I've was out of it most of yesterday and today I've slept a lot following the general anaesthetic so here's a quick update as to what happened in theatre.
They took me down at about 9.15am but couldn't get a cannula in me in the anaesthetic room. Whilst they were trying Surgeon C strolled through the anaesthetic room into the theatre clutching her handbag and a coffee. "Morning all" she said chirpily as she passed by. Is it normal to take coffee into theatre I wondered?
I was struck by the fact that this was obviously just another day at work for her while for us patients going to have an operation, no matter how minor, it's a worrying thing. Surgeon D, all scrubbed up even popped his head out from behind the theatre doors to say hello.
So knowing that I had surgeon B, C and D all in one theatre all shortly to be staring up my bum and lady bits gave me confidence that they were going to sort this out. (Good job I had gotten up early and had a bit of a tidy up down there as it was going to be on show to 3 of the UK's top colorectal surgeons!) Between the 3 of them surely they would be able to find out what this lump was and make the pain go away???
My dodgy veins meant that even the anaesthetist had to admit defeat and told me he would have to put me to sleep with the gas which I don't like very much. When you get knocked out with an injection you gradually drift off to sleep but with the gas they have to really press down on the mask to stop it from escaping and you get a sense of claustrophobia. I'm not claustrophobic normally but I don't like it at all and one second you're wide awake and the next you've gone. Apparently once you're asleep all your veins enlarge so that's why they can always get the needles into you in theatre.
I remember looking at the clock and it was 9:47 when I closed my eyes and it was about an hour later when I woke in recovery. I didn't feel too sore, just very groggy. I must have dozed off again because the next thing I know we were going through the corridors on the way back to the ward.
When I got there Hubby was waiting for me and it was reassuring to see him and hold his hand. I didn't know what they had done in theatre but when I stood to try and use the commode my left leg buckled and I realised it was numb and I couldn't feel it. This made me a bit anxious so the nurses called the ward doctor over.
She did some tests on my legs prodding and poking them, tapping and asking me to lift them, push against her hands etc. There was a distinct lack of strength in my left leg and she said she was going to give someone a ring as she couldn't read the scrawl in the theatre notes.
She came back and said that I should just rest and that it was probably as a result of whatever they had done to me in theatre. She could just make out that they had injected local anaesthetic and steroids into my spine and that Dr7 would come and see me later.
On the outside I remained calm but inside I was panicking thinking that they'd paralysed my leg in theatre. I had told them that because of the spinal surgeries I had as a teenager I wasn't sure they should do a spinal block or epidural as I had been advised against them years ago.
(For those of you that don't know I fractured 2 vertebrae as a teenager through intensive athletic training and it resulted in 2 spinal ops at ages 15 and 17. The first saw pins inserted to try and stabilise my spine but that didn't work so they decided to fuse L5 and S1 with a bone graft from my hip and they removed the pins. I've had more than my fair share of ops!)
So I was bricking it that they had put something into my spine that hadn't worked as it should because of my operations and that I was going to be left with a paralysed leg like the lady in side room 6. Try as I might I could not put any weight into it nor could I move it properly.
When Dr7 came and decided to ring the anaesthetist that only added to my panic- he wouldn't ring him if he thought everything was ok would he? He said that if it wasn't better in the morning I should tell the on-call weekend doctor to call him. Bloody hell. There must be a real problem if he's said that.
Surgeon B came round and briefly explained that they had found an old suture knot from the vaginal repair in July. She had removed it and also an area of inflammation in the rectum. They hadn't used the Botox as they were confident that it was the stitch that was causing the problem. At least I'm pretty sure that's what she said as I was still not quite with it. I will have to double check with Hubby to make sure I'm right!
So all of that pain and discomfort was because of a stitch that hadn't dissolved. I could hardly dare to believe that was it. That it was sorted. Simple as that.
When I woke this morning I realised that not only had I slept through the night without requiring any of the strong painkillers I would normally need two or three times during the night, I had also not had an accident. Crikey. Maybe they really had fixed me!
It was strange waking up and realising that I wasn't in pain. I had woken up for the first time in months and wasn't in pain. It was amazing.
I honestly couldn't believe how different my bottom felt. It felt like it didn't belong to me. Gone was the constant nagging pain that was there 24/7 and instead it just felt normal. Is this what most people feel like when they wake up? I could hardly remember the last time I had woken up pain free and it was wonderful. I can hardly describe it to you. It is the most wonderful feeling of not feeling anything if that makes sense.
After the initial euphoria wore off my blood pressure plummeted and I was instructed to stay in my bed today and rest. So I've slept a lot today and seem to have woken up as the night nurses have come to start their shift. Halfway through typing this I've been down to the vending machine on a midnight chocolate run for all the insomniacs on the ward. I've also farted without following through so things really are on the up!
I can hardly dare to imagine that this might all be sorted out and I could be going home soon. Maybe even as soon as next week although no doctor has said that, it's just me being hopeful!
Tonight's the night that the clocks go forward and maybe, just maybe I will be going forward too, towards a spring spent with Hubby and the kids and the rest of 2014 spent happily and healthily at home.
NB x
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