Taking it day by day

Sorry I haven't posted sooner. It's been hard to get on the computer at all. This recovery is ten times harder than the recovery from pit surgery EVER was. I'm 10 days postop and I'm still in pain. I can't sit straight up and I can't stand in one place for more than a couple minutes. I have to be slow getting in and out of bed and I still can't bend or lift anything bigger than a gallon of milk. I lay in a recliner most of the day and you would think I could get on the computer. But I can't lean anything on my stomach and it's hard to type otherwise. Even now I'm leaning, so I have to keep moving from side to side to stay comfortable and not in pain.

So lets go back and I'll go through my surgery and the days in the hospital.

We had to be at the hospital by 5:30am on Friday the 22nd. That meant driving by 5am because it was in downtown Trenton and about 20min away. We got there a little after 5:30. Because I registered a couple days before, I didn't have to worry about that. They finally brought me back at about 6:30am. I changed and they took my temp/blood pressure and put in the IV. I was getting the nervous/cold shivers at this point. I was so scared. Scared that it was cancerous, scared that something would go wrong, scared that I'd have an AI crisis, and overall scared about what to expect postop.

I'd read and did all sorts of research. Keep the ovaries or don't. Keep the cervix or not. I decided to take it all. I had had endometriosis since I was 16. I also had PCOS. But it seems like I had a case of Cysts Gone Wild, because one of my ovaries had a giant cyst on it, 12+cm, yet benign thankfully. And that's what they were taking out. Because I am also panhypopituitary (all my hormones aren't working anymore) my other ovary wasn't working anyway. I have been in menopause, since my pit surgery. So was it worth it to keep it? Knowing that the same thing could happen to the other ovary and I'd have to go through this again anyway? So I chose to just take it all out. As much as I wanted more kids, it wasn't gonna happen. So this was the definitive answer.

Anyway, back to my surgery. It wasn't til about 7am or soon thereafter that they came to get me and take me back to the OR. They wheeled me away and thankfully we didn't have to go far. Soon after I went from the bed they wheeled me in on to the operating table, they gave me my 100mg of hydro & something to relax me. It's like I was floating. It didn't seem like soon after that, that they put the oxygen mask on me and told me to take deep breaths. I think I only took 2 or 3 breaths and then I was out.

Next thing I remember, I was in recovery and felt the searing pain in my stomach. I pushed off the oxygen mask and tried to tell them how much pain I was in. My mouth was so dry it didn't come out that way. But finally they got the point and gave me Dilauded and handed me a button & told me to push it whenever I felt pain. I didn't understand for awhile, but eventually it kicked in! I also had a catheter then too. I was glad they didn't put that in beforehand. One less pain to worry about. I don't know how long I was in recovery. A couple hrs maybe? Eventually they took me to my own room. It was small, but it was nice. I seemed to have good nurses and of course I had my pain button. I slept a lot and vaguely remember hubby coming in talking & then leaving. I know the doctor was there and the only thing I heard was that it wasn't cancer.

Saturday I woke up in more pain that I was the day before. The only difference, the pain meds don't help gas pains. O. M. G. That was truly worst than anything I've felt. It was in my shoulders and it felt like I couldn't breathe. So they took the catheter out and told me to try to get up more. It was hard to get up. It took me a few hrs, but by the end of the day I was doing short walks up & down the hallway. It was the only thing that gave me even remote relief. And that was along with taking Mylicon & GasX. It was hard to walk because the pain on my incision was burning. And of course I didn't want to pop a stitch. I was in tears tho, the pain was so bad.

Sunday morning I woke up and the pain was somewhat better. The nurse overnight gave me some hot tea with Ginger Ale mixed in. It didn't taste great, but I think that helped. The gas started moving after that thankfully. My friends came to see me that afternoon and that helped take my mind off things. Then hubby brought the kids there too. I did more walking and tried to keep moving more as well.

On Monday, they said I was doing so well I was gonna be released. I actually slept all night w/o waking up in pain. I just had to pass a bowel movement. *sigh* I've always had this problem after surgeries. Every single one has ended in a suppository; why should this one be different. And of course it wasn't. I did get to take a shower too and thankfully I managed to do it on my own and didn't need a nurse watching over me. That's always so uncomfortable. In any case, I left the hospital at about 1pm. It was weird to come home and I was sooo tired. I had the sofa bed on the main floor to crawl into and I slept most of the afternoon & evening. The kids were happy to see me too. I hate being away from them.

Since then I've literally been in bed or the recliner. The pain comes & goes and I take the pain meds as needed. I don't have a full appetite yet but it's ok. I'm just taking it day by day. :)