Ever since surviving the chaos of October and early November, my mind has been pre-occupied with the anticipation of this week. On Wednesday I am scheduled for a hysterectomy. That's right, for many of you out there, this is the first you are hearing about it. Actually, I'm surprised I made it this long without having one. Let's back track a bit...
I started having trouble in my college years, my senior year to be precise. After months of "issues", they finally ordered an ultrasound and found I had a double cyst on my ovary. The first of many. A laparoscopy was scheduled. During this procedure, I was found to also have pretty severe endometriosis. Everything was taken care of and I was sent home to recover. I remember having the procedure done on Friday and going with John to see Johnny Cash in concert, (one of our favorites!) on Saturday night.
Fast forward about 3 years...John and I are happily married and decide we are finally ready to start our own family. Funny enough, or should I say lucky enough, we got pregnant within the first 2 months of trying. Endometriosis does not equal infertility, at least in my case. Bailey's pregnancy was normal and easy. But then I got pregnant again, when Bailey was just one. I wasn't ready yet, but still excited. Sadly, I think my body must not have been ready either, because I miscarried. A mere 7 months later, I was pregnant again with Savannah. Piece of cake, no problems, easy pregnancy. During my C-section however, my OBGYN had to remove one baby and 2 cysts again. Three years and five months later, Jonas comes into the world...one BIG baby, but otherwise another normal pregnancy. Cysts were found again during the C-section and a bit of endometriosis. Surprise, surprise only 9 months later, I found out we are pregnant again. This time, there's a lot of cause for alarm. My pregnancy with Lorelei was filled with issues (that's a whole other post!). I had the symptoms of a miscarriage, but when I rushed to the emergency room, they found she was fine, all tuck into the top corner of my uterus, strong healthy heartbeat. They suggested a "vanishing twin"...that I had miscarried her twin and she was fine. The whole pregnancy was full of problem after problem, so we decided that after her delivery I would have a tubal ligation. Little did we know that her first 3 years would be full of medical issues, doctors, hospital stays and surgeries. (again, another post!)
Jump to the present...6 years since I had a baby. In case you didn't know, one of the best treatments for endometriosis is pregnancy. I filled a big chunk of time there with multiple pregnancies. Within the last year, all symptoms have returned, predominantly pain. Bad enough, that I actually scheduled an appointment with my OBGYN in August. She wanted to do the surgery in August, but could only do it the week before the teacher work week. I was not crazy enough to even try it! I asked if we could at least wait till Thanksgiving break. That brings us to this week. She only performs this surgery on Wednesday, so Wednesday, November 20 it is.
I hadn't had a lot of time to think about it till this past week. My stomach keeps getting flutters when I think about the details. I'm not so worried about the actual surgery and I'm not that sad to say goodbye to that part of my life (baby making, that is). I'm mostly worried about giving up the control of being in charge of my family and my classroom. I'm going to have to step back from both and let someone else take the wheel and let someone else take care of me! That's the hard part. I come from a long line of stubborn, so I'm only planning to take a total of 8 days of work off...3 days before Thanksgiving break, then I'll have the whole break, and then the week after. If all goes well, I'll return to work December 9, just in time to help put on the choir's Christmas musical! My OB knows I recovered quickly from 4 C-sections...hopefully she'll sign off on my returning to work.
This weekend was full of cuddles and prep time. House cleaning, organizing, laundry...the usual.
Ready to face a not so ordinary week for the Boyen Bunch.
Send your prayers and positive thoughts for me please! :) I'll keep you posted...
I started having trouble in my college years, my senior year to be precise. After months of "issues", they finally ordered an ultrasound and found I had a double cyst on my ovary. The first of many. A laparoscopy was scheduled. During this procedure, I was found to also have pretty severe endometriosis. Everything was taken care of and I was sent home to recover. I remember having the procedure done on Friday and going with John to see Johnny Cash in concert, (one of our favorites!) on Saturday night.
Fast forward about 3 years...John and I are happily married and decide we are finally ready to start our own family. Funny enough, or should I say lucky enough, we got pregnant within the first 2 months of trying. Endometriosis does not equal infertility, at least in my case. Bailey's pregnancy was normal and easy. But then I got pregnant again, when Bailey was just one. I wasn't ready yet, but still excited. Sadly, I think my body must not have been ready either, because I miscarried. A mere 7 months later, I was pregnant again with Savannah. Piece of cake, no problems, easy pregnancy. During my C-section however, my OBGYN had to remove one baby and 2 cysts again. Three years and five months later, Jonas comes into the world...one BIG baby, but otherwise another normal pregnancy. Cysts were found again during the C-section and a bit of endometriosis. Surprise, surprise only 9 months later, I found out we are pregnant again. This time, there's a lot of cause for alarm. My pregnancy with Lorelei was filled with issues (that's a whole other post!). I had the symptoms of a miscarriage, but when I rushed to the emergency room, they found she was fine, all tuck into the top corner of my uterus, strong healthy heartbeat. They suggested a "vanishing twin"...that I had miscarried her twin and she was fine. The whole pregnancy was full of problem after problem, so we decided that after her delivery I would have a tubal ligation. Little did we know that her first 3 years would be full of medical issues, doctors, hospital stays and surgeries. (again, another post!)
Jump to the present...6 years since I had a baby. In case you didn't know, one of the best treatments for endometriosis is pregnancy. I filled a big chunk of time there with multiple pregnancies. Within the last year, all symptoms have returned, predominantly pain. Bad enough, that I actually scheduled an appointment with my OBGYN in August. She wanted to do the surgery in August, but could only do it the week before the teacher work week. I was not crazy enough to even try it! I asked if we could at least wait till Thanksgiving break. That brings us to this week. She only performs this surgery on Wednesday, so Wednesday, November 20 it is.
I hadn't had a lot of time to think about it till this past week. My stomach keeps getting flutters when I think about the details. I'm not so worried about the actual surgery and I'm not that sad to say goodbye to that part of my life (baby making, that is). I'm mostly worried about giving up the control of being in charge of my family and my classroom. I'm going to have to step back from both and let someone else take the wheel and let someone else take care of me! That's the hard part. I come from a long line of stubborn, so I'm only planning to take a total of 8 days of work off...3 days before Thanksgiving break, then I'll have the whole break, and then the week after. If all goes well, I'll return to work December 9, just in time to help put on the choir's Christmas musical! My OB knows I recovered quickly from 4 C-sections...hopefully she'll sign off on my returning to work.
This weekend was full of cuddles and prep time. House cleaning, organizing, laundry...the usual.
Ready to face a not so ordinary week for the Boyen Bunch.
Send your prayers and positive thoughts for me please! :) I'll keep you posted...
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| This little man promises to take good care of me! I bet he will... |
Prayers going full steam ahead your way sweetums!!! All will be well. God will continue to keep you in His care and bless your life!
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