Follow Up

I had my post-surgery follow up with the Dr today. Incisions look good and no pain (I still have a slight tugging/pulling sensation on one side of my abdomen when I stand up from a sitting position though). Dr N went over the official results from the laparoscopy....she removed 3 polyps--all of which came back clear (ie no cancer or abnormal looking cells) from the pathologist, checked tube patency by pushing dye through--all clear with good flow, and checking the possibly damaged left sided fimbria--which cleared up with a little extra pressure of dye, no repairing needed!! Thank God! There are two main problems for conceiving after a TL/TR: tube lengths--shorter tubes make conceiving harder--mine are still a good length, and proximity of tube to the ovaries--mine are "very good" she said. Dr N said based on what she saw in there, she doesn't know why I haven't gotten pregnant yet! The polyps could be a "possible" reason why, since they can impede implantation, but she said she has seen uteruses with more and/or larger polyps still conceive.

Dr N then went over our options. We discussed what we tried at the other RE's office and what we feel comfortable with doing over here. IUI/IVF is still off the table, so we are going to try another Clomid + TI cycle. Plan is to call on CD 1/2 and schedule baseline sono, start meds on CD 3-5 or 5-7, follow up with u/s until O is near, BD at home when its times, and confirm O with another u/s. The good thing, since we have meet our out-of-pocket max for the year, most of this cycle will be covered by insurance depending on when AF arrives and we get started!

So now we just wait for AF to arrive...which should have been here already, but surgery delayed it a little.

Post-Op

Yesterday was my surgery!

I finally convinced DH to leave a little early so he could grab a bite to eat on the way. (He was so sweet and didn't want to eat in front of me since I was NPO and hadn't had anything in 16 hours. No sense both of us not eating.) We got there and had to sit a while, which was no big deal. They finally called me back and got me started with the changing/IV process. The nurse went over my history again, Dr N came in a chatted for a minute and then the anesthesiologist came in and asked the typical questions he needed to ask. They gave me to two anti reflux meds and hooked up my antibiotic (I have Mitral Valve Prolapse, so I have to have prophylatic antibiotics before any type of surgery or dental procedure). They were finally ready for me, so I walked back to the OR room and the nurse got me all positioned and ready. The anesthesiologist put the mask on me and I was out within seconds!!

Next thing I knew, I was waking up in the recovery room. Things were really foggy at first so I don't remember if I saw DH or Dr N. (DH had to go get two of the kids from school anyway and I do know at one point he was in the waiting room with them when I was getting ready to leave.) The nurse gave me some crackers and water, then got me up to go to the bathroom. I only peed a dribble, along with some bloody discharge, and by the time I got back into bed I was queasy. She handed me some more crackers and water, but that made it worse so she gave me another shot of anti nausea meds. Since I couldn't pee and didn't even feel like I had anything in there (despite 4 liters of fluid they gave me), she said she would have to place a Foley Catheter  (tube in your bladder that drains into a bag). It only felt like a few minutes since I tried, but I was still foggy and keep dosing off so it could have been an hour for all I know! Once the foley was placed, it immediately drained 200cc's of urine. Since was it nice and clear, they told me to keep it in overnight and discharged me. After we left, we had to go pick up DSS and then grabbed some food to eat at home.

I ended up going to bed early last night after I ate and took my meds. DH woke me up around 11pm so I could take another dose of pain meds and empty my foley. It was actually nice having that in! From 11pm-345am I had peed 1400cc's so that saved me from having to get up 2-3 times! LOL

Its now 630am so I will probably go back to bed in a little bit since I've been up since 345am. (DH husband wakes up soon, so I may wait a bit and see if he'll go to Chick Fil A for me :) A chicken biscuit helps the recovery process.) The nurse said I could remove the foley after 830 this morning. Pain level is good so far. I'm a little sore (feel like I got punched in the abdomen when I move), but I'm feeling a lot better than I expected! Even the bloating is not as bad as I thought it would be since they pump you up full of gas for the surgery. They also told me that I might have some shoulder pain while the gas escapes and moves around, but since my shoulder hurts all of the time due to my rotator cuff tear, I can't tell any difference.

As for the results, DH talked to Dr N, but you know how guys are....they don't ask many questions and can't remember what all was said. Basically, the gist that I got from him was that she removed a "few" polyps and pushed dye through my tubes. They were still both open and the area closer to the left fimbria/ovary that was maybe blocked or damaged, cleared right up when she applied a little more pressure pushing the dye through!! Huge relief!! Everything else checked out ok and the plan is still no intercourse for a week, but we are free to getting back to TTC after that. I go back for an incision check and follow up next Thursday. 

And assuming this doesn't throw off my cycle, AF will be arriving in 5 days anyway so we'll be good to go (and hopefully pregnant!) this next cycle!

Fingers crossed!!

Tomorrow is the day!

The office just called with my surgery time for tomorrow (I have to be there at noon). I really, really hope things go well and this is the fix that we needed!

Appointment News

Had my appt today......

Dr N reviewed my chart/HSG results from last year, had an U/S done (she wanted to see an antral follicular count over 4....mine was 19 before she stopped counting! YAY!) Had pre-op blood work done, went over the surgery plan, signed consents and scheduled my post op visit. She will be making a few small incisions instead of all going straight through the vaginia, but expects the recovery time to be shorter than originally predicted.


Is it Dec 10th yet?? LOL.

Latest Update

Little recap: So back in Feb 2014, I was going to have surgery but that's when our lawsuit stuff (DSS) started and we had to take the 5K that was for the surgery and put it toward the attorney. Last Oct was when DH started his new job, his new insurance would cover part of the surgery, but it was still going to cost around 2-3K out of pocket. We didn't do it then because we still had some other financial stuff to pay off first.

Fast forward to now....We had meet our deductible for the year several months ago, but with me starting a new job, DH didn't want me to have surgery just yet. Plus is looked like it was still going to be at least 1K+ out of pocket so we figured we'd just have to wait until next year and unfortunately have to pay more because our deductible would reset. After I got home from work this morning and was trying to sleep, something told me to go ahead and call the dr's office. (The likelihood of getting it done before the year was over seemed impossible since its already mid Nov). I left a message for the surgery coordinator and she responded a few hours later. Turns out because we are almost to our max out of pocket for the year, the max we would have to pay is $442.78 if we do it before Jan 1!!!!! They want me to come in for a visit with the dr and a sono (which I want anyway) and redo labs to make sure its even worth proceeding. So my visit is Nov 30 and surgery (assuming everything is still ok with my levels) is Dec 10!!


Such happy news, esp considering AF arrived today and started cycle #49.