SURGERY COUNTDOWN - DAY 14

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Today is exactly two weeks until my next surgery to treat my Stage IV Endometriosis. 14 days. The countdown is on.

Naturally, this surgery is weighing heavy on my mind. I'm anxious; I'm nervous; I'm hopeful. It feels like everything is riding on it. I ache to return to my normal daily life. Though surgery is not a cure, it could result in the reduction of my pain & symptoms. I pray each day it will.

This will be my fourth laparoscopy & my first robotic-assisted surgery. Some of the potential benefits of the da Vinci robotic-assisted surgery include: less invasive, more precise, reduced bleeding, shorter recovery time, decreased risk of infection.

It will be performed by doctor #3. My previous three laps did not reduce my pain. I have (cautious) faith that my new doctor will be able to remove my fibroids (one large, one small), extensive endo implants, ovarian cyst & free my bowel from my uterus. Depending on the condition of my left ovary, he may remove that too. My left ovary seems unhealthy & cystic, but thankfully my right ovary is healthy.

Over the next few days, I will be sharing some of my tips for surgery prep. I hope to provide some valuable ideas for other endo sufferers who are preparing for surgery. Please leave comments if you have any surgery prep gems to share. Gracias!


10 comments:

Tracy said...

Hey Jen,

I have been reading and reading and reading, You go girl! I am glad you have an outlet like this!

I am envious of you for telling your story and I will continue to read and offer my support and comment!

Tracy

Jenn said...

Thanks Tracy! I appreciate your support. The blog is the next best thing to talking to you every day! :)

Jeanne said...

Hi Jenn,

I didn't realize you are about to have surgery. I hope it goes well!

Will you be doing a bowel prep before this surgery... given that they know going in that there are bowel issues?

Jeanne

Jenn said...

Thanks Jeanne!

I am doing a bowel prep. I had a pretty terrible experience the last time I did one. Do you have any suggestions?

How did your test go today?

Jeanne said...

Jenn,

Well, obviously preps are something to discuss with your doctor and this isn't medical advice but I actually did a whole post on bowel preps.

I've had 4 colonoscopies plus I had to do bowel preps before some of my surgeries (one of which involved having a foot of my colon removed). So, I've done a lot of different preps. Not all preps are created equal!

The post I did about preps is called “Jeanne’s Endo Blog: My Gastroenterologist is a Genius!"

(The reason it has "Jeanne's Endo Blog" in the blog post title is that post came from my old blog). So, if you search my blog's search box, the name above will get you to that post.

I did a follow-up post to that where I talked about how I fared after the colonoscopy. That post is called "Colonoscopy Results (With Pictures)".

While neither of these posts was about having a laparoscopy, they serve as a sort of before/after for the prep I did in April 2009.

As I explain in those posts, it was by far the best prep I'd ever had for the "before" part... for sure. For whatever reason (possibly completely unrelated to the prep type), I had a tougher time "after" that procedure than some others.

The posts get into all of the details that are too long to list here. :)

Jeanne

P.S. My tilt table test went very well. I didn't faint. It was much easier than I thought it might be. The bonus was I made it on time (leaving home at 6:30 am). For me, that is unheard of. I am not a morning person. :)

Jenn said...

So happy to hear your test went very well!

Thanks for directing to your blog post. I just finished reading it. Thank you for sharing the info. I may have to try the blue Gatorade this time.

I'm sorry you have had such difficult experiences with them. I hope you never have to do another one!

Alanna Klapp said...

Best of luck, Jenn, I hope it all goes well before, during, and after. We will keep praying!! Hang in there!!

Jenn said...

Thanks Alanna! I appreciate your prayers so much.

Alanna Klapp said...

No worries, always! :)

Word verifcation: hyahs, as in, you're about to give your endo a Hyahs out of here!

Jenn said...

I love when I get a fun or appropriate word verification! Nice!