Laprascopic Surgery

Laparoscopy: putting a camera and lasers into your abdomen via your belly button to diagnose endometriosis and other organ issues.

It took me 5 years to finally agree to have it done, and in retrospect, I wish I just would have done it right away. That said, I think it took 5 years of trying to heal and improve through other methods to realize I just needed to get surgery. My periods did improve a lot through natural healing methods, but after 5 years I still had endometriosis to have removed. This is an expensive surgery that insurance might not cover for you, but I believe this is a surgery that you shouldn't put off if you are suffering from your periods.

A little background on me: Since I was 17 my periods have been living nightmares for me, some of them so horrendous that I'm fairly sure they gave me some mental trauma. I've had people roll their eyes at me when I've said this, but it's true: the trauma was real. I've been scared of each period as it comes, bracing myself for the extreme pain. I've had to plan my entire life around when my periods were due to start, and that hasn't always been easy because of their irregularity. The pain that came with the first day of my period was so extreme that taking 12 ibuprofen wasn't enough - I was counting carefully. Sometimes I had to knock myself out with Nyquil and sleep through the worst of it while wearing an adult diaper. 7-12 hours of laying in bed, screaming from the waves of pain that just moving a toe brought was trauma-inducing. Losing 7-8 ounces of blood on the first day alone was incredibly difficult to deal with. The pain and blood loss left me incredibly dizzy and sick in every possible way - imagine sitting on the toilet with extreme amounts of blood coming out of you while you're struggling to breathe and your vision is going in and out of being pure black. And then co-workers and past bosses have had the nerve to tell me I was just weak and should learn from other women who just deal with their periods.

I went to a gynecologist about 5 years ago who recommended having a laparoscopy done. She told me she was almost certain I had endometriosis, but needed to do the surgery to confirm it.  There is no other way to diagnose it. I didn't take her up on it at the time because my insurance wouldn't pay for it - my quality of life came down to insurance, yes. But I also started to see my Naturopathic doctor who told me he could probably improve my symptoms. He was right. It took a couple of years with his care to get enough relief, but he was able to reduce my flow from 7-8 ounces on the first day down to 7-8 ounces in 4-5 days time. The pain reduced about 50-75%. He made an herbal tincture for me that killed the remaining pain perfectly - it works a billion times better than any pain killer every did. So because what he was doing for me was helping over time, I didn't go back to my gynecologist.

But then about a year ago ovarian cysts started to give me pain throughout the whole month, and that pain has been growing harder and harder to deal with. I can't manage my periods without my tincture, which makes me very sleepy. I still can't go to work on the first day of my period - I couldn't even drive if I needed to. The problem is that even when the pain isn't that bad, I'm still fighting vertigo, diarrhea, air hunger, extreme fatigue and weakness, digestive issues, and depression on the days around my period. That is likely from POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome.) I always assumed it was the period itself causing the problems. So when I went to the gynecologist a couple of months ago to finally have the surgery done to relieve the rest of my pain, I wasn't giving up on my natural healing methods, I just knew I needed an official diagnosis and more relief.

It took a couple of appointments and other testing done before my new doctor agreed to do the surgery, but she did agree that the laparoscopy was a reasonable next step.



My husband and I had to be at the hospital at 6:30 am for an 8:10 surgery time. I wasn't allowed to eat anything 8 hours prior, so as someone who fights hypoglycemia I was very thankful for a pre-breakfast surgery time. I was not asked to do a bowel prep, but I did it anyway. I am so glad that I did - if you're not asked to a bowel prep, just go to your local health food store and buy some magnesium citrate and drink it down the night before. You'll be thankful. I was asked to take a few showers with antibacterial soap, but I just used Dr. Bronner's tea tree bar soap (tea tree will kill anything). If you're MCS and cannot tolerate tea tree essential oil, I honestly think you'll be just fine with whatever soap you tolerate. I'm not in the habit of using tea tree unless I have to, but in small amounts I can tolerate it. They covered my belly in iodine before the surgery anyway. Yes, iodine, which was perfect for me.

