Freedom

For those that might not have known... I had two out-patient procedures in February that failed. The first one (done at my doctor's clinic under anesthesia) had a major complication... causing failure. The second attempt (done at the hospital under anesthesia) failed also... stemming from the complication caused at the first attempt.

I agreed to try this procedure in an attempt to stop some "female" issues I was having and hopefully avoid a hysterectomy. But... the out-patient procedure was a "two strikes you're out" thing... after two failed attempts, I had no other options but to have a hysterectomy!

Things kind of snowballed out of control, and two weeks before my hysterectomy I had further complications. I was put on medication in an attempt to keep things under control and myself out of the hospital until surgery. While I was an emotional roller coaster from the meds, I at least stayed out of the hospital until surgery day.

I was very emotional and nervous before the surgery... having been through two failed out-patient procedures with complications, I didn't believe I had a very good track record going. Luckily I have a good husband and some great friends and family that kept my spirits up in the weeks before surgery.

Day of surgery, my hubby and parents saw me off as I was wheeled away to what I knew as "la la land". I woke up in recovery without crying (yeah! no crying!!), but in more pain than I had anticipated... once they gave me pain meds I guess I about went back under... I remember the nurses kept telling me, "breathe, Bonnie, breathe!" Apparently I was breathing, but very shallow... so I stayed in recovering a bit longer than originally planned. When they were wheeling me out to head to a hospital room, one of the nurses told me she was glad to see I had decided to breathe! HA!

I ended up in a room by myself with a view. So no roommate for me! The quiet was nice... as I was very tired. I slept the afternoon away. In less than 12 hours after surgery I was up walking laps... it felt good to get out of bed, and if I could prove to the nurses I could get up and walk, I could get the catheter out! That was motivation enough for me!

Sleeping at the hospital wasn't restful... getting woke up every couple hours to have vitals taken, getting more anti-inflammatory meds pushed in my IV (which ALWAYS stung!), etc., etc. got old pretty quick. Just when I thought I'd get a block of time to sleep they came in and took my blood! Ugh!

At one point a nurse asked me how many times I had used the self-administering pain meds... I had my own special button to push and the pain meds would automatically go into my IV. It had been five hours I told her, and she told me to "stop being so brave!" "Use the meds," she told me... but I told her that I felt pretty good and didn't really think I needed them... and she told me she'd had a hysterectomy and knew what the pain was like... then she said, "well... maybe you've been dealing with a lot before the surgery and now this pain doesn't seem so bad." And I think that pretty much describes it... I'd been dealing with so much before the surgery, that the pain from the surgery just didn't seem all that bad!

So... I'm home and doing well... I'm taking it slow and easy for at least 6 weeks. I just have to make sure Rilee doesn't pounce on my tummy for awhile! She was soooo excited when I came home! She's a cuddler and loves to climb all over me!

Everything considered, I feel great and am happy to have the surgery behind me and say goodbye to all the problems I was having! Hello freedom!