My experience having a Myomectomy-- Fibroid Removal PT 1- First week Post Op

Hay GURLS!
So I usually post about DIY tricks and hacks, but this was too important not to write about. Hope this gives you some peace of mind going into your surgery.

SOME INFO AND BACKGROUND:
So I'm sure a lot of you are reading this because you've already become aware of having fibroids, for those of you that are unaware, fibroids are very common in women; they're tumors that grow on/in/around your uterus. They're usually not cancerous and often times go completely undetected. However, if you have unusually heavy periods: cramping and loss of blood, you may want to ask your OBGYN to check for fibroids. Fibroids *CAN* be dangerous to some people, and also may hinder child birth, if that's what you're into. ;)

Ok, so I just had my first myomectomy (which is an open surgery, in the form of a cesarian cut, where they remove the fibroid...s) I had some anxiety going into it, but my doctor is experienced and his yelp reviews were high, and this is actually a very routine procedure, so I went into the hospital smiling because I'm soooo ready to live pain-free. Also, my underwear are all ruined, completely.

Here are my stats: I'm a 31 year old, Korean-American, 113lbs, 5'6'', gal in ehh... decent shape.

My doc said I was pretty young to be having such troublesome fibroids. I was on the verge of becoming anemic because of all the blood I would lose during my periods and my cramps never-ended. I mean, I didn't have to be on my period to be bleeding/ cramping. And sex was becoming painful. My largest fibroid (I had three) was also pressing on my bladder, so I was having to relieve myself every 3ish hours, even through the night.

The OBGYN performing the surgery was Dr. Roy Silver, his office is located in the Cedars Sinai Towers in Los Angeles, CA. The surgery was performed at Dignity Health California Medical Center in Downtown Los Angeles.

PROCEDURE:
So the day before the procedure I went to the hospital and had some pre-operative blood work done. They also checked to make sure I wasn't pregnant. They want to make sure they know your blood type because there is a good chance of losing a lot of blood, so a blood transfusion might be necessary. And just generally make sure that you're healthy enough for surgery. I was told to show up to the hospital the next day at 7am, and was given body wash to prep my body the night before and day of. I also had to wash my bedsheets and pajamas as well as the clothes I'd be wearing the day of the surgery. They wanted to make sure I was at a low risk for infection.

7am day of surgery: Arrive at hospital, they gave me a hospital gown, hospital booties for my feet, hair net, body wipes, a bag for my belongings, and half of a hospital room. My boyfriend came with me and helped me wipe my body down and gather my belongings. Then from 7am-12pm we waited. At noon a nurse came and carted me into the waiting lounge, my boyfriend was allowed to come with. Here we were introduced to the doctor(s): Dr. Silver and a resident doctor, the nurses that would be in the surgery room and my anesthesiologist. They also had me sign papers, one of which said that if something were to go terribly wrong, he may have to perform an emergency hysterectomy, but the resident doctor assured me that Dr.Silver has never had to do that before. If you're being asked to sign one of these waivers, you may want to ask your surgeon if they've ever had to resort to that. Then, very unceremoniously, they wheeled me off to the surgery room, I had just enough time to steal a kiss from my boyfriend.

Once in the room I was moved onto the surgical bed, where they strapped down parts of my body. They also wrapped these warm thingies around my legs that kept them warm, but I think is for blood circulation? Then the anesthesiologist gave me an oxygen mask and before I knew it, I was out.

Next thing I remember is waking up in the recovery lounge, but I was so groggy and tired that I kept going in and out of sleep, just waking up for moments at a time. I can't tell you much about what happened here, except I know they were monitoring me and taking some notes. I also remember being carted out of here, and back to my initial room.

As the nurse was wheeling me down the hallway, I kept asking her if my boyfriend was on his way. She said she would get him and left me in the room. Then another nurse came in and asked me if I wanted apple juice and crackers, I said, "yes, and water and my boyfriend, please." Then another person came in, completely unrelated to me, and I asked her for my boyfriend, too. I was probably in that room for about 10 mins before my boyfriend finally made it back to me. Moral of the story being, don't stop asking till you get your boyfriend in the room. He then helped me get dressed. Then the nurse said that I was being discharged, the surgery went well and that my boyfriend should go and get the car.

