First Laparoscopy, official diagnosis
Had my first laparoscopy today, and I'm officially diagnosed with endometriosis. Here is my experience, for those who are interested.
I had to be at the hospital at 5:30AM, which was rough, since I didn't get to sleep until 1:30! But, I had my mom to drive me, and I knew I'd be asleep for a few hours during the surgery, so it wasn't too bad.
When we got to the hospital, I was taken to the presurgical testing area, and my mom was asked to wait in the waiting room. I changed into a gown and slippy socks, and took out my nose ring and navel ring. They checked my vital signs and did a last minute pregnancy test. They inserted an IV, asked loads of questions, and went over the consent forms with me. My mom was brought back in, and I was taken in a wheelchair to a holding area, where I got situated on a stretcher, put my hair in one of those sexy showercap things, and had my IV hooked up to some lactated ringer's solution (isotonic solution with electrolytes). My mom noticed a huge bubble in my IV line, and luckily she's a nurse and knew how to stop it immediately. She called a nurse, who disconnected me and got the air out. Another nurse stopped by to tell me my surgery was scheduled in an 80 minute slot, so I shouldn't be under too long. Then, the anesthesiologist came and talked to me about the procedure, asked me more questions, and told me my doctor was running late due to an emergency. He finally arrived at 8:00 (my procedure was supposed to start at 7:30). He drew some marks on my stomach, and we were ready to go.
I said goodbye to my mom, and was wheeled into the operating room. On the way, the anesthesiologist added something to my IV to relax me. It kicked in pretty fast, and I was giggling to myself as I was being prepped. Everything seemed funny. It's a teaching hospital, so there were lots of people in the room assisting and observing. They put EKG electrodes all over me, and EEG electrodes on my head. They put bands around my calves that inflated and deflated to keep my circulation up, and put a blood pressure cuff on my arm. A mask was placed over my nose and mouth, and at first was just oxygen. I was asked to begin taking deep breaths.
Next thing I knew, I was waking up in the recovery room. I didn't feel terrible, but I was shaking uncontrollably, and my teeth were chattering. The nurse brought me some lovely warm blankets, and they helped a lot. I didn't have any nausea but I was in a fair amount of pain just under my diaphragm. I rated it a 4 on a scale of 1-10, and they gave me some IV Fentanyl, which worked very quickly. I heard someone saying I'd had a Foley catheter, and that they'd found some endometriosis, but I couldn't really focus and couldn't remember who said it. I drifted in and out for about a half hour before I was alert enough to be disconnected from the monitors and given some ice chips for my sore throat. It felt like they intubated me with barbed wire! I was very hoarse, and felt like I had strep throat.
As soon as I was able to sit up and be helped into a wheelchair, I met up with my mom and was taken back down to the presurgical area to continue my recovery. They had me sit in a large reclining chair with a blanket, and gave me apple juice and some cookies. My mouth was incredibly dry, and I had to take a sip of juice with every bite or else I couldn't swallow. After about 30 minutes, the nurse helped me to the bathroom and I was able to urinate. After that, they let me get dressed and gave me my discharge papers. We finally left at about noon. I was wheeled out to the parking garage, after which I was able to walk to the car without help (although my mother hovered around, looking like she was ready to catch me). My stomach felt a bit tight and sore, but I could walk just fine.
We stopped at a Burger King, and I got a chocolate shake to ease my sore throat. I had brought a pillow in the car with me (I found so much good advice here!), and that helped a lot with the bumpy ride. Before I left in the morning, I had set up a spot on the couch for myself with pillows, blankets, dvds, books, a soft nightgown, etc, so I had a nice comfy place to go when I got home. I ate some lunch, let my fiance and my best friend know that I was home and all was well...then took a Percocet and was able to nap for about 2.5 hours.
When I woke up, I was having some shoulder pain, and my abdomen was very sore. I found that walking around made the pain worse, but lying flat made it much better. I watched a few episodes of House and sucked on some cough drops. After dinner, I felt a bit nauseated, but took some meclizine and that worked. I took another 2 hour nap, but I still feel very tired. I'm not in a lot of pain right now, and all in all I really feel a lot better than I expected to. The worst part is the sore throat and the itching from the Percocet.
The doctor didn't get a chance to talk to me, but he told my mother that he found 2 small spots of endometriosis on the left side of my cul-de-sac. I know that the extent of endometriosis rarely correlates with the degree of pain, but I really expected there to be more. The camera they were using malfunctioned, though, so I won't be getting any pictures :( . I have three incisions... one in my belly button, one two inches higher and to the left, and one in the center of my lower abdomen. The two peripheral incisions don't hurt much at all, but the one in my navel is very sore. It's actually so far in there that I can't get a good look at it!
He also said that after 3 cycles, I'll need to decide whether or not to do a course of Lupron. I'm leaning towards no, but we'll see how it goes. I have the next 2 weeks off from work, and I plan on lying around reading, watching TV, and relaxing. Not a bad deal!