I was not allowed to wear any jewelry, lotions, perfumes, etc. As it turned out, I didn't notice that any of my doctors or nurses smelling of perfume either. The only trouble I had with it was the scented bathroom soap, and I only used the bathroom once before the surgery to pee in a cup for a pregnancy test first, and I was able to use my own unscented soap that I brought with me. The bathroom still reeked of scented soap, and I was reacting and feeling unwell from it shortly before I went into shock. The shock wasn't just from the reaction, but it did contribute. I think that the hospital takes the operating room more seriously than any other outpatient service. So my MCS issues weren't a big deal for me personally until I had all the meds in me.

I waited with my husband in a pre-op area. I think it was obvious I was nervous because the nurse that was with me doing all the paperwork and official business with me on the computer asked another nurse to come stay with me. That nurse was amazing. She helped me get into this big gown full of pockets for hot or cold air to get hooked up to. She stayed and talked to me to help me stay calm, and she was the one to wheel me to the operating room. I went into shock while she was wheeling me - shaking, crying, shivering, hyperventilating... big adrenaline and blood sugar type crash. She made the decision to allow my husband to come with me to the operating bed, the place I was in before going into the operating room. I was still struggling while on the bed with shaking and breathing, but my husband was able to be there to help me. I talked to my gynecologist (who did the surgery) and the anesthesiologist there. My doctor is gentle and nice, radiates confidence, but isn't arrogant or dismissive of me at all. She had exactly the right attitude I needed in a doctor who was about to open me up, and made me feel at peace with having the surgery done.

They had read my cardiologist's report before hand and saw I was just diagnosed with POTS and put on the Metoprolol beta blocker. I told them that I wasn't comfortable with them giving me a beta blocker for the surgery since I hadn't tried the Metoprolol yet and didn't know if I would be reactive to it. They did give me beta blockers in my injections, though. What I'm not clear on is if they gave it to me preemptively, or if I was going into tachycardia and needed it. I wouldn't be one bit surprised if my heart rate was too high from reactions to the other meds - my MCS reactions sky rocket my heart rate. I was able to discuss my concerns with anesthesia with the doctor, and he listened well.

I remember being given a port for the IVs, but I don't remember being given the anesthesia. I woke up in the same place to hearing a doctor yelling at nurses. I heard, "You need to get your shit together! What if the patients saw you acting like this?" There was arguing for a while. I thought to myself, "Oh this is funny, I can't wait to share this with everyone." They probably assumed I wouldn't remember hearing that if they had known I was waking up, but I remember everything after waking up. Poor nurses.
I wasn't able to open my eyes very much at that point or move my body, but I was alert. It wasn't long before a nurse was helping me get into a wheel chair. I remember thinking it was so strange that only one nurse was needed to get me out of the bed into the wheel chair - that I was able to get up as if I didn't just have surgery. She wheeled me to a room where my husband was waiting for me, then we went into a post-op recovery area.

I felt great. I felt better than ever. No pain, no anxiety, no feelings. I was very relaxed. If that many pain killers can make me feel that good, what does that say about my day-to-day pain and anxiety?

Except that I could feel one thing: my throat. My throat was so incredibly dry, horse, and in pain. It was like they stuck sandpaper down it. What they actually did was put a breathing tube down my throat during the surgery. Part of the tube had cut the inside of my lip too, so I couldn't stop licking it. They gave me ice to suck on for my throat, and I ate applesauce and popsicles.

I went through one and a half IVs in that room, and I went though at least one during the surgery.  I couldn't feel that my bladder was very full and ready to burst. I was just numb. I just noticed an odd heaviness and questioned if I needed to go. The nurse had to walk me to the toilet. I was really weak.

My doctor came and told me that she did find scar tissue and endometriosis. She sent a sample of it to the lab, and burned the rest out. One of the spots of endo was on my ovary, so she couldn't remove it without damaging my ovary, but she did burn off what she was able to. She scraped at the scar tissue she found to loosen it up. The nurse and the doctor went over my care instructions for at home and how to take my pain killers. I was prescribed Percocet and prescription Ibuprofen. Not having taken pain killers for 5 years and remembering having trouble with them, I was so scared to start them. But I had no choice. They were necessary. More on this later.

I got dressed after peeing a bunch more, and they let me go home. I think we got home around 1:30 pm, so I was at the hospital for about 8 hours. I felt pretty good for a couple more hours, just laying in bed eating popsicles for my throat.




Note:

I've had this typed up and waiting to be finished for over a month. I didn't finish, but I just can't right now. So exhausted and my energy is going to more pressing issues. I can get into my recovery in another post, because that's about where I left off. :)