Pregnancy
It’s Been A While: Recovery
On 19, Aug 2011 | One Comment | In Motherhood & Parenting, Pregnancy | By Sheng
I haven’t heard of anyone who has undergone a major operation while she’s pregnant until I was told I needed one. My initial reaction was to fear for the life of the child inside me. Will I be predisposed to miscarriage or pre-term labor? Will it have an effect on my baby?
After I was assured that the procedure is safe and it’s something that’s commonly done for pregnant women with the same condition as I have, my next concern is about recovery. How long is the recovery period? Is it safe to take medications? Will my stitches hold out and keep my tummy from bursting as my baby grows? Should I be in strict bed rest after the operation?
My OB explained that because of the pregnancy, I can only take paracetamol for pain management and will be under spinal anesthesia during the procedure. I won’t be sedated. I won’t be given strong antibiotics. I won’t be allowed to wear a tummy binder. But she promised my tummy won’t burst and my wound will heal in no time. She also said that based on her other patients who had gone under the same operation, it will take about 2 weeks before I can resume normal daily activities.
And that’s exactly what happened. After the operation, I was able to stand and walk the following day, although not in an upright stance. No food was prohibited but I took it upon myself to not eat anything malansa and eat mostly fruits and vegetables. On my last day at the hospital, my OB taught me how to nurse my wound properly.
The first week was the hardest. It’s difficult to get up from and lie down on bed, difficult to sit down, to stand up and walk. Going to the bathroom was also a challenge. I was able to take a bath a day after I was discharged from the hospital, with my mom literally giving me a bath while I am sitting on a monoblock chair. I tried not to cough or sneeze or laugh too hard or eat and drink too much because it felt as if my tummy would open up when I do.
But after the first week, my recovery sped up. I was even able to go to the mall. I had my first post-operation check up and my OB said that my wound is healing well. And true to her promise, I was up and about a week later. But she cautioned me to take it easy because even if I feel better, my inner wounds were not yet completely healed.
It’s been more than a month now since my surgical laparotomy. My pregnancy is progressing well and if fetal movements and heartbeat are any indications, my baby stayed strong and healthy all throughout the procedure and recovery period.
I’d probably have an ultrasound or congenital anomaly scan (CAS) next month to determine the gender and to check if baby is developing normally. By then, I’d be 6 months pregnant and is slowly inching to my 3rd trimester.
Exciting times ahead!
It’s Been A While: Pregnancy, Laparotomy, Endometriosis
On 18, Aug 2011 | No Comments | In Motherhood & Parenting, Pregnancy | By Sheng
Actually, it’s been a long while — almost four months since my last post here. And you’ve probably guessed it right. Pregnancy has something to do with my blogging hiatus, but there’s something else more serious.
Pregnancy
The first three months of it prevented me from using the computer or anything that shines a light into my eyes. I get terrible headaches when that happens. So I was forced to limit my computer hours to 10 minutes max, which was only enough to open my inbox and read my emails.
Laparotomy
On the fourth month, and just when I thought that the headache dilemma was abating, I had to undergo a surgical laparotomy to remove my ovarian cyst. I have never undergone a major operation before plus the fact that I am pregnant. To say that I was scared was an understatement. But why was it needed? Here’s my brief medical background and a summary of my first major surgery experience:
1. Sometime in 2007, an ultrasound (TVS) revealed that I have an endometrial polyp and a cyst on my left ovary. But my OB then was more concerned about the polyp than the cyst, which was still relatively small (slightly larger than 2 cm).
2. I had the polyp removed that same year through blind D&C and my cyst was monitored for a period of 6 months. In the end, it was ruled out as a follicular cyst because it grows and shrinks with my menstrual cycle, and didn’t grow beyond 3 cm.
3. Fast forward to 2010, I experienced severe dysmenorrhea. It was so painful that I couldn’t get up from bed and had to take 3 tablets of Midol to relieve the pain. The following day, I went to the nearest hospital and had myself checked. TVS showed I still have the cyst and possibly, adenomyosis.
4. I went back to my previous OB and showed her my latest TVS report. She repeated the ultrasound herself and said that it’s not adenomyosis, but a recurrent polyp. The cyst was still there, yes, but like the first time, she was more concerned about the polyp and wanted me to undergo another D&C right away. I wasn’t convinced this time.
5. I transferred to another OB and she suspected that I might have endometriosis. She said that I do have a polyp but it’s too small to be of concern. She wanted to monitor my cyst in relation to my cycle to see if indeed it’s endometriotic in nature. I was supposed to have a series of monthly TVS for this purpose. My cyst at this time was about 3 cm.
6. Before my 3rd TVS appointment, I found out I was pregnant. My new OB was delighted because pregnancy is beneficial to those who have endometriosis. She expected my cyst to stop growing, or better yet, to shrink in size. To be sure, we went on with the TVS. But unfortunately, my cyst has grown to 4 cm. I was one month pregnant then.
