My Laparoscopic Journey

I always knew surgery would be a possibility but in the back of my mind I kept hoping that we wouldn't need it this time around either.  At the end of July I went back to my doctor and she did a general ultrasound.

The tech was freaked out at how many she saw and the size of them (I seem to send all my ultrasound techs into a little bit of a shock).  I know I'm not a freak of nature but they seemed to think I was.  Anyway my doctor was a little concerned and gave me the option to have surgery then or wait a couple of months.  As much as I wanted to get it done right then there were some factors I just couldn't get over.  Michael was deployed and I had no idea how long it would take to get word to him that I was having surgery.  Also we were three weeks away from the movers coming to get all of our stuff and heading down to California.  So I decided to wait until we got to our next place to see a doctor.  It was a good thing because Michael ended up coming home 3 weeks later than expected AFTER the movers came.  That's another story that we can now laugh about.

Things moved pretty fast when we got settled in California and I got set up with the right doctors.  Another ultrasound and MRI showed that the cysts had grown and multiplied.  They were also concerned that they might be tumors so I had blood work done and thankfully it came back negative. As soon as my doctor saw all of my test results she was very firm about me needing surgery as soon as possible.  She was very concerned that my ovaries were damaged and wanted to act fast.  Two weeks later I showed up at the hospital for surgery.

I had no idea what was going to happen.  I couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that they would put me to sleep and I would have no decision making abilities in any way, but I knew that this was the right thing to do.  I knew that for some reason I needed to have this surgery done and God set it all up for this exact time.  I couldn't eat or drink the day before the surgery so my veins were so tiny.  The nurse had to prick me three times before they got the IV in.  I hate getting IV's and it stung like crazy but I kept telling myself "This will all be worth it in the end when you're holding another baby."

My doctor had no idea what to expect either.  During my prep she said we will try everything to send you home today but you will probably have to spend the night and head home tomorrow.  When she looked at me I could tell her heart was breaking for me.  That or she felt sorry for me.  Probably a little of both.

So they wheeled me away from Michael and I tried to think of something witty to say to him but I drew a blank.  I was in a pre-operating room waiting my turn and all the nurses were off doing something else.  It was my first time alone and I was trying everything to hold it together.  I needed my nurse friends there to make jokes and keep things light.  As I sat there I kept hearing the words "Be brave," so that's what I decided to do.  I had to be brave.  So much was depending on it.

I woke up a few hours later feeling the effects of the breathing tube and catheter being pulled out.  I also felt like I had been punched in the stomach 100 times.  My doctor came to visit saying that the surgery went well and that I would get to go home in a couple of hours.

After the surgery I found out what happened.  Apparently after my c-section with Anna I had an infection that I didn't know about.  It caused so much scar tissue to grow that it was lining everything and had wrapped itself around my tubes.  There were also several more cysts than originally showed up on my tests.  Thankfully the doctor was able to get most of it out.  If I had waited any longer to get this surgery done the scar tissue could have done so much more damage.  Also there was absolutely no damage to the ovaries which was amazing.  They have no idea what caused this but are confident it won't return.  So the surgery brought good and challenging news.  Now we wait to see if the tubes are damaged or not and go from there.

It was another opportunity to trust God's plans for us.  Thankfully my wonderful mom came out for ten days to help with Anna and Michael was in his first quarter of grad school so he was able to be there for everything.  It's amazing to see how perfect the timing of it all was.

So now we will continue to be brave waiting for the unknown news that will tell us what is next.