As the nurse helped me get unhooked and gave me some last minute instructions about taking off the dressing the next day and showering, I started to get nauseous. So she hooked me back up to an IV and I fell back asleep, maybe just for a moment or so, and once I was feeling better, she helped me into a wheelchair and we were off to my car!

Once in the car, I started to feel nauseous again. I recommend taking a pillow with you to the hospital, so you can rest it on your belly between you and your seatbelt. I popped a breath mint in my mouth and fell asleep till we got home. And once I was home, I slept pretty much all day long. I wish my doc would've prescribed me a slightly stronger medicine, because I haven't stopped feeling pain and discomfort, but it's been manageable.

One thing I regret is not asking the nurse for a abdominal binder. They have them at the hospital, and your insurance will cover it if you ask for it there, at least they should. It'll just be one less errand to run, and you'll be able to save $30.

It's been one day since my surgery. Last night, my tummy got pretty swollen from all the liquids I had been drinking, and it was really uncomfortable. Peeing was nearly impossible. The pain was so great. I was making involuntary "uuuuhhhhhhhhh" sounds and freaking my boyfriend out but only drips would come out at a time. I imagine that's what a UTI feels like, I've never had one, so I can't say for sure. But it's not a bad idea to have cranberry pills nearby, since they'll most likely be putting a catheter in you, so better safe than sorry. The pee-pain has subsided some, and I had my first fart this morning. It wasn't easy getting out a fart. People suggest walking or sitting on the toilet, or just sitting in general. My doctor prescribed me stool softener, and hopefully that helps with my first poop-- because I am scared shitless (boom).

I haven't had much of an appetite. I find that the smell of food makes me nauseous. I'm drinking tea and water and pedialyte, eating rice porridge with soy sauce. Last night I had two bowls of porridge and this morning I've had 3/4 of an apple and cereal. Since getting my abdominal binder, I've been feeling slightly less pain. My whole lower abdomen area feels like it's coming apart. Everything down there seems to be floating in a sea of swollen-ness and it's extremely uncomfortable. The binder helps keep it all together. it's not very tight at the moment, but I will tighten it as time goes on. I haven't taken off my dressing yet, but I will.

One weird thing: I've been having trouble speaking out loud. I guess it puts too much pressure on my stomach, my body just doesn't want to do it. I'm just whispering-- you may not experience this, but wanted to give you a heads up.


List of things to take to the hospital:
- pillow
- list of medications
- slip on shoes (Toms are my go-to)
- extremely comfortable clothes. I wore a casual, button-down dress. Easy to get in and out of, and very relaxed fit.
- chapstick (you'll be pretty dehydrated)
- phone charger
- cough drops/ hard candies (helps with nausea and coughing because post-op coughing pain is death)

List of things to get before procedure:
- at LEAST 3 days worth of easy to digest, fiber-heavy foods. I suggest fiber cereal since thats easy to prepare and quest bars. But thats only 1.5 of your day's worth of meals.
- ScarAway  if you're woried about a nasty scar.
- Pedialyte (I use the CVS knock off)
- cranberry supplements (ward off that UTI)
- high-waisted granny panties (you want to make sure the panty line sits several inches above your incision)


** DO NOT FORGET TO ASK YOUR NURSE FOR AN ABDOMINAL BINDER!!**

Check out this site, it's the most informative site I've found. It's by a doctor located in Santa Monica, CA. I actually wish that I had gone to him instead of my doctor. My doctor was fine, but this doctor seems GREAT:
http://www.fibroidsecondopinion.com/caring-for-yourself-after-surgery/

I'll update with new posts as things come up, ask your questions and I'll try to get to them as quickly as I can.



It's the second day post operation. 

I've been struggling to poop. It's been really, really uncomfortable to relieve myself in every way. The pee-ing has gotten easier, but it's still not back to normal. Farting? Nearly impossible. I read somewhere to try to walk and sit up and that that'll help with farting- which was true. But my FUPA has never been this healthy. The bloating is possibly worse.

I stopped taking painkillers last night because painkillers stop you up, and I'm desperate to poop. I spent more than 2.5hrs on the toilet yesterday, to no avail. Well, at 6:30am today I pushed out a little turd. It should be noted that I've been taking stool softeners since the day of the operation. I pooped 3 more times today.

