Surgery details.. finally.

This post is long overdue. I have been in a slump where I haven’t cared about doing anything; Lucas’s due date was (was? is?) tomorrow (7/15) and I am numb to life and this world and everyone and everything…more about feelings in another post.

BUT when I needed information prior to my TAC, I was able to find it on other women’s blogs and from other women sharing their experiences, sometimes when I’m sure they didn’t want to. The least I can do is hope to be a resource for someone who find they need this procedure and are searching for information.

For clarity, I’ll break this post into sections: Prep, Day of Surgery and Recovery.

Prep

Surgery prep wasn’t terrible. It wasn’t pleasant, but wasn’t terrible lol My surgery was scheduled for Monday.  Sunday morning, after eating breakfast around 8 am, I began a liquid diet that I would follow up till midnight that night. For me, this consisted of eating all the popsicles I could stomach and drinking lemonade. There were some restrictions such as the color of foods (no red, blue or purple – I think it has to do with the dye) and the popsicles couldn’t have any fruit in them or dairy. It wasn’t terrible, I did cheat and have some Cheezits around 1pm #shrug. The second component of the prep started at 5 pm. I had to drink 32 oz of Gatorade mixed with 8 oz of Miralax. EIGHT OUNCES. A CUP OF MIRALAX. I don’t have to tell you how the rest of my night went. It was unpleasant. End of story.  The last part of my prep was taking a shower that night with a special soap that they give you; it is supposed to help prevent infection the next day during your operation.

Day of Surgery

My procedure was scheduled for 1 pm. I was told to report that morning at 11 am. I woke up, took another shower with the special soap and we headed out. Upon arrival, we registered and after maybe 30 mins I went back and got changed. Surprisingly, I wasn’t nervous. I think overall going forward and even with this TAC surgery, I’ve been numb. I’ve had all the feelings before: anxiety, anger, excitement and nothing comes from it. So I’ve just been moving through this whole thing with a “what will happen will happen “ attitude. Before I went back, my mom called and prayed with Hubbins and I and that was it. I felt calm and I knew that however this procedure was supposed to go it would happen. I got wheeled in to the OR and the anesthesiologist told me that she would give me a little something to start my sedation process before I even got on the table. That little something was clearly stronger than I expected because the next thing I knew I was waking up in recovery. No dramatic “Count backwards from 20 while strapped on the table” lol

When I woke up, (I was in surgery for about 3 hours.. my doctor told my husband it is “because I was heavier”..story of my life, things are hard when you’re fat *shrug*) I WAS IN PAIN. My only ‘complaint’ about the whole day was how rushed everyone seemed to get me out of there. One of my recovery nurses even remarked (when I asked for something for pain) that I was “having an outpatient procedure, so they needed to get me home and I could take my prescription drugs there”. I admit that I have been spoiled with my other operations because the nurses all spoiled me. Also, it would have been nice for someone to acknowledge my losses; for the way they acted I could have been having my gallbladder out.

When I got discharged, around 6 pm, I was so happy to have the travel pillow that my Abbyloopers sisters recommended to hold over my stomach on the way home. THAT DRIVE WAS PAINFUL. I just wanted to go home and lay down. Once I got home, it was all I could do to hobble to the couch. They tell you start walking that first day so Hubbins made sure I got up every 2 hours or so and walked for 5 mins. It was so tough. They warn you about the gas pain from the CO2 they use for laparoscopic procedures but let me tell you I WAS NOT READY FOR IT. That day, I just took meds and slept. I thought I would be ravenous since I had been fasting since midnight the night before but all I wanted to do was sleep. I had some saltine crackers just so I could have something in my stomach with the meds (Percocet) that I was taking.

Recovery

Once we realized that first day that I couldn’t climb into bed (we have a platform bed with the drawers underneath.. clearly when we got married we didn’t think about the future. I can’t see heaving myself up into this thing if I’m ever 8 months pregnant) Hubbins decided I would go to my mom’s house to recover that first week since I still needed help getting around and he had to go back to work. I went to her house Tuesday morning and stayed there till Friday.

My main complaint was the gas. After posting in the Abbyloopers group and asking for advice on the pain, I realized I needed to overlap my meds (more information that I probably should have gotten post OP). So I started taking Percocet every 4 hours and Ibuprofen every 8 hours for the first two days. Then I weaned myself down to Percocet only at night to help sleep; I don’t like the loopy feeling I get with that drug. It doesn’t take away pain, just consciousness lol By Friday, I was only on Ibuprofen every 6-8 hours. Ginger and Peppermint tea along with Gas X worked wonders. ANOTHER THING I wasn’t prepared for, is the shoulder pain. Apparently, as the gas moves, it gets trapped up by your diaphragm somehow and your shoulders ACHE. All too much. Lol.  The 2^nd week of recovery, I was pretty much just dealing with the gas pain.

I have 5 small incisions, they put some sort of glue on them and over the first 4-5 days it just peeled off.  My largest incision, about 5 inches above my belly button, has this weird lump under it which the doctor says is scar tissue and should dissipate over time. The pain is mostly gone but if I have a particularly bad coughing fit or I’m laughing too hard, I feel sore but more like if I had done too many crunches (HA because when have I ever done TOO many crunches). I still have some trouble getting up from laying on my back; I have to do a scoot off the bed and put my legs down.

As of today, I’m almost 4 weeks out of surgery and maybe back to 90%. I came back to work after being out for two weeks and was on light duty (no bending, lifting) when I returned.  I was also on pelvic rest until my post-op follow-up. As of my follow-up appointment yesterday, I’m cleared completely. The doctors exact words: “resume all activity, ALL ACTIVITY, have lots of babies, name one Dwight, good luck”

I think that covers everything. If anyone comes upon this post and has more questions, I can answer.

This was long; thanks for reading.