After a long four months of living at home (which was NOT that exciting at times I might add), I finally had the surgery/diagnosis I had been waiting for; the whole reason I came home for in the first place.
After a long fun-filled weekend of driving back and forth from T-town and the Valley I finally returned home yesterday morning. I had had no sleep, no food (after midnight of course) and was very cranky and not excited to have surgery, especially after having to drive 4 hours in total to make it to the hospital. But alas, I had to go.
Not many people know exactly what's been going on with me, only because when they ask why I'm home I hate saying "health reasons" because they get all up in my "bidness" and want to know exactly what is going on. So I've just been telling most people that I'm back to take a break from school and find out what exactly my next move is, which is partially true.
But after having many conversations with several young women close to my age, I made a promise that I would be up front and honest about my "issues" in hopes that it will inspire other young women to go to the doctor when they think something might be wrong...because something very well could be. Information is power, but only if you share it.
Most girls hate going to the gyno or as some like to call , the "lady doctor". I even know some girls who have never gone and are in their 20s. I'm not preaching that everyone should go to the doctor and dig for something wrong. But just listen to your body. You know your body the best and doctors were put on this earth to help you figure out the best game plan to making you feel like your normal self again.
So anyways I'm coming outta the "health closet" (I like to call it) and I'm passing the information on that I know about my health problems in hope to inspire other women to go to the doctor. So feel free to ask any questions you want. I want to be a proactive part of the health community.
I feel like whenever women start talking about "female topics", it's like a taboo subject or something. They wait to do it only around other women or in hushed voices when really people it's part of life! We were all created due to these "female topics" and I feel if women talked about it more, with more confidence then more young women would feel comfortable making those routine visits to the "lady doctor" and a lot of lives could be saved; a lot of health problems could be stopped in their tracks. Anyways I'll get off my soapbox now and get back to my story.
So after some blood tests, a urine test, and a "Golden Girls" crossword puzzle (which was completed very fast; a personal best I might add), they called my name and took me back to prep for surgery. My two nurses were "murses"! It was great! I honestly feel more comfortable around men so it helped a lot to have a male nurse to calm me down. So to all you nurses out there, especially male ones, I would like to say thank you!
I changed into my gown and got all situated on my bed and then came the part I was dreading....dun, dun dun!!!!! THE IV!!! AH!! I have never had surgery and have heard so many horror stories about how they can never find the vein and pretty much claw up your arm with the needle. Now a lot of people don't know this, but after having my nose ripped open by a dog when I was 13 and having had SEVERAL shots of numbing medicine stabbed into my face for stitches....I am NOT a fan of needles...go figure. But my "murse" Eric and his "mursing" student Adam were very nice and numbed the area right up before finding the vein the first time and getting that IV in lickety split (yes that is a real phrase; at least in my house).
Not only was it painless but because it was my first surgery "murse" Eric decided to give me a stuffed animal like they do the little kids who come in for surgery. And I don't know about you, but whenever it comes to me getting a stuffed animal, I turn into five-year old Holly. lol I was so excited!!! I picked out a cute Calico Kitty who is just adorable (they even let my mom pick out a stuffed animal...she always copies me, thankfully I got the last kitty). Then "murse" Eric asked me what the cat's name was and I told him, "Eric Adams...The Cat" and he then proceeded to give Eric Adams The Cat a hospital band with his name on it along with many colorful tabs attached to the band; so that nurses could know all the things Eric Adams The Cat is allergic to....which is a lot I might add. lol
After receiving my stuffed Kitty and finishing all the prep it was now the waiting game. I must admit that this is when happy, go-lucky Holly went out the window and in her place arrived freaked out Holly. You see I was having diagnostic laproscopic surgery to find out what was causing me so much pelvic pain. Most gynos had told me it is probably endometriosis because I already have polycystic ovarian syndrome and you are more likely to develop other problems when you have PCOS, such as endometriosis. Now not everyone probably knows what endometriosis is but it's when spider-like tissue mimics the lining of your endometrium and wraps around your organs causing pain and...infertility. Yep, infertility. Now as a woman who wants to have babies some day, I was utterly crushed. The day the doctor told me I probably had it was the loneliest moment of my life. So this surgery was a big deal.
After a couple years of dealing with emotional and physical pain I was going to find out if it was true or not (because you can only see the endometris tissue with a scope). I began to have very mixed feelings about the surgery. "What if I do have it? What if I can't have babies?" And on the flip side, "What if I don't have it? What else could it be? Will I have to keep going to different doctors and having different surgeries to find out what the heck's wrong with me?" As you can see I just didn't know how to feel and that was the most frustrating thing of all. I mean what do I hope for? There came a few times when I almost broke down, but I held it in because I hate crying in front of people.
My doctor came before surgery and told me about the procedure and judging by his voice (which is so calming by the way; he's the coolest and best doctor for me), he didn't' seem to believe it was endometriosis, which was good, but like I said that worried me too....if not that then what the heck was it?
So after a LONG wait for the anesthesiologist, I was off to surgery. I was out fast...it was great! I was ready to get this whole ordeal over with. I don't remember dreaming, but before I knew it, I was outta surgery and on my way to the recovery room. The nurses and "murses" told me later that I was really happy when I came out of surgery. I was very friendly and smiling. haha I guess I kept saying thank you to every single person who did any little thing for me. lol So apparently I am very thankful and full of gratitude while under the influence of drugs!
Next came the big moment. My doctor came up to me as I layed there in the recovery room to tell me what he found. He said, "Well we did find something...but you don't have endometriosis (please cue chorus of angelic voices singing Handel's "Hallelujah" verse!)." Apparently they found an adhesion on my intestine, on my left side (where most of my pain was), that was attached to my uteran wall. He disconnected it and hopefully all will be well and I will no longer have pain. The only weird this is, is that adhesions are usually left over scar tissue that build up and attach themselves to other organs after having surgery. I have never had surgery so the doctor seems to think it might have been a burst cyst or the fluid from one (being that it was near my ovaries) that traveled over and did not get flushed out and turned into an adhesion. I was like oh so that's was those stabbing pains could have been a couple of years ago. lol
Needless to say I was overjoyed with excitement!!! Then following that, I was overjoyed with nausea....lame. Thankfully I didn't throw up (I HATE doing that) and they were able to give me something to knock me out and when I woke up, the nausea was gone. I tell you these nurses and workers at the hospital were ALL so nice. Every single person was a sweetheart in scrubs! So I just want to say thank you to all the men and women at the Flagstaff Medical Center...you guys rock my hospital socks!
On a random side note the nurse told me that most red-heads and fair skinned people are more likely to get nauseous...joy. All I could think was, I have to deal with an albino face and nausea...this is so not fair. Which by the way I HATED the fact that I was meeting all these people with no make up on. I wanted to say, "Don't mind my face, it usually doesn't look like this!"
After getting outta the gown and back into my clothes my mom and I left the hospital and all I wanted to do was sleep! We almost had to deal with closed roads on the I-40 but thankfully it wasn't too congested and we were able to get home around 9:00pm. I then told my Dad the whole story in detail (a lot more detail on here; I always feel blessed that I can talk to my whole family about everything, and I mean everything), and then took some drugs, ate some chocolate pudding and went to bed. It was a long day but it was worth it. All my prayers were answered. Everything worked out better than I could have imagined. I mean no endometriosis but we figured out the problem too so no digging for a needle in a haystack!! I feel so blessed to have had such an experience. Anyways I could tell much more details of the day with a lot more irony than you could possibly imagine but I'm ready to go take some more pills and finally take a shower! YES!! "I get to take a shower, I get to take a shower!" (She's the Man; point for me). Much love!
