"It Is What It Is" (Paula Abdul)

Post-Op

Pre-Op

Like I needed to label those. Well ladies, there you have it. The first pic was taken on Day 6, post-surgery (and no, the dimensions aren't distorted, that's just my belly these days) and the bottom pic was taken the night before my surgery (note I wasn't able to wear the same elastic waistband post-op: OUCH!).

As you can see, I have some clear cosmetic "steri strips" are visible (those either dissolve or need help coming off a week after surgery) but the doc says there are also important internal stitches as well. Note also the post-op "bloating." The doc says this is the result of the abdominal muscles relaxing due to trauma. Yep, I wasn't really prepared for that or the nice little "muffin top" that appeared above the incision. Other bloggers note that the pooch above the incision dimishes with time so let's hope that's true.

I do feel lucky that my fibroids were all benign and I have friends and family that have battled much worse. In all honesty though, I'm bummed about the appearance of my belly and hope with time that it'll get better. Just sayin'...

Handy Things to Have Around After Surgery

The vapors, the vapors!

We can only aspire to be as peaceful as John White Alexander's muse during our recovery. A few things that may help:

• A couch. See above.
  
• Comfy pants. I suggest drawstring. I tried elastic waistbands but they were very uncomfortable.


• Comfy underwear. No need to elaborate really, just make sure they're big enough to go over the incision (and above it for me) and they're not tight--think "granny" here.


• Comfy food. I've been endulging in lots of my favorite feel-good delights. I figure my body needs it (as long as they're not too naughty) and I may as well enjoy my time sitting around.


• Good books. Ever wanted to read War and Peace but never had the time before? Yeah, me neither. I went to my favorite used book store and got some good mysteries. You may want a quick read and nothing too serious at first. On a related note...


• Mags. I loaded up on some gossip magazines--yeah, I know they're disgraceful, but they're entertaining!


• Ipod. I loaded up some episodes of This American Life (hey, it's a free download every week) and also some good tunes. I ain't the first to say it: Music is cathartic.


• Pillows. Now, it all depends on the individual and that individual's furniture but I found that I needed large square pillows to support my lower back while sitting (and you'll do a lot of that).


• A helping hand. I can't emphasize enough how much this helps with both physical and mental recovery. I was lucky enough to have my boyfriend home with me for four days after I was discharged from the hospital. It helps tremendously to have someone around to prepare meals and take care of domestic chores so you can focus on resting.

Post-Surgery Week One

So, I had the myomectomy and I'm now at Day 6 of recovery. I was surprised to find that contrary to what I was taught in biology class everything is attached to your abs! Many things are a challenge, walking upright being one of them! Hey, right now I'd settle for homo habilis posture.

A few other things that are still difficult

• Standing in one place for an extended period of time ie. washing dishes (Don't do it!)
  
• Walking a greater distance than to the end of your average neighborhood driveway
  
• Laughing (not saying "don't do it" though)


• Coughing (I love the flowers people sent but my allergies don't)


• Sneezing (ditto, above)
  
• Getting up from a reclining position

The Surgery

Okay, so I admit I'm a total wuss. I've never had major surgery that I can remember and the thought of my body being cut open and "messed with" was not appealing to me at all. I had to weigh the pro's and con's of having a myomectomy, make a decision and go with it.

• Was my quality of life being significantly affected by the monsters? YES



• Was I willing to wait to shrink the fibroids in order to undergo a less-invasive procedure? NO

My decision was to go ahead with the myomectomy and to hopefully retain my fertility in doing so. I'm in my mid-thirties and don't have kids but am in no hurry to get rid of my uterus just yet!

The procedure I underwent is called a laparotomy. The kindly doctor went in and slayed the four offending monsters and was luckily able to save my uterus. He did so via a "bikini-line" incision (which I'll discuss further in the future). It's basically the same procedure as a C-section, as far as the incision goes. I will emphasize here that it is "basically" the same but I think in a lot of ways the experience as a whole is quite different, which is one of the reasons I wanted to start my blog. For one thing, having a baby is a joyous occasion (ideally) and having a tumor removed is NOT.

Finally, a Diagnosis!

