Last night I had emergency surgery to remove an ovarian cyst I didn't know I had. What's worse is I am smack in the middle of my orientation for a new internship program I have started.
Saturday night D and I were celebrating his grandfather's birthday with his whole family. I was having weird discomfort all night but I thought it was a GI issue - - maybe I ate too much or had gas or something. Trying to go to the bathroom didn't help though.
I made it through all of Sunday (yesterday) feeling perfectly fine as usual. Then, around 10 or 10:30 PM I started developing a bit of an abdominal pain that started spreading and becoming more and more painful and violent. Before I knew it I was crying in excrutiating pain (and I actually have a really high pain tolerance!). I was pretty sure it must have something to do with my new IUD. If not, then it had to be GI-related or maybe a UTI.
We called my OB/GYN since the IUD was my first thought. She was concerned I could be pregnant despite the IUD, or have ruptured a cyst. She advised us to go to the hospital she is affiliated with so that she could come take care of me if my condition warranted a visit from her.
While trying to put on some clothes to wear to the hospital, I ended up sprawled on my bedroom floor in pain. Something was definitely wrong.
At the hospital, once we finally were given a bed in the ER, my doctor's team, a resident and a PA, came to see me. After a pregnancy test turned out negative, they explained they were concerned I had a cyst and did an ultrasound to look for one. Sure enough, I had a moderate to large cyst (5 x 7 cm) on one of my ovaries. They explained how a cyst can cut off the blood flow to an ovary so you have to remove a big threatening cyst like that or you can lose your ovary. They were pretty sure I was going to have to go immediately into emergency surgery, but were waiting for my doctor for the final word.
When my doctor came she basically confirmed everything they said except that she didn't think the blood flow to the ovary was being cut off. That said, it was a large cyst and I was in a lot of pain, so there was no room to send me home "under observation" - - I was definitely going into surgery ASAP. I would not be going back home without having surgery first.
By the time I was being wheeled into surgery it was probably around 4AM this (Monday) morning. As they pushed me to the OR in a wheelchair, all I could think was "I can't believe I'm about to have another surgery!" It just didn't seem real. It didn't seem possible!
Before the surgery my doctor had explained that depending what kinds of incisions she had to make and what she found once inside, I could be in the hospital anywhere from just that day, to three days, to up to a week. Fortunately, I ended up with the most ideal situation: she was able to do the surgery laparoscopically, with just a slit above either hipbone, and the ovary was not cut off from its blood source and did not have to be removed. I could leave the same day. (Since coming home I found out from D that the cyst actually ruptured sometime between the ultrasound and the surgery.)
I spent the whole morning recovering in the PACU. I was allowed to eat but my mouth was so dry and no amount of ice chips, water, tea, cranberry juice or losenges was helping. So I felt like I was choking on the eggs that my brother-in-law brought back for me. When D brought sugary croissants it was exactly what I needed to get the salivary juices flowing! I also finally managed to pee too. I had a lot of discomfort but as soon as my CBC results came back normal, I could go home!
I was given some basic discharge instructions and a presription for percocet, which I had already had at home from my last surgery. At home I took some drugs and then we snacked and napped. As soon as the 6 hours of drug effectiveness was up, I felt a sharp pain shoot through my abdomen. I took more drugs and we ate dinner. Now, I am still walking funny and sitting up straight is a challenge, but the drugs help enough that I am going to try to make it back to school tomorrow. Wish me luck!
What a night.
