update and a few details
Aug. 14th, 2009 06:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vgqnI'm feeling remarkably fine today for having had a relatively major organ removed yesterday. Laparoscopic surgery is rather amazing. Yes, I am taking pain and anti-inflammation meds (Percocet and Toradol, respectively), though there doesn't seem to actually be much pain, just a vague crampy feeling. Of course, I'm not letting it get beyond that point either.
They say I should plan to rest a lot this first week, though I should also walk around. No problem, walking feels good. Resting is fine, though I feel much clearer and less dozy than I did after the bunion surgeries. Of course, with those I had enforced bedrest with my foot elevated, so maybe I dozed more simply because I was lying down. Being able to walk around freely makes me feel lively and normal.
A few more details for anyone who cares (mostly for my own memory): The doctor removed just the uterus (along with all the fibroids in varying sizes, of course) but not the ovaries, so I should still go through menopause normally. She said it was about 14 lbs! Surgery took 2 hr 10 minutes. The only difficult part was that my veins were being recalcitrant yesterday, and four different people each took two tries before they managed to get an IV installed on that 8th attempt. And these are folks who prep patients on a daily basis. Sheesh. This has never happened to me before. Next time I'll try to remember to drink more fluids the day before, which I think might have helped.
They sent me home with a catheter, which let me get a peaceful night's sleep not having to make a bathroom visit every hour. My goodness, what a lot of fluid comes out. And I must still be retaining some, because those 14 lbs gone are not showing up on the scale yet. I was apprehensive about the catheter, never having had one before (at least not while I was conscious), but the only uncomfortable part was the adhesive tape holding it onto my leg. Removing the tube in the morning was just as easy as promised. Now if only my bowels would get back into the program, I'd be feeling even better. Even taking Miralax, they haven't quite caught on yet.
Surgery was from about 10 - noon. They kept me in the recovery room until 6 p.m., longer than expected because my pulse rate was high (over 100). But since it was slowly going down and there weren't any other factors suggesting problems (fever, internal bleeding), they eventually chalked it up to reaction to the anaesthesia and sent me home. By bedtime it was down into the 70s as it normally is.
Feel free to ask questions if you're curious about anything. And thanks so much for all the good wishes!
They say I should plan to rest a lot this first week, though I should also walk around. No problem, walking feels good. Resting is fine, though I feel much clearer and less dozy than I did after the bunion surgeries. Of course, with those I had enforced bedrest with my foot elevated, so maybe I dozed more simply because I was lying down. Being able to walk around freely makes me feel lively and normal.
A few more details for anyone who cares (mostly for my own memory): The doctor removed just the uterus (along with all the fibroids in varying sizes, of course) but not the ovaries, so I should still go through menopause normally. She said it was about 14 lbs! Surgery took 2 hr 10 minutes. The only difficult part was that my veins were being recalcitrant yesterday, and four different people each took two tries before they managed to get an IV installed on that 8th attempt. And these are folks who prep patients on a daily basis. Sheesh. This has never happened to me before. Next time I'll try to remember to drink more fluids the day before, which I think might have helped.
They sent me home with a catheter, which let me get a peaceful night's sleep not having to make a bathroom visit every hour. My goodness, what a lot of fluid comes out. And I must still be retaining some, because those 14 lbs gone are not showing up on the scale yet. I was apprehensive about the catheter, never having had one before (at least not while I was conscious), but the only uncomfortable part was the adhesive tape holding it onto my leg. Removing the tube in the morning was just as easy as promised. Now if only my bowels would get back into the program, I'd be feeling even better. Even taking Miralax, they haven't quite caught on yet.
Surgery was from about 10 - noon. They kept me in the recovery room until 6 p.m., longer than expected because my pulse rate was high (over 100). But since it was slowly going down and there weren't any other factors suggesting problems (fever, internal bleeding), they eventually chalked it up to reaction to the anaesthesia and sent me home. By bedtime it was down into the 70s as it normally is.
Feel free to ask questions if you're curious about anything. And thanks so much for all the good wishes!
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Excellent!
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Date: 2009-08-16 02:17 am (UTC)K.
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Date: 2009-08-15 05:02 am (UTC)Karen, take advantage of all the sympathy you can get! There's nothing worse than looking OK while feeling awful.
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Date: 2009-08-30 07:04 am (UTC)Congratulations on getting it done and over with. 14 pounds of fibroids! I saw on later posts that it seems to have made a difference in unexpected ways, very interesting.