My surgery story

I am finally up from surgery and over the stomach flu so I can post my story. :)

We left for Mexico Sunday the 22nd after church. We drove about 2 hrs and stopped at our favorite steakhouse for a big lunch of chicken fried steak and continued the almost 8 hour trip.
It was 10pm when we arrived in McAllen, TX and even with our GPS we got lost trying to find the hotel. The hotel was named one thing on GPS and another on their sign. Oh well, it was 3 miles from the airport and in a nice area so good enough whatever the name was.

My nerves were shot so I was up all night in the bathroom. I was told no eating for 12 hrs before surgery and that put my food cut off at 6 am. Hubby had planned to get up and have a big breakfast at IHOP but I had only been asleep about 40 minutes when the alarm went off. So we slept in and when we did wake Hubby went to the hotel's complimentary breakfast.

After showering I found out I was allergic to the hotel soap and was covered in hives! I was so scared that the surgery would be postponed because of it. But it was too late to turn back and so we drove to the airport's long term parking area. We where there less than a minute before the hospital shuttle arrived.

It was a 30 minute trip to Rio Bravo, Mexico once we crossed the border. I must say I was a nervous wreck as we headed over the border! Driving past military vehicles and men carrying assault rifles is not something I do everyday. Driving in Mexico is like being in a NASCAR race with people speeding, cutting it and out and trying to bump into each other! I was sure we would 'trade paint' as they say the way people served so close to us! This scared me even more so I was praying and trying to meditate on God's Word asking for peace. As I shut my eyes and sang a hymn in my head from church that day I heard God speak to me. "Peace, Be Still" and instantly my nerves were calm and I was at peace.

We arrived at the hospital at 12:30pm and were told the Dr would be in around 2pm. We started the movie "Hitch" and waited. The Dr came in during the movie and things started flying! Hubby paid the final payment to the Dr. The nurses came in and did my IV and blood work the old fashioned way of 'milking' the blood. Hubby was given his scrubs and I was taken into surgery.

I don't remember much besides seeing Dr Levi getting the meds to make me loopy and the other Dr saying he was washing my back for the epidural. At some point Hubby came in but I didn't recognize him in scrubs until he came over and was holding my hand. I was told after surgery that I talked nonstop! They even gave me more meds to knock me completely out but I was still talking! Apparently I was asking the Dr all sorts of medical questions and telling him all I know about my body. Dr Perez was impressed with my knowledge and told Hubby so and then he told Hubby I was one strong woman to still be talking after so much medicine.

The surgery was over in about an hour and a half and I was returned to my room. There was not much pain but the urge to use the bathroom as they had removed the catheter. The only trouble was my legs were still numb from the epidural and I could not walk. That was my only complaint while there...having to use the bathroom so much and not being able to get there on my own.

Dinner was served at 6pm and was delicious! Fajita meat, tortillas, jello, rice, and a few other things. More than Hubby and I could both eat. I didn't sleep that well that night because of needing to pee so much. The nurses were good at keeping the pain managed and even with the language barrier we understood each other enough to get our points across.

Breakfast was at 8am and was eggs and ham scrambled together and more tortillas with fresh fruit and juices. Again more than Hubby could eat. I hate eggs so I had the fruit and tortillas.

After breakfast Dr Levi came in and told me about the surgery. he said the original tubal ligation left an infection in my tubes and that had caused the pain the last 3 yrs. He said it was not curable because the amount of antibiotics needed would cause such a nasty yeast infection it would scar my tubes shut. They did get 4 cm of tube saved on each side. He said according to the text books that is plenty of tube if we ever decided to have more children.

He released me then but we stayed until the shuttle driver came after lunch. I can't remember what that was as I was pretty drugged up so I could make the car ride back to the US. It was good I do remember that!

The trip back to America was uneventful. We had to wait on one car in front of us and then we pulled up to the gate. The border patrol guard briefly looked over our papers and wished me luck. Hubby asked the driver what was meant by that and the driver said he was wishing me luck for my surgery. The officer knew the driver and what I had been there for.

In 30 minutes we were back at the airport and in our SUV. My pain meds were not working but it was not time to take anything more. We got on the highway and headed home. It was a painful trip because of the lack of pain meds. We got home at 10pm and I was able to take stronger meds and go to bed. I woke up every 2-4 hrs the next 2 days and was in a lot of pain. I was on complete best rest the rest of the week. I was to be on complete bed rest for 14 days but my family caught the stomach flu and my little guy had a medical emergency that took us by ambulance to the hospital on my 7th day post-op.

I took my stitch out around 1am Thursday morning (10 days post-op) and it didn't hurt. The area was sore until today like a nasty bruise but not unbearable.


I am so thankful that we made this trip!
I praise God for all His mercies in this journey that took us 3 yrs to complete!
I praise God for good surgeons who were able to repair my body and give me a chance to be normal and whole again!