7. She continued to monitor my cyst. On the 2ndmonth, it became 5 cm. We were then faced with the possibility that my cyst would continue to grow, and on a more rapid rate than it has ever been in the last 3 years. She told me that if it continues to grow, it would be risky for my pregnancy and I will have to undergo a surgery to remove it. She also noted that per my TVS, it seemed that there are no more healthy ovarian cells left in my ovary.
8. By my 3rd month, it was already 6 cm. My OB was almost sure that I will need an operation. She was just waiting for my 4th month because it is the safest period for a pregnant woman to undergo any form of surgery.
9. Two weeks before my 4th month, I decided to seek a second (actually, third) opinion. OB no. 3 had the same findings and recommended the same procedure: surgery. But she explained my condition better and clearer, assured me that the procedure is safe for my baby, and she has this cheerful demeanor that I decided to push through with the operation under her care, even if it’s just my first consultation with her.
10. On my 15th week or a week before my 4th month, I was scheduled for laparotomy. I was brought to the operating room at about 6:30 am and was brought out past 10 am. The operation lasted 2 1/2 hours when a regular oophorocystectomy (removal of ovarian cyst), according to my OB, only lasts an hour.
12. I was conscious during the operation and I could hear what was going on and what the OB and nurses were saying. I could hear my OB talking about “too much blood”, “too far down” and “adhesions”. I also heard her mention “endomet” twice.
13. I spent 5 hours in the recovery room after the procedure and was throwing up for the most part, an ugly side effect of the anesthesia that was administered to me.
14. I was finally wheeled back inside my room at around 3 pm and stayed in the hospital for 2 more days.
Endometriosis
The day after the operation, my OB checked up on me and explained that she had to take out my left ovary and fallopian tube as well. She only wanted to remove the cyst initially, but when she performed cystectomy, my ovary wouldn’t stop bleeding (hence, the “too much blood”). She also said that my ovary was trapped way down, underneath my other organs (“too far down”) and that it’s attached to my pelvic wall and my uterus (“adhesions”). This became her major concern. As much as possible, she didn’t want to touch my uterus because that’s where my baby is. She also saw that my fallopian tube was already blocked and bloated. In these conditions, neither my ovary nor my fallopian tube will still be functional, and she doubts if they were functioning in the first place. In the end, she decided to remove both.
A biopsy was performed on the excised organs and cyst. The result confirmed that it was an endometrial cyst and thankfully, benign. The operative report said that I have pelvic endometriosis. Endometriosis is one of the most common causes of infertility and an alarming condition for those who are trying to conceive . But since I’m already pregnant, and had the affected ovary taken out, having it is the least of my concerns now. My main goal is to take care of the baby inside and make sure that I carry this pregnant to its full term. And that is, a little less than 4 months from now.
To be continued… Recovery
The Two Red Lines
On 27, Apr 2011 | 6 Comments | In Motherhood & Parenting, Pregnancy | By Sheng
A little over a week ago, I was anticipating the natural course of a woman’s month to pass. I am someone with a regular predictable cycle, consistently mapped out in 26-28 days–and it rarely missed. I record the cycle every month on my phone’s calendar out of habit, and through this I learned to count and guesstimate when the next flow will be. The signs have already manifested themselves a few days ahead–sore breasts, bloated tummy, pimple breakouts and occasional headaches. Considering all these and the date that I have marked on my calendar, I was confident that it was near.
But aside from the usual symptoms, there were also a few, relatively new things that I was experiencing that didn’t belong to the normal PMS’ing scenario: lethargic mornings, nauseous afternoons and groggy evenings. I dismissed them as result of the sweltering heat that the summer season has brought in. I haven’t reached the end of my expected cycle yet and it might be too early to assume, I would say to myself. Although at the back of my mind, I allowed the possibility to seed in my thoughts.
Day 28 arrived but nothing came except more pronounced symptoms. The possibility was getting stronger but I also reminded myself that my counting method is not exactly foolproof. Women get delayed–due to stress, lack of sleep, medications, etc. and sometimes, for no reason at all–and I could be, too. So I decided to wait a few more days, but the symptoms escalated as I was counting the days that I was delayed.
On the 7th day that nothing came, I decided to check with a kit. I carefully collected an amount of my first morning pee in a small plastic cup and dipped a thin test strip into it for a few seconds. Then I watched as the liquid traveled from the tip of the strip to the point where a portion of it turned red, only to clear again and reveal one red line–I held my breath and waited some more–and then another line appeared. Two red lines were unmistakable, I didn’t have to look at the instructions to know what they mean.
Immediately, I placed the strip inside a small releasable plastic bag that came with the kit, picked up the box and showed my husband the result of my morning “experiment”. He claimed he didn’t know what those two red lines mean, but I could see that he was already stifling an excitement–his eyes betrayed him. After he compared the image on the box to the two lines on the strip, his face broke into a wide grin and I thought I saw his eyes twinkled. He gave me my first kiss of the day, murmured “I love you”; and we went back to bed, lay down side by side looking like the two red lines that changed our lives as husband and wife.