As my post title implies, the surgery was a success and they did find Stage I Endometrios. The doctor said it’s very minimal, just some adhesions behind my uterus and a little to the right side… she said it “could be” the reason we haven’t conceived yet. But the point is that they’re THERE. I just felt a wash of relief – relief that the surgery wasn’t for nothing (it was elective, remember – I chose to do it), relief that we finally have some kind of answer.

But I’ll start from the beginning, because I want to remember everything. And maybe it’ll help someone else along the way. Please note this is going to be a long post!

This morning I set my alarm for 9:30am so I could have a shower, then Den could take one at 10. My alarm went off, I turned it off, thought to myself that I was getting up now… and then fell back asleep. I was dreaming about shopping, people… at a sale. I apparently didn’t want to wake up. ;) So at 5 to 10 Den rolls over and says, “NATALIE! GET UP! You’re supposed to be in the shower!!” Grump, nothing like awakening with a panicked start. So we both showered, I gathered my things and put them in the car, we took the dogs out and put them in their crates, then off we went.

We got there a little early, but I was fine with that. We went up to the surgery center and checked in with the receptionist and sat down to wait. I think we waited until about quarter to noon to get called. Someone took us to a “suite” – which is basically a central nurses station with rooms all the way around it. The rooms had glass doors, but a curtain you could pull across. She did the usual “spell your name, what’s your birthdate, why are you here,” thing, then told me to get dressed in the fashionable johnny. (She called it that, lol!) So I did, and put my clothes and my purse into a bag that they labelled and then put under my bed. Then she told me to go across to the bathroom and give her a small urine sample in a cup, which I did. Slight worries about my ass hanging out the back of that dress, but who really is looking anyways? And who cares? When I came back to our little room she had a heated blanket for me. I got on the bed and she wrapped me up tight with the warm blanket and another one on top of that. THAT was I think the nicest part of it all! Felt so cozy.

She got me to sign and initial a few papers just authorizing them to do the surgery and to bill our isurance. She hooked me up to an arm cuff to check my blood pressure (higher than usual at around 130/80 – because I was feeling nervous and anxious) and put a clip thing on my finger. After a bit she took those off.

Then she went to start an IV. This, by the way, is the part I was MOST worried about – and I said so. The actual surgery I wasn’t concerned about because I’d be asleep. The IV on the other hand? Major issue. Not just the pain… I can take a little pain. It’s just a mental issue I have with things poking into my skin. I had pierced ears when I was 12 years old for all of 2 weeks or so. They freaked me out so bad – just the thought and feeling of having somethign metal poking through my skin – that I took them out and have never done it again. So anyways the nurse said that you learn to love your IV because it constains your “happy juice,” lol.

She checked my veins first, said they were good ones. I’ve always had very visible veins. (However apparently that is not everything, as we shall find out.) So she took the back of my right hand and did some stuff with a needle (first a little needle with novacain, then a big one for the IV). She stuck it in while I gripped Den’s hand tightly with my other hand. She got good blood flow from it, she said, then she attached the IV and tested it. Now I wasn’t watching that hand, but from what I saw afterwards and how it hurt and what the nurse and Den said it blew up like a balloon. Irk. She said that was “not good,” and they couldn’t leave it like that so she’d have to try again. That was not what I wanted to hear. She bandaged up my hand and put pressure on it to stop the bleeding and man did it hurt! That is quite honestly the most painful thing I had all day.

So then she tried the inside of my right elbow. That one didn’t hurt much at all, just a little pinch. She never even hooked up the IV this time, just inserted the needle, and said that was no good either. Another bandage.

The anesthesiologist came in and said something to the effect of, “Oh dear.” They checked the rest of my veins and were mumbling about how they could find the veins just fine, but that they couldn’t get them threaded or something. So the anesthesiologist tried with a vein near the base of my left thumb on the side of my wrist. Tried that, got blood coming out, but then she said it “shut off”. They said something about veins having valves and that with mine they couldn’t tell where they were or something. I mentioned how I’m hoping not to get an IV during labor. The anesthesiologist said if I get an epidural I’ll have to, I told her I’m planning on not getting one. She said, “Oh in that case, you might be able to avoid it!” And this experience, to be perfectly blunt, has only underscored my desire to NOT have one!

At that point I was getting upset. I was trying to joke around and such, but I know Den could tell I was getting upset. I asked if they HAD to do an IV, and unfortunately they said yes – it was how they administered the anesthetic. :sigh: They decided to try with the back of my left wrist. I sternly told me veins that there was to be NO VALVE this time. I felt like if the fourth time didn’t work I was going to burst into tears. They were very apologetic the whole time, kept saying they were so sorry for putting me through all that.

I am VERY happy to report the fourth time WORKED. Back of my left hand. The nurse told the anesthesiologist that she tried to go “past” the valve – that doing that usually didn’t work, but in my case it did. Thank god!! So they got all that taped on and started IV liquids. Which did NOT hurt, unlike the first time!

Okay, so once the damn IV was placed the anesthesiologist talked to me about what she was going to do, what was going to happen. She left and we waited for the doctor to arrive. A obgyn resident came in and introduced herself and said she’d be assisting Dr. L. She was very nice. In fact, everyone I met today was very nice. I didn’t even hold a grudge against the nurse for using me as a pincushion, LOL. :) When Dr. L arrived she came in to see me and go over things again. She said I would have three incisions – one in my belly button, and two down lower, one on each side. She took a peek at my belly and wrote her initials next to my belly button. She said the marking is mostly important for when they’re operating on a limb – they want everyone to be on the same page as to which limb! – but in my case it was just a formality. She also introduced an ob student and asked if I would give permission to let the student palpate my uteruse while I was under. She said it gives the students a chance to see what it feels like but they only do it with permission. I said it was no problem at all – I mean, I’ll be asleep, and I’m happy to help out a student.

