I Lost My Uterus!!!!!

Ok, I admit it. I am a wimp!!! I said it, wimp.

When it comes to: pain, shots, doctors, sitting still. Yep, WIMP!!!

I want to warn you before you go any further, you will see a picture of my uterus, it is soooo coooooool. But if you are squeamish, well, deal with it!

I am officially a Hyster Sister. And I honestly do not know how I would have made it through without their website. So please, if you know ANYONE who is going through “female” issues please refer them to the Hyster Sisters website. 

They will thank you!!

Let me tell you what the number one thing I could not do without through all of this, Sweet Man. 

You see him? Well he is worth his weight in gold, wooooweeeee, I hit the jackpot. If you have been reading my blog, you know that he was husband number one. I am here to tell you that he is now HUSBAND #1. Ladies, hands off, he is mine and I will fight you over him! This man has absolutely amazed me (like I should have ever wondered). He has done it all. He has dressed me, fed me, pampered me, slept on the couch so he could be near me and not roll over on me in bed, then he slept with me in a queen bed (this was a sacrifice, we have not slept in a queen bed in years). He has swept, mopped, vacuumed, dusted, laundry, fed the dogs, ran our baby to school, practices, church, gym. He has went grocery shopping, handled our business calls, made appointments, went to the bank, changed sheets. I am sure I am missing a lot!! Gesh, I am tired just writing it.

I had to be at the hospital at 5 am (really?). Surgery was set for 7am. My sweet man and my baby girl went with me. I did not get to see them (surgery and recovery) but our dear friends Al and Sue came and my mom (ok Danny’s mom),Carol, came. THANK YOU all. It meant so much to all of us. Anytime you go through a major surgery, it is a bit overwhelming. And especially for me (did I mention I was a wimp), this was my first real surgery, and it was a doozy.

They took me back to prep me, I got the cutest gown :/, beautiful compression stockings (double :/), cool socks, and a nifty cap. The coolest thing ever was that there were vents in my gown and attached to a fan that I could control hot, cold, warm, whatever. Yes!! But the coolness was about to end. My sweet nurse came in, with a big rubber band (great we are going to make sling shots!!) but then I saw them, needles! Lots of them!! Me and needles, nope not good. The main reason, they are not fun for me. I have very tiny veins and taking blood or having an iv inserted is a big hairy deal. She did good on the iv for my left hand, she could not pull blood but got the iv in. Due to the type of surgery I was having (the DiVinci Hysterectomy), I had to have 2 ivs. So over to the right side of my body. My one good vein just kept rolling, she tried 4 times and had to call in another nurse. It took her a few minutes but she was able to thread it in my right hand. Now I got to have my husband and baby come in with me. My doctor also showed up. Dr. Odom is AWESOME!! If you live in central Florida and need an ob/gyn, call her. I thank God for her because up until 2 months ago, I had never met her. My doctor of many years retired early this year and Dr. Odom took over his patients. How was I suppose to know that I was about to get an expert in my procedure. 

Thank you Dr. Odom!!

So now was time for 20 other people to come in to my pre surgery area. Assistants, nurses, anesthesiologists. I felt really important!

Here I am pre surgery:

My daughter was ready, she had a video camera all set. She wanted to make her momma a you tube sensation. How you ask? She was hoping to catch me in all of my loopiness. Too bad for all of us, she never got to see it. The last thing I remember is my husband and daughter kissing me, praying for me. Then I woke up to at least 10 people around me dropping something heavy on my chest. I heard people say “Diane we have to xray you”. Turns out, with the DiVinci, I am slightly inverted on the operating table and they fill my stomach to the max with gas. I am fairly thin up top. Since I have no fat, there was nothing to insulate the gas from going up under my skin. So at first I had some big gas bubbles under my skin, looked like the packaging wrap that the kids (ok I do too) love to pop. After time they went to tinier bubbles. Seriously, it felt and sounded exactly like rice crispies and lasted for about 4 days. My friend, Lori, got to feel it and she about jumped out of her skin, it was pretty funny. Because of the gas, I was in recovery for about 4 hours. Surgery lasted about 3 hours. I had all sorts of wires hooked up to me, I had automatic compression wraps on my legs (they would inflate and deflate every few minutes), this was to prevent blood clots. Needles, blankets, they did take my cool cap L. They finally brought my sweet man in for a quick visit while they were trying to decide what to do with me. I am high maintenance. I made it to a room and was hungry!! Yeah!! I knew I had to pee and eat without throwing up before I could go home, so let’s get this show on the road. I did really great. I got a neat breathing tube, another pair of warm socks, a great big cup with a straw for my water and a box of tissues. I left without my cervix, uterus, fallopian tubes, 2 grapefruit sized fibroids and a small cyst cut off of one of my ovaries. Ovaries are white btw, did not know that. You too can have all this for an estimated $20,000 (I have not gotten final totals). 

Here is a picture of my uterus and fibroids:

They were still unsure if I was going home, they wanted me to stay a little while to keep an eye on the bubbles. Since I was an oddity, I had a resident come in to check them out, she had only read about them. You should have seen the excitement on her face. 

My doctor and her resident who assisted came in and visited me. She said my surgery was wonderful and she did not expect and problems. She hugged me and was on her way. Sure enough, I was able after one final xray to check to bubbles to go home about 9pm. Wonderful insurance does not allow you to stay more than 23 hours, I think I did pretty darn good at 16 hours.

One of my other blessings was my baby girl. Abi has stepped up and helped every way possible. This sweet girl even shaved my legs and dressed me. What 17 year old does this? I will tell you, MY 17 YEAR OLD!! She has waited on me every moment she could. I have never been so proud to be her mom. Well I have been but this was like the cherry on the whipped cream. 
Did I mention that God has big plans for this pretty girl? Well I am mentioning it now, He does and I can not wait to see what it is.

Here is my baby girl!

We had our spare room all set up for my recovery. My sweet man did not want me climbing stairs. I think I may stay here, just joking, not really :/ I have everything, check out my view:

 Each time my honey had to leave the house, he makes sure I have water, pain pills, remote, mouse, snacks, you name it. I am stocked!! 
Then there is all of the blessings we had in people making and bring us food. 
I am going to continue this blog because there is so much more. But look forward to a great recipe that one of my dear friends made for us last week.

Peace and EnJoy!!