We discharged from the hospital around 11 AM on Saturday. My nurse, Kisia seemed super annoyed that we were staying until we had to leave. She came in earlier that morning, maybe 7 am ish, and told us that we could leave whenever we wanted. I asked "What's the latest time we can discharge?" "1PM." "Ok, we'll probably stay until around noon since we can't check into our hotel until after 1 PM." Big sigh... "K." The other nurse or medical assistant helping us said that we and one other patient were the only ones left. All of the nursing staff gets to leave on Saturday when the last person discharges.... so that makes sense. Kisia was annoyed because she didn't want to work, she wanted to enjoy her Saturday I guess.
We checked into the Microtel. It was better quality than the Extended Stay America. But the rooms were... micro. lol. I've never seen a room so small. I slept most of the day. For dinner we walked 1/4 -1/2 mile down the street to a sushi place. I was feeling much better. Moving wasn't so difficult. Getting up from laying down was still difficult.
The next morning we left for the airport. We went to far right of the Delta counter for a wheelchair. They just needed our boarding passes and then Adam was able to push me through the airport.... MX style of course. lol. If we needed a wheelchair assistant we would have had to wait in line for awhile. We were glad that Adam was able to push me. There was a place under the wheelchair luggage, so it worked out great. We went straight through security and got to board the plane first which was nice. And then when we landed, at the end of the jetway there was a wheelchair waiting for us. We had to sign for it on an ipad then we were able to take it out to passenger pick-up.
Adam's dad picked us up from the airport. We had dinner with his parents and the kids. They were all excited to see us, except Eli who gave me the pouty lip for a couple hours. It was like he was telling me he was mad and sad about me leaving him. :(
I had some vaginal bleeding. Dr. Arrington said it was normal to spot, and bleed a little. I asked before hand if I should bring depends or anything (because that was so helpful after Eli was born) and he said I shouldn't bleed more than needing a liner. Well, I was bleeding more than that. So I just decided to switch my birth control pills around and have my period since I was bleeding anyway.
On Monday I noticed a rash all around my abdomen. So I took pics and sent them to Dr. Arrington and then called the after hours number. Wendy called me back and told me to remove the medical tape and stop taking the Percocet. Dr. Arrington replied to email and said it looked like a reaction from the cleaning agent they used prior to surgery. I also asked about the bleeding. I was starting to soak a super plus tampon within 1-2 hours. He didn't want me bleeding that much and told me to start taking 2 birth control pills a day until it stops then go back to my regular 1 a day. He also told me to delay my period for a few weeks.
The rest of the week: Monday-today (Monday 3/18) I've had my horrible stomach and upper back pain. I figured at first it was just the trapped gas. During surgery they fill your abdomen with CO2, inflate it like a balloon, which makes it easier to work inside such a small incision. I figured it would go away after a couple days.
All of the ladies from my endo support group told me I'd wake up and feel like a new person, like I had a second wind at life. That has not been my experience at all. I've had the same pain symptoms I've always had. My upper abdomen feels so inflamed and my upper back pain is so intense.... I've been bound to the couch on my heating pad now more than I was prior to surgery. I'm feeling super frustrated and disappointed.
Dr. Arrington said he saw that I have "nutcracker syndrome" from one of my CT scans. Nutcracker phenomenon refers to compression of the left renal vein, most commonly between the aorta and the superior mesenteric artery, with impaired blood outflow often accompanied by distention of the distal portion of the vein.-Mayo Clinic Proceedings. If you didn't understand any of that... I didn't either. I don't get it. lol. I've started researching and I don't have a lot of the symptoms though: blood in urine, varicose veins, painful urination, pain during intercourse, pelvic pain, light-headedness... etc. I do have: anemia, low energy, severe menstrual cramping, and abdominal pain. Most of my symptoms sound like bad gallbladder: upper abdominal pain, pain under right shoulder blade, feeling bloated and inflamed.
I feel like I'm back at square one, where I started 8 years ago.... looking at my gallbladder. I'm going to see my gastroenterologist tomorrow and hopefully move forward with removing my gallbladder and discussing nutcracker syndrome. Last night I had one of my more severe attacks. I felt like my insides were imploding and my back hurt without relief. I was in so much pain I didn't fall asleep until 2 AM.... 2-4 hours after taking 4 hyoscyamine (stomach relaxer) pills. Gallbladder problems makes sense because for dinner that night we had chicken in a butter / sour cream / mayo / and cheese sauce. Our neighbor brought it over and it was delicious. The kids devoured it. But it was fatty... so it's no wonder why I had a bad attack last night.
Overall, I am frustrated I flew out to GA for surgery and don't feel any better. But in the end, I feel like it was a necessary piece to the puzzle. At least we've ruled out Endometriosis. I know that I have Adenomyosis: the inner lining of the uterus (the endometrium) breaks through the muscle wall of the uterus (the myometrium). Adenomyosis can cause menstrual cramps, lower abdominal pressure, and bloating before menstrual periods and can result in heavy periods. -webmd. Dr. Arrington said that the only way to really help with Adenomyosis is a hysterectomy but I can manage the painful cramps and heavy bleeding with hormones right now. So I'll probably get the Mirena IUD again until we're sure we're done having kids. I can live with heavy periods. That's not the worst of my problems. What I can't live with is the terrible upper abdominal and back pain.
