RE-POST: October 4th 2007

Well, it seems my previous emails were received by some and not by others. I plead the 5th, or old age, or something related. Who knows who will get this one since I am really amped up on meds. Feel free to pass along if you so wish or if someone says, I did not get it. I am attaching a word document of the past emails that were sent so can be shared. They are in order, or should be, and each on its own page. I apologize to those of you that did not receive.

SHORT VERSION:

The short end of this email is…I am home, as of late Tuesday night, been in and out of sleep a lot and trying to gain strength since Davin goes back to work tomorrow. I am sure he is ready! Petey is near me at all times and although may not completely understand why he can't be right next to me, he is and is so sweet. I am exhausted and taking it easy and only got sick once while in hospital. So far so good at home.

LONG VERSION:

A lot of you have asked if I am at home…yes I am. It all seems like a big blur to me, so might be better to hear from Davin's point of view than mine. You will get to momentarily and I am sure he will add some antics in there anyway. This is what I remember:

We got to the hospital Monday morning about 7am. From there they took me straight back to a pre-op room to start IV, take blood, put on these white hose on my legs (these were to keep my legs from getting blood clots and later to keep my legs separate from the leg massagers they put on after surgery). I was ultra stylish!!

My surgery was scheduled for 9:30am, but it wasn't until about 10-10:15 that they came to get me and start the flow of my happy juice (the anesthesia). The nurses told me that most of the time patients don't remember going any further than the swinging doors to the operation room. I know this might be hard to believe for those that know me, but I didn't get past the pre-op room before I was OUT! Davin says I responded while in the hall to him, but once we got to the swinging doors there was no response…just me looking around. Sounds a lot like how I came into this world if you were to read my baby book.

So, the doctor told me that the surgery would be around 2 hrs. Around the two hour limit, Davin and my Dad start questioning what was going on. It had already been two hours and still hadn’t heard anything. Little did they know it would end up being over 4 hours!!! I had stated from my previous doctor visits and ultrasounds that I had 5 cystic fibroids that were nice size, with one being the size of a grapefruit. Well, it ends up I had over 20-30 fibroids!!! My uterus went all the way up to my belly button apparently. They started with laparoscopic and continued, although they could have easily gone abdominal to make it easier and a lot less time consuming! They went through four blades trying to get it all, as they kept dulling out during operation. The first thing I remember is hearing the nurses in the recovery room talking on the phone in regards to me. They were making sure my room was ready. The first chance I had to say something, I asked what procedure was done. Then, I asked what time it was. I was floored when they told me. I am thinking I was gonna be in my room by 1:30pm at the latest. The nurse told me it was a quarter to 4pm. They finally took me to my room and all I remember is going through a ton of doors. I am pretty sure I cracked a joke about it, but no telling what I actually said. I remember seeing (kind of) and hearing Davin and my Dad when we got into the room. I felt pretty good, other than having no control of my body or whether or not I was awake or asleep. Now for Davin's version, as that is the last I remember in whole.

Hi there all...

Just to kind of add on to Andrea's note...

Andrea's Dad and I waited in that surgery room...we thought the surgery would be about 2 to 2 1/2 hours...And she went in around 10:15. At 11:45, we went to the cafeteria and got some lunch, thinking it would be over in about 1/2 hour or so. At 12:15, I asked the waiting room nurse for an update...she called and said that Andrea was still in surgery. 12:30, 12:45, 1:00...I asked if she was out yet...she put me on the phone with one of the nurses that had been in and out of the surgery room. The nurse said Andrea was still in surgery but that everything was going well, and said her vitals were great, nothing to worry about. While we weren't really worried, it was a little nervous just waiting, not really getting an answer as to why surgery was now past the 3 hour mark...1:45, 2:00, 2:15, 2:30...The waiting room nurse's shift was over, so I just went back to the surgery nurses station and asked...She said Andrea had JUST gotten finished and they were closing her up now, and that Dr. Banks would come out shortly to give us an update.

3:15...Dr Banks comes out with a smile on her face. She looked tired, but richer, I mean happy. J She said Andrea was out of surgery and that the reason it took so long was because they had not realized how big the uterus was and how many fibroids there were to "chew through", as she put it. She showed us a picture of the "before" and “after”. She said herself that she was tired, that her biceps/triceps were sore/tired from the 4+ hours of working the wands...The 3 incisions that were made were all needed. One for the camera, one for the blade, and one for the suction. They had to chew through 20-30 fibroids...The largest one was about the size of a large grapefruit or a small cantaloupe. She said that the surgery room nurse would be taking Andrea up to her room shortly, and that everything went fantastic.

We waited about 10 minutes and found out that Andrea was going to room 207...So we went up and waited. About 5:15, 7 hours after surgery started, and 10 hours since we had gotten there, Andrea was wheeled into her room. She was still really out of it and once she was brought in, the floor nurses hopped into action...Blood pressure, temperature, Oxygen levels, they were all measured. They told us that she would be on a liquid diet for that evening to get fluids into her, and if all went well, the IV and catheter would be removed later on that night.

At about 6pm, they brought in liquids...Soup, Italian Ice, a popsicle, ice chips, and the dreaded Red Jello. She had a little of the soup, a bite of the italian ice, and the jello.

A short while later we had some guests come...Andrea remembers some of you showing up, but doesn’t remember you leaving, as she was in and out of consciousness a lot.

While Zach (a friend of Andrea’s from work) was there, the Jello decided to take advantage of visiting hours and showed back up, so there went some of the pain pills and the liquids she was supposed to be taking in. The nurse offered Andrea a nice pain medication. She accepted and it wasn’t long after that that Andrea was OUT.

After visitors came and left, we both got a little sleep...about 2 hours sleep, 45 minutes awake. When she woke up at 11pm, the nurse came in and Andrea said she was hungry and had to use the restroom...YEA! That was a good sign! They removed the catheter and we slowly went to and from the bathroom. The nurse brought some saltine crackers and some "cola". Ahhh, SHASTA! She had no trouble keeping it down, so back to sleep we went.

At 3am, we woke up and had to use the restroom again.

4am, she was hungry, so they brought a bowl of Special K cereal...She was ready for that!

At 7am, Dr Banks showed up and went over the same pics and a little bit of the procedure with Andrea and myself. She said that around 2pm, Dr Chin would be around to see if everything was ok, and could release Andrea to go home!

Andrea went back to sleep and Natalie, a friend from work, showed up around 9am...Andrea was up for a small portion of her visit, but was out for majority of her visit. Didn’t help that they had just given Andrea two tylenol’s with codeine. Sorry Natalie!

The nurses came around throughout the day, but would not allow Andrea to be released until she completed a small task. It was finally around 7pm that the task was completed and we were allowed to be released and go home. I packed up all of our items and we finally made it home around 8pm.



This is Andrea again…



It has been a long couple of days and I have been in and out of it a lot. Although I may not have been alert or awake, I do know those of you that came by to visit, those that called repeatedly, etc. Although I am still in some pain and discomfort, I know how lucky I am to have had the procedure done with no complications and so many people take good care of me. That care has been carried over at home with Davin taking care of my every need. I truly don’t know what I would have done without him. A friend of mine called tonight and asked how I was feeling now that the procedure was done. I truly haven’t had a chance to think about it, but I do know that with all of that “CRAP” inside of me it couldn’t have been good for me all this time. It does explain a lot for me as far as the pain and discomfort I have felt in recent years. However, it blows my mind to just think about it.



For those of you that are thinking we should have blogged all of this…you are right! I guess I forget how wordy I can get. J