Recovery update [CAUTION contains surgical images]
Tuesday, January 29th I went in for surgery. They removed my uterus and my right ovary with the fallopian tube. My left ovary and tube were removed a few years back. My worst fears did not come true, thankfully. The surgery only lasted about 1.5 hours.
For comparison, this first image is of a healthy female reproductive system. You can see everything clearly and it looks pink and healthy.
My insides are nowhere near that neat. My organs were completely surrounded with scar tissue. My bowels were adhesed to my uterus, again. During one of my previous surgeries they had to separate them due to all the scar tissue. Dr. Salmieri had to do the same this time.
Below you'll see 4 pictures of my organs before he removed them. My uterus was not a healthy pink. My ovary was the same size or larger than my uterus. Scar tissue was all over the place. My bowels were adhesed to the uterus and twisted in the wrong position. Dr. Salmieri said he was surprised I was able to have a bowel movement considering the condition my rectum was in.
My liver has a small cyst on it that they were not concerned about. My appendix looked healthy. The pictures below are from when he started to remove the scar tissue to after he successfully removed my uterus, ovary, and fallopian tube.
Dr. Salmieri also looked inside my bladder and found that I have endometriosis in there as well. He did not remove the bladder or mess with the endometriosis inside it. He said now that I won't be producing estrogen the endometriosis should calm down and stop causing problems.
I feel much better than I expected I would. I am taking multiple naps daily but I have already mostly weaned myself off of pain medication. Every now and then it starts to hurt and I will take half a pain pill. I'm walking frequently and doing my incentive spirometer exercises. I can't quite stand up straight yet because it feels like it is pulling at the stitches. I also can't bend down. Fortunately, I am able to squat down so I can pick things up that have dropped to the floor.
This picture shows the surgical incisions and how they look good. They are higher than I expected them to be though.
If you want to come visit, please do so. I'll be at home for the next 6 weeks recovering and am not even allowed to sweep, mop, or vacuum. . With that said, I will likely get bored easily. I could use the company.
Please continue to keep me in your prayers. I'm ready for things to get back to normal so that I can get back to work and living my life.
Thank you for all your prayers thus far and for your support.
For comparison, this first image is of a healthy female reproductive system. You can see everything clearly and it looks pink and healthy.
My insides are nowhere near that neat. My organs were completely surrounded with scar tissue. My bowels were adhesed to my uterus, again. During one of my previous surgeries they had to separate them due to all the scar tissue. Dr. Salmieri had to do the same this time.
Below you'll see 4 pictures of my organs before he removed them. My uterus was not a healthy pink. My ovary was the same size or larger than my uterus. Scar tissue was all over the place. My bowels were adhesed to the uterus and twisted in the wrong position. Dr. Salmieri said he was surprised I was able to have a bowel movement considering the condition my rectum was in.
My liver has a small cyst on it that they were not concerned about. My appendix looked healthy. The pictures below are from when he started to remove the scar tissue to after he successfully removed my uterus, ovary, and fallopian tube.
Dr. Salmieri also looked inside my bladder and found that I have endometriosis in there as well. He did not remove the bladder or mess with the endometriosis inside it. He said now that I won't be producing estrogen the endometriosis should calm down and stop causing problems.
I feel much better than I expected I would. I am taking multiple naps daily but I have already mostly weaned myself off of pain medication. Every now and then it starts to hurt and I will take half a pain pill. I'm walking frequently and doing my incentive spirometer exercises. I can't quite stand up straight yet because it feels like it is pulling at the stitches. I also can't bend down. Fortunately, I am able to squat down so I can pick things up that have dropped to the floor.
This picture shows the surgical incisions and how they look good. They are higher than I expected them to be though.
If you want to come visit, please do so. I'll be at home for the next 6 weeks recovering and am not even allowed to sweep, mop, or vacuum. . With that said, I will likely get bored easily. I could use the company.
Please continue to keep me in your prayers. I'm ready for things to get back to normal so that I can get back to work and living my life.
Thank you for all your prayers thus far and for your support.
Comments
Post a Comment