See how I prepared for this trip in Take Off With Us!

Today was definitely one of the more emotional days I’ve had lately. Maybe it’s my hormones or just because I’ve been worrying about needing this surgery for almost a year, who knows?

I started crying as soon as we left for the airport. Why? No idea. Perhaps I was worried about forgetting things. (My razor. Oh well. I can get another one here.) But I think it was just the underlying theme that’s been haunting me ever since we agreed to have this surgery done- what if there’s nothing there to fix? What if I’m just imagining all this pain I feel?

The flight was short and sweet, only about an hour and 15 minutes. Ruby enjoyed watching us fly over the Ohio River, but spent most of the trip napping in my carry-on bag. The flight was full of kids and there was an adorable little two-ish year old boy sitting in front of me who kept reaching his hand back between the wall and the seat to touch my knee. We played peek-a-boo for awhile, too.

It’s a good thing we landed early. When we got to the rental car place, there was an enormous line and they were saying it would be at least an hour wait to get your vehicle. By this point it was 1 pm and we had to be on the complete opposite side of the city by 2 pm. I couldn’t help myself and I burst into tears with everyone standing there staring at me. David explained that I was having surgery tomorrow and we needed to get to my pre-op appointment by 2 pm in order to have the surgery. Thankfully, there are still good people in this world and every single person agreed to send us to the front of the line. Faith in humanity restored.

Good thing people are nice down here in the south because we made it to my appointment with 8 minutes to spare.

2014 versus 2016 photos outside the CEC offices!

Right after we took the picture, Dr. Sinervo was coming over from the hospital and said hello. And everyone at the office was just as wonderful and friendly as I remember them being. I immediately felt at home again and even noticed that they had remodeled the offices (very nice, by the way, love the floors!) At least I already knew what to expect in terms of how the appointment would go, because that made things so much less stressful.

It was wonderful to meet with Dr. Sinervo again, although obviously not under the circumstances we would have wanted. He had 2 other physicians with him this time; one is a fellow who will be spending a few months at the CEC and another is observing Dr. Sinervo’s work from a university and medical school up north. Ironically, the fellow had just spent 6 months learning at the hospital where I work and actually spent a good deal of time with my REI specialist! So we were able to chat about how she had been the one to diagnose my prolactinoma and all that stuff. That made me feel even more at home.

We went over the planned procedures, which is basically just to take care of any adhesions present. Then he asked me if I had any questions.

And I cried. Again.

He immediately placed a box of tissues in front of me. I expressed my long-standing concerns about whether there were even adhesions there and how I was beginning to think I was crazy and just imagining the pain. Dr. Sinervo gently explained that the time period during which adhesions grow exactly correlates with what has been seen so far in my case and that my symptoms support that diagnosis. Hearing that from him made me feel so much better.

But I was about to feel the most relief I have felt in a long time. As part of the routine pre-op examination, Dr. Sinervo always performs a vaginal ultrasound (eeewwww! Ok, now get over it.)  Dr. Fellow noted on my ultrasound that I have “lovely follicles”, meaning lots of future babies. Hear that, kids? But as Dr. Sinervo moved through the ultrasound, he said he could see that my right ovary, and possibly my left too, were stuck to the pelvic sidewalls. I said, “Really? You can see it?” And he said yes. And I instantly felt this huge weight lift off my shoulders. I wasn’t crazy. This pain isn’t in my head. My ovaries are stuck to a place they shouldn’t be. And that’s going to be fixed tomorrow.

Once we made it to our hotel, it was a disaster finding a clean room that suited our needs. The first two reeked of smoke despite the fact that this is a smoke-free hotel. So I cried. Again. I had to start my bowel prep and I was tired and thirsty and hungry and had a headache from being on a liquid diet for two days. I was not in the mood for my hotel room to be anything less than perfect. Thankfully, the third time was the charm. We are now in our hotel and I am prepping for surgery tomorrow.?

My surgery is schedule for 12:45 pm tomorrow and should last possibly less than an hour. Prayers and happy thought during that time would be most appreciated! Stay tuned for my surgery story in Always A Zebra!

Funny Quote of the Day: (talking about PRP therapy)

Me: “I couldn’t believe it last time when they drew 60 mL of blood!”

Dr. Fellow: “Actually, it’s 100 mL now.”

Dr. Sinervo: “Yeah, just think of it as a really heavy menstrual cycle.”

?ribbonrx