The Siberian American: Health Update: A Surgery Date

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Health Update: A Surgery Date

Note: If you’re new here and don’t know what’s going on with my health, read this first.

I’m not going to lie: I’ve had a harder and harder time keeping up with blogging lately. My pain keeps getting worse, and I just don’t have the energy to put together a travel post these days. Thankfully, my spirits are still high, and I’m doing even better now that I finally have a surgery date.


I am so thankful for the doctor who will be doing my surgery. She’s a gynecological oncologist, so she does complicated surgeries often. I was also impressed with how well both she and her PA knew my case before I even talked to them. She spent over an hour with me, which is hard for a doctor to do.

It was rough to hear that she thinks the endometrioma has grown since my MRI. It was already at 18 centimeters, and my doctor thinks it’s likely over 20 centimeters at this point. For that reason, (and because of my constant pain) she wanted to do surgery as fast as possible. I will be having surgery exactly a week from today—Wednesday, July 20. I will be in the hospital for at least three days following the surgery. My total recovery should be about six weeks.

It’s crazy that out of the 52 weeks in the year, my surgery will fall on Christopher’s and my “Super Week.” For those that don’t know, Christopher and I were born two days apart, and our anniversary is two days after my birthday. His birthday is July 21, mine is July 23, and our anniversary is July 25. My goal is to be discharged on my birthday! In all seriousness, I don’t really care that the surgery will fall on our Super Week. My friend Chelsea once told me holidays are when you say they are, and I really embraced that during intern year. We will have to postpone our celebrations this year, but we will have another thing to celebrate: being done with surgery!

In general, I have been able to stay positive, but my time at the doctor’s office was tough. It’s hard to hear just how complicated my surgery will be and that my doctor can’t prepare as well as usual due to my endometriosis. It’s even harder to sign what the doctor called the “scary paper” that says she can remove a number of organs, if necessary. I know it's done for liability purposes, but that doesn't make it any easier. I’m an optimist, but even I found myself going down the hole of everything that could go wrong.

That said, I have faith. I have faith in God that he will heal me, and I will come out of this trial in my life stronger than ever. I have faith in my doctor, who has done this procedure many times and is both competent and kind. And I have faith in myself. This has been the hardest year of my life, but I am ready to move past it. I am not willing to let this experience define me.

I want to thank y’all for your encouragement throughout this process. Your messages and emails have meant so much to me. I’m obviously not sure what my recovery will look like, but I will try to keep y’all as updated as I can.

PS-I have asked a few blog friends to guest post for me during my recovery, but if anyone else is interested, I would be happy to have you! I have no idea how many people to line up due to the nature of my recovery process, so I thought I’d put a request on here too.

32 comments:

  1. oh Olya. fingers and toes crossed it all goes well. i'm sorry that it falls during your super week, but you are right - celebrating being done with surgery is pretty awesome and i hope you are discharged on your birthday.

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  2. Sending prayers your way! I'm so glad you are so comfortable with your doctor. That makes a world of difference. You are just going to have an Extra Super Week from here on out with having your health to celebrate! You take all the time you need away from the blog - put your healing first!

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  3. Praying for you daily, friend! You guys will have an even better time celebrating your super week, because you will be healthy!

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  4. So sorry to hear of your condition, and I'm sending good vibes your way. Major surgeries like that can be a scary thing, but it's great to hear that you're trying to stay positive. I just had a big surgery as well, so I found myself nodding my head in agreement to certain parts of this post. Hopefully your healing goes well and that you'll be able to do a lot of belated celebrating of your Super Week.

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  5. Prayers for your surgery and that it goes well! It's always good to remain optimistic, which I know is hard when you're reading some scary paperwork (like taking out organs), talk about reality check! I hope you heal wonderfully as well! Super week or not, it'll be a super week because you'll be getting a much needed surgery and hopefully being discharged on your birthday.

    Also I'd love to guest post if you still need some spots!

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  7. You're in my thoughts, Olya! Will be praying for your speedy recovery! Don't be out too long; we'll miss you around here. ;)

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    1. Thank you so much, Jae! I hope to be back as soon as I can. :)

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  8. I'm praying for you and for your surgery and recovery to go well! I can't wait for this all to be behind you!

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  9. My thoughts & prayers are with you! I hope that your surgery & recovery go smoothly.