So, after a frustrating process of trying to figure out what in tarnation was wrong with me, the docs decided the trouble was most likely being caused by fibroids (I also found out during the process that I have a kidney stone which was confusing the issue). Here's how it went down...

On Christmas day 2008 I had a "sick episode," after which I noticed something in my urine that looked like a lot of black pepper. I quickly went from eating a nice dinner spread to throwing up and had a raging fever. My first thought was that it was food poisoning. Aside from the "black pepper" in my urine I also noted something larger which I kept to show my general practitioner the next week. She thought it was likely a kidney stone. In addition to lower back pain I began to have the morning after being sick (I was only sick about 12 hrs) I was also slightly sore in my abdomen which alarmed her. She did not want to risk me having ruptured my spleen so she immediately ordered a CT scan that was performed that day (see image below).

I will mention here that I received not one but two follow-up phonecalls from my general practitioner's office saying that 1) I have a kidney stone in my right kidney and 2) *everything else looked okay*. They then referred me to a urologist. This visit was fairly useless (I had 2 x-rays but they did not show anything because the contrast I had drunk for the CT scan was still in my system from the day before) except as I was leaving the urologist said to me: "One thing that was noted by the radiologist regarding your CT scan is that you have "multiple, large fibroids and you should probably get that checked out." She went on to explain what they were and that they were very common and most likely benign. So, what did I do with this information? I tucked it away because I knew I had to deal with the issue at hand first, which I thought was the kidney stone problem.

I left that urologist with her giving me a prescription for a narcotic and telling me "good luck" passing it. She said that given its size (3mm) it had a 70% likelihood of passing. Off I went, but for the next few weeks I felt drained of energy. I'm usually an active person but I just didn't feel like doing much. I've been a runner for the past decade or so and did not feel like pounding the pavement at all. My back problems also began to escalate.

I made an appointment to see a different urologist. I underwent an ultrasound this time. The kidney stone was still there in my right kidney. Because the technician had heard that I was having pain he thought I may have recently passed another kidney stone. He wanted to take a look at my bladder to see if this was the case (and thank goodness he did!). When he looked in my pelvic cavity he was alarmed at what he thought was the size of my uterus (in retrospect it would have had to have been the largest of my fibroids). He said "your uterus is double the size it should be." I told him I had recently found out that I had fibroids and that was that. The urologist was only concerned about the kidney stone (he was not present during ultrasound) and said the symptoms I was having should not be caused by such a small stone. He basically told me to come back and see him in 6 months if I had not passed it.

At this point I was finally convinced that my symptoms may be due to fibroids and began researching symptoms online. I'm so thankful I did! I made an appointment with a gynecologist who was able to see me the next week. She only needed to look at me for a moment before she declared that my abdomen was that of a woman who is 3 months pregnant due to fibroids. She asked me if I was interested in retaining my fertility at which I answered yes. She promptly referred me to a doctor who specializes in endorcinology and fertility.

I went to see him and he did another ultrasound and ordered an MRI. I felt immediately comfortable with him and I finally felt like I was making significant progress in determining what was wrong with me. He was a good listener and I could tell he was very conscientious and wanted to have all the information he could before either recommending or carrying out surgery.

By the way, I totally recommend getting your hands on any images available from the various tests you may undergo. In my case, I had ultrasounds, a CT scan and an MRI, the last two of which have images that can be burned onto a CD or DVD (hey, we're paying for all this so why not see some products, right?). It may take a while to get accustomed to what you're seeing in the various images but it's downright informative and pretty cool if you ask me!

The 'broid Stats

Okay, I'm definitely no doctor (so pardon my lingo) but I've added this little CT scan eye candy image to illustrate the point that the fibroid was being a problematic little parasite. I actually had four fibroids (three of which were completely outside my uterus) and the largest is pictured here in plan view. My spine and pelvis are the bright features in the scan. The area between the white blobs in the center is my pelvic cavity. The fibroid appears as a grey blob in the upper center. It measures approximately 11 cm (left-right) by 7 cm (up-down). It's been problematic because at times it has pushed directly against my spine and has also squashed my bladder. All of you women out there with these symptoms know what I'm talkin' about! I do consider myself lucky for not experiencing the heavy bleeding that often occurs with these little monsters.