We headed out to my 3 pm follow up visit at the CEC. The surgeon again explained my surgical pics to me and answered a couple of questions. They were impressed with my progress and suggested cutting back on the meds. Which I planned to do as soon as we made it home. I didn't think I could make such a long drive without them. We left and headed home, stopping every hour to walk around and stopping to eat. It seemed like it took forever but we made it home about 10 pm. The  boys were home waiting for us.

Over the next couple of weeks I have gotten stronger and had less pain but it is still early in the recovery process, they said to expect 8-9 weeks. I was warned not to over-do it and to get plenty of rest in the coming days. I haven't taken any pain meds in a few days. I no longer wake up in the middle of the night with outrageous cramping! While I am still tender and tired, I am making progress and am hopeful that in time I will be strong, healthy, and finally pain free!

God is amazing! I know that He was in this, and I am so thankful. In my life Lord, be glorified!