So... I had surgery (again)
Hey everyone,
I'm currently 5 days post-op after my laparoscopy on Wednesday.
To cut a long story short... I have Endometriosis.
I've been having pretty bad pains since my last surgery 4 years ago (which was a much bigger surgery but relating to the same area). I saw my doctor who was lovely and really listened to what I was saying. That's not easy to do in a 10 minute consultation. She said it sounded either like I had adhesions from my last operation or that I might have something called Endometriosis or Pelvic Inflammatory Disease.
Now I'd heard of Endo(metriosis) as my friend has it but I'd never heard of Pelvic Inflammatory Disease. Either way, after months and months of every test going (blood tests, swabs, urine tests, STI tests, the whole shabang), the only thing left to try was diagnostic keyhole surgery.
I finally got my call telling me a date for my operation... EXACTLY ONE WEEK BEFORE SURGERY! I knew I was going to have another operation and while I wasn't exactly excited, I thought I was prepared for it, in a couple of months! When the surgeon's secretary called and asked if I was free for my op next week, I paniced! A lot! I had a week to; get a blood test, find a way to and from the hospital without being able to drive, see if my boyfriend could come down in such short notice, prepare myself and my stuff for surgery. Meanwhile, I was working every single day up until the day of the operation. Didn't really leave me much time.
So with the panic and stress of getting prepared for surgery in such a short amount of time, also being told very very little about what I would have to do, bring, what would happen on the day and pre-op, it's safe to say I was pretty anxious.
I've had bouts of anxiety in the past but never like this. I can cope with panic attacks and feeling faint and nauseous like I had in the past, but this was totally different. I'd spent pretty much from Wednesday to Saturday night worrying about one area of the operation or another. But Sunday I felt fine. Until mid morning, I suddenly felt very sick and knew my stomach didn't feel right. I ran up to the bathroom and had to lay down on the floor. I couldn't work out if I was going to be sick, pass out or fall asleep.
I called my mum and said I really really didn't feel well but didn't know what was happening. I had been so desperate not to get a cold or sick in any way before the op that I think I had actually MADE myself sick. About 45 minutes later she came home. I'd been sick and basically fallen asleep on the bathroom floor by this point but luckily had been able to stop myself passing out.
She called NHS Direct and the woman on the phone said it sounded like gastro-enteritis. Fantastic! I tried not to get a cold and now had a stomach bug! All that worrying about the operation and I wouldn't be able to have it anyway!
Soon after, an out of hours doctor called and told me to come to the doctor's surgery ASAP. After a speedy, bumpy drive, we got there and I was basically falling asleep/trying not to vomit on the waiting room floor. When we got called in, the doctor did all of his checks and couldn't find anything wrong. He asked if I'd been stressed lately so I explained to him about the operation. He said he thought it was anxiety. And unbelievably, once I'd got home, I felt about a million times better! I felt like I'd been faking the entire thing, but I knew 100% I hadn't.
How could anxiety have made me feel and react like that? It sounded like a stomach bug, it felt like a stomach bug! I have a degree in Psychology, I work in Pharmacy, I know what anxiety looks like... right?! It just shows how much your mental health can affect your physical health!
I pretty much felt like this between Sunday and Tuesday, but Tuesday night, the night before surgery, I felt entirely calm. Weird!
So now I've had the operation (I'll write about that in another post) and now I'm in recovery. I have two weeks off work to heal and hopefully I'll be back to normal soon, just with a few more scars.
B x
I'm currently 5 days post-op after my laparoscopy on Wednesday.
To cut a long story short... I have Endometriosis.
I've been having pretty bad pains since my last surgery 4 years ago (which was a much bigger surgery but relating to the same area). I saw my doctor who was lovely and really listened to what I was saying. That's not easy to do in a 10 minute consultation. She said it sounded either like I had adhesions from my last operation or that I might have something called Endometriosis or Pelvic Inflammatory Disease.
Now I'd heard of Endo(metriosis) as my friend has it but I'd never heard of Pelvic Inflammatory Disease. Either way, after months and months of every test going (blood tests, swabs, urine tests, STI tests, the whole shabang), the only thing left to try was diagnostic keyhole surgery.
I finally got my call telling me a date for my operation... EXACTLY ONE WEEK BEFORE SURGERY! I knew I was going to have another operation and while I wasn't exactly excited, I thought I was prepared for it, in a couple of months! When the surgeon's secretary called and asked if I was free for my op next week, I paniced! A lot! I had a week to; get a blood test, find a way to and from the hospital without being able to drive, see if my boyfriend could come down in such short notice, prepare myself and my stuff for surgery. Meanwhile, I was working every single day up until the day of the operation. Didn't really leave me much time.
So with the panic and stress of getting prepared for surgery in such a short amount of time, also being told very very little about what I would have to do, bring, what would happen on the day and pre-op, it's safe to say I was pretty anxious.
I've had bouts of anxiety in the past but never like this. I can cope with panic attacks and feeling faint and nauseous like I had in the past, but this was totally different. I'd spent pretty much from Wednesday to Saturday night worrying about one area of the operation or another. But Sunday I felt fine. Until mid morning, I suddenly felt very sick and knew my stomach didn't feel right. I ran up to the bathroom and had to lay down on the floor. I couldn't work out if I was going to be sick, pass out or fall asleep.
I called my mum and said I really really didn't feel well but didn't know what was happening. I had been so desperate not to get a cold or sick in any way before the op that I think I had actually MADE myself sick. About 45 minutes later she came home. I'd been sick and basically fallen asleep on the bathroom floor by this point but luckily had been able to stop myself passing out.
She called NHS Direct and the woman on the phone said it sounded like gastro-enteritis. Fantastic! I tried not to get a cold and now had a stomach bug! All that worrying about the operation and I wouldn't be able to have it anyway!
Soon after, an out of hours doctor called and told me to come to the doctor's surgery ASAP. After a speedy, bumpy drive, we got there and I was basically falling asleep/trying not to vomit on the waiting room floor. When we got called in, the doctor did all of his checks and couldn't find anything wrong. He asked if I'd been stressed lately so I explained to him about the operation. He said he thought it was anxiety. And unbelievably, once I'd got home, I felt about a million times better! I felt like I'd been faking the entire thing, but I knew 100% I hadn't.
How could anxiety have made me feel and react like that? It sounded like a stomach bug, it felt like a stomach bug! I have a degree in Psychology, I work in Pharmacy, I know what anxiety looks like... right?! It just shows how much your mental health can affect your physical health!
I pretty much felt like this between Sunday and Tuesday, but Tuesday night, the night before surgery, I felt entirely calm. Weird!
So now I've had the operation (I'll write about that in another post) and now I'm in recovery. I have two weeks off work to heal and hopefully I'll be back to normal soon, just with a few more scars.
B x
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