My surgery is over!!!

Well, yesterday was the big day. Here I am before surgery. I was FREEZING! They had to keep puting warm blankets on me. I asked why they keep it so cold in there and the nurse told me that it was because the doctors sweat a lot during surgery, so they keep it cold to help them be more comfortable. Makes sense to me. But I'll tell you what, I was definitely grateful for the blanket warmer.



I decided to get one last good smile in before they started to poke and prod me. I figured that it may be a while before I feel that good again. On Monday my sister zoned my feet. Also, before surgery I got a priesthood blessing. Thank goodness. They always make me feel so much better. I noticed that I really was calm before this surgery. I had a Laparoscopy 7 years ago and definitely was not so calm then. Just before we went into the hospital I had Tommy drop 3 drops of the essential oil, Yarrow, down my throat. (Sorry Kim and Christa, 1 extra drop fell in!) BLACH!! Was that stuff NASTY or what??? I sure hope it helps though. After that, I actually had to take a lick of Peppermint oil, because the Yarrow was so gross. I LOVE the smell of Peppermint.

Here I am after they have poked and prodded. The nurse tried to put an IV in my left hand and blew a blood vessel. OUCH!!!! That little sucker hurt bad. She then tried in my right hand and there were no problems at all. The Anesthesiologist gave me some medicine in my IV and he said that it was going to make me pretty tired. It hurt like a son of a gun going in, so I said, "Why can't you just knock me out right now, so that I don't have to feel this?" He showed me his fist and said, "The only thing I got to knock you out with right now is this!!" Then they wheeled me into the surgery room. Well, I remember looking at the ceiling.... and then I was out.

Next thing I know, I was waking up complaining about my bladder hurting again. I actually even asked the doctor ahead of time if I could get a catheter put in as soon as I woke up, because after my last surgery, I woke up as they were wheeling me down the hall to my room saying, "I gotta pee, I gotta pee." They kept telling me it was because of the surgery but I kept whining, so they made me stand up and sit on the toilet and try to go. IT KILLED!!!!! Of course my muscles just weren't working right quite yet, so nothing happened. After quite a bit of complaining, the nurses finally got the okay to use a catheter and sure enough I went tons. The nurse was like, "Oh, I guess you really DID have to pee." GRRR! So, I made sure I asked ahead of time with this one.

I went pee 2 times before surgery and the doctor promised that he would empty my bladder just before finishing, so when I woke up, I was mad that my bladder was hurting so bad again. I asked for a catheter right away and they assured me that my bladder was empty. I kept complaining about it and just as they finally decided to give me one, it quit hurting. YAY!!!! I was pretty nauseous though, so I kept smelling my Peppermint oil. That was great!!! Every time I would take a deep breath of it, it would totally calm me down again.

Just as I was waking up, Tommy told me that they took out my appendix. WHAT????? Every few minutes, I would open my eyes and all I could say was, "I can't believe they took out my appendix." I bet Tommy was thinking, "Thank goodness they didn't take anything ELSE out." I did NOT like the idea that something was taken from me, but once I woke up a little more, I was okay with it. So, here is the diagnosis as I heard it from my mom and Tommy (I will add more details after my visit with the doctor on the 20th.):

My appendix was pretty hard, so they figured it was best to take it out. The doctor thinks that it may have been causing part of the pain I was having. That would be great, especially now that it's gone.

My uterus looked good. My tubes were clean and best of all, there were only 3 tiny spots of endometriosis in me. SUPER YAY!!!!!! At my last surgery, I had endometriosis everywhere. It was all through my small intestines and everything. It was covering both ovaries and the right ovary even had a layer of adhesion's over that and then had a second layer of endometriosis on it. It really was not good. Well, I have spent the last 2 years taking herbal endometriosis cleanses and using essential oils, and most recently drinking Yarrow tea and getting my feet zoned. I think that ALL of these had a huge part in getting rid of it all. Oh, and I also used the "Secret".

So, now to the bad news... my doctor said that even if I am dying in pain, I will never be able to get a hysterectomy. Apparently, my right ovary is embedded into my ureter and if the surgery would be WAY too dangerous. Tommy asked the doctor what I could do then, and he said that I would just have to get on birth control for the rest of my life and never take the sugar pills so that I wouldn't have a cycle. That's not cool!

But on the other hand, it was kind of a huge relief to me, because now all of the people that were telling me that I should get a hysterectomy can't tell me that anymore. Namely, my mom, Tommy and past doctors. My family truly would only say that because they love me and don't like seeing me in pain, but it was still hard to hear. I mean geesh, I am only 33 years old. Who wants to go through menopause that young? I actually went on a shot that puts you into menopause after my last surgery to try and keep the endometriosis at bay. Man, that was TERRIBLE! I vowed never to do THAT again. Luckily it only lasted 3 months and it was in the winter. I remember some nights, I would wake up, pull my covers off and my shirt up because I was so hot and then minutes later I'd put everything back on because I was freezing. This happened every half hour to an hour some times. Let me just say, hot flashes... NOT FUN!

The doctor also said that the only way I could ever get pregnant would be through invitro fertilization. Which that really stinks because we would never have $15,000 extra dollars laying around just to take a chance. If we were guaranteed it would work I might try to figure it out some how, (like sell a kidney or something!) but I know too many people that it never works with. It is just too big of a risk for me.

So, six weeks from now, I will start getting regular zones once a week and zone the female organs area on my feet daily and we will see what that does for me. If nothing else, I hope it can some how help my ovary and ureter situation. Oh, I forgot to say how bad my ovaries looked. I mean,.... how much room for improvement they have. (Does that sound better Kim and Christa?) Healthy ovaries are suppose to look oval like an egg, well my left one looks somewhat round with bumps all over it. My right one looks like it was torn open and stretched out. GAG! Tommy tried to explain all of my surgery pictures to me, but the only ones I remember what they even are, were the ovary and the endometriosis pictures. So, when I go to the doctor on the 20th, I will learn about the rest of them. But for now, here are my insides:

Yes, I know, no egg shaped anything here. This is my right ovary.

This is my left ovary.

If you look close, you can see 3 tiny spots in the middle of the picture. That is my endometriosis!!

I am not sure what this picture is or what the next two sets of pictures are yet. One of them, I think shows my appendix but I'm not sure which one. Sorry.



This last picture is of the inside of my uterus. Looks good to me,... I guess!

So, there you have it. Me... inside and out! I am surprisingly feeling better then I expected today. Of course, I am on drugs. That may be helping a little! I am SO unbelievably glad that my mom is staying with us for a few days though. Tommy was so sweet too. He even got up at 6:30 a.m. to help get the kids ready for school. (This was after going to bed around 2 a.m. or so, I am sure.) Poor guy. Plus, my mom coughed all night. I felt so bad for her. I tell you, these two people are the two most selfless amazing people I know, and I am so glad that they are in MY life. Well, until next time...