Saturday, September 28, 2013

Post-Op Follow-Up with RE


We had our post-op appointment a week early and a little unexpectedly yesterday. Apparently, if you have a uterine septum removed, your uterus then becomes the proud recipient of a strange triangle shaped balloon filled with blue dye, that is supposed to remain in place for 2 weeks. This balloon is basically a "place holder" while the uterus is healing.



The plastic tubing you see exiting the cervix is stitched by the physician so that the tubing doesn't fall out of your body completely. However, if you are lucky like me, you will somehow manage to bust the stitch in half....thus resulting in this long ass plastic medical cord hanging completely out of your hoo-ha a good 4 inches. Sexy right?

My nurse told me to come in and get it checked out, and I'm SO HAPPY I did. Dr. V said we could go ahead and remove it altogether...that there is no real evidence leaving it in there for the full 2 weeks as opposed to 1 will make a difference. I am healing fast, and I honestly feel like this thing has been causing more bleeding and agitation just by being in there, so I definitely agreed!

I will say, that out of all the procedures I've had done, the removal of that sucker was definitely the most uncomfortable. It lasted for only about 2 seconds tops, but the feeling was quite indescribable. Imagine someone plucking a hard plastic triangle shaped object through a hole that is smaller than a pencil eraser. Do not be fooled by the word "balloon," because it is anything but soft. Ick! Oh well, at least I am a cyborg no more!

We also talked about everything done during surgery.  Here is a basic diagram showing what was done during the laparoscopy...



-Cyst that was all twisted up around left fallopian tube removed
-Scar tissue on left ovary leading to surrounding tissue removed
-Scar tissue on bottom of uterus & crossing bowel removed
-Scar tissue on liver removed

*Uterine septum also removed, but done through the hysteroscopy & not included in this diagram.


That big bulging thing at the top is the uterus. Anywhere you see orange is scar tissue, and anything orange was removed. You can see scar tissue stretching from the lower part of my uterus here. Apparently, some of the scar tissue was also transecting my bowel, which could have caused complete blockage in the future. Glad that's gone!


The white tube on the left is my left fallopian tube. That nasty blue looking thing is a cyst the size of a lima bean. Notice the tissue attaching the cyst to the fallopian tube. Turbie Twist has nothing on this thing! How on earth it got so twisted up I do not know, but it looks like it's got a death grip on my tube...


Same structures, different angle. Is it just me, or does the tube look like it's being strangled? I also find it awfully ironic that this is the side where I had the "suspected ectopic."  While Dr. V says he doesn't think this would necessarily cause an ectopic pregnancy he can't rule it out either. There is no way to tell for 100% certain, but there's a small chance the cyst could have been causing issues with "uptake of the egg" any month I ovulated from the left side.

Hmmmm. Let's think about this; My left ovary is my dominant ovary. Most months (when ovulating naturally or on just pills...ie. Clomid/Femara) I ovulate from the left. I know this from many many months of ultrasound monitoring and also ovulation pain periodically. So, if most months I am ovulating from my left ovary, and there has been a possible issue with uptake and/or passage of the eggs on this side ALL ALONG, could it be more than coincidence we've had so many issues getting pregnant on our own? Well, it's plausible if you ask me. My RE says it's unlikely yet "possible."

Maybe the eggs just weren't getting taken up by the tube like they are supposed to.  I realize in the world of infertility, NOTHING is cut and dry, but dare I say that having this little clue has given me a tiny bit of hope that wasn't there before? It may be false hope, but at least there is nothing strangling my tube anymore. Hallelujah!

BTW...the cyst was biopsied and it was benign. Additionally, Dr. V said if there were any cancer  inside on my lady parts, he would have seen it. So, I also got confirmation that there are no signs of anything like ovarian cancer (a.k.a. the silent killer which stole my mom) brewing anywhere inside of me.


Stringy thing above: I think (?) this is the scar tissue that was attached to my left ovary and stretching across to surrounding tissue.


Slimy gray organ above: Not many people get to see their liver up close and personal, but here it is!  Scar tissue removed.


