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Post by 1234 on Oct 9, 2012 6:04:47 GMT -5
Oh dear, i dont mean to worry folks! it's not like I was racing around. I have a touring bike, with mountain bike wheels/tires and an enormous gear range (see picture, though my current tires are knobblier.) So I can essentially bike with no effort if needed, and certainly no stress on the abdomen, just letting the legs fall slowly below my pelvis. I was just happy I could sit on the bike more easily with my cul de sac unobliterated. I went around the block at a speed of about 1 mph. I assume doing that is gentler than being in a car?
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Post by Karen on Oct 9, 2012 17:48:17 GMT -5
Still!!! I worry about you. I know you're a bad-ass bike rider, but still - can you imagine if you over-did it and something happened that prolonged your recovery?? Think about how long it'd take for a deep cut on your finger to heal - and then multiply it by a gazillion! I'm thrilled that you had no pain, but please, don't find out any more of those little nuggets of excitement until your body is good and ready!!!
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Post by loveshoes on Oct 9, 2012 20:08:08 GMT -5
I think you should sit your arse on the couch and just rest, never mind the biking super girl! Rest rest rest! LOL!
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Post by semicolon on Oct 10, 2012 19:15:08 GMT -5
Jump on the unicycle today? I hope so!!
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Post by 1234 on Oct 10, 2012 19:22:37 GMT -5
god I would kill myself on a unicycle. NO coordination. But still behaving myself...
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Post by loveshoes on Oct 10, 2012 19:58:48 GMT -5
Jump on the unicycle today? I hope so!! Aw, LOL, too funny! We just want you to heal up, then you can bike to your hearts content! Hope you're feeling good today!
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Post by JC on Oct 11, 2012 4:20:45 GMT -5
Jump on the unicycle today? I hope so!! HAHA! That's so funny!
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Post by 1234 on Oct 14, 2012 10:03:47 GMT -5
So I had my postop appt. I am amazed at everything that they took out of me. It was over 10 pounds of stuff. Yes. Pretty insane. It is sort of hard to list everything that they took out without boring you all, but here are the highlights: 1. I had several deep lesions on the bottom of my right lung and a largish endometrioma, all disguised by scar tissue, wedged against the lung and right rib cage. 2. Cul de sac totally obliterated and now reconstructed. Apparently the lesions had actually grown through the vagina at a few points and so I now have two holes in my vagina. Well, they are healing and I have stitches. So maybe they aren't holes anymore. I have to say, one of the oddest feelings post surgery is all the damn space behind my vagina. It feels so airy and flapping in the breeze back there! 3. Each ovary had several cysts (total of 9) and some of them were quite large. My right ovary was stuck to the cecum and my left ovary was stuck behind my uterus, with all of those cysts contributing to the Cul de sac issue. 4. He excavated lots of my intestines, removing very deep lesions. He had to take out about 1.5 feet of the large intestine and 3 feet of the small intestine, but he also saved a lot. 5. Gallbladder is gone, appendix went in the previous surgery. 6. Endometrioma on both pancreas and liver. 7. Deep lesions on bladder and ureters. And get this girls, endo INSIDE the bladder! He said that this is common in women with deeply invasive endo in the retroperitneum (sp?). 8. Lesions on uterine ligaments. 9. Apparently another reason I've been feeling so awful the few weeks before my surgery is an endometrioma on my right ovary had gotten so squeezed w the adhesions that it burst, and there was blood pooling around. Dr. B was joking that when he first looked in and saw all of the adhesions and the blood he nearly closed my back up and called Mr. Wolf (pulp fiction). Apparently the first step was cutting the adhesions apart and vacuuming up the blood so they could start excavating. The other thing Dr. Belizan said is that my endo was among the deepest he has ever seen, as far as going through so many layers of muscle and membrane. He tlked a lot about the differences between "superficial" and "deeply invasive" endo, and apparently I have the latter. He is cautious, saying that this is a very frustrating disease, but he also said that he thinks he got it all for now. Of course, my propensity to produce cysts and endometrioma is concerning...but he did say that I "excavate well" I gather that to mean that he is good at dissecting endo out. So, that's that. I absolutely love dr. Belizan. Jenaya, I cannot thank you enough for finding him and sharing. I want to give you both enormous hugs. Well, at least 5"1.5' hugs. That's all I got!
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Post by Karen on Oct 14, 2012 10:32:32 GMT -5
WOW. Kristen, how you managed to live with all of that going on inside you is beyond amazing. Although I give you credit for pushing through it for so long, I'd be terrified about what would happen if you had gone even a bit longer without a lap!
How are you feeling now? Still feeling well? I really, really, really Dr. B's skills will give you some long-lasting results!
I'm curious - now that your cul-de-sac is cleared out, do you have hopes for less painful sex??
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Post by hellsbells on Oct 14, 2012 10:55:36 GMT -5
My mind is blown. Totally. Holy crap babe. I really hope you get some relief now.
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Post by 1234 on Oct 14, 2012 13:20:21 GMT -5
OMG on the sex point, I cannot believe what I did. I went to the hospital for gyn surgery with my diaphragm in!!! I was so embarrassed. Dr Belizan handed it back to me a few days later with the comment, "you might need this again." it was such a ridiculous redneck thing to do. So horrible. But it just slipped my mind that morning. It was really early. But I hope sex is better. I hope everything is better. I have no idea how I was surviving either. I feel so much better now. I was just so sick and in so much pain. But I think that is part of the curse of a disease that is progressive. You just don't realize how sick you are because it progresses slowly, and you develop the ability to handle it slowly too. I sort of feel like one of those trees that are bent to hell and warped by vines twisting them. But I am in so much less pain and so much less sick. I hope I get a break for a bit. It is so nice to feel better. However i cant try out my salvaged diaphragm for a bit. At least another month while the stitches in my vagina dissolve and that heals.
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Post by Karen on Oct 14, 2012 13:53:23 GMT -5
OMG, how embarrassing!!!!!! Ha ha, at least he had a sense of humor about it!!
Let's hope you heal up nice and well so you can get it on pain free!
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Post by hellsbells on Oct 14, 2012 15:34:29 GMT -5
Kinda funny. Well, very funny! x
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Post by semicolon on Oct 14, 2012 16:02:32 GMT -5
Holy f, Rust! You had such a mess in there!! I like this doc, I was laughing out loud about the Wolf reference. And nice of him to return the diaphragm . I'm surprised he didn't immediately announce his retirement after sewing you up! I'm sure he is going to be very interested to see how you recover and feel. Does he do regular obgyn stuff too, like annual exams and paps? Oh man, this is gong to be a decent recovery so be sure to remind yourself of that now and then (might be good to have a copy of the op report to read now and then when you get either discouraged or too gung-ho!). After my colon resection I got the ok for sex at my follow up around week 5 from the colon doc (the lead surgeon), then the obgyn surgeon chastised me when she saw me the following week because she has patients wait until week 6 after oophorectomy. I told her since I didn't shatter to pieces I think it was fine. I was sore in the abdomen, not going to lie... But I hope for you it will be a heck of a lot better now!
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Post by JC on Oct 14, 2012 17:36:20 GMT -5
OH. MY. GOD. This is probably the worst endo case I have ever heard of. How the hell did you live like this!? My mind is seriously blown.
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