Sunday, July 27, 2014

Anxiety and Routine Change- preparing for surgery

About four months ago I posted an entry titled 'Could it Be Irritable Bowel Syndrome?' I have a major update to that post.

I did follow those steps for awhile, and my stomach did not feel better. As a matter of fact, some of my issues got even worse. Thankfully, I have obtained insurance (Thanks Obama!) to actually see a doctor about what to do next.

It took me several visits to finally get my regular doc to hear what I was saying. I think this is not due to her inadequacy, but more leaning towards my failure to communicate in ways people understand. I am still trying to work out why I am not able to typically get people to listen, and respond to me when I need something. In this instance, I finally wrote down all of my symptoms, and brought them with me to the office for my appointment. That got immediate results. Upon hearing all of my symptoms my doctor said it sounds like I have endomentriosis. She scheduled me for a appointment with an OBGYN.

At that appointment he concurred that it sounded like endo, and he quickly got me scheduled for a surgical  procedure called laproscopy that would take pictures of my reproductive organs to see if endometriosis, or anything else was present.

The results were that I did indeed have a fair amount of endo. scarring, and a condition known as adenomyosis, or enlarged uterus. These were definitely the cause of so much of my stomach distress, which has worsened considerably the last few months. The doctors all assured me the only cure is a hysterectomy. Without one, the problem would likely continue to worsen until menopause. I am several years away from that, so I have opted to get the hysterectomy.


I am scheduled to have it done Tuesday (July 29th).  While I am a little nervous about the procedure itself I am more nervous about the recovery time. I don't know how everything I usually do is going to get taken care of. I am nervous that I will have a mental breakdown while watching my house fall to shambles. Of course, I know I am being dramatic, but it is how I feel. I am up on my feet busy cooking, cleaning, and taking care of Beans most waking hours of the day. I don't know how everyone else is going to be able to step in, and do it all. I really like my routine. I am not trying to be negative, but I anticipate that I will likely struggle with the recovery time in the way of not being able to do my regular day to day activities. My general doctor did as well. She's known me for over 12 years, so she has an idea of what I'm all about. She sternly told me not to be exercising for 6 weeks. She is not incorrect in her assumption that that will be a tall order for me. I will definitely be sure that I ask the doctor Tuesday what that means, exactly. I understand that I can't be using weights, but I may be able to do some lighter type of exercise, though. I hate to lose all the progress in fitness that I have made!

I am trying to prepare my mental health probably more than my physical as the day of surgery draws near. I am choosing to feel grateful for the opportunity to have this health concern taken care of, but anxious about the whole situation. I acknowledge the anxiety, and am preparing as best as I can for what I know may be a difficult situation. One can never fully prepare for everything. That is often how anxiety gets us looping around wasting our energy. We tend to believe that we're being proactive with worry, but it rarely works that way. Instead of telling myself that I will be fine, and other canned answers I am trying to put together some facts about what to expect. Kind of like an adult social story. I know I am not going to feel fine. I am going to be in pain, and anxious about a lot of different things. If I can prepare myself with solutions then I will be more relaxed, and less stressed. Change is hard for me, but not impossible.

Thanks for reading, and wish me luck!


12 comments:

  1. :( I hope the surgery goes well. I believe it is major abdomenal surgery, so similar to a caesarean section , you'd not be lifting anything heavier than say 7lbs AND resting a lot. In the UK you wouldn't be able to drive until signed off by a doctor between 4 to 6 weeks.

    I hope that's not too dispiriting, but it is best to be prepared, I reckon

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    1. I have heard nothing heavier than a milk jug, and my discharge papers say nothing more than 20 pounds, which I feel seems excessive. My papers say no driving while taking pain meds, but I don't think I should be doing that, either. I think my doctor kind of leaves the decision to us when to get back to doing stuff, but not all of us ladies are good at listening to our bodies.

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  2. Hope it goes well. I am having a full hysterectomy (for entirely different reasons) on Sept 11th, but the recovery time isn't worrying me because at least compared to my last surgery it will be short and easy. For me, there won't be any big incisions. I'll only be incapacitated for at most 3-4 days. The procedure will be done laproscopically, no big abdominal insicions. My surgeon said that it is almost always done that way now because patients recover so much better and so much faster. Realistically I should be independent and good for normal daily tasks within about 4 days past surgery, provided I move slowly and rest when tired. I'm supposed to be back to 100% normal within 6-8 weeks but that's taking into account that I'm a weight lifter, most everything else I'm supposed to be okay for within that first week. The limit I was given was 25lbs, much higher than the last surgery but still far below my usual weight lifting routine! I'll be allowed back on my motorcycle as soon as I'm off the narcotic pain meds, though gently and not far as it is more exertion than driving a car.

    I usually make sure I have a good selection of books on my ipad, easy to eat and drink foods, a few new stuffed animals to add to my growing pile, good movies, and sleeping meds (ambien for me). Making sure I can sleep full nights while I am restricted from my usual intense physical activity is the one thing that made a huge difference with my last surgery.

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    1. Also meant to say for me after the last surgery, the one exercise that kept me sane was walking. I had to concentrate on walking slowly at first, and that helped distract me from the frustration of not being able to exercise at all.

      It may not help, but perhaps if you think of it in terms of if you push exercise too quickly you will delay your recovery and thus delay your ability to return to exercise? For me, I exercise not because I need to but because it feels good. So I'm impatient to get back to a pleasurable activity more than worried about losing progress. But walking definitely helped, as soon as I could get on my feet I walked around in circles. Bigger circles as I regained stamina, going a bit further.

      I have one of those activity trackers, a Garmin Vivofit that counts steps, so that helps my analytical brain to visually see improvement.

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    2. I am 4 days post op from the Da Vinci (robotic laproscopy surgery) and I can tell you with certainty you will not be back to normal quite as quickly as you might think. I thought so, too, but after reading a lot ( look up Hystersisters) and just knowing where my body is right now I still have days to go before I can get up, and around to normal activities, like food prep, and driving. Some people can do quite a bit of walking around on day 5, and I think that may be a possibility for me tomorrow, but not today. I am able to do without too many pain meds, but not ibuprofen tabs.My brain is still really foggy from the anesthesia, and I am still nauseous something terrible. I will try to do an update post for anyone who might benefit from reading about it who follows my blog. I ran across a few blogs while researching before I had the surgery, and I really appreciated the ones that broke down their experience. Of course, not everyone is the same. I considered myself to be pretty fit, but my body is still having trouble bouncing right back.

      I do like to exercise. I like the challenge of making new goals, and reaching them, as well as the happy feeling one gets from a good workout. I am sure I will be craving it in the next weeks!

      Thanks for your comment, and good luck with your upcoming surgery. If you have any questions please feel free to email me.

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    3. The recovery timeline i wrote was my surgeon's best guess given my last surgery, possibly that the surgery is not because my body is sick might make a difference. For sure will not be sick from the anesthesia though. The nice bit about having multiple surgeries in a short period of time, things like that get improved on.

      Hope your recovery goes well.

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  3. Sending all my best thoughts your way.
    ((Hugs))
    Leah

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  4. Good Luck! I am actually envious - I would love to have a hysterectomy, but I don't have endo, so I can't seem to find a doctor to do it. All the best for your healing. I was told 8 weeks off work if I were to do it.

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    1. I am thinking the adenmyois is the main reason I was recommended to get one. I've been told 6 wks before any lifting, and 8 if it were hard physical labor type of lifting. I am surprised they let me. I am kind of young (35) compared to most that get it done.

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