Lastly, all of that white stuff in the middle is the uterine septum. This is what dipped down into the top of my uterus (birth defect).  I'm guessing it's white because of very little, if any blood flow to this area. I can see why uterine septums can cause miscarriage. If the embryo implants here, it's certainly not optimal. Dr. V said my septum was slightly more pronounced in reality compared to what my HSG's showed. I've heard many people receive the same "It was more than we thought" news once doing the hysteroscopy. Glad the top of my uterus is no longer comprised of tissue with no blood flow! Geesh!

As you can probably gather, we are happy we had the procedures done. It has completely erased doubts we had about polyps or endo existing. We are thankful those things are NOT issues. It also brought other very interesting things to light, which could have been playing a role in our infertility.

And so the recovery continues.
No more antibiotics, just estrogen and progesterone to mimic a cycle. We are instructed to wait one additional cycle after this one before proceeding with our final FET. This puts us at late November/early December to begin our FET cycle. In the meantime, I will just do what I always do...take care of my mind, body, and spirit the best way I know how to. The "break" will be nice. I had a few glasses of red wine last night at a wedding rehearsal dinner, and it really never tasted so good! ha!

The icing on the cake yesterday was coming home to a surprise hubby had ordered. How cute is this magnetic chalkboard? It's on the side of our fridge now, so we can write love notes to each other any time we want. I really hit the lottery marrying my hubby. He's been there with me every step of the way. The road to parenthood has tested us in ways we'd never imagined, but in the end, we are stronger because of it. :)


19 comments:

  1. What a sweet husband you have!!! I'm so glad that you were able to have those procedures. It certainly sounds like there were lots of little things to clean up that can only help!! Hope you continue to recover well and enjoy the rest of your weekend, maybe with a little beautiful fall weather and sunshine?? xoxo

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  2. Wow, glad to hear all of that scar tissue AND that cyst is gone! It's great that you are continuing to heal quickly, I hope you are feeling well! Thinking of you! xoxo

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  3. Eek! After seeing all of that, I'm super glad that you had the surgery! I'm glad you're continuing to recover well! I'm sure you'll feel a lot better now with the "balloon" out... that sounds TERRIBLE! So glad that's over! Enjoy your break!

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  4. Reading through all that made my uterus hurt a little, but the pics were very interesting. I'm glad your recovery continues to go well!

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  5. Hope is hope. No matter what kind and hope is the thing that makes the miracles happen. I'm not saying you need a miracle. Every pregnancy is a miracle. Even the unintentional. Your hubby is the best. What a thoughtful romantic gift.

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  6. Aww! You are definitely one lucky lady. Glad u have such a sweet husband by ur side. Glad u had the surgery to clean up any potential IF issue. Still praying for a smooth recovery for u. Enjoy the red wine!!

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  7. Glad you are all cleaned out and healing. Hopefully you are on your way to your miracle!

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  8. Your husband's note is too sweet! I love it! And you seriously have the most informative blog ever. I really believe your sticky BFP is coming by the end of 2013! I think this lap was very needed! Lots of love and prayers!!

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  9. Awww what a sweet hubby you have! Lucky girl! It was interesting to see all the photos. I hope this was what you had to accomplish to get your BFP! I will be hoping and praying for you girlfriend.

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  10. Love your sweet husband!!! So glad you can put this behind you and move forward!!!!

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  11. Oh my goodness I love the chalkboard! How cute is that! So glad you don't have to worry about cancer right now and that you had all the bad stuff removed. Praying for your recovery!!

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  12. So crazy seeing those pictures! I'm glad you're continuing on the road to recovery! And that note from your hubs.... LOVE!

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  13. What a sweet surprise! It looks like the procedure went great! How interesting to see all of those details! Glad you are recovering so well!

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  14. Oh wow what a sweet guy, that would have made me cry. And sorry you have been through all that but how awesome to move forward with some what of a fresh start.

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  15. I can't imagine all of that won't help next time. I have a good feeling about your future FET!

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  16. I'm glad you can move forward with healthy and clear mommy parts!

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  17. Wow you are one super strong woman. I can't even imagine going through all of that. I hope you are feeling better now :) So glad there was no cancer also.

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  18. Your strength is encouraging, thank you for sharing! Yikes, scar tissue looks crazy! Your doctor has totally "cleaned" you out to make room for baby! Hubby is very sweet for ordering such a thoughtful gift, I love it!

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  19. this was really interesting to read - glad you are healthy, wishing you the best!

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