OOPH!
On Friday (today is Tuesday), I had my ovaries and fallopian tubes removed in a laparoscopic surgery known as an oophorectomy. The purpose of the surgery was twofold: 1. to cut off the majority of my body's supply of estrogen and progesterone because my cancer LOVES those two hormones, and 2. to put me into menopause so that I can try taking aromatase inhibitors because I couldn't tolerate Tamoxifen.
Because the human body also produces estrogen in locations other than the ovaries, it will be necessary for me to try the other therapies to avoid breast cancer recurrence in the future. All that said, it's still possible to experience recurrence or metastatic breast cancer (or even a different cancer from the treatment itself or some other reason). But, my medical team and I will try to do what we can to avoid that from happening.
How Am I Doing Post-surgery?
When I started working with Dr. Cernadas on this surgery, she told me that I'd feel like a truck hit me for the first three days. I'm not sure I'd describe it that way. Let me know if you think what I'm describing fits her description.
It's been 4 days since the ooph, and I'm pretty sore in the incision areas, especially at the belly button and the 2-3 inches below it. It's a tough spot because that's where pants hit me. Forget about wearing jeans or garments that use buttons to fasten for a month or so until I'm healed up. It's elastic-waist garments for the time being.
It's also going to be very loosely fitted garments because I'm still distended from the surgery. The doc used gas to blow up my belly like a balloon to better see and perform the surgery. They vacuumed most of the gas out, but immediately after the surgery, there was some left. That whole area may take a couple of weeks to get back to normal. According to this site: https://goldcoastprivatehospital.com.au/blogs/tips-and-tricks-laparoscopic-surgery, my intestines were shocked a bit and became distended by the surgery. It's just going to take time for everything to settle back down again. Until then, it's uncomfortable, and I look like I'm pregnant. Oh the irony.
The twin side incision points are about an inch north of where each leg meets my torso. They are lower than expected, but small. They're not as bruised as the belly button area is. Thanks to the arnica I've been applying, the very large bruise surrounding my belly button and extending 3 inches south is gradually fading. (The very large bruise, about 4 inches in diameter, on my right forearm from the IV is a different story. That's still dark purple and taking longer to fade.) Dr. Cernadas removed the ovaries and the tubes from the middle incision, which it why it had to be larger (and, consequently, more uncomfortable).
As you'd expect if you've been following along, I did not take any narcotics, nor opiates as part of the surgery or afterward. It's been Alleve and SIU (sucking it up) for me. Thankfully, the pain has been manageable enough that way.
After the Alleve, what has been helping the most has been walking around. I posted one of the walks I took with Patty the day after the surgery at Leonard J. Buck gardens (if you're in the NJ area for the next few weeks, it's a must-see). It was a slow, painful walk around the bottom of the garden, but the weather was so fantastic, and so many plants and trees were blooming that it made for an excellent distraction for a while. Did a lot for my spirit.
The following day, Sunday afternoon, Patty and I met up with Jim at Colonial Park for another slow walk. It was a nice, long walk with a rest on one of the many well-placed benches in the rose garden. Today, I took two slow walks around my neighborhood. The second walk, also with my pal Jim, was shorter because I was hurting a bit and needed to get home and rest.
Sitting is very uncomfortable. In fact, I've been writing this entry over the course of 12 hours, with some long breaks in between (especially when Jim came for dinner). Mainly, I've had to get up and walk around because it becomes painful after a few minutes sitting in front of the computer.
The first night of the surgery, I was instructed to sleep sitting up in the recliner so that I wouldn't end up with back or shoulder pain from the inflation gas. I tried it until 1 am, but gave up because I was so uncomfortable that I ended up pacing around the first floor until I was utterly exhausted. (I watched the Andy Warhol Diaries on Netflix, which wasn't adequately distracting, but interesting nonetheless, especially from an archival point of view.) Finally, I very slowly and painfully climbed the stairs, and thought long and hard about how I would get on top of my bed.
