MY SURGERY

I had my surgery on Monday, two days after Terry got home! I know right, poor Honey finally comes home, just to take care of me! :) He says he doesn't mind though, and I'm glad I got to have him home for it!

Anyways, in case you missed it, I found out about 2 weeks ago that I had a large cyst on my right ovary. By large, I mean about as big as my whole uterus (7.8 cm in diameter). I had been having lots of cramping for over two years, but my regular doctor overlooked it, so I thought I should too. The pain was getting worse though, so I went to a differnt doctor (my OB/GYN when I was pregnant with Nathyn) and they were very helpful in finding out the problem and getting it fixed! They said that I had to have the cyst removed, and that most likely I'd lose my ovary too.

I got to the Sugery Center about noon, checked in, filled out some paper work and then went back to the pre-op room. I changed into my gown and then answered about 100 questions about my health and medical record. The anesthesiologist came and talked to me about putting my to sleep, and hooked me up with a "cocktail" so that I wouldn't be nauseas (I throw up from anesthesea, even local types like when I had my c-setion). It worked though!

I went back into the operating room and laid on the table and was OUT before I knew it! Next thing I remember was waking up in the post-op area. The nurses told me that everything went well, but that there were a few surprises while they were in there.

Surprise #1: The cyst was NOT on the right side, it was on the left. It just moved around behind my uterus so it looked like it was the right side.
Surprise #2: The cyst was NOT on my ovary! It was on my fallopian tube! This is good though because they were able to removed the cyst and SAVE my ovary! :)
Surprise #3: They definitely found what was causing the pain! The cyst moved around so much that it actually twisted my fallopian tube completely around several times and tied it into knots. They were able to fix that too though.

So the surgery turned out great! They even gave me like 12 pictures of my ovary, uterus, cyst and my fallopian tubes all ties in knots! I was gonna post them but decided against it for those of you who easily get the heeby geebies! If you want to see them, I can email them, just leave your email address. As for me, I'm doing fine. I'm pretty tender, my throat hurts from the breathing tube, and moving around hurts some, but I'm trying to get up and around as best I can. I'm also super groggy and sleepy, so I'm just trying to get my rest. I was told NO lifting, NO bending over, and NO activity that causes any pain until after my post-op appointment on Tuesday. I will update after I go to my appointment.

TERRY'S GRADUATION! <3

Hooray! I went and got my Honey! We left EARLY in the morning on Wednesday, September 23. It was an ALL day trip; 2 plane rides, and a 2 hour drive. We got to our hotel room around 8pm after having dinner at Imo's Pizza (if you ever go to St. Louis, MO you HAVE to have pizza here!). The next morning we got up, had a delicous breakfast at the Cracker Barrel before driving the 20 minutes to Ft. Leonard Wood for the Family Day Briefing where we learned the does and don'ts of what Terry was allowed to do when we took him off base.

As soon as we got off base Terry's dad asked him what he wanted to have for lunch and Terry said "A LOT!". So we went to Ryan's Grill & Buffet and Terry surely did eat A LOT, and FAST! After that we went back to the hotel for a little bit, had dinner at Miller's Grill and just hung out until it was time to take Terry back to the barricks until Graduation on Friday.

After Terry went back to the Barricks Thursday night, me and his mom had lots of fun snooping in his bags that he left with us at the hotel! He didn't mind once he saw the pictures. Friday morning we went back to Ft. Leonard Wood for the graduation! It was such a cool experience, and I really wish that my camera could have gotten some better pictures in the auditorium but it was pretty dark in there. The whole ceremony lasted about an hour and a half and afterwards all the soldiers marched outside, then we followed to find them. After that, Terry was a FREE MAN (for now at least!). We didn't really do much but hang out, eat, and go swimming in the hotel pool.
Then we left at 4am Saturday morning to start our LOOONG trip home! It's SO nice to have my Husband home again! The day before Family Day, Terry went to an overseas briefing which brought both good and bad news. GOOD NEWS is that Terry will be here in Sacramento until October 25th! He got approved to do the HRAP (hometown recruiting assistant program). He works at the recruiting office a few hours a day for the first two weeks, then his second two weeks he has his leave. Nathyn and I don't get to go with him because he has to get housing first. Hopefully it doesn't take too long, but I'm guessing I'll be here at least through Thanksgiving. HOORAY for time with family and friends. BOO for having to be without Terry again. BUT, I'm stronger now, and I know it'll be okay!

MY GOD DAUGHTER HAS A BLOG!

http://aliviarenesmommy.blogspot.com/

Go read about all the wonderful things my beautiful God Daughter is doing! I'm so glad Breanna (her Mommy) made a blog so I can follow along and see all the wonderful things I'll be missing over the years while I'm away!

THANKS BRE! I LOVE YOU GUYS!

