Thursday, March 18, 2010

Tummy Troubles

The main problem that I've had in healing from my surgery is stomach issues.  I had some serious constipation on Friday (4 days out from surgery), and my stomach has continued to have difficulties (mainly nausea) since then.  The nausea was still around a bit as of yesterday, so I've had a really hard time eating much since the surgery.  I've lost 10 pounds in the 10 days since the surgery and I really need to gain it back.  I'm hoping that the nausea issues are finally done so that I can get back to the Endo Diet since you've got to pretty much eat whatever you think you can handle when you are nauseated.

I haven't really had issues with the actual incision or much pain.  I stopped taking the Dar.voc.et on Friday since it can slow your digestive system.  I took ibuprofen and tylenol for a couple days, but I haven't even take those in 3-4 days.  The only time that I really have pain is when I laugh or cough.  I did have a rash near my incision, but I'm not sure if it was an adhesive allergy or if I had an weird immune reaction to the surgery.  I do tend to get a rash on my hips whenever I get sick, and no doctor that I've talk to has any idea what could be going on.

I had my follow-up with Dr. H on Monday afternoon.  He was really happy about how my incision is healing and with how the surgery went.  He says our odds of getting pregnant are up to about 75%.  I have to call PPVI on this coming Monday and then in another 4 weeks.  The 6 week post surgery call, on Monday, April 12, is when Dr. H will let us know exactly what we are doing moving forward.  He did say that he'll be order some bloodwork, but I don't know how extensive it'll be yet.  He'll also have me start on the Pain & Brain supplement, which is supposed to help with inflammation.  Since my hormone levels were good (and will be tested again), his main concern now that the endo is out is the signs of inflammation that he saw inside my uterus.  The hydrocort is supposed to help with that too.  Dr. H also briefly mentioned the Endo Diet, but said that he hadn't had time to really research it yet.  

The pathology report from the surgery confirmed that the 8 spots removed were endo, plus I had a benign growth on one of my ovaries removed as well as the cyst on one of my tubes removed that had be weighing it down.

I haven't really had any peak-type mucus yet even though I'm on CD 16, which isn't very surprising since my body has been under a lot of physical stress in the last 10 days.   


10 comments:

  1. Hi! I had a bout with constipation a couple months back and I was ready to do anything to help! My sister recommended the tea "Smooth Move". At first I was a bit skeptical, but this stuff worked awesome for me!!!!! I just picked mine up at our local grocery store - in the organic section. Good luck and I will be praying for you! God Bless!

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  2. praying you feel better soon, thanks for taking the time to talk to me the other day!

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  3. These are excellent odds! I will continue to pray for your healing!

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  4. So glad to hear that you are healing well! Sorry about the bowels. That's tricky. I'm not one to ask. I hate home remedies! But it sounds like a great prognosis from Dr. H! We'll keep praying...

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  5. Hopefully you'll feel up to eating regularly again soon! Sounds like the Dr gave you great odds. You must be thrilled. Praying for you.

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  6. A great tip for constipation (this seriously works every time) is to have someone rub the soles of your feet. If the person is staring at the bottom of your feet, they rub clockwise on the middle of your right foot, and counterclockwise on the middle of your left foot. Told to me by my cousin the massage therapist...and lifesaver many times :).
    I had serious nausea issues as well and my hubby would make me strawberry smoothies - it's about all I could handle. It definitely sucks...but it does get better!
    Hoping the healing continues quickly!

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  7. Hope you continue to feel better, and I am so glad your odds are so good to conceive!

    I will be praying!!

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  8. What a double whammy with the tummy troubles. I wish I had advice. I have a whole medicine drawer dedicated to post-surgery constipation and I just tend to throw everything at the problem in desperation.

    I'm so happy your surgery was so successful. 75% is huge!

    Thanks for updating. It was so good to hear from you.

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  9. Hello.
    I am so glad to hear that everything went well. I had the same surgery last week in NYC with a Dr who learned from Dr. Hilgers on Tues. I read you post and went through almost the exact same things. I have been taking milk of magnesia for the constipation. It works really well. The liquid is more aggressive than the pills. Right now I take one pill with dinner. Then the next morning it is gentle. I agree with you that the incision part is not too bad. I am taking motrin. The GI track is still getting back to normal. I have been drinking ensure to make sure that I get enough calories. I was having trouble eating enough due to the constipation which ended up making me feel dizzy and nauseous. So now I am eating lots of small meals during the day. This will help you to even out the blood sugar and keep the colon from getting stressed.

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