Anyway, that's the big news of the day.

I took my first shower since the surgery. I've been scared to, unsure if there would be pain when the water hit the stitches, but surprisingly, there's no pain! So the shower was a huge success.

Not much else has changed. I walked around the block once, it usually takes me about 12minutes, but it took me about 30 minutes. Haha. That walk tuckered me out and I took a pretty long nap after that. My boyfriend has been incredible, trying to help me as much as possible. I'm still letting him bring me food and water and stuff, but I'm trying to get up by myself and move around as much as I can by myself.

I've also started wearing compression bottoms, like Spanx. The binder is great for going on walks and activities, but I like there to be constant compression.


Six days post operation.

Last night I started getting these weird stabbing pains at my incision. I was woken up from the pain and my boyfriend suggested that I take a painkiller. The pain was worse than the idea of constipation, so I took one and eventually fell asleep (and I haven't been stopped up).

I did a little research and I think the pain might be caused by my nerves "waking up," which would make sense because the swelling is starting to go down. Also and the area around the incision has been numb since the surgery but last night it started to tingle and itch!

I've been having morning nausea. I don't know what's causing it. But it's been happening for the past couple mornings. I get my boyfriend to get me food as soon as I wake up to stave it off, and usually it helps. By the afternoon I feel great. Yesterday I did the dishes and that tuckered me out for a 2hr nap. Haha, it makes me laugh.

I've been keeping up with walks around the block. Today I went on two walks around the block, and I've gotten a little bit faster and progress feels great.

The stabbing pain has continued through the day. :(

Also, careful not to laugh too hard or to sneeze or cough. The minute I feel a sneeze coming on, I hold my nose and stop breathing. and to stifle a cough I grab water and slowly let it drip down my throat until I can get a cough drop in my mouth. I pretty much always have a cough drop and water by my side.

Grow Orchids Successfully! Finally! and EASILY!

Who likes orchids? EVERYONE!
Who kills orchids? EVERYONE!

Here's a fool-proof way to grow them successfully.

1. Chose a new glass jar home for your orchid. I went with a mason jar.

2. Discard all mulch/bark/moss until you're down to your roots. Be careful not to disturb the roots too much! I then went ahead and cut off all the dead roots, you know if the root is dead because it'll be shriveled up and dry. I also disinfected my scissors before cutting.

3. Place orchid roots carefully in new home.

4. Okay, here comes the genius part. Orchid roots will let you know when they need water by turning white.  So take a look every few days at your orchid roots, if you notice they're going pale-- like in the photo, drizzle some water in there.

5. Depending on the humidity your orchid may need more or less water than mine. I generally water enough to cover the bottom of the jar, about a centimeter, and I do this about every 3-4 days. You can see in the photo that I don't put a lot of water in there at all. I don't want enough so that the roots are sitting in the water for days, just enough so that the roots can soak up the water and retain it for a few days. However, if you do happen to water too much, no worries. just drain the water out of the jar.

6. The roots will turn green almost immediately. Meaning they're full and happy. :)

  

HAPPY PLANTING!!

Framed Flower Power

So last 4th of July, my pre-fiancé left me
to go camping with his friends.

It was sad.

When he returned he presented me with 6 wild flowers
he had found that he kept safe in a handkerchief. 

This is what I thought about his gift:

And you can too. 

Ingredients:

- Pressed Flowers

- Photo Frame

- Plastic Glue (I only used this glue because I already owned it and I know it dries clear.)

- Cardstock paper (optional)

Step1

Press your flowers in a heavy book. I first folded tissue around it to keep it safe from when I remove it from the book. I ended up pressing my flowers for MONTHS, as it's now September, and he gave them to me in July. I think you'd be good with two to three weeks, but it depends on the flower. Just wait until it seems completely dry.

Step2

Remove the flower from the book

Step3

I purchased two sheets of card stock from the local printers because I don't have a sketch pad or any artist paper, but you could use printer paper, I just had a few heavier flowers and didn't want them to pull the paper down over time. Cut the paper to fit your frame (you also have the option of using the back of the paper that comes with your frame). Also be careful during the entire process not to fingerprint the glass. 

