Laparoscopy

Laparoscopy

I had better preface this post with a TMI warning. There will be Too Much Information.

There will be some graphic pictures. The unknown depth of my insides will be revealed!!

I spent the first week of my holiday frantically dashing around trying to get everything done, knowing I wouldn’t be in such great shape after my op. This continued on Monday. I went for the final splurge at Woolworths (a clothing and food store I love which has a sale on this time of year) and got two more shoes, something for my parents, and also went to pay a medical bill. I was about to fetch my mom (she was arriving on the Gautrain – a tube like train that connects Sandton with the airport) when I realised that I had left my lights on. Aaaah! Of all the idiotic things to do! Frustration. What else could I do but be thankful for the AA who came (eventually), got me started and also had to replace my battery. After 3+ years it was kaput. So it was probably just in time.

Anyway, finally I fetched B and my mom and we came home and had sausages and mash. It has really been great having her here. She has been helping a lot. I ate and ate until 10pm, with the idea that I wouldn’t be able to eat the next morning.

On Tuesday we all set off and managed to get a good parking space too. I only had to be there at 10:30am. My mom and I sat and chatted in the waiting room while B went to go and pay the bill. At about 11am they called me in to be admitted. I had a very nice nurse called Wendy who explained everything to me. She told me I would have 4 incisions! Which was news to me. She also gave me a pink gown thing to put on but said I could wait a bit (it was very cold).

They took my blood pressure which turned out to be very high. Systolic was 150. I do have a blood pressure problem and have been taking medication for it for ages. But my mom (who is a doctor) thinks the thyroid meds (which I started taking on Friday) could be influencing things. And also I was very stressed about the op. They landed up giving me meds to take it down.

I also met the anaesthetist who was a very nice lady. Afterwards she told me that although my blood pressure was high before and after the op, it went down nicely when I was out. I also did get a chance to speak to doctor R and remind him about my symptoms, which was great, because it looked like he had remembered about them too.

Well, the big news is:

1-      They removed the cyst/ fibroid/ whatever it was and stitched things up afterwards

The fibroid uncovered.

2-      I have stage 2 endometriosis which they lasered off as well.

Endometriosis

As I came out of the operation the nurses were measuring my blood pressure again and told me about the endometriosis. So it gave me a bit more time to digest it too. My operation also probably took longer than they thought because of having to laser off all of it. But at least they have got rid of it now and we now have a window of opportunity where we can put a baby in there.

At the beginning of the year someone told me this year would be “Out with the old, and in with the new.”  And I truly feel that in many ways.

Out with the negative thinking.

Out with the lumps and bumps and endo.

Even though my middle section is sore and uncomfortable at the moment, I am happy because all of this is just part of the process making way for new life. I even struggled to pee at first, but that is slowly coming right. I was kind of bent a bit over, but I’m slowly feeling more myself.

I have been in bed for the past two days and today I am starting to get my strength back.

I am going online and doing some research.

From Wikipedia:

Endometriosis (from endo, “inside”, and metra, “womb”) is a gynecological medical condition in which cells from the lining of the uterus (endometrium) appear and flourish outside the uterine cavity, most commonly on the ovaries. The uterine cavity is lined by endometrial cells, which are under the influence of female hormones. These endometrial-like cells in areas outside the uterus (endometriosis) are influenced by hormonal changes and respond in a way that is similar to the cells found inside the uterus. Symptoms often worsen with the menstrual cycle.

Endometriosis is just another hurdle in the path.

What’s interesting is that the doctor said that the endo was close to my bowl which would explain the bowl movement / period pain problems I have been having.

He also said we would meet up in 6 weeks. That he would do a one month “flared up” IVF rather than a two month process because he did not want to overstimulate me and create too many eggs. I will get my stitches out next week and also go visit my homeopath/acupuncturist next week and see if he has anything helpful to contribute. I also found this from Iva Keene article useful. But actually it’s nothing new. The same stuff: no sugar, no dairy, no caffeine, no alcohol, no gluten.  The same stuff I have been trying to stick to.  (Very funny: my mom bought me chocolate as a nice pressie to recover from my op. Very sweet of her and I did actually eat it. But then I told her about carob bars and now she bought me some. Isn’t she sweet?)

In other news, my hubby passed the sperm test well.  The count is good(70), they swim well (52) and they swim in the right direction. The morphology was the best (14). (I am secretly wondering if was because of me putting those special zinc tablets in with his pills all this time!) They said 14% of 70 million sperm can penetrate and fertilise.

Compliments from the people at the lab!

Related Posts via Categories

• When to do IVF..
• Tapping my on my Thyroid
• Blood test results
• What happened with the fertility doctor…
• Read My Full Story
• A Week of Wonders
• New Beginnings
• IVF Nurse Appointment
• My Support
• Dog Spa Day and Visit to an Orphanage

Comments

comments