|
Post by AussieBird on Mar 12, 2007 18:31:26 GMT -5
hello precious ones well my lap is tomorrow and its during menses... great, right? WELL!!! How could i forget the little note on the bowel prep instructions that said no painkiller except paracetamol?? Paracetamol is as effective as M&Ms for me. This is one of the worst days of my life. i was supposed to take my lax at 7:30am and even though i got up at 7, i was in way too much pain to eat, and in the end i could only eat a few biscuits, but its now 10 that i started the lax. (Was meant to have a big brekky cos i wont be eating again until tomorrow night) i feel awful right now and its the best i've felt all day. earlier i was hurting so much that i couldnt move a signle part of my body without making the pain worse. i felt like i was going to throw up. i was whimpering like a puppy (when i was not simply bawling my eyes out) oh, and also on the lax info... dont take during severe abdominal pain! hello! thats what im having the surgery for! this better be worth it!!!!!!! thanks for lisetning
|
|
|
Post by cherry on Mar 12, 2007 19:18:34 GMT -5
Hey AussieBird, can totally understand the whole thing about paracetamol, esp as your pain is around your period. I think we all have been in the sort of pain that food is not interesting at all, even though you know you need to eat to take meds etc The sort of pain where you think what is that noise, and you realise it's you, and you're lying somewhere odd but don't want to move. I don't get that regular or often, so I feel for you suffering this every month and needing the painkillers that you can't take. And the times when you realise your body is very much connected and that even flexing your arm makes it so much worse. I really do feel for you and hope you feel better asap. What is your lap for? I really hope it goes well and they get as much done as possible to give you some relief from all this. Don't forget your video to record the lap, your requests of what they can and can't do and your secret snacks for after your op. And that anti sickness injection during the op would probably save you being sick while you're feeling so terrible! I'll say you a prayer xx
|
|
|
Post by ouchy on Mar 12, 2007 20:02:50 GMT -5
Hey, AussieBird! Sorry you are feeling so icky! Understandably, though! One good thing about being on your period for the lap is that your doc. is more likely to find the endo, as it will be bleeding. ...That's probably the only good thing about that, though. Anyway, sorry that you couldn't stomach any food. I bet you're going to be starving by tomorrow night!!! Speedy recovery, though!!!! Keep us posted!
|
|
|
Post by AussieBird on Mar 12, 2007 20:45:24 GMT -5
Thank you ladies!! I will definitely keep you posted... once I'm out I guess I'll post my bit in the laparoscopy stories thread. Cherry, thank you SO much for praying for me! I am feeling a lot better than I had been. I guess I never realised just how much pain my periods caused... because I would definitely take painkiller at the first sign of strong pain... so I only usually have to endure it for half an hour as it kicks in... and I get a muted version in the last hour or two while I'm waiting until I am allowed to take some more... yeah, so these last 2 days have been a real eye opener for me!! My lap is an operative one to remove some cysts on my ovaries and also to excise as much endo as is found... there is limited mobility suggesting (somehow) that my ovaries, bowel and uterus are fused together in the pouch of douglas. My doctor will be having fun. It's my first lap. I would have had endo undiagnosed & untreated for the last 10-15yrs. I can't wait to talk to my doc afterwards, and to start feeling like a new woman after I've healed up. Hoping hoping hoping!! Oh, and thanks for the tips Cherry
|
|
|
Post by kb on Mar 13, 2007 1:22:04 GMT -5
Ill be thinking of you tomorrow Aussiebird, hope it all goes well. Sorry to hear uve been so sick, no fun at all.
Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.
|
|
|
Post by cherry on Mar 19, 2007 13:15:07 GMT -5
Hi AussieBird how did it all go, hope you feel it was worth it after all that! xx
|
|
|
Post by angelas on Mar 19, 2007 15:25:12 GMT -5
Hi! I am looking forward to hearing about how you are doing after everything! I am hoping you are recovering comfortably and that the results are the ones you hoped for! Please let us all know!
|
|
|
Post by AussieBird on Mar 19, 2007 18:34:50 GMT -5
Thanks girls! Well, it's good and bad now. The good news is that the procedure went well and the nurses were great and my cuts are tiny and I have hardly any pain and I am almost feeling recovered already. I love my doctor. (I posted my hospital experience in the Laparoscopy Stories thread) Unfortunately - I need another op because my bowel is all messed up so I need a bowel specialist. My endo is among the worst my doc has seen, and he has been specialising in endo alone for the last 10-15yrs. I am counting down the days until my post-op appt on the 3rd so that I can get all the extra details of how it went and what will be happening next. Will be sure to let you know I already feel a lot better with more energy, even though my bowel is still in bad shape and I'm dealing with constipation & its associated woes. Even right after the sugery, my belly felt in LESS pain than it had when I went in because I had just had a bad couple of days with period pain, and the tenderness from that disappeared after surgery. Actually my whole period seemed to disappear, no complaints here! Thanks for your support everyone xoxox
|
|
|
Post by ouchy on Mar 19, 2007 18:40:59 GMT -5
Huhu, Aussie!!! That's how I was. I felt even better waking up in the recovery room after the surgery than I did when I went in for the surgery itself, before an incision had even been made. I'm so glad there are some positive experiences out there!!!!