Shortly after that the nurse came back in and asked to see the marking so she could mark it down that yes it was done. Then the anesthesiologist came in and put something in my IV. It made me feel a little drunk. they put the sides up on my bed and started wheeling me out. I remember the motion made the world kind of spin, and Den said I said something to the effect of, “Ooooo, I’m feeling WOOZY!” which made everyone crack up. After that I think I remember being wheeled into an operating room. I remember thinking it wasn’t what I expected. And then I remember absolutely nothing. I must have gone under almost as soon as I got in there!

Next thing I remember I’m in a recovery room similar to the room that I started in (but in a different suite area). I remember looking across the suite to see a big clock on the wall and I was trying my damndest to read it, but the clock was floating everywhere and I was having a huge problem with reading it! I finally deciphered that it was 20 to 3pm. The next 20 minutes were me trying to wake up enough to be lucid. After a bit the nurse asked if I wanted some juice or crackers or anything, and I asked for water. My mouth felt like a giant cotton ball due to some of the medications and my voice was very frog-like thanks to the breathing tube that had been put in and taken out in the operating room.

Then she asked if I wanted my husband, and of course I said yes. (I hadn’t said anything when I woke up, but my first thought was, “Where’s Den?”) He game in and gave me a kiss and held my hand. I chatted with him but he said I was a bit slurry with my words. Over time I got better. There was a little TV up in the wall and I found the remote and volume… I turned it to a baby show. I was laying there still a little doped up from everything and my eyes got all watery at watching the little babies. I told Den how much I want to be a mommy and how very much I look forward to having a baby of my own. I also almost started crying when we talked about the stupid IVs – I told him how close I’d been to crying!

Den told me what the doctor had told him, that they’d found stage I endo behind my uterus and “burned” it out. I felt relief that there was something there, that it wasn’t just my imagination, that my periods really are painful for a reason. Den brought out some pictures they gave him… photos of my insides. Now I honestly can’t decipher much, but it’s cool that I have them. I’ll scan them later for anyone who’s interested, but they’re a little gross (at least to me!) so I’ll just post a link so people who really want to see can.

Periodically my arm cuff would inflate and check my blood pressure, which was still higher than my “usual” at 120/80. I also had a thingie on my fingertip and stickers on my chest. Den was watching my heartrate on the monitor and remarked that it kept missing a beat now and again – which is something it’s always done. Den always laughs when he puts his ear on my chest because he can hear my heartbeat thumping away and hopping and skipping. :) I mentioned it to the nurse who came in and she said it was pretty common and no big deal. Wow, neat, didn’t know that. :)

After a while I just wanted to go home. So did Den. I was still a wee bit woozy when I stood up, getting my underwear on was a little bit of a feat. My belly was/is still all stained from the iodine/disinfectant stuff they use – not sure how to get that off. I have bandaids over the three incisions. Dr. L said they use dissolvable sutures under the skin so I shouldn’t really be able to see anything anyways. Once the nurse was satisfied that I wasn’t going to pass out or anything she got me to sit down and she removed my IV (yippee!). I still have a bandaid. :) Then I pulled on my really ugly too-short sweatpants (but they are SO comfortable), my t-shirt and sweatshirt, then sat down while they pulled back the curtain and brought me a wheelchair. Den went out to pull the truck up to the curb while the nurse wheeled me down.

The ride home was a bit unpleasant. I was getting a bit of a short temper… it felt like Den was being a speed demon with all the starting and stopping and changing lanes, even though I know he was driving perfectly normally for him. I restrained myself from yelling at him. ;) I reclined myself back in my chair to help the shoulder pain the grew when I sat up, but laying down was uncomfortable too. I kind of split the difference. I just wanted to get home, fast. On the way home we stopped at the pharmacy… Den ran in to pick up my birth control refill, some milk (which we were out of), some whipped cream (for my jello!), saltine crackers because they taste good… but he forgot to look for a heat pad for my shoulders. :sigh: He asked me to repeat my list five times on the 20 minute drive home, neither of us knew why his brain just couldn’t seem to hold on to all five items. Oh well.

My shoulders were really hurting when I got home… Den gave me a neck massage that helped for a little bit and I took two advil. I crawled into bed with my three pillows propping me up and my laptop and some jello and whipped cream to eat. Boy was that good. My throat was/is still a little cottony so it can be hard to swallow things. The pets are all kind of pissing me off though… they keep trying to eat my food while I nap or when I go to the bathroom. And one dog won’t stop barking, even when I was napping. Grrr. I posted on a few forums to let them know I was home, then I just got so groggy I turned off the laptop and fell asleep for three hours.

When I woke up I felt better, though my throat sounded worse! As long as I stay laying down here my shoulders don’t hurt, which is a good thing… when I get up to go to the bathroom or kitchen I can feel the ache starting again though. I am SUPER bloated too…. majorly bloated. It’s a little uncomfortable. The back of my right hand is still a little sore from that one IV blow out. My incisions… I can tell they’re there, but they’re certainly not hurting.

So that’s that. A laparoscopy and Stage I Endometriosis. And I think I need another nap.