Goodbye Wonky Lady Parts!

Well. I did not die in surgery.
I really thought I was going to. And more often than not (as my family can attest!) I often am able to oddly predict things (though John always complains that I'm unable to predict the lottery numbers)

So all those Circus Peanuts, Twizzlers, ice cream, potato chips I ate thinking it was my last time on Earth, are now clinging to my thighs saying, "Haha, don't believe everything your "sick" sense tells you. Sick sense is like "sixth" sense - get it? Unless you are on Oxycodone you probably won't.

Anyway. I not only didn't die, but my surgery allegedly went fantastically. I was asleep, so what do I know? I had no adhesion's, and even my cysts had disappeared. UPDATE: 8/29/2014 - I received a copy of the pathology report, actually, I did, indeed have cysts. I had cysts in both fallopian tubes, in my follicles, and I also had fibroids and mild cystic cervicitis and benign basal endometrium (say that 5 times fast!). Remnants of the hemorrhagic cyst remained.
I am so glad that I asked for the report, because had I not, I would have wondered if the CAT scans had been wrong, if the pain had been in my head, etc... End of Update 8/29/2014

WHAT?

Dr. Ianieri assured me that cysts pop up and go away quickly, so this made me rethink everything. Perhaps all the abdominal pain had been the cysts coming/going. It's just a bit odd since one box of tampons has lasted me 2 years.

I'm praying giving my lady parts the boot will resolve the lower left abdominal pain. If not. I'm done. I'm tired of being poked, prodded, and that getting a second opinion often is so opposite from the first opinion that a third opinion is required.

Anyway, back to surgery:

Doylestown staff is quite awesome. For the most part. I mean, nothing is perfect (other than, of course, my Jewish Apple Cake) , I try to keep that in mind. Nurses/staff prior to surgery, in recovery, and in my room, were awesome.

I came out of anesthesia and I didn't feel that bad! As the night wore on, however, I spiked a fever, started having irregular heartbeats (oddly prior to surgery, my heart was smooth and not spazzing out!)

(I did go into an arrhythmia under anethisa, but they were able to take care of it. I know this only because someone told be while in recovery. I was a bit spaced out, so I'm not sure exactly what happened, but would have loved to have been given paperwork so I could share it with my cardiologist and keep it in my file. They gave me my blood work results when I was discharged (which I thought was great! Didn't even have to ask!) and my red cells and hemoglobin were down - my white cells were all over the place. I expected that, though. I've finally come to understand this is simply how my body reacts to infection/injury.)

I felt so horrible as the night wore on, I considered asking them to put me in a coma until my body adjusted itself. But then my fever went down, my heart stopped being irritable, and I was able to watch the Food Network so all was good.

I felt much better as the morning wore on. I was eating! Eggs! Bacon! Pizza! Then I went home. Slept all of Saturday. Sunday was horrible. My fever came back, the only thing I could eat were popsicles and then I promptly threw them all up.

Thank God for Ambien. I went to sleep that night, woke up Monday, and my fever was gone. I was now walking without pain and by Tuesday, I could lie on my sides in bed. Today - 7 days after surgery, and the pain is hardly noticeable. I'm dying to walk Jack (who has been pouting since last Friday when I skipped his daily walk - the first time since June!) but he weighs like, 80 pounds, and he pulls (bad training - I know this is my fault!). My anemia has set in, however, and this is the frustrating part. After I do anything minimal; dishes, walk (I'm up to 10 houses), shower, I have to take a break. I have shortness of breath (almost feels like a chest cold). But no fever. And so, other than WANTING to do more but not wanting to overdo it and make recovery longer, I'm doing fantastic - if I do say so myself.

This has been a crazy journey. Learned so many things (good and bad) about navigating the medical system - how important communication is (and how lacking it can be which only adds to more grief!).

Most importantly, I think I've FINALLY learned how to spell Dr. Ianieri's last name. Ian. IE (i before e), RI (Rhode Island).  Pronouncing it, however, is still a bit tricky.

Love Dr. Ianieri!!

These Are OR Scrubs...Oh, Are They?

The pains in my lower left side - let's just call it what it is, my freaking ovary - though never really left, started to rage again in early July.
To the point where, if I didn't have pain meds, I would be ending up in the ER again. I made an appointment with Dr. Ianieri. My blood pressure was so low, the nurse called in another nurse to take my blood pressure - 90/60.
I assured them it was normally low - perhaps not THAT low, but it wasn't too far off and I didn't think they should be pulling out the MAST pants.
Dr. Ianieri and I discussed the hysterectomy again. I voiced my concern that the cyst didn't seem to have gone away and I was not getting my period - maybe we should just go ahead and take everything out.
She agreed.
I did mention I was worried about my wonky heart history during surgery and my low red cell counts, but she said if the cardiac docs had given the green light, it shouldn't be a problem.
She asked me to get another ultrasound just to see where things were. We scheduled the appoinment for September.
On 7/25 I got another ultrasound.
Now, when I went in, the tech said, "You're having right sided pain?"
And I explained, no, it was left side. It has always been left side, but ONE medical record from 9/12/13 mistakenly noted that it was right flank pain.
I also explained I'd had a cyst that measure the same dimensions on CAT scans done on 9/12/13 and on 3/13/14 but that an ultrasound on 3/4/14 had missed the cyst.

Well, there was a cyst on my left ovary. This report said it was complex and hemorrhagic and just about the same size as what the CAT scans had reported. The 7/25 report said it was a "new" cyst, but how can they tell? I mean, possibly, but it seems strange that I'm not getting periods yet I'm frequently getting cysts on my ovaries and have constant pain - just some days worse than others with back pain  and shooting pain down my leg. I asked to move the surgery up. With the ongoing pain and now that the cyst was complex, better to get it out asap.

I wondered if perhaps this is what was causing my blood work to be off? Could it be that my body kept trying to fight the cyst?

On July 25th - I had a pre-op meeting with Dr. Ianieri. John came with me. I had questions and concerns: Is the low red cell count anything to worry about? No.
I asked about the cyst being new (are we sure it's not the same cyst that's been there since at least last September?) - she said that cysts come and go with periods. I had to remind her I wasn't getting my period. Which gave me some anxiety. Then she talked to me about what we were going to remove during the surgery as if suggesting we take it all, when I'd already agreed to that. She assured me I didn't have cancer. When John and I left, I was totally anxiety ridden.
It was almost as if she had totally forgotten our previous appointments.
"You're just nervous. Remember you said you totally liked her just a few weeks ago."
And I had. And I did. I do.
I had preadmissions blood work and an EKG done and the blood test results showed my red cells had come up to just the acceptable bottom limit, but now my white cells are low. Geez lousie.
But I am concerned that I'm still having palpations. That my red blood cells are still struggling. I'm petrified I'm going to go into cardiac arrest during surgery. Or that my body will shut down after surgery.
The good thing is, I've been eating Oreos and Twizzlers and really appreciating each day. I've been stocking up on trash magazines to read in the optimistic hope I will recover and I'm actually excited I'll be able to watch REAL TV in my hospital room. I'm excited Katie is going to be staying with me and making ME dinner for a change (nothing to exotic, just comfort food like Spaghettios with franks and Kraft mac n cheese).
And as John reminds me, it could be worse...it could be WAY WORSE: I could be living in a prison in China where they shoot the prisoners and then don't even bother to knock them out while they have student doctors try to repair them.
That John, always the eternal voice of rationality.