Step4

If your frame came with a precut mat, remove it from the frame and line it up with the paper so you have a frame of reference for placement. 

Step5

Glue. I glued in several places, depending on the flower. I know that sometimes if you just glue the petals, over time the stem can fall off in the frame.

Step6

I chose to write the place the flowers came from and the date, since I have an awful memory. I wrote it in with a pencil. 

Step7

Carefully reassemble. 

Cut flower alternative

I love having fresh cut flowers in my house, but I don't want to splurge on buying them! 

I'm in the middle of creating a garden that I can cut my own flowers from, but until they're ready, I have another solution. 

Display your groceries! I always put my herbs and greens in vases. It helps them keep longer (herbs like basil will actually start to grow from their cuttings) and it makes your house look and smell amazing in the process. 

Remember to change the water when it gets muddy and to keep it out of direct sunlight. :)

Put Your Alcoholic Junk In My Trunk!

so... i made a minibar... out of an old trunk.

ingredients:
1. old trunk
2. wallpaper
3. wood for shelves
4. "L" brackets to hold shelves
5. wood glue
6. things to attach wallpaper
7. casters (aka wheels)
8. misc fastening hardware: screws, nails
9. wine glass holder

step 1:
remove old wallpaper. i didn't follow this video for instructions because i am stubborn. it all comes off in the end anyway. i just soaked the hail out of the wallpaper, then i put my steamer in the trunk and let it sit, and still struggled to get it all off. you should probably follow the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvBdijrPSGA

step 2:
hang new wallpaper.
i did follow this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0Wee-CcS9w

step 3:
begin the shelving process. the frame you see in the photo came with the trunk, so i was using it as a template (i love me some templates). i wanted a hanging shelf look, so i made the door shelf smaller than the door, and used L brackets to attach it to the door. this also helps to CLOSE the door. keep that in mind.

step 4:
put shtuff in. i would flip this image if i knew how.  for the shelves i used birch veneer on plywood purchased at Lowes, also cut there. lovely people. you can see in the image, that in the main body of the trunk i have three boards that measure 18''x 22.5'' and four that measure 18''x 9''. in order to make the wine rack i cut halfway down the boards, in the thickness of the board and inserted them together. if that doesn't make sense, sorry. i can't seem to find a link that explains it and didn't take pictures of that process.

step 5:
i wanted individual spaces for all of my pre-fiance's thangs, so i laid them on the ground and placed each item that would need a shelf so i could see where everything would fit. three or four simple straight across shelves would also do the trick. 

step 6:
add casters, shelf stops (i just added a little piece of wood to the ends of the shelves to keep all of my glassware from falling out), and wine glass holders: http://www.amazon.com/Fox-Run-Wine-Glass-Holder/dp/B004E2H4DQ/ref=sr_1_3?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1375915194&sr=1-3&keywords=undercabinet+wine+glass+rack

step 7:
set dress that ish and give your friends something to be jealous of. OLD FASHION, PLEASE!

Making a template for attaching a TV mount.

So, I purchased this TV mount from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0086027J8/ref=oh_details_o06_s01_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Come on this journey as I attach it to my wall.

 1. Open the package... 😝

 

2. If your TV mount didn't come with a  template to help with placement, MAKE ONE. I took the cardboard box that it came with and cut it to size.

3. This is what a homemade, cardboard template looks like. You're welcome.

4. Next use a pen to mark the drill holes.

5. TADAAAAA!

6. Use electric tape to tape on level (I was told not to trust the level on the mount by the many reviewers on Amazon.)

7. Then use packing tape to attach to wall to determine placement of mount.

8. Drill through cardboard. 

Then invite your friend, Charlie Layton, to come over and have him tell you that the tv's hung uneven. 

Hope this helped! Otherwise u can download this app called HelloTech who will come and install it for u. 

That's all folks.

In the timeless words of Myq Kaplan:

"I don't like the word 'boobies' -- disrespectful to women. Boobies? They should be called 'yaybies.' How about that, everybody? Why is 'boo' in it when they're awesome? They should be yaybies or hooraybies or standing ovabies. If they're not perfect, they're still OKabies. They are not great persabies, but I'll touch them maybes."

I just want to turn your boobies into yaybies. Help me help you.

More to follow...