After a morning spent deciding what to pack (too many books!), D and I went to the hospital in the city for my surgery at noon. First we went to the surgical admissions area, where I was weighed and checked and had a conversation with the anaesthetist. He explained about the procedure with the anaesthetic and the risks and I needed to sign some consent forms. He told us that the length of the operation depended on how much endometrosis, if any, they found, but that there was one person ahead of me in the queue so we would have to wait for a little while.
Around 1.45pm, we were taken into an examination room where I got changed into a gown, said goodbye to D and was taken into another room where I lay on a bed with a special warming apparatus that blew warm air over me under a thick blanket. This was to keep my body temperature up and make my veins easy to access. While I was resting there, Dr Mc came to talk to me about the surgery. He explained the hysteroscopy and the laparoscopy and the possibility that the surgery could all be over quickly if they didn't find anything or, if they found a lot that needed to be fixed, they could be quite a while.
Then I was wheeled into the operating theatre. I remember the big lights, the narrow table and a lot of people looking very busy getting ready. A couple of nurses put a line in my hand and stuck some sensors on my head and various parts of my body. Then the anaesthetist gave me an oxygen mask and told me to breath deeply while he injected the anaesthetic. I was asleep pretty quickly.
I don't remember much about immediately after the operation. Dr Mc later told me that I woke up very quickly and was very wriggly and caused them a few chuckles! D came to visit me and I was taken up to a ward. The next thing I remember is lying in bed, quite comfortable (though with a catheter, a drip in my hand and oxygen prongs in my nose), trying to stay awake while I listened to some music on my phone. It didn't really work and I slept fairly well all night. I woke quite often but wasn't in pain and it was mostly the machines beeping and the various noises around the ward. I was sharing a two-bed room with another young woman. We talked to each other occasionally but didn't actually meet until the morning when we drew the curtains. It was good to share the room with her and to not be in a big room with lots of others.
I woke for the final time just before 6am and listened to the radio and tried to read for a while. I had a little bit of breakfast and a shower. Then the other surgeon who assisted Dr Mc came to see me. She explained that they'd found a lot of endometriosis and she showed me some pictures. There were big patches on my uterus, front and back, and a bit on my bowel. But they got it all out and were very happy with the result. She said it was okay for me to go home as long as I felt up to it, so I rang D and he came and got me. We were home by 10am, which was much better than expected!
This afternoon my mother came to look after me because D had a meeting and I took a nap. I feel pretty good, a bit bashed around but no pain. I have four wounds on my tummy where the laparoscope and instruments were put in - quite a big one in my tummy button, two on each side and one below. I have plenty of painkillers and I still feel a bit dopey from the anaesthetic. I am hoping recovery will be quick! I will make an appointment to see Dr Mc in four to five weeks. Overall, it was a much quicker and more painless procedure than I could've hoped for - and with any luck I won't have any more painful periods and might even get pregnant.
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