I don't think the surgery could have gone better! I had so much peace going into the OR. Thank you guys so much for all your thoughts and prayers!
The anesthetist put a mask on me in the OR. I said, "Oh is this going to put me to sleep?" She said, "No, this is just oxygen". Next thing I knew I was waking up after the surgery. lol liars!
I woke up as they were rolling me out of the OR, down the hall to recovery. I thought maybe I'd misremembered that since I wasn't supposed to be awake that soon after, but the nurse in recovery confirmed that I was awake as I came in the doors.
I remember being in a lot of pain immediately after, feeling like the worst menstrual cramps I'd ever experienced. I remember thinking to myself, "I wonder if this is what labour feels like?" hehe probably not, but it hurt a lot. Before they gave me painkillers I bit my lip so hard it swelled up a bit later. Thankfully it probably only took a minute or two before they got the pain under control.
They were surprised that I was awake so quickly, but I think I was only awake because of the pain. As soon as the pain was better I slept soundly for a few hours.
As I woke up, I felt so happy that I wasn't incredibly nauseous! I experienced some nausea, but it wasn't much worse than the nausea I experience every day. As long as I kept my eyes closed because everything was blurry and spinning, then my stomach was okay.
They were able to "vacuum" the cyst out with 3 tiny incisions. The pain from the incisions really hasn't been too bad - just really sore but not unbearable or anything. They also burned off a lot of scar tissue around my uterus, which also makes it a bit more sore.
I also had some really frustrating moments where a nurse told me that she was discharging me in 20 minutes, even though I told her that I was too dizzy to sit up at that time without fainting, and that moving made me really nauseous. She said, "well you can't stay here! Once you wake up, we send you home.". Thankfully another nurse told her that I wasn't going home for at least two more hours, and that when they sat me up they had to do it over a long period of time so I didn't faint.
ARG, isn't that what I had just said?!
In reality I think it was another 4 hours before I was discharged. I later found out that the angry nurse had no idea what procedure I had done, and had no idea I have POTS, Gastroparesis, Dysautonomia, etc. All she knew was how to get angry with me. I was practically shouting at times because she wouldn't let me speak. I was trying to explain what I was diagnosed with, etc., but she just kept talking OVER me saying I was fine to go home and that she was sending me home right now.
That being said, I also had several incredibly nice, wonderful nurses who made me so relaxed and comfortable in their presence. The OR nurse was really thorough and spent a lot of time just listening to me. She helped reassure any fears I had and went over all the details about what I was going to experience. It really helps me to know what to expect so I really appreciated that.
My surgeon and anesthesiologist were also great - super reassuring and thorough. It helped me feel like I was going to be safe as I was being put under.
The nurse assigned to me in recovery was also amazing. I only remember parts of my conversations with her but I must've sounded ridiculous. At one point I heard her talking about her German Shepherd puppy to another nurse. I got excited and tried to tell her that I have a dog too. But I think I fell asleep halfway through talking and only managed to mumble, "I have a poooooooodle".
And then, in the room after recovery, I had a couple more nurses who made such a huge difference in how comfortable and calm I felt. I had a brief moment where I was overcome with pain and the tears started flowing. Their presence was just so calming and reassuring, they helped me feel better really quickly.
I'd love to be able to go back and thank those nurses, letting them know just how much their actions influenced me that day.