NATHYN'S FIRST CIRCUS!

We went almost a month ago, but now that my computer is fixed I thought I'd do a little catching up. We went with Mariah and the kids from the daycare. It was a lot of fun. Here's some pictures!

SCAPLES & STAPLES

I got my surgery date for remove my right ovary and the massive cyst attached. Boy, was that fast! They called Monday, I called back Tuesday. My pre-op appointment is Tuesday September 22nd @ 10:30am. My surgery will be the following Monday, September 28th. Kinda sucks that Terry will only be home 2 days then I'm gonna be out of commission for a week. But I'd rather get it done and over with. Not to mention that I'm SOOOO thankful he'll be here with me! :) Can't wait to see my honey!!

Can't leave you without a picture or two!

Nathyn & my nephew, Rhyden

WHAT'S THIS TALK ABOUT FERTILITY?

A lot of my family and friend's have been asking "what's up" when it comes to all the Doctor's appointments I've been going to the last 3 months so I suppose I can update for everyone! I've been having abdominal and pelvic pains for over a year now and wasn't getting any answers from my primary care doctor. I also wasn't menstrating and when I had an absent period of 4 months (and negitive pregnancy tests) I decided to go to an OB/GYN considering my regular doctor was offering NO answers what-so-ever.

I had my first appoint with the OB on Thursday, August 27th. She asked me about a million questions and decided to start me on a medication called Provera, a hormone medication intended to jumpstart my cycle. This was the single most horrible medication I've ever taken. I slept about 16 hours a day (when I wasn't at work), had terrible cramps that had me in tears, a migraind every day, and oh boy, mood swings were out of control! She also gave me a slip to get an ultrasound which I scheduled the following Wednesday, September 2nd. She told me to chart when I started my period and that she'd see me in 3 weeks UNLESS something came back concerning on my ultrasound, in this case I'd be recieving a phone call.

Well, I got the call the following Tuesday, September 8th and the scheduled me an appointment for 2 days later on Thursday, September 10th to "discuss my options" about the large cyst found on my right ovary. As soon as the doctor entered the room I was told that surgery was definitely neccessary in my case due to the size of the cyst. I don't know the exact measurements but I know that it's about 7.8cm in diameter (that's about as big as my whole uterus!). She informed me that because I'm so young that she is not worried about it being cancerous, but that it will be checked just in case. Because the cyst is so large it has completely taken over my ovary (normally only 3cm) and that she will be unable to save my ovary, thus it will also be removed during the surgery. The surgery will be scheduled very soon, all we are waiting on is approval from my insurance, which shouldn't take too long at all. In the mean-time I am supposed to take it easy; no heavy lifting, take it slow when sitting down or standing up, no twisting & avoid bending over too quickly. My ovary is twisting and causing a good amount of pain in the process, but if I'm not careful it could twist completely, and I was warned that this will probably be the most excruciating pain I've ever endured. My concern..? What if this happens while I'm at work, holding a baby, or even worse, while I'm driving? I could lose control and seriously hurt myself and maybe even other people! What if Nathyn is in the car with me? I'm pretty nervous about all this, and I suppose all I can do is hope that this DOESN'T happen before I can get in for surgery.

As if all this lovely information wasn't enough, the doctor also told me that I do not ovulate and that I don't produce progesterone. She suggested that I start on birth control that includes progesterone to make up for it. I haven't been on birth control for over 5 years and asked her if it were possible NOT to take birth control, as my husband and I would like to have another child. She then told me that because I produce NO progesterone and because I don't ovulate that I will not be able to have children on my own, and will have to use the aid of fertility medications to assist in becoming pregnant. Because I cannot start the fertility medications (no sense without Terry around) I am forced to take birth control pills until we are certain that we want a child, and at that time we can start the process of fertility treatments to get pregnant.

I am very upset about this news, even more so considering Terry isn't home to help me through it all. We have always wanted a large family, him especially. I swear as far back as when we were 14 & 15 years old he'd tell me "You know when we get older you're going to be my bare-foot baby-making machine, right?" It was funny, and still is, but now it's sad that that's all definitely going to change. I just feel horrible having to tell him all this over the phone this weekend. Having kids is not impossible, just gonna be a little more complicated.

Guess Nathyn really is a miracle baby.... ;)

FT. LEONARD WOOD, MO 65473

Terry gets a pass every Saturday and Sunday now from 7am - 1:30pm (my time) so I've gotten to talk to him TONS lately! He also sends me lots of pictures from around base, kinda giving me a sneak preview of my upcoming "vacation". I am SO excited, by the way! Only 16 days left until I get on the plane to attend Terry's Family Day, Graduation, then bring him home with me! :) Anyways, I thought I could share pictures with you guys, I hope you enjoy them.

There's a River that runs through the base..

The BarracksTerry's Bottom Bunk