So this post is going to be a doozy as I am going to try and account for everything that happened the past few days so I can remember it all. If you want to read the short version, click
here.
Friday morning I woke up in a panic. The day came and I was so not prepared mentally for the surgery. I was petrified of going under and even more petrified about what he may find while in there. I immediately took some anxiety meds and tried to calm down. I spent the majority of the morning trying to keep myself busy and get things in order for when my mom watched Nate as well as when I returned home. I had read enough stories online to know what I would probably be needing after the surgery and I made sure I had everything lined up and ready to go.
I had to be at Dr. Russell's office for my pre-op paperwork at 10:30. My mom got to my house around 10, we bid farewells to her and Nate and we left. I signed in and nervously sat there waiting to be called back. This doctors office in particular is like a revolving door. More people come in and out of this office than any other doctor's office I've ever seen before. One couple in particular stood out to me though. The lady and her hubby came out from the back...she was dressed down like me and had the "oh shit" look on her face. Mike leaned over to me and said "I bet they are his 11:30 appt". I watched as they left the office and headed left towards the SurgiCenter. We were right and she was the laparoscopy scheduled ahead of mine.
Anyway, we were called back to an office and signed some paper work. Both the nurse and the doctor assured me it would be the easiest procedure and it would be the best 10 minutes of sleep ever. Once we were done we scheduled my follow up appt for next Friday and then headed on down to the Surgi Center. Signed in there and waited. My surgery wasn't scheduled until 12:30 and it was still so early. My anxiety meds were starting to wear off and I was beginning to freak out.
I was finally called back, alone, to get ready for surgery. I was told to get undressed and to put all my clothes in a brown bag. Once that was done and I was sporting an awesome shower cap thingy and blue surgery socks I was placed in a room with a drawn curtain. The nurse was so nice, gave me a nice warm blanket and took more information and tested my blood level. She told me that once anesthesia came in they would give me something for my nerves.
A young woman walked in and introduced herself as the anesthesiologist. I told her my fears and concerns. She completely listened and sympathized. She began getting my line placed in my hand to start giving me meds but ended up blowing that vein. She ended up going to the vein in the crook of my arm which is normally where they have to go anyway. Once she was in she immediately gave me drugs and calm ensued.
I was walked to the waiting room with the other
zombies ladies awaiting surgery and hooked up to this air machine that blew hot air into my gown. The lady that was waiting was the same one from Dr. Russell's office. This worried me since I would have to wait the duration of her surgery to even get to mine. They called her back and I started to get worried. I was the only one waiting for surgery at this point and in walks Dr. Russell. He made small talk with me which was nice since it took my mind off of what would be happening. He soon left and I was left to sit there. By this time 2 other women joined me but it seemed as though conversation was lacking...I can't seem to figure out why...lol.
At 12:15 a nurse came in to the waiting area and told me to follow her. I was told to place my glasses in my brown bag then was taken into the OR. Talk about frightening. I was told to get onto the OR table and place my arms out. They strapped my arms down then strapped my stomach down. The nurse asked me what my favorite cocktail was. I told her anything....and thats the last thing I remember.
This is where it's a little hazy.
I remember being woken up and being told to move into another bed. I also remember not being able to stay awake much. I told the nurse that my throat really hurt and that I was thirsty. She asked if I was nauseous because I was really pale. I told her yes. She told me she would get me some ice chips. At this point Mike wasn't back with me and I don't know why. Finally she came back with my ice chips and told me Mike would be coming back. When he came in I asked him for some chap stick (which if you know me, this shouldn't surprise you).
At some point a nurse came in with a shot of phenergan. She asked me if I wanted it in my thigh or my butt. WTF lady, just give it to me anywhere so I don't yack everywhere. The last thing I wanted was to be puking after a surgery like this. She asked me about my pain. At this point I could feel all the suture sites as well as the gas trapped in my body. She told me that she wouldn't give me any pain meds bc it would make me feel more sick. Whatever, after the shot of phenergan I really couldn't stay awake much anyway. My memory is really shotty at this point. I remember the blood pressure cuff taking my blood pressure every now and then. At one point the nurse came in and said that if my bp was still good the next time they would discharge me.
Discharge me? I could barely function, still felt like puking, and I know for a fact that Casper the ghost was a shade darker than me. But they discharged me anyway. It took me no less than 20 minutes to get off the bed to get dressed and I don't even know how long it took to actually get dressed. I felt like absolute ass.
Thankfully my mom suggested we take her car. I drive an Explorer and I am so glad I didn't have to get up into it after surgery. I was able to get into my moms Honda with the seat reclined and "enjoy" the ride home. Thank goodness we live 2 lights away from the hospital bc I couldn't have taken a longer ride.
We got home and I came inside...barely stopping to talk to anyone. All I wanted to do was crawl into bed. I felt really nauseous at this point and was in pain and all I wanted to do was try and relieve both of those issues.
From here on out its pretty boring. I've done a ton of sleeping. Even sitting here 2+ days later I am still really tired and I nap multiple times during the day. The air that they inflated me with is still a huge problem. It makes it so if I stand or sit the air rushes into my shoulder and chest and makes it hard to breathe as well as inflicts sever pain. My throat still feels sore from the breathing tube. I had no idea how much the tube/mouth open during surgery would bother me once it was all done. My appetite is fine but since I am so bloated, I can hardly eat. I've been living off of small meals and ginger ale. Oh yea and gas-x. Love the gas-x for taking away from of the bloat and added air.
So now that you've gotten this far I'll let you know what the doc found while in there. We knew that there was some sort of blockage in my tubes but he wanted to check on the possibility of endo or anything else while in there. The doctor came out to Mike when I was in recovery and explained what he found. Mike tried to remember what he said to the best of his ability but I will get clarification on everything on Friday at my follow up appt. He did, indeed, find the blockage and it was because my tubes were twisted around each other. How or why? I have no idea. This is a question we will be asking on Friday. He said he was able to get them untwisted and unblocked though. Yay!
Now that the surgery is done I want to thank everyone that sent me thoughts and prayers through the whole ordeal. I want to thank my mom for watching Nate and providing Mike and I with meals for the time I was down and through this week (we will have enough left overs to last all week long..lol). Mike also says that the driveway thanks you for the milkshake. Also, another big thank you to Michele and Kevin for taking Nate overnight on a whim so that Mike could concentrate on getting me what I needed when I felt the worst and for the delicious dinner.
I want to give the biggest thank you and I love you to Mike. He has been nothing but awesome during this whole thing...even sleeping on the couch so he doesn't accidentally hurt me during the night. He's gone out and gotten me any and everything I've asked. He's done a great job of keeping Nate entertained and happy. He even sat with me and watched Breaking Dawn 2 because he knew it would make me happy.
I am optimistic for the future and I can't wait to see what happens next.
We then headed on over to my doctors office to start pre-op paperwork and such. We waited....
After 
I was given a cool wrist band that was scanned no less than 20 times in case, what, someone wanted to do the surgery for me?!
While waiting I decided to fake smile (with 29348234 chins) and get a before surgery picture with Mike
Mike did a good job of taking pics of my progress on the screen (CSC-2013-973)
Once I got home I took a pic of the one suture site I could see. Please disregard the ugly stretch marks and bloatedness.
My dinner since they suggested bland food. I had already eaten every "bland" type of food we had so popcorn it was
Other days we had some yummy dinners that were brought over for Mike and I
And beautiful, bright, colorful flowers that totally made me smile
And things like this made me smile so much...