My bed is pretty high off the ground thanks to a tall mattress and a 3-inch memory foam topper, plus bedding. I'm 5'2" on a good day, so it's normally a bit of a challenge. I hauled myself up there, trying not to make noise from the pain and wake Patty sleeping in the room across the hall. I lay on my back for several hours, not sleeping. I did breathing exercises and meditated. It was a rough first night, but being in my bed rather than trying to make a go of it on the couch any longer was an improvement.
Lower abdominal surgery is no picnic, even laparoscopically. In addition to the belly pain, I also have some groin pain and stiffness on the right side due to my right leg's position during the surgery, according to Dr. Cernadas' fellow. It makes going upstairs more challenging than just the surgical pain. Same with sitting.
There's another piece of this whole experience that made it even more of a challenge. On the night before the surgery, I got my period. If I said my body betrayed me yet again, I probably wouldn't get an argument from most women. Insult to injury? Sure, I'd go with that. Going out with a bang? Well, now you've gone too far.
The thing about having your period at any time, not just during surgery, is that your body is so much more sensitive to pain. Just try going to the dentist for a cleaning or a procedure during your cycle. It sucks.
For the first two days after the surgery, I was uncomfortable in many ways. The nature of dealing with the hygienics of being in my cycle and not being able to bend my body without a great deal of pain really sucked. I'm so glad it was my last period ever.
Things They Didn't Tell Me
I didn't know I'd be catheterized. I should have expected it. I had been for the breast surgery, but didn't feel a thing afterward. Not so this time.
You know how after you've gone through recovery and the nurses won't let you leave the hospital until you've peed, eaten something, and had something to drink (not necessarily in that order)? That's never been an issue for me, and wasn't this time either, until I sat down and experienced burning I've never felt before. I thought there was something seriously wrong. I couldn't tell if I was bleeding from my urethra or not because I was already bleeding menstrually.
Turns out, it's pretty common to have this painful pee burning afterward. And, you know what relieves it (EVENTUALLY)? Drinking lots of water and peeing more. Here, have some more pain with your pain! The burning lasted all night. Thankfully, by Saturday morning, it was hardly there and eventually disipated completely.
While we're down there, I also wish I'd been warned that my intestines might go on strike for a few days. Which they did.
When you're already bloated from menstruation and surgery where they literally blow you up with gas, it's hard to tell if some of the swelling might also be because you haven't evacuated your bowels since the morning of your surgery. By Sunday, I was getting a bit nervous because I'm one of those very regular people. I eat a high fiber diet and drink kefir. You can set your watch by me.
A fellow librarian, whose mom is a pharmacist, recommended a stool softener. I settled on a laxative that didn't look too bad chemically and took a teeny pink pill with a bottle of water Sunday evening. It didn't agree with me, and I felt queasy and crampy, but I was determined to jumpstart my system. At midnight, it was only minimally effective, so I took another teeny pink pill (the instructions said 1 to 3 for an adult dosage) and drank another bottle of water. I didn't sleep the entire night for feeling poorly. At 6 a.m. on Monday, same deal. I took the last pill. By 9, I was in and out of the bathroom feeling like total crap (I know) and having an "everybody out!" day.
The cramps were so painful and my body was already so pissed off at me that I cried a bit. Then, I accepted my fate and put a good novel in the bathroom to try and distract myself. It helped some. Finally, by around 6 pm on Monday, it stopped, and I was completely wrung out.
On the flip side of that coin, I slept better last night than I have in many months. I awoke feeling somewhat like myself with a bit of energy despite the pain in my abdomen and groin.
Thanks tons to Patty Scott who stayed with me from Thursday to Monday, took me to the hospital and told me good things while I was anxious, cared for me in so many ways in the days after the surgery, and showed up for me as my spiritual sister. I'm very grateful to have such a dear and kind friend.
Thanks also to Jim Nordhausen for being an exceedingly helpful dear friend, too.
Thanks to everyone who has sent good vibes, kind words and thoughts, love, hugs, funny bits, and caring comments. Thanks especially to those who continue to check in on me. I appreciate all of it.
Don't forget to get your screenings. Early detection is key.
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