Rudimentary Horn Removal/Pregnancy Removal

Surgery is over. I'm recovering. It was a long, boring, and emotional day.

Not that I would really know what it felt like, but when I left the house for surgery, I kind of felt that I was going off to have a baby. Which in a totally twisted sense I was. I had packed an overnight bag because my RE said there was a decent chance I would have to stay overnight. I wasn't really feeling much of anything then: scared, nervous, or sad. I was just thirsty since I couldn't have anything to drink since after midnight.

I was supposed to get there around 10:30 and we got there a little after 10. I got registered and then waited. And waited some more. Some older lady was sitting near us with her husband and her 40-somethings daughter. I commented on something the older lady said. Shortly after that, she and her husband headed off to pre-op and the daughter decided to start up a very lengthy conversation with me. She just kept going on and on and I just let her go because it was far more entertaining to hear her ramble on than it would have been to just sit there. She told me all about her mom's surgery and her family dynamics and her kids. I nodded and smiled and did my best to hide my rolling eyes. She asked me what I was there for, you know, because it is perfectly okay to ask strangers in the waiting room for their medical history. I said something about having female issues and needing some tissue in my abdomen removed. Somehow the conversation moved on to childbirth and I said I never saw either of my kids born since they were adopted. Then she started going on and on about her sister going through infertility treatment and how she had the opposite problem and was a "fertile myrtle" and just thought about getting pregnant and she was. I thought about slapping her at that point but instead chose to turn to DH and give a very obvious eye roll. Seriously?? I just told this woman I have two adopted kids and female problems I'm having surgery on and all she can say is how she gets knocked up so easily. Thankfully right after that a nurse came out and told her she could join her mom in pre-op.

It was almost 11:30 when I finally got to go back to pre-op. I gave a urine sample and got undressed. Right after that someone came in to give me an IV. Then we waited some more. There are little TVs in the pre-op room. Hooray for that! We watched TV for about 2 hours while we waited some more. At some point the anesthesiologist came in to go over some things. He was kind of funny. Then my RE came in. He said that I might have some shoulder pain if they did things laparascopically and pumped me up with air. The shoulder pain was one of the worst things post-surgery. That and the sore throat I had from the tube down my throat. And the busted lip I got from the tube down my throat. I asked my RE how long I should suspect to wait until I got AF again. He said my HCG levels will have to drop way down but I should definitely get my period in at least 4 weeks. I kept trying to focus on the future and not what was presently going on and asked him when we could start trying again. He said as soon as my period shows up we can try again since they weren't messing around with anything in my actual uterus. We will see what happens but I think I might give it an extra month just to make sure my hormones are in check and my body is functioning normally. I was pretty much fine with everything that was going on up to that point. DH asked him how long surgery would take and he said it would probably be 2-3 hours. My RE kept saying stuff about staying overnight like it was a likely thing, which was not the impressions I originally got. Then he went on to tell DH that if he was going to go to the cafeteria to get some food, to bring it right back to the waiting room and eat there because if something came up or there was an emergency he wanted to tell him right away and wouldn't be able to find him if he was somewhere else in the hospital. Emergency?? Something came up?? I didn't realize that was a possibility. I mean, I know that it is always a possibility but never a big enough possibility that my RE needs to tell DH to make sure he sticks around.

I think someone else from anesthesia came in. She had to slow down my IV drip because I had been waiting for so long that it was almost empty. She was only the second person all day that asked me what I was allergic to and what happened when I took it. I was a little disappointed that that wasn't the most asked question this time around. The most asked question was, "What are you having surgery for today?" I had no clue how to answer that one. I told some people that I was having my rudimentary horn removed, which I am sure mostly confused them. I told at least one person I had an ectopic pregnancy, because essentially that is what it is, although more extensive since they were planning on removing a big chunk of me and not just the pregnancy. I told someone else I have having a piece of my uterus removed. I figured it didn't really matter too much what I said. My RE was the one leading the surgery and he knew what he was doing.

Around 1:30, someone from anesthesia came in to take me to the OR. I gave hugs and kisses to DH and choked up a little. They shot me up with some drugs to relax me on the ride down to the OR. It didn't make me feel nearly as drunk and loopy as it did last time and I was a little disappointed. I remember being in the OR much better this time. I was really amazed by just how many huge lights they have in there. I don't remember being moved from the gurney thing to the operating table but they must have moved me or had me slide over myself. Then they were strapping my arms down. Someone put an oxygen mask on my face which made it really hard to breathe. They took it off. Put it back on and it was stabbing me in the eye. The funny anesthesiologist said something about giving me medicine through the oxygen mask and then I was in the recovery area.

I was in the worst pain I had ever been in. There was a nurse near me and I wanted to tell her to give me drugs but I hurt so bad I couldn't even speak. I wiggled my toes to make sure no one accidentally amputated my legs. They hadn't. I got myself a little orientated since I had just been in there 3 months ago and located a clock. It was 3:17. I figured that was good news since the surgery apparently didn't take that long. About 10 minutes passed and at last the nurse asked me on a scale of 1-10, what was my level of pain. I said, "A lot." She shot me up with something in my IV. A couple minutes later she came over with what she said was percocet. (I had asked my RE to prescribe that for me again since it worked well last time.) The nurse said that when the IV meds started wearing off, the percocet should start setting in. I felt much better pretty quickly. I felt my belly and could feel three bandages. My RE had hoped to be able to do everything through one incision in my belly button but said he might have to make a larger incision in my side (a laparotomy?). Turns out I have four incisions this time (belly button, bikini line right below my bellybutton, and one on each side by my hips). I asked the nurse if I would be going home that day. She said I was. Then I spent the rest of my time in phase 1 recovery crying. Often sobbing. It was over. All these years of trying to have a baby or at least not trying to prevent it. It finally happened and it was gone. I walked in the hospital that morning pregnant, carrying this tiny little growing person inside me and then I was alone. The nurse came around several times but never spoke to me or asked me if I was okay. I was glad.

