Post Seaweed/ Surgery Update

09 February 2011

The last 48 hours feels like a lot has happened -I guess a lot has, and because of a bizarre twist of fate nothing has. Warning... LONG POST AHEAD.

On Monday I went into the clinic for my laminaria insertion appointment. How strange to be back after not going there for 3 months. I had the receptionist in stitches when I announced that I was all ready for my seaweed spa treatment. The nurses greeted me with smiles and showed me to my usual procedure room. They all asked where DH was. DH waited in the car because he was still coughing and sneezing with a head cold. In a way it was better, last time he watched a painful procedure I felt so bad for him having to be there in the room.

There was a mix of nervousness and excitement while I disrobed and climbed aboard the familiar old exam table. I haven’t seen my ovaries since October, and I think I was having a bit of wand withdrawal. My RE entered the room with his usual knock/simultaneous door opening maneuver. He started with some chit chat about how I’ve been doing, and if I was having any side effects from the DHEA. I answered back jokingly in a deeper voice while stroking my chin for whiskers “I don’t think I’ve had any”. With that out of the way he began the oh-so-familiar wand routine, except he didn’t say anything about the findings while he was doing the u/s, instead he was telling me about the laminaria to follow. He reviewed that he was using it to avoid the risk of damaging my cervix by dilating it too quickly during the surgery. He needs to dilate it a lot in order to use a larger instrument than usual to extract any polyps or fibroids he suspects he might find in there. They showed me the thin green tampon like device made from seaweed that expands slowly over time to dilate the cervix. He reminded me that it would probably cause cramping, and that I should take Advil to help dampen that, but if it became unbearable I could call and have it taken out. They said the first 8 hours is usually the worst and then often it eases off as the seaweed has reached it’s full size. Oh, and no intercourse tonight -really? Should that not go without saying -LOL. The insertion itself was a bit tricky and he had to use a clamp on my cervix to straighten it and then there was the sharp pinch as it went in, and the cramps began moments later. The nurse commented on how white I looked, and took my blood pressure and pulse twice. They advised me to stay lying down for a few more minutes and not to get up too quickly when I did. They asked if I was having any nausea or sweatiness. I wasn’t... at that point as I hobbled back to the car where DH was waiting.

Off we went to get some lunch. Mmmm... Thai food. I downed some Advil, but the cramps were setting in strong despite that. We stopped en route to our counseling appointment to buy an electric heating pad. I usually use a microwavable one, but that wasn’t going to be practical for this trip.

DH and the counselor set me up on the couch with the new heating pad and we had a really good chat with her. As we drove to the hotel I could feel the Advil wearing off, but it wasn’t quite time to take another dose. Then the nausea and sweating started and moments later I was reaching for an empty potato chip bag and my pad thai was making a revisit. Ughhh... not so Mmmmm the second time.

DH got us checked into the hotel. I set up in bed with the heating pad, Advil (screw the dosage recommendation on the bottle at that point), and a bucket nearby just in case. I was on the verge of the pain being unbearable, but was bound and determined to not wimp out and call to have it taken out. We ordered room service for dinner, but I wasn’t feeling much like eating so I had a just a few nibbles of the bland stuff and some sips of water and went off to bed. I actually had a half decent sleep. By the morning the cramps were definitely less. The nausea was less too and I felt hungry and thirsty but was on total food and fluid restrictions.

I checked in at the hospital. The day surgery waiting room was quite full. Minutes after we sat down a family member of another patient came in with a piece of pizza and a drink. The starving patients exchanged eye roll glances while the waft of this tasty snack taunted us. How rude! They should post a sign in that room saying “no food or drink please, out of respect for fasting patients.

It was my turn to get prepped. I left all my clothing in the assigned locker and changed into the lovely hospital gown, and disposable mesh panties with the over-sized pad. I had to chuckle when the nurse showed me how to put on the all too familiar blue booties.

The post op instructions were reviewed, and a little information handout was provided. All pretty standard. DH and I had a good laugh over the line at the bottom of the page though that read “There is an increased risk that you may become pregnant after a D&C. Speak to your Dr. about appropriate birth control.” Thanks, but I think we’ll be speaking to our Dr. about IVF instead.

Next it was time for a quick IV insertion. I’ve never had an issue before with IV’s or blood work. They looked at my arms and commented on how easy my veins were to see, and that it should be easy to get an IV into. That’s when they decided that I would be a good practice case for the student nurse. IV insertion attempt #1 after much poking, prodding, and pushing my vein collapsed. Attempt #2 with the ward nurse, same deal except she was even rougher. By now I’m in tears and poor DH is watching all this in horror. I wasn’t crying because of the pain -I think I’ve proven that I can take on my fair share of that, I was upset because we worked so hard to get this surgery date to line up just right with my periods and my IVF cycle -I was upset because I thought they would cancel the surgery because they couldn’t start my IV. Totally irrational probably but when you’ve been in pain and hungry and thirsty for 24 hours, I guess you lose a bit of rationality. Time to call in the IV team. We wait nearly an hour. IV specialist looked at my bruised up arm shakes her head, apologizes, and gently finds a third site and I hardly feel the needle go in. In hindsight I was probably terribly dehydrated after not being able to drink much with nausea the day before and the fluid restrictions that day.

I’m whisked off to the OR just in time. When Dr. H said hello I hardly recognized him in his surgical scrubs. The anesthetist introduced himself and told me he was going to mix me up a wonderful cocktail to put me to sleep, control my pain, and prevent any nausea. Oh my angel, where were you hiding 24 hours ago I thought to myself.

The next thing I remember is waking up feeling a bit foggy and cold. Later my RE came by to tell me the long anticipated findings. He had a big smile on his face and said... insert drumroll... the inside of my uterus looked TOTALLY NORMAL. No polyps, fibroids, long lost jewelry or keys were hiding in there. What?!? That’s great news of course, it really is, but it means we still have no explanation for the lining irregularity that caused such grief on my last IVF attempt. I am so grateful that there really was nothing there, it certainly is a positive thing that my uterus could quite likely be a future baby carrying receptacle. But gosh it feels like I just went through all of this rigmarole for nothing. Oh, and I asked him about the ultrasound the day before. How were my ovaries looking? Just fine, lots of follicles there, and nothing else out of the ordinary.

I dozed lightly during the 2 hour drive home, and then slept off the rest of my brain fog last night and have almost no pain this morning.

Anyway, onward and upward. My next job is now to call in my Day 1 in about 3 weeks and if all continues to look “perfectly normal” on my next u/s, I’ll jump straight into stims, and give this IVF business another shot.