The Siberian American: Life Update: A Successful Surgery

Thursday, August 4, 2016

Life Update: A Successful Surgery

Hey, friends! I must say I have missed blogging and reading all of your blogs so much over the last two weeks, but today is the first day I felt up to writing a post.

As most of you know, I had surgery on Wednesday, July 20. It went (almost) as well as possible, given the circumstances. That morning, I woke up feeling at peace. That’s not to say I wasn’t nervous (my naturally high heart rate went up to 150 and even hit 180 when I had a coughing fit after the epidural), but I was so ready. Even though I knew recovery from surgery would be tough, I had been in pain for so many months at that point that I was ready to move forward in the healing process.


My pre-op experience was so much better than expected. Meeting all the doctors really helped. My anesthesiologist was truly a gem. Not only was she super hilarious, it was so easy to tell she knew what she was doing. I opted to get an epidural, which was the best decision ever. I can’t even imagine how much pain I would have experienced after my surgery if not for that epidural. I can definitely see why they’re so popular for people giving birth!

The last thing I remember before going under anesthesia was my anesthesiologist telling me she has a close Russian friend, and she knows a phrase in Russian. That phrase was “I have lost my mind.” I’m also pretty sure I said “that feels weird” as the anesthesia hit me. I had been under twilight anesthesia before but not general, and it felt like someone knocked me out.

So I said my surgery went almost as well as possible. During surgery, they noticed the problem with my ureter was worse than originally thought.  I had extremely severe scarring from my endometriosis, which made my ureter unable to expand. Because it was so bad, the urologist on call at the hospital wasn’t comfortable placing the stent, so they sent for a specialist from a nearby hospital. He wanted to put in a 7 cm. stent, but he could only manage a 5 cm. one. Although it made my recovery a bit more difficult, I’m glad they discovered that problem, or else I would have had to have another surgery in the future. I will be having a procedure to remove the stent in two weeks.

When you're a blogger, you take a photo of the hospital ceiling on the day of your surgery.
I mentioned in my surgery date post how scary it was sign a paper that said my surgeon could remove a number of organs. What I wasn’t ready to say at the time was that included every single one of my reproductive organs. My biggest fear going into the surgery was that I could completely lose the ability to become a mother to the point where we couldn’t even try IVF. I can’t even begin to express how thankful I am that this didn’t happen. God is so good, y’all. I ended up with the best-case scenario. I obviously had to lose the ovary and fallopian tube that had the massive cyst, but the doctor was able to save everything else.

I found out the morning after my surgery that the size of my endometrioma (around 20 cm.) was a personal record for my doctor. That doesn’t surprise me because I couldn’t find anything about endometriomas that big online, but I’m glad she didn’t tell me that before the surgery! One of the residents told me the doctor had been excited all week about my case since it was a really unique situation.

I stayed in the hospital for three nights. They thought I might need four nights in the hospital but knew it was my birthday, so they hoped to make it so I could leave a little early. On the morning of my birthday, I got my epidural and catheter removed, and the pain quickly became overwhelming. Thankfully, after a change in medication, the pain became manageable, and I was able to leave that evening. It was truly the biggest gift I could have asked for this year.

I couldn’t write this post without mentioning Chris. I’ve been even more thankful for him than usual throughout my healing process. He spent the night with me at the hospital every night, dealing with people coming in to check my vitals throughout the night. On my first night after surgery, I had to wake him up every hour to feed me ice because my throat hurt so much from being intubated. The next day he not only had to get up at 5 a.m. to get ready for work, but it was also his birthday.

The view from my hospital room.
As for now, the healing process is slow but steady. Every day feels like a significant improvement. My sweet Mama (who replaced Chris at the hospital at 5 a.m. every day I was there even though she lives an hour away) came to help me every day last week. On Sunday, I was able to walk outside a little for the first day since being discharged (I’ve never been so thankful to be out in the Texas heat!), and my Mom brought Skyler home on Monday (she was living with my parents for the last two weeks). Today is my follow-up appointment with my doctor, so hopefully, she will say everything is going well.

I wanted to thank y’all so much for your support! It has meant so much to me. A few years ago, I would have never imagined putting such a difficult situation in my life on the internet for everyone to read, but so many of y’all have come on this journey with me, so wanted to share the outcome. I am going to start slowly easing myself into blogging next week, starting with a books post on Monday. I can’t wait to read all of your blogs and see what everyone has been doing this summer. Much love!