Finally the nurse said it was time to move to phase 2 recovery. I stopped to pee but was unsuccessful. The nurse told me to pull this string when I was done so she could come help me. I pulled the shit out of that string but no one came. I washed my hands and still nothing. So, I started to venture out to the hall and finally she arrived. She took me to a room in phase 2 recovery with a recliner and got that all set up for me. (Last time they just sat me in the chair and left. I had to yell at them to recline my chair since having my legs dangling there were killing my stomach.) She brought me some cran-grape juice on crushed ice which was the most delicious thing ever. It was like a slushy. She left and I cried. Then DH walked in and asked me what was wrong. Then I really really cried and told him I was sad. We held hands for a bit. He told me how much he loves me and how thankful he is for me and our two boys. I've known for years how much it sucks to have my screwed up uterus but I've also been thankful for it too. Without it I wouldn't have my two boys and I would never trade them for a perfect uterus. It was nice to hear him say that too. DH said we would try again, we would get it right, and he would tell his swimmers to tone it down a notch and not go swimming marathons next time and instead stick to their designated area.

My RE talked to DH after my surgery. DH said that he came out to talk to him at 3:00, so I was probably only actually in surgery for a little over an hour. The RE said everything went fine, they did it all laparascopically, and I could go home. The horn was removed and they took the tube too. They did find a couple more spots of endometriosis and removed that as well. There was nothing else to report and he would see me at my post-op appointment in a couple weeks.

A nurse came in to ask me if I wanted a second vicoden. I said I thought I was supposed to have percocet. She said what they gave me in phase 1 recovery was vicoden too and my prescription was for vicoden and they prefer to prescribe that because it is easier on your belly. So, I took a second vicoden. I emailed a couple friends that knew what was going on to let them know that the surgery was over. A few minutes later I regretted taking that second vicoden. I got really hot, nauseous, tired, loopy, and felt downright awful. Silly me for forgetting that sometimes just because a little bit of narcotics is good, a lot of narcotics doesn't necessarily mean better. I got some more juice. I decided to try some graham crackers. I ate some ice. An hour went by and a nurse came in to see if I was leaving any time soon. I told her that the second vicoden I took made me feel awful. She went on about how I would feel so much better if I just went home to my own bed. Since I felt like crap and just lost my baby and really didn't care anymore I said, "Oh, so you are just trying to kick me out?" She was like, "Ah... no..." Then she left. I really did start feeling a whole lot better at that point so DH helped get me dressed. Someone came with a wheelchair to take me down to the car and on the way I gave the nurse that was trying to kick me out the stink eye.

I dozed on and off and felt like throwing up a good bit of the ride home. I peed for the first time since surgery when I got home. Peeing has been quite an issue. I recall after my last surgery it was too. I think the catheter really screws up my bladder. I have to go like every 1-3 hours and I can't tell if I am empty and it isn't much more than a trickle. The kids were at my parents' when I first got here but they pulled in just after we did. Our master bedroom is right off the family room so DH set up a gate so they could say hi and see me. I had told them that I would come home from the dr with a big bellyache and go right to bed. DS1 said that he would help me get better by bringing me drinks and snacks and books to read and help me get out of bed. So right after he said hello he kept begging to help me by bringing me a book. DH let him into the room and he brought me a book. He gave me gentle hugs and kisses and couldn't wait to see my boo boos on my belly. Then DS2 brought me a book to read, gave hugs and kisses, and wanted to see my boo boos. They went back to the other side of the gate. DS2 got another book and said he was going to "read" it to me. He held the book up so I could see and said, "Once upon a time..." and then started telling me about the pictures in the book. It was totally sweet and most all of my sadness vanished in that moment. Last night DH brought my pup in to see me which was wonderful too. She just turned a year old and is 65 lbs of enthusiasm. But dogs know. She hung out quietly next to the bed so we could enjoy each other's company and knew not to disturb my belly.

And so it is over. On to the next chapter. I feel way better (physically) after this surgery than I did after my lap/hyst. I didn't have to do the bowel prep this time. Also, there are just incisions in my belly and they didn't have to stick things up my va-jay-jay this time, so I am sure that helps. I have had zero pain from the gas they put in my belly, which makes me wonder if they even put it in there. That was one of the worst parts before since it hurt to breathe. I have no sore throat and no busted up lip from the tubes they put down my throat. I can move my legs and even put them straight out in front of me without it killing my stomach. I can even twist ever so slightly to each side. Last time for the first 48 hours I was pretty much stuck in one position which killed my back. I haven't tried to get in and out of bed by myself yet. DH has to pull me out and lift up my legs to get me back in. He slept on the couch last night. I'd call for him every 1-3 hours to help me get up to pee. Poor guy, but so fantastic to me. I even ate breakfast in the dining room this morning. DS1 was so excited because I asked him to get breakfast for me. He loves to help. He brought me a fruit bar and a can of mixed fruit.

I am feeling way better emotionally today too. I can almost hardly wait to get my period and this time know I am not bleeding internally while having it and hopefully I will have normal period pain instead of feeling like something is going to burst within me. That stupid horn that has brought me nothing but pain both physically and emotionally is gone from me forever. On to just being a normal person with half a uterus!