Percocet is my friend

As I was sitting in the surgery prep area my eyes wandered around, checking out other patients and doctors hurrying down the halls.  I was bored and there was nothing to do as I sat and waited for them to roll me into the OR.  My ears perked up to eavesdrop on whoever was talking within earshot.   A doctor arrived to speak with the man who was prepping next to me. They were talking about the tumor in his lung and the doctor kept asking his patient if he's explained to his family just how serious this was.  He talked to him about the possibility of losing a lung and how he would have to spend a lot of time recovering in the ICU.  Suddenly everything was put into perspective.

The nervousness of my own procedure seemed to disappear.  My reason for being at the hospital that day didn't even come close to his.  I prayed for him and I continue to pray for him.  My recovery is nothing compared to his and I continually remind myself of that.  I am blessed.

I was in the OR for about an hour, so they tell me.  My doctor was able to remove the cyst on my left ovary and he saved 90% of the ovary.  I have no idea what that means just yet but I hope it means that it's still capable of producing eggs.  He also removed the endometriosis that I had but again, not sure of the specifics.  There was also a fibroid hiding out in there that no one knew about.  My doc evicted that pesky thing as well.  I don't know specifics because I wasn't the one who talked to him after surgery.  While I was in stage 1 recovery my doctor went out to speak to David about the surgery and how it went and gave him a picture of my ovary, fibroid and uterus.  I'm sure he appreciated that! 

Anyway, since David talked to him he didn't know all the questions that I had wanted to ask.  So, I have to wait until my follow-up appointment to find out all the details, no biggie.

When I finally made it to stage 2 recovery I was able to see David and he gave me a kiss.  Almost immediately after that he showed me the photo of my insides.  Um, yeah...not something that I wanted to see so soon after coming out of anesthesia!

So, the surgery went as smoothly as it could and recovery while in the hospital was pretty easy.  My nurses were incredible and made me feel so at ease and made me smile through the whole process. I gave my main nurse a hug right before I left.  Great nurses really make all the difference.

Once I got home I quickly realized that the worst pain I would be feeling for the next 2 days wouldn't necessarily be from the surgery itself but the gas that they injected.  David has had to help me get in and out of bed and moving around makes the pain that much worse. I was in excruciating pain from it and there was nothing I could take to relieve it.  I just had to ride it out.  I'm still riding it out but the worst is over.  I can't take deep breaths yet and every now and then I'll let out a tiny scream of pain.   But again, perspective.  There are so many others out there recovering from much more serious surgeries so I keep trying to remind myself of that when I start to whine.