Linking up with Kristen and Gretchen

29 comments:

  1. I've been thinking of you and am so thankfully it went as well as possible! Feel better soon!!! So many blogger friends are thinking of you xo

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  2. So glad to hear that you are on your path to recovery!!!

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  3. Oh, Olya! I'm so happy to hear an update from you! I've seriously been praying for you and thinking about you! It sounds like God gave you some wonderful people and some ridiculously good vibes these past few weeks! How funny that the doctor was LOOKING FORWARD to your surgery! It sounds like they were just as happy to cross your path and you were to cross theirs! I'll keep praying for a speedy recovery! :)

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  4. I'm so happy everything went so well. It sounds like you were in very very good hands. And how amazing to have the support system of Chris and your mom. And most of all, I'm so happy for you that the procedure is over! Take your time healing up and getting back to normal life. :)

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  5. Very glad to hear that the surgery went well and that you are on the road to recovery.

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  6. So happy to hear that you are healing at home. We've all been thinking and praying for you! <3

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    1. Thank you so much, Nicole! I really appreciate all the prayers and support! <3

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  7. Ahh this made me tear up with happiness that everything went well and that you have such great people supporting you there (and online!).

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  8. Many good thoughts to you as you continue to heal!

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  9. God really is so good! I'm so glad that your surgery went almost perfectly, and even the part that didn't go perfectly actually ended up being a blessing in disguise! Sending lots of hugs and prayers your way for a speedy recovery!

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  10. oh my gosh Olya I am so so glad it went well and you got the best case scenario with your organs and such :) i am also happy your doctor was so excited for your special case haha. i hope recovery continues to treat you well!

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  11. So glad to hear that your surgery went well! I've definitely watched too much Grey's because the whole process (meeting the doctors, them needing to call another specialist) was FASCINATING to read about, haha! You are so brave to go through with surgery and also to write about it so honestly for all of us. As I'm sure you know, not everyone seeks treatment, even in the midst of great suffering. You're a bright light and an inspiration, Olya. Wishing you a quick recovery. xo

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    1. I'm so glad you enjoyed reading about the process, Jess! I was worried I had included too much information! Haha. :) Thank you so much for your sweet words! <3

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  12. YAY! So glad everything went well. Best case scenario is truly fabulous! :) I'm so happy to read that! Having a husband and a mom who are so selfless and helpful for you is also great. I know that's something to never take for granted. So glad to read all of this, and I hope that your recovery continues well! XO - Alexandra

    Simply Alexandra: My Favorite Things

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  13. It's nice to hear back from you again, Olya! More prayers for your speedy recovery!

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    1. Thank you so much, Jae! I truly appreciate your support! <3

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  14. I'm glad your surgery went well! I absolutely hate being intubated, my throat is always the first thing I complain about pain-wise when I wake up from a surgery!! I hope you continue to recover quickly!!

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  15. glad the surgery went well and that you heal quick! i remember when i went in for a laproscopy they made me sign a form that basically said the same thing - if they see something wrong, they will remove the ovary and i was like WTF?!?!?

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  16. So glad everything went well. I hope you continue to heal quickly!

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  17. Happy to hear the surgery went well! I'm so glad they didn't have to remove more organs than they planned, how scary. I can't imagine the stress you've been under. I am glad you are doing better and that you have people there to support you.

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  18. I'm so happy to hear that it went nearly perfect for you and that they were able to clear the problems for you. Still praying that you continue to recover. xo, Biana -BlovedBoston

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  19. SO happy it went well! I'm still praying for your recovery! I hope your follow up appointment goes smoothly and that you're back to feeling better than before all of this happened soon.

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  20. Oh, this is such wonderful news! All the best to you for your recovery, and I'm thankful that you seem to be surrounded by love.

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  21. Oh I'm so happy to hear that all went well! What a blessing to have the surgery behind you and to hear it all went so well! Continued prayers and well wishes for a speedy recovery!

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  22. Wonderful news !! So happy everything went well.

    xx

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  23. This is wonderful to hear Olya! I've been thinking of and praying for you. I'm glad that things went well.

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  24. I am so glad that everything went well!!

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  25. Praises praises praises! What wonderful answers to prayer! I'm so glad things went so well (despite the hiccup with the stent). I'm so glad you will still have a chance for having babies someday. What a blessing! :)

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  26. Oh darling I had no clue. Praying for you and continues recovery. God is always good. I see his hand daily and more so as time goes by. Prayers up :)

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