The surgery was scheduled for Tuesday, October 5th. We drove to Bend, Oregon on the 3rd, met Corey's folks, set up their camper trailer at the hospital's free RV park, had a lovely dinner, and said good bye to them and Zoe. Little did I know that dinner would be my last for more than 2 weeks.
Monday, I met with Dr. Redwine, the surgeon who would perform the surgery. He had already reviewed my medical records and description of what I had been dealing with. After an examination, we concluded that a full hysterectomy would indeed be the best outcome for me. To add to that, he would be removing all endometriosis, which would likely include some form of a bowel resection, not likely a full resection, but it was possible. After a few other appointments in preparation for the surgery, we were sent off to the grocery store for the items necessary to begin my bowel prep...yeah, fun! We found it amusing to have to purchase all these items, and so I just had to take a photo for memories, haha!
I made it through that day and night, and it really wasn't all that bad. We were to report to the hospital for surgery at 7:30 a.m. There was one surgery before me. I was to be in surgery around 9 a.m., and the surgery was suppose to last about 4 hours. Well, the one before me went longer than planned...fine with us, as we prefer to know that he is doing his job well and not rushing through. We were at complete peace as we waited, and I was finally wheeled into the OR around 12:30. The surgery began at 12:45 and ended at 8:39...yep, almost eight hours . . . a very long time for everyone waiting to hear, especially for Corey in the waiting room. A very long time by anyone's standards!
Dr. Redwine said it was a mess in there. It was planned to be a laparoscopic procedure - no big incision, but because of the "mess" in there, after working for over an hour, he had to open me up. Now, before you get upset and wonder, "What in the world?" Know that Dr. Redwine is a very experienced Doctor. He's been doing this for almost 30 years. People come from all over the world - New Zealand, Africa, Europe (so the many nurses at the hospital told me) - to see him. All the nurses even talked about what a great Doctor he is. They even joke not to give him too much credit so he doesn't get a bigger head :0) Anyway, he says that I was in the top 2% of his worst cases. He did the full hysterectomy, removed a whole lot of endo, and also had to remove two eight inch sections of my bowels. Whew! So, now I see why God led us to him, and why this is what had to be done. Praise Jesus all that junk us gone!
Well, this was only the beginning of our adventures...things were going about how they should considering the situation. I woke up in extreme pain, it was brought under control, and I slept through the night. Honestly, besides the waking in pain and being wheeled to my room, I really don't remember that night at all. I had lost a lot of blood, and the next day, they gave me 3 units. The pain was difficult to manage at first, but we were able to get past that with some better drugs once the blood was all infused. Then came the waiting for the insides to "wake up" - yep, had to get those bowels moving! I couldn't eat or drink anything - ice chips only - until they woke up. Friday evening was the happy time, and I got my first apple juice - mmmmmm, it tasted SO good!
So, even though I had originally expected to be headed home by this time, I was now at lest on my way outta there, right? I was allowed "full fluids" a couple days later, and I began feeling nauseated. This was so much harder than I ever expected! I prayed for God's strength. The Doctor talked about us being out of there maybe Monday. I still felt SO nauseous, though, and my bladder wasn't working either. Well, after Corey and I talked it over, we decided that I could be nauseous in the hospital or nauseous in the camper, it didn't really matter...there wasn't much to do but wait it out. So, when we chatted with Dr. Redwine on Monday, and he suggested discharge, we said yep, let's do it. First, though, I had to learn how to straight catheter, because my bladder wasn't working. That was the beginning of a very rough couple of days. Figuring that out was very stressful because of my condition at the time. I was quite traumatized, and I STILL felt nauseous when we were discharged that evening! I was a wreck, exhausted and weak...I just didn't know how I was going to get through.
I went to sleep that night, and when I awoke to take my pain meds, I felt SO sick...I began dry heaving. UGH! With an incision - SO painful, so painful!!! I could not eat anything, and therefore could not take my meds. We called the Dr., and he told us to go to the ER. I was readmitted and put on bed rest with NO food or drink. We both knew this would be over...sometime...but WHEN? "Oh Lord, give us strength to endure!" was our cry. This day, Tuesday, was our lowest point. We were both drained and discouraged.
That day I was pretty much overcome by nausea, a feeling I don't ever wan to feel again. After they had given me several different medicines to combat it, they gave me some stuff that pretty much knocked me out. I was glad to be knocked out of my misery! We were blessed by a visit from Corey's parents and Zoe (they had visited several times, and Corey's brother and his family had as well - how nice it was to have them near). I am so very grateful for their care of Zoe - we had so much overwhelming us, and we didn't have to be concerned about her because we knew she was well taken care of. I also thank God for our friends and family that prayed and blessed us tremendously with their encouragement, both near and through the internet - email and facebook. Praise the Lord for Wi-Fi and a laptop so far away from many of our loved ones! It would have been so much more difficult without you all!
The next day, since I was not able to take in food, Dr. Redwine decided that I really needed to go ahead with the PICC line - to have IV food since my body was without food for more than 8 days - going into starvation mode. Whew, I had no idea before this what a PICC line was, and I must say that it was quite intimidating - to have a catheter put into a major vein in my arm and snaked up to my heart! The procedure went very well - only the pain of the first prick, and then I no longer had the pain of IVs! YAY - I had had four different IV sites since the beginning, and they were hurting me! AND, I learned that I most likely know several people who have had a PICC line. It was a very cool procedure to get to see, and I am thankful that all went well!
The IV food was nourishing me 24 hours/day, and I began to feel strengthened by the next day...if only my insides would do their thing so we could go home! I was getting tired of walking around with IVs, having to get up several times at night to use the bathroom while dragging an IV trolley with me, being awakened by nurses or CNAs, not getting a real shower (having a drain hanging from my incision as well as IVs holding the tiny shower curtain open while being showered with warm - not hot - water, shivering, just so I could at least feel kind of clean), wearing a lovely gown, etc. Oh, I certainly had to remind myself that I had it better than some! But oh, how I longed to be out of there!
Well, things did finally get going...I was on fluids again by Saturday, but the process seemed so slow - felt nauseous and backed off, then up to full fluids by Sunday with no problems. And, well, Monday was the day. . .DISCHARGED! Ah, what a great day! It was beautiful outside, and we took a short walk in the SUN, and drove up to a butte and just sat there in the warm sun. I still had a few set backs with food, but things were put on track quickly. We saw Dr. Redwine on Wednesday and were on the road home before noon. It felt SO good to walk into our home that night! HOME...home. There is still a lot of recovery to come - my bladder still doesn't work fully on it's own, and my body is probably going to take many months before I can say it's "normal". It can be discouraging at times. BUT, I am very thankful for a real shower, my own bed, more sleep, my family together . . . and just to be HOME. I keep wondering just how great my eternal home will be.
Well, it's late, and although I really want to share more of the blessing part, I must get to bed. I'm sure this is enough reading for y'all anyway :0) More soon . . .
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