I had to be at the hospital at 5:30AM, which was rough, since I didn't get to sleep until 1:30! But, I had my mom to drive me, and I knew I'd be asleep for a few hours during the surgery, so it wasn't too bad.
When we got to the hospital, I was taken to the presurgical testing area, and my mom was asked to wait in the waiting room. I changed into a gown and slippy socks, and took out my nose ring and navel ring. They checked my vital signs and did a last minute pregnancy test. They inserted an IV, asked loads of questions, and went over the consent forms with me. My mom was brought back in, and I was taken in a wheelchair to a holding area, where I got situated on a stretcher, put my hair in one of those sexy showercap things, and had my IV hooked up to some lactated ringer's solution (isotonic solution with electrolytes). My mom noticed a huge bubble in my IV line, and luckily she's a nurse and knew how to stop it immediately. She called a nurse, who disconnected me and got the air out. Another nurse stopped by to tell me my surgery was scheduled in an 80 minute slot, so I shouldn't be under too long. Then, the anesthesiologist came and talked to me about the procedure, asked me more questions, and told me my doctor was running late due to an emergency. He finally arrived at 8:00 (my procedure was supposed to start at 7:30). He drew some marks on my stomach, and we were ready to go.
I said goodbye to my mom, and was wheeled into the operating room. On the way, the anesthesiologist added something to my IV to relax me. It kicked in pretty fast, and I was giggling to myself as I was being prepped. Everything seemed funny. It's a teaching hospital, so there were lots of people in the room assisting and observing. They put EKG electrodes all over me, and EEG electrodes on my head. They put bands around my calves that inflated and deflated to keep my circulation up, and put a blood pressure cuff on my arm. A mask was placed over my nose and mouth, and at first was just oxygen. I was asked to begin taking deep breaths.
Next thing I knew, I was waking up in the recovery room. I didn't feel terrible, but I was shaking uncontrollably, and my teeth were chattering. The nurse brought me some lovely warm blankets, and they helped a lot. I didn't have any nausea but I was in a fair amount of pain just under my diaphragm. I rated it a 4 on a scale of 1-10, and they gave me some IV Fentanyl, which worked very quickly. I heard someone saying I'd had a Foley catheter, and that they'd found some endometriosis, but I couldn't really focus and couldn't remember who said it. I drifted in and out for about a half hour before I was alert enough to be disconnected from the monitors and given some ice chips for my sore throat. It felt like they intubated me with barbed wire! I was very hoarse, and felt like I had strep throat.
As soon as I was able to sit up and be helped into a wheelchair, I met up with my mom and was taken back down to the presurgical area to continue my recovery. They had me sit in a large reclining chair with a blanket, and gave me apple juice and some cookies. My mouth was incredibly dry, and I had to take a sip of juice with every bite or else I couldn't swallow. After about 30 minutes, the nurse helped me to the bathroom and I was able to urinate. After that, they let me get dressed and gave me my discharge papers. We finally left at about noon. I was wheeled out to the parking garage, after which I was able to walk to the car without help (although my mother hovered around, looking like she was ready to catch me). My stomach felt a bit tight and sore, but I could walk just fine.
We stopped at a Burger King, and I got a chocolate shake to ease my sore throat. I had brought a pillow in the car with me (I found so much good advice here!), and that helped a lot with the bumpy ride. Before I left in the morning, I had set up a spot on the couch for myself with pillows, blankets, dvds, books, a soft nightgown, etc, so I had a nice comfy place to go when I got home. I ate some lunch, let my fiance and my best friend know that I was home and all was well...then took a Percocet and was able to nap for about 2.5 hours.
When I woke up, I was having some shoulder pain, and my abdomen was very sore. I found that walking around made the pain worse, but lying flat made it much better. I watched a few episodes of House and sucked on some cough drops. After dinner, I felt a bit nauseated, but took some meclizine and that worked. I took another 2 hour nap, but I still feel very tired. I'm not in a lot of pain right now, and all in all I really feel a lot better than I expected to. The worst part is the sore throat and the itching from the Percocet.
The doctor didn't get a chance to talk to me, but he told my mother that he found 2 small spots of endometriosis on the left side of my cul-de-sac. I know that the extent of endometriosis rarely correlates with the degree of pain, but I really expected there to be more. The camera they were using malfunctioned, though, so I won't be getting any pictures :( . I have three incisions... one in my belly button, one two inches higher and to the left, and one in the center of my lower abdomen. The two peripheral incisions don't hurt much at all, but the one in my navel is very sore. It's actually so far in there that I can't get a good look at it!
He also said that after 3 cycles, I'll need to decide whether or not to do a course of Lupron. I'm leaning towards no, but we'll see how it goes. I have the next 2 weeks off from work, and I plan on lying around reading, watching TV, and relaxing. Not a bad deal!