|
|
|
Post by angelas on Mar 20, 2007 10:13:27 GMT -5
It is wonderful to hear about the postitives! Especially for those of us who have surgeries up and coming! I'll be sure to read all about your hospital stay in the other thread! Glad to hear you are feeling good too despite the bowel issues!
|
|
|
Post by AussieBird on Apr 3, 2007 8:21:11 GMT -5
Here is an update on my story for those who are interested. For starters, the extra energy only lasted a few days. Maybe I was just hyped up from the excitement of my stay in hospital, or maybe I felt good because my bowel got a fresh start after the pre-op laxatives. Anyway, I must have overdone it with family visits, shopping and a wedding because I ended up feeling really exhausted and I still do. I feel kind of burnt out, simple things like cooking or buying some groceries just seem like more than I can handle. It's been 3 weeks. I had my follow up appt today. My doc said he was hoping we wouldn't have to have this conversation, but my bowel was in a dreadful state. I wrote about it in the Bowel Resection thread. My surgery is 5 months away. After my surgery I will know whether I have stage 4 or 5 endo, but my doc is expecting 5. One of my ovaries was mobilised, cyst/s removed and is partially functional and the other is in worse shape and is still stuck to my bowel for now (its cyst was drained). I asked what size my cysts were and he said "B.I.G.", and then he said approx 6 or 7 cm. I asked where my endo was and he said everywhere except my bladder, so despite that being bad news, it sure is a relief to know that my bladder and tubes are fine atleast. He said that the pain I have when emptying my bladder would be related to nerves that are underneath the bladder (something like that anyway). He said endo can be cut out of lots of places with speedy recovery but the bowel, bladder & urethra are very fussy and don't like being messed with. I also have adenomyosis. He said my endo is likely to come back, but that I should be in much better shape for atleast a while after this surgery. He said I shouldn't expect to feel a whole lot better after the lap I had, most of my problems are probably because of the pouch of douglas / cul-de-sac / rectovaginal septum (whatever u want to call it, sounds like its the same thing) section because it's filled up with fused body parts. So I should get my relief after that's been attended to. He hasn't hesitated to tell me my situation is pretty bad and use words like "major corrective surgery pending" and "severe pouch of douglas disease" and "extensive issues" etc. He also wears a pretty sympathetic facial expression when he talks about it. I'm really glad he is so straight-up with me. He also explains things really well, with diagrams and analogies, and if I don't understand he finds another way to explain it. I like him a lot. He said that if I get pregnant, a vaginal delivery would be much better than a caesarian because the caesar could attract endo scar tissue to grow around that area. Well, that's all I can think of for now. In general I am noticing more endo woes than ever before, it must have been getting worse in the last several months. Well actually, non-bowel ordinary period pain isnt as bad as it was in my youth and neither is the heaviness/clotting. I am about to have my first post-lap period so I'm hoping it won't be as bad as I was warned it could be. I will be meeting with the bowel specialist soon so I guess I will have more to say then.
|
|
|
Post by ouchy on Apr 3, 2007 9:44:22 GMT -5
Hi. Wow. Yah, I'm glad he was straight-up w/ you, too, although it does sound like a lot to deal with at one time!
How did he know you have adenomyosis? Englarged uterus? That is a good clue, but it's not usually diagnosed until the path report comes back after a hysterectomy.
Gosh! I hope you do get to have a vaginal birth. That is something I've been scared of actually, since I found out about endo! I'm also scared that if I do have to have a c-section, that the doctor will forget and stitch up my tummy with the same needle, and then I'll have a big wad of endo externally that will bleed each month. Ugh! What we have to deal with!
Anyway, good luck w/ everything. I can say that I had TONS of pain relief from having the endo removed from my bowels and having them freed up. I didn't have resection, unfortunately, but I did have a good surgeon w/ the laser.
P.S. Take many short naps! They help wonders! xoxox
|
|
|
Post by angelas on Apr 3, 2007 11:48:28 GMT -5
I am so glad you shared your story here!! I have been doing a lot of thinking (and posting) about what really goes on in there. Regardless of the signals you get from your body, there always tends to be something a little surprising going on! I am so happy to hear you have such a wonderful doctor as well!! Its about time theres one out there! ahhahaa! It must make you feel a lot better to know that no matter what is going on, you are in very good hands and you will be taken care of. I look forward to reading all your updates in the upcoming months! Take care for now!
|
|
|
Post by AussieBird on Apr 3, 2007 23:18:52 GMT -5
Thank you so much, ladies. Your support means ever so much to me. Yeah, well I only really heard of endometriosis on 15th Feb, so it's been a really intense couple of months for me. I don't really know, our time ran out before we were able to cover the adenomyosis stuff as thoroughly as I would have liked to. A report says "Hysteroscopy revealed features consistent with adenomyosis with a relatively rigid retroverted uterus". In the summary section it said "Significant adenomyosis and endometriosis with definite rectal involvement". Tell me about it! I hope I get to have children. I'm not scared of labour pains at all after having endo. What the??!! Does that happen??!! It definitely does! ;D
|
|
|
Post by ouchy on Apr 3, 2007 23:27:36 GMT -5
How did you quote like that??? I've been trying to figure out how to do that!!!
|
|