Friday, July 16, 2010

Back! Sort of...


It's amazing what they can do with super glue these days.

My belly is currently a great example of that. I've only found 1 stitch. The rest of the 5+ incisions were all closed with Dermabond (aka human super glue).

First off, my nurses were WONDERFUL. I made sure I thanked them and I let the ones who needed to poke me know that this was my first surgery, and they treated me with a little extra TLC.

Another thing I am grateful for is that they took me in early. No sitting around and waiting with building anxiety. I kept myself busy Monday morning by touching up some articles for Celebrations Press (I write their Disneyland column) and tying up some loose ends at work so I could take some time off. Once they took me into pre-op, I didn't spend much time laying around waiting. Things started happening quickly, but everyone made sure I understood what was going on, what they were giving me, etc. (Admittedly, having a bit of a medical background, I understood what was going to happen, but having it happen to ME was a whole different story.)

Best case Scenerio:
Right laparoscopic cystectomy - They would get in there with a scope and just remove the large cyst and the mass.

Most Likely Scenerio:
Right Laparoscopic Oopherectomy - They would go in with a scope and remove the right ovary all together.

Least desirable scenerio:
Exploratory Laparotomy - They would open up fully and go in and look at all other organs involved in the disease process.

What actually happened:
Most Likely Scenerio Plus.

They took out the right ovary all together, and did some exploring with the scope through the belly and through the "hoo-ha".

Outcome:
Aside from the removal of the diseased organ (which had become an endometrial mass/cyst producing organ rather than an egg producing organ), everything looked great. Left ovary looked healthy, as did all surrounding structures. Yeah! I don't get the final pathology for a couple weeks, but the MD seemed very confident that he got it all - which makes me more relieved than I can say.

Complications:I had some trouble breathing during the surgery, so they needed to stick a tube down my throat. This has complicated things by giving me an ear infection that I am only now getting treatment for. But it's just made me a little more dizzy than I expected to be at this point.
I'm still having some bleeding. Due to the nature of these procedures, it's hard to tell what is "monthly" bleeding and what is post-surgical bleeding, but the upside is that none of it is heavy enough to really be too much of an issue.

So yes, I'm alive. And it's looking like CANCER FREE!

There was a bit more news, but I won't know too much about that for about 6 months -1 year regarding how all this MAY effect my PCOS. We'll see!

7 comments:

  1. yayyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  2. sweet! so glad everything looks great so far!

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  3. So glad to hear it! One healthy ovary is enough!

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  4. So happy to read this! Your strength and courage are inspiring. Best of luck on the road to recovery! xo

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