Medical Update 2012

Well if you don't already know I ended up on surgery again!

As if my already compromised, Franken Belly wasn't already nasty enough, I am hosting 5 additional holes from my surgery on the 16th.

So let's start at the beginning.

My last surgery was December 2010, it was the most horrific year of my adult life and I prayed I would not end up back in surgery for a few years although I felt another would unfortunately be in my future. It was just something I knew. I have also told my friends and family that my stomach issues will ultimately be the death of me because they will never be the same and never good! After speaking with a nurse the other day I know that if my issues of 2010 had happened 20 years ago, I wouldn't have stood a chance. Another reason to be thankful that the medical field is where it is today.

This time the surgery was scheduled for a day that Teach could stay close by. It was wonderful knowing knew he was close by and hat the kids were home with my niece and fine.

Over the past few months, I would stay it started around April of last year, I started noticing a lump on the left side of my belly button. For some reason my angle (looking down) was the only way it could be spotted. Two months later I asked Teach again and he saw it. I went to my family doctor to confirm it was a hernia and she told me that I could repair it when I got insurance but it would be for cosmetic reasons. It would never give me a problem.  Over the next 4 months it got much bigger and right before I went into the hospital, I looked about 6 months pregnant on one side. 

November of 2011 I had a horrific stomach pain that lasted for 6 hours and had me pleading with Joe to kill me. It wasn't pretty. I am not proud but the pain was unbearable. He asked if he should call an ambulance but I couldn't talk and asked him to just hold me and after many antacids, vomiting and crying, the pain went away and I was finally able to get some sleep.

The next episode was around Easter and I blogged it here.

There were a total of 6 other episodes before I went to the gastro doctor who told me that the next time it happened I should go to the ER. I explained that when it happens I can't think or move and if it happens with the kids home I wouldn't know what to do. He said call an ambulance and they can do a cat scan to see if there is an obstruction in your intestin.

He asked me to make an appointment with a surgeon which I did right away. The surgeon had assisted at my surgery and while he didn't recall I hoped once he had my records he may remember. My surgeon retired last year (I wonder if he should have before he cut into my belly).

The surgeon set up surgery telling me that I had a hernia that could potentially become strangulated and cause really big problems. Ugh...

I was told that they would go in laparoscopy but not know if they needed to go further (scar tissue issues) until they were in. If I was on a gurney when I woke that means it was laparoscopic and I was going home. If I was on a bed, they had to open me up and I was in a room. We were of course praying for a same day because the Teach had his first business trip 2 days later and it was a must.

The Pre-Op nurse was nice but my first one was nicer. The anesthesiologist the last time was nice, this person was nicer. He made me laugh. They wheeled me to OR and he ran up alongside of me and said, "drive by drugs" while inserting the meds into my IV. I kissed Teach goodbye and the nurse stopped so he could kiss me again. I told him I love him as the nurse said, there is always time for another kiss. He kissed me and I said bye. I heard them ask "Maria, do you want to get on the bed?" I remember saying yes but don't know if I ever did then I woke in recovery 2.5 hours later and was swiftly wheeled back to the room I was in prior to surgery.

The doctor came in with a piece of paper with pictures that I am dying to see right now. Teach had my glasses and I am blind without. He held it up to me. Told me that I had multiple hernias and that they were eventually going to meet up causing one massive size hernia. Awesome!

Currently, my niece is drained and watching Almost Naked Animals with Goddess.  Teach is on a plane from Illinois back to us. Handsome is playing Wii and I am sitting on the couch trying to find a comfortable position. I haven't found one in 7 days hopefully before it is all over I will know which way to sit that doesn't feel like I have a massive metal plate going through my abdomen.


This has been so much easier than my prior surgery but I am still very nervous. Three small fevers over the 7 days but never above 100 and I am trying not to do too much research on the surgical mesh they used to close my hernias.

There is no alternative and I couldn't eat anything that wasn't low residue. Praying at the end of this I will find some relief.

Thanks for listening and reading