Well hello everyone, I thought since I have made it past the 2 week recovery mark I should update all of you as to how the surgery went, and how recovery has been for me.
The surgery went off without a stitch ( literally, they used dermabond instead ) it was about 1 and 1/2 hours long and I was very definitely asleep throughout the entire procedure, and very groggy upon comng out of recovery, the post op. nurse kept asking me questions like : How is your pain? How are you feeling? and all I could think of was, I don't know. Once I was awake, I was thirsty, then hungry, then nauseous, and HOT! I had little footies on my feet and about 2 blankets and I kept asking for a fan. Apparently most folks are cold after being out for a few hours but not me. I wanted the squeezey compression things on my legs off, the footies off, and I traded the blankets for a nice cool sheet instead. They gave me something for the nausea and I was more than ready to be out of the hospital. They discharged me and I went straight home minus two cysts ( the huge cyst was as big as a 2 liter bottle and full of jelly like fluid and the doctor said it has been growing a long time maybe even 10 years) and a fallopian tube. Everyone was really tired, my hubby was exhausted and my mom too. I had a sore dry throat from being intubated but the first night all I could do was sleep, not in too much pain, just a little sore. I had band-aids on the surgical sites - 4 in all and was instructed not to remove them, just to wait til they fell off, and I was definitely experiencing some brusing but all in all I felt pretty good. I barely took any pain meds. My biggest complaint out of everything were the gas pains, which were more bothersome than the actual surgical sites. For those of you who don't know, when you have a laparoscopic procedure they fill you up with CO2 gas, so they have room to work, they do remove most of that when they finish the surgery however there is always some residual that hides under the diaphram and irritates the nerve that runs into your shoulder and throbs. It was so bad one night that I just cried and cried, the pain meds weren't touching it and I was comfortable as can be sitting up but when I tried to lay down to go to sleep the bubble floated to the top and caused some pretty ouchy pain. It was that night that I "googled" for hours trying to find tips and tricks on how to alleviate the gas pains and luckily there were some great forums that I found that recommended just what I needed. The next night I got some Gas-X strips and did a lot of gum chewing and then the pains finally started to go away. The hospital said it takes about 2 days to re-absorb back into the body but mine was more like 3 days, by day 4 I was ready to get outta the house and visit my favorite location - Deseret Industries, which I did but found myself dizzy on occasion and decided I wasn't as recovered as I had thought.
My mom was wonderful to stick around for about 3 days and help un-pack boxes and make sense of all the clutter of moving, and she made me food, and made sure we had clean clothes, and also provided comic relief that made me realize I had abs again ( before I felt a little like Santa with his bowl full of jelly). She purchased groceries, cleaned the bathroom, let the dog in and out for me and kept me company. It was nice to spend some time together, and we are so thankful that we lived close enough that she could help us out. It made Kevin feel a lot better having to go back to work knowing that I was taken care of, and me too. Thanks again mom!
Also, thanks to the rest of you who offered prayers in mine and my family's behalf, sent a card, dropped off a package or even offered to carry over a meal. We appreciate it, so very much and definitely have felt the love!
It's been 2 weeks and I am feeling good. I have more energy and stamina and less back and hip pain and am not complaining about the smaller size of my midsection. I would say, I am down at least a 1/2 size and maybe lost around 8 lbs just having had the surgery. I feel skinny again, well as skinny as a plus sized gal can feel. The bruises are almost all gone and the 4 little scalpel slices are practially all the way healed. I've been able to in the last few days even get some major organizing done around here, and have felt up to cooking actual meals - not just making sandwiches or the warm it up kind of stuff. It's been great.
But then. . . this past Saturday the medical bills arrived. Yikes! Everyone wants a piece of our pie, which has already been served up to quite a few others already. We didn't qualify for financial assitance due to exceeding the income limit and now we are looking at right around $13,000 dollars of medical bills for being uninsured and having one trip to the ER, one trip to the doctors office, and one surgery, and of course it's not like you can just make one single payment. Each person wants their own amount and I don't care what you say, some of them are not that willing to work with you on payments. This morning Kevin made a bunch of calls to all of the medical money mongers, and only 1 in the list was willing to accept whatever we could afford every month. There was one kind lady at the hospital who did say we could appeal our case for financial assistance to the main people in charge in Salt Lake City and explain in more depth that even though it says we are making X amount of money per month, that is not our winter income amount and that we do have other bills, a house to sell, rent, car payment etc... But it's hard not to think about that amount and get a little down, considering that is less than what we owe on our 2 major credit cards combined and to think it was only from 3 days of medical care! I wish I could have racked up that much debt and had something exciting to show for it, like a couple of babies. I mean, for that amount we could have paid for the delivery of at least 2-4 children.
Which brings me to my next topic : BABIES! I am 31, and I already decided once we made this move that I was not going to wait any longer for babies. My biological clock is ticking away faster than ever and it doesn't help that some of my good friends have just given birth to some very CUTE bright red, wrinkley, tiny toed miracles . Now that the ugly old cyst is out of there, there is plenty of room for at least one little baby, and I am eager to get one on the way. I mean if I can tote around an old ugly cyst for years and have nearly all the hormonal issues of a pregnant woman, I figure I'm all set and know what I'm in for, so bring it on! Since the surgery my appetite for food has decreased and my appetite for baby apparel and accessories has increased. For years and years It seemed impossible, unattainable, and unachieveable but now - it seems like it's closer than ever. As long as the cysts can stay gone, and everything else can function properly maybe by next year we could have our own tiny toed miracle to call our own! And as my mom joked I can get PG in PG ( Pleasant Grove ) We have to wait until the insurance has kicked in on October 1st, and pray in the mean time that we can get our home sold and get these medical bills under control, but then maybe just maybe the Robinsons can finally have a baby.
But until then, I guess I'll still have babies and bills on the brain. . .
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