Pre Op Appointment
Its all becoming a bit real now. Its when you start discussing the consent form whereby stats such as 1 in 10 women will wake up with a temporary colostomy bag after surgery, that things really start to hit home. Its when you've been waiting for this operation for a year and then all of a sudden its less than 2 weeks away and you're sitting in your pre op appointment getting your dietary information and bowel prep, that you start to panic about whats to come over the next few months. Its when its consuming every free minute of your waking day making your mind go over and over the potential risks, that you start wishing it was still a year away and not 2 weeks to go. Yep its definitely becoming all very real now.
On Tuesday I had my pre op admission appointment at the hospital. It started off with a chat with my consultant confirming what we were going to be doing as part of the surgery. I was advised I may wake up with a drain coming out of my side in case there is an excessive amount of blood and fluid after the surgery. It was also decided that I would have a catheter in place for the night/day after the op as I am at higher risk of going into urinary retention after my first laparoscopy. One less thing to worry about I guess. To be honest there weren't any surprises, but what was new was the huge sinking realisation that this is really finally happening!
Next were the checks with Junior Doctor. Just the usual blood pressure, pulse etc so nothing too exciting. But it was when she handed me an injection that I started to wonder what exactly I had got myself in to! "This is a blood thinner. You'll need to give yourself this the night before your op. Just grab your tummy and inject the needle, ok?" In my mind I was saying WHAT! I didn't sign up for this! But in usual Amy style, I smiled politely and said that it was fine. That shock was followed by the part I had been dreading "Here are your enemas and dietary instructions for the couple of days before your op". Ooooooh no. Now because I'm not cruel and because I'm pretty mortified by what is required I'm not going to go into details but it will be a pretty poo (haha no pun intended) 24 hours before my op. The diet isn't too bad, for most it would be a dream, no fruit or veg the day before but thats a huge part of my diet. Its basically a low fibre diet, white bread, white fish, plain chicken, clear soup etc so it could be worse. Its just a precaution in case there are any mishaps or requirements to cut into the bowel during surgery. I walked out of the room holding a large brown bag of medication, feeling a bit numb and simply handed it to my Mum who was waiting for me. I didn't want to think about it anymore. We finished up the morning with some blood tests before leaving after 3 hours of information and scariness!
Its been a couple of days since the appointment and whilst it has sunk in, I think I'm probably back to sticking my head in the sand about it all. I've stopped my counselling sessions as I wasn't feeling the benefit as much as I would have liked, but I definitely appreciate how important it is to talk because its SO consuming. Especially when you have big appointments with lots of daunting information. So keep talking, even when you feel like all you're doing is talking, if you feel you need to, do it! Theres no point bottling it all up. You'll thank yourself later.
Speak soon.
A x
On Tuesday I had my pre op admission appointment at the hospital. It started off with a chat with my consultant confirming what we were going to be doing as part of the surgery. I was advised I may wake up with a drain coming out of my side in case there is an excessive amount of blood and fluid after the surgery. It was also decided that I would have a catheter in place for the night/day after the op as I am at higher risk of going into urinary retention after my first laparoscopy. One less thing to worry about I guess. To be honest there weren't any surprises, but what was new was the huge sinking realisation that this is really finally happening!
Next were the checks with Junior Doctor. Just the usual blood pressure, pulse etc so nothing too exciting. But it was when she handed me an injection that I started to wonder what exactly I had got myself in to! "This is a blood thinner. You'll need to give yourself this the night before your op. Just grab your tummy and inject the needle, ok?" In my mind I was saying WHAT! I didn't sign up for this! But in usual Amy style, I smiled politely and said that it was fine. That shock was followed by the part I had been dreading "Here are your enemas and dietary instructions for the couple of days before your op". Ooooooh no. Now because I'm not cruel and because I'm pretty mortified by what is required I'm not going to go into details but it will be a pretty poo (haha no pun intended) 24 hours before my op. The diet isn't too bad, for most it would be a dream, no fruit or veg the day before but thats a huge part of my diet. Its basically a low fibre diet, white bread, white fish, plain chicken, clear soup etc so it could be worse. Its just a precaution in case there are any mishaps or requirements to cut into the bowel during surgery. I walked out of the room holding a large brown bag of medication, feeling a bit numb and simply handed it to my Mum who was waiting for me. I didn't want to think about it anymore. We finished up the morning with some blood tests before leaving after 3 hours of information and scariness!
Its been a couple of days since the appointment and whilst it has sunk in, I think I'm probably back to sticking my head in the sand about it all. I've stopped my counselling sessions as I wasn't feeling the benefit as much as I would have liked, but I definitely appreciate how important it is to talk because its SO consuming. Especially when you have big appointments with lots of daunting information. So keep talking, even when you feel like all you're doing is talking, if you feel you need to, do it! Theres no point bottling it all up. You'll thank yourself later.
Speak soon.
A x
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