Post-Op

Since the procedure on Monday there has been a significant amount of re-acquainting and heart-felt bonding time.  With my belly button.

Let's start at the very beginning (and try not to burst into iconic song), when Clif, my parents and I all woke up well before the sun to check in at the hospital for my appointment.  While I was ecstatic to have been bumped up to the early appointment, Clif was significantly less thrilled as he'd been busy teaching and not sleeping hardly at all since the end of last week.  The fact that he was obviously working hard to get dressed and mobile was made much less worrisome by the support of my parents who made the early morning haul from Arlington to be with us both.  I was glad to have them there for my personal support, but in some ways even more glad they would be there with and for Clif.  Besides, as Mom has said before, doctors can spout off news so fast it's nice to have multiple pairs of ears listening to increase the chance of actually understanding what was said.

We were pretty much the only people in the building aside from the tech who checked me in and a security officer, which equated to next to no wait time before I was called back.  Clif was allowed with me and kept me company/napped as each of the people who'd be taking care of me through various stages of the process stopped by to introduce themselves and ask me the same questions the one before had, though I didn't mind the procedure of repetition.  Then there were IVs, fluids, antibiotics, backless gowns, crazy pressure thigh-highs, a princess band aid, non-stick socks, and some killer premeds that made me all dizzy and trippy in roughly 0.3 seconds.  I vaguely remember asking the nurse if she had medicated me and her chuckled response, rolling down the hall while breathing through the subsequent wooziness and valiantly counting the number of people in the room 4 times to make sure I would remember when I woke up.  There were 10 (!) and I have no idea what more than half of them were in there for.  I remember getting wheeled up to the operating table and having enough mental capacity to tell the nurse that she should have someone stand opposite me since last time I had to scoot myself over I almost pitched off the other side.  At least I'm pretty sure that's what I said... if you've not experienced it yourself those premeds are not entirely unlike a reaaaaaallllly successful 21st birthday bash, if you get my drift, and if you still don't just help yourself to a bottle of champagne and you should be close.  Regardless I somehow managed to get on the table and the nurse stuck a pillow behind my head just as it hit the table...

I woke up much faster and feeling more clear-headed from this procedure than the "twilight" sedation I had for the D&C.  While it was still difficult to wake up I didn't feel as much pressure to hurry the process, besides they had me on a nasal cannula with oxygen and were monitoring me carefully until my blood pressure came down (it was pretty high) so I had time to chill.  I remember trying to be honest, rather than stoic, with the nurse about my pain level and let her know I thought it might be getting a little bit more intense but was still under 5 on the 1-10 scale.  She gave some IV pain meds since it was still placed and I was as good to go as I was going to get.  I managed to get dressed without falling over, a challenge, I assure you, and made it into the wheelchair for transport to the car.

On the way home the family caught me up on the news: the doctor confirmed and then easily corrected the uterine septum and removed the small growth she suspected she would find.  They got to see the pictures, I am looking forward to seeing them myself at my post-op visit in a couple of weeks.  I managed to make it to Panera so Clif and Dad could pick up lunch, but not the 2-3 minutes longer it would have taken to get home before being sick.  Yay anesthesia side effects!  Luckily after two rapid fire open doored roll-throughs at the side of the curb in the busy right hand turn lane I felt much better.  At home I forced down a couple bites of soup, passed out in spectacular nap-jerk fashion (sorry for the arm flailing, Mom) and woke up to practically inhale the rest of my lunch that the doctor had ordered my family to make sure I ate.

The abdominal pain I had been expecting has been more discomfort and ache akin to muscle exhaustion from too much working out than anything else.  The pain I was not adequately expecting was in my right neck and shoulder from breathing off the remaining COs from the laporoscopy.  I knew to expect it but I didn't appreciate the amount of pain and discomfort it would be.  Luckily an experienced friend told me to heat it which helped immeasurably.  I've also been studying my belly button, trying to figure out what exactly happened there.  So far as best as I can figure they must have gone in then super glued their way back out as I can't find any sign of suture or closure strip.  I have definitely spent more deep, emotional time with my belly button in the past two days than I have in a very, VERY long time.  In fact, I may not ever have spent as much emotional time with it and I'm sure it appreciates my efforts.

Today I feel... off.  Like things aren't exactly where or how they should be and my muscles can't decide if they want to be completely relaxed or militantly engaged and it's very confusing to my brain.  Also like my belly button was glued closed, which is unnerving.  I'll be taking it easy the rest of the week, doctor's orders, then should expect at least a month to heal completely.  I have a bunch more questions but they are fairly minor compared to what they have been.  What I'm the most excited about is the very big answer we have received, the big problem we have fixed and, most importantly, the success we can now hopefully have as a result.

Fingers are crossed and prayers are flying but we are well on our way.