Surgery Report

Yesterday was the big day. I got to the hospital (actually, it was the Ambulatory Care Center next to UNC Hospitals) at 7:45 am yesterday and the surgery started around 9:30 am. It lasted an hour and a half, and I kept sleeping for an hour and a half after that. Apparently I was supposed to wake up right afterwards, but I react very strongly to drugs and slept much longer than expected. Finally, I got to go home at 2:30 pm. I spent yesterday afternoon and evening sleeping on the couch, and then in bed.

Today I am still in a lot of pain, but it's bearable. As long as I stay still, I'm fine, but I am also supposed to keep moving to get all the gas out of my belly. The gas is just as painful as the incisions, maybe more. At least today I have my appetite back, and I can drink water. Yesterday I wasn't allowed any water, only fizzy things and Gatorade, and all I wanted was a tall glass of cold water.

My mom and husband are taking good care of me, and overall I feel so happy and relieved that it's all over. My doctor had thought it was just a cyst, but he said it was very obviously endometriosis, once they got in there. I had a golf ball sized one and several small ones too. We're meeting with him on April 4th, and I have tons of questions. He implied to my mom and husband- while I was sleeping- that we should discuss whether trying to conceive naturally for 3-6 months might be a possibility we're open to, before going back to the IVF plan. I'm not sure how I feel about that, and I can't find anything online that says much. Everything is vague and says that this surgery "may" improve fertility, but no specific numbers to back that up. And so many in the support group had this surgery, had an endometriosis diagnosis, and still aren't pregnant, so I am trying not to get my hopes up. Right now, I'm too tired to think much of anything. Right now, I have to focus on healing and getting my strength back. I'm too tired to be sad, and in fact I am cautiously optimistic that maybe we can try having a baby the old-fashioned way again. We will see.