I feel like this has been an endless battle. I hope that I can have answers soon. I just want to feel like a normal person. Which I know is impossible because there's no such thing as "normal." We all have our own battles. But being able to live life, not constantly crippled by pain would be amazing....
We checked into the Microtel. It was better quality than the Extended Stay America. But the rooms were... micro. lol. I've never seen a room so small. I slept most of the day. For dinner we walked 1/4 -1/2 mile down the street to a sushi place. I was feeling much better. Moving wasn't so difficult. Getting up from laying down was still difficult.
The next morning we left for the airport. We went to far right of the Delta counter for a wheelchair. They just needed our boarding passes and then Adam was able to push me through the airport.... MX style of course. lol. If we needed a wheelchair assistant we would have had to wait in line for awhile. We were glad that Adam was able to push me. There was a place under the wheelchair luggage, so it worked out great. We went straight through security and got to board the plane first which was nice. And then when we landed, at the end of the jetway there was a wheelchair waiting for us. We had to sign for it on an ipad then we were able to take it out to passenger pick-up.
Adam's dad picked us up from the airport. We had dinner with his parents and the kids. They were all excited to see us, except Eli who gave me the pouty lip for a couple hours. It was like he was telling me he was mad and sad about me leaving him. :(
I had some vaginal bleeding. Dr. Arrington said it was normal to spot, and bleed a little. I asked before hand if I should bring depends or anything (because that was so helpful after Eli was born) and he said I shouldn't bleed more than needing a liner. Well, I was bleeding more than that. So I just decided to switch my birth control pills around and have my period since I was bleeding anyway.
On Monday I noticed a rash all around my abdomen. So I took pics and sent them to Dr. Arrington and then called the after hours number. Wendy called me back and told me to remove the medical tape and stop taking the Percocet. Dr. Arrington replied to email and said it looked like a reaction from the cleaning agent they used prior to surgery. I also asked about the bleeding. I was starting to soak a super plus tampon within 1-2 hours. He didn't want me bleeding that much and told me to start taking 2 birth control pills a day until it stops then go back to my regular 1 a day. He also told me to delay my period for a few weeks.
The rest of the week: Monday-today (Monday 3/18) I've had my horrible stomach and upper back pain. I figured at first it was just the trapped gas. During surgery they fill your abdomen with CO2, inflate it like a balloon, which makes it easier to work inside such a small incision. I figured it would go away after a couple days.
All of the ladies from my endo support group told me I'd wake up and feel like a new person, like I had a second wind at life. That has not been my experience at all. I've had the same pain symptoms I've always had. My upper abdomen feels so inflamed and my upper back pain is so intense.... I've been bound to the couch on my heating pad now more than I was prior to surgery. I'm feeling super frustrated and disappointed.
Dr. Arrington said he saw that I have "nutcracker syndrome" from one of my CT scans. Nutcracker phenomenon refers to compression of the left renal vein, most commonly between the aorta and the superior mesenteric artery, with impaired blood outflow often accompanied by distention of the distal portion of the vein.-Mayo Clinic Proceedings. If you didn't understand any of that... I didn't either. I don't get it. lol. I've started researching and I don't have a lot of the symptoms though: blood in urine, varicose veins, painful urination, pain during intercourse, pelvic pain, light-headedness... etc. I do have: anemia, low energy, severe menstrual cramping, and abdominal pain. Most of my symptoms sound like bad gallbladder: upper abdominal pain, pain under right shoulder blade, feeling bloated and inflamed.
I feel like I'm back at square one, where I started 8 years ago.... looking at my gallbladder. I'm going to see my gastroenterologist tomorrow and hopefully move forward with removing my gallbladder and discussing nutcracker syndrome. Last night I had one of my more severe attacks. I felt like my insides were imploding and my back hurt without relief. I was in so much pain I didn't fall asleep until 2 AM.... 2-4 hours after taking 4 hyoscyamine (stomach relaxer) pills. Gallbladder problems makes sense because for dinner that night we had chicken in a butter / sour cream / mayo / and cheese sauce. Our neighbor brought it over and it was delicious. The kids devoured it. But it was fatty... so it's no wonder why I had a bad attack last night.
Overall, I am frustrated I flew out to GA for surgery and don't feel any better. But in the end, I feel like it was a necessary piece to the puzzle. At least we've ruled out Endometriosis. I know that I have Adenomyosis: the inner lining of the uterus (the endometrium) breaks through the muscle wall of the uterus (the myometrium). Adenomyosis can cause menstrual cramps, lower abdominal pressure, and bloating before menstrual periods and can result in heavy periods. -webmd. Dr. Arrington said that the only way to really help with Adenomyosis is a hysterectomy but I can manage the painful cramps and heavy bleeding with hormones right now. So I'll probably get the Mirena IUD again until we're sure we're done having kids. I can live with heavy periods. That's not the worst of my problems. What I can't live with is the terrible upper abdominal and back pain.
I feel like this has been an endless battle. I hope that I can have answers soon. I just want to feel like a normal person. Which I know is impossible because there's no such thing as "normal." We all have our own battles. But being able to live life, not constantly crippled by pain would be amazing....
x
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