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  10. I love Chelsea's advice! Holidays are totally when you say they are. And being able to celebrate your surgery being done too will just make it even better. You are always in my thoughts! <3

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  11. That advice is so great, make your holidays when and how you want them. I do like the idea of super week though. :) I read your post, and I'm so sorry to hear that you've been living through this pain and waiting on the right time and circumstances for your surgery, but I am glad that it is coming up and I am wishing you all the best during the process and your recovery. I have a co-worker who had a similar issue, though she gets many smaller cysts. Human bodies are so strange but also resilient. :) XO - Alexandra

    Simply Alexandra: My Favorite Things

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  12. So sorry to hear you are going through this, Olya. I'll be praying that everything goes as smoothly as possible with your surgery and that you'll have a speedy recovery!

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  13. Praying for you sweet friend!! I love your spirit through this and wishing and praying that you have a speedy and healthy recovery!

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  14. I'm so sorry to hear that Olya. However, I'm so glad to hear your doctor will be doing the surgery sooner rather than later so you finally get some relief! Praying for a speedy recover and wishing y'all the happiest birthdays and anniversary!

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  15. It's going to be a tough surgery and recovery, and it sucks even more that it falls during your Super Week. But what your friend said is exactly right, you choose when you're going to celebrate, and being done with this huge surgery and a tough year is going to be a huge reason to celebrate! I'll be praying for you and a quick recovery in the coming weeks!

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  16. Oh friend. You have all of my prayers and love and positive vibes. I'm glad you have everything lined up but I know that's only the beginning. I'll be thinking of you often this coming week!

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  17. I'm so happy to hear you have a date and you love your doctor which is so important! Sending lots of prayers and *hugs* your way for everything to go well, and you can be discharged on your birthday and you guys can celebrate your super week when the time is right <3
    Green Fashionista

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  18. I'm sending all the positivity that I can for you and your doctor's team. My sis-in-law had an endometriosis surgery just this week...so, I have witnessed the pain firsthand. Your Super Week is going to be extra super when all of this is behind you. I'm glad you are in Texas because Blue Bell ice cream is the perfect comfort food when you aren't feeling well ;)
    If you need a guest post, let me know, and I'm happy to help.

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  19. My blog friend . . . I hate that you have to go through this but I'm glad the surgery is sooner than later so you can focus on recovery and not the pain! I will pray that all goes well . . . sounds like you're in excellent hands. And I love the "super week!" Yes, occasions are when you make them so look forward to celebrating later!

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  20. I'm so happy to hear you have a surgery date locked in as scary as that can be, it will only be for the betterment of your health and relief of pain. Once you've recovered and feeling well again you'll just have 1 more thing to celebrate for "super week" so that's exciting!

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  21. Fingers crossed. I'm sure you'll get better soon and start sharing how great things are going again. We'll be waiting.

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  22. All my thoughts and prayers are you with you...! I'm so glad you have a date now, you will be FINE!! Lots of love <3

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  23. I will be praying for you for sure! I know how scary signing those papers can be so I definitely feel for you. Just think, in 7 weeks, you will be totally recovered and no longer in pain! What a blessing that will be! It's a bummer that this falls during your Super Week, but I am with you on being a big believer in celebrating whenever it works for you! I've celebrated my (July 30th) birthday in May and in October before just depending on what is happening. ;) So glad you have such a great doctor! :)

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  24. You poor girl! I'm so happy you have a date set. that means you have your eyes on the prize. I'm so sorry you are going through this. Keep the faith!

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  25. I'm so glad you have some answer, Olya, but I'm sad to hear that the doctor wasn't full of good news. I really, really hope and pray that you're in tip-top shape after those six weeks. I'll definitely be thinking about you! Take all the time you need to recover, lady!

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  26. My thoughts are with you. It's not good news by a long shot, but have faith--there truly are miracle workers in the medical field! Also that picture of you is gorgeous c:

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    1. Thank you so much! I definitely have faith that all will go well tomorrow. :)

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  27. Oh my, Olya. So sorry that you are going through all this. Glad to hear that you have tried to keep up the good spirits through it all. It definitely can't be easy. Take care and I hope you have as smooth a recovery as possible. I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

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  28. I will be praying for you this week, and throughout your recovery. I know everything will be fine, and I'm so glad you have Christopher by your side!

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  29. Sending lots of prayers your way for your surgery and your recovery!

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  30. Sending lots of prayers your way for your surgery and your recovery!

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