Surgery and Recovery

Boy it's been a long time since I have posted here. Time does fly when you are having fun (and not feeling sick or in pain). I pretty much spent the last month or so enjoying being with my kids, homeschooling, going to the beach, relaxing by the pool, swimming with my kids, going to birthday parties, and overall just enjoying being mostly pain free.

Other than the occasional Fibromyalgia flare up, the only pain I had was the nagging pain caused by my ovarian cysts. Over the last few months we have been closely monitoring them by ultrasound and I have been taking supplements to help shrink them. The largest one at almost 7cm ruptured and healed only to be replaced by another 6cm one a month later. That one was on my right ovary along with a smaller 2 cm one. On my left ovary there was a small 1 cm one. Two weeks ago I saw my OB and we decided it was best to remove my right ovary because the 6cm cyst was actually INSIDE my fallopian tube, or at least was left of it from my previous removal of my uterus in 2010. And it was started to cause me real uncomfortable pain and pressure. Laparascopic surgery was scheduled for Monday June 20th. While I was waiting to go into the OR, my OB and I decided at the very last minute to go ahead and also remove the left ovary. We both figured that because I already had a small cyst on the left side, I had a pretty high chance of having another surgery in a year or so to remove that one anyways, so best to get it all removed at the same time to avoid the risk of another surgery. So now all of my reproductive organs are gone. I have 4 new 1 inch sized incisions across my belly to add to the hip to hip scar and the three other 1 inch sized scars from my previous surgeries. And I get to wear a small 2 inch clear hormonal patch until I actually go into menopause. This was the first time (remember I have had 7 major abdominal surgeries before this) that I wasn't scared going into the surgery. I actually felt peaceful about it. I just kept meditating on the Doxology "Praise God from Whom all blessings flow, praise Him all creatures here below, praise Him above ye Heavenly host, praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost". As soon I started repeating these words from God, I truly felt a warm peace enter my heart and then the rest of my body. But I am still human so I did have some worries: 1) the care of my children and husband during my recovery 2) how my body would adjust to not having my ovaries to trigger hormone production and getting used to bio identical hormones and 3) having to take opiates for pain control after surgery and if I would go through withdrawals again when I stopped taking them. I knew I would have to take Hydromorphone through a pump into my IV while I stayed in the hospital. I also knew that I would be prescribed Percocet, my arch nemesis from my previous withdrawals, for at home pain control. I totally thought that because I was having a laparascopic surgery, I would have some pain for a couple of days and then be over it. That was how it was during my previous laparascopic surgeries. This one through me for a loop! Hardly any pain immediately after surgery. Day 2 I had to push the button for my IV pain meds about 8 times. Day 3 I was at home and ended up taking 5 Percocet to keep the pain at bay. Today was Day 4 and I finally feel like my post surgery pain is 95% gone. But like all my post surgery recoveries, as soon as my physical pain is gone the Fibromyalgia pain comes full force. So I took 1 Percocet this morning for post surgery pain, and then 2 percocet the rest of the day for Fibromyalgia pain. My plan for tomorrow is to not take any Percocet and just deal with whatever Fibro pain comes my way. I CANNOT get hooked on Percocet again! I will increase my natural pain supplements, try to walk a few minutes on the treadmill, sit out in the warm sun, and cry my eyes out if I have to...but I don't want to take anymore Percocet. So keep me in your prayers the next few days.

Happy Birthday to my Baby Girl!

Today my Baby Girl turns 4! I am so blessed to have been chosen by God to be her Mommy! As per our family tradition, I woke her up this morning singing "Happy Birthday" to her. She yawned and gave me a BIG smile and said "Yay! It's my birfffday!" We gave her our presents this morning. A HUGE Fisher Price Dollhouse complete with tons of little dolls, furniture, and accessories. Thank you Craigslist for saving me a bundle on this. I think I spent about $100 on all her gifts. I think the dollhouse itself would have been over $100 if I bought it brand new. I wasn't sure that she would really like it, but she has been playing with it all morning :). It's such a wonderful sound to hear her pretend play :). I love little girls giggly voices! Tonight she gets a little birthday cake and gets to open her package from my in-laws. Then in 2 weeks a party with all her friends at Pump It Up. Healthwise I have been feeling better everyday. Today is my first official day "Back to Normal" schedule. I dropped my son off at his charter school at 8am, came home and ran some laundry, walked/jogged on the treadmill for 30 minutes, played dollhouse with my daughter, ate breakfast, took my supplements, checked my emails, and am now blogging while I wait for the pool repair guy to fix our pool pump. In the last two weeks we have replaced our over the range microwave ($500), spent $350 for my Integrative Specialist appointments and all my supplements, and now the pool pump motor went out so out goes another $500. Thank goodness we got our tax refund last week! I can't complain though since we havent had to replace anything since we moved into this house 5 years ago. Both the pool pump and the microwave were 10 years old. I am still taking supplements to elevate my mood for minor depression (hello, with all I have gone through no wonder I get emotional), liver detox, greens drink (gotta get my fiber), Ceralin Forte to improve my mental brain neuron connectivity (I think we all need a little help in this area..lol!), Anti inflammatory, and now I have added back in Orthobiotic (a really good probiotic) and Omega 3 fish oil capsules. I swear I take a lot of capsules everyday! Let me count: 15 in the morning, 6 at lunch, 11 after dinner. BUT they help my body to heal and feel better so I guess I will have to suck it up (or rather suck them down) like a big girl. And it's not like I have to take them forever, just until my body can regulate and manage itself in a healthy manner. I also had an ultrasound done last week for my ovarian cyst. The one on the right side went from 6.8 cm down to 3.8 cm. But they found another one on my left side that is 2 cm in diameter. SO I will have another ultrasound done in 5 weeks to monitor them. In a couple of days I will also start taking an Iodine supplement to help heal the ovarian cysts. Things I am happy about today:
1) The Lakers won last night so are 3-1 in the first round of the playoff series against New Orleans. Yes we are Laker fans in this home!
2) It's my cute little girls 4th birthday today!
3) Taking my little girl to the GNI (Gluten Not Included) Bakery in Escondido for a birthday treat for lunch..yay!
4) Looking forward to taking my daughter to her friends M & T's birthday party at Build A Bear on Saturday.
5) I actually jogged a whole quarter of a lap on the treadmill today during my 30 minute workout. That's the farthest I have jogged in about 2 years! I have been walking between 1 and 2 miles about 5 days a week the last 2 weeks.
6) The sun is finally out! We had 2 weeks of overcast or rain all day. I am loving the sun and the warmth!

Have a good week everyone!