Surgery Update

I would like to note here that this post may become graphic and it definitely contains "too much information". Stop reading if you have a weak stomach.....this is your only warning.....

Where do I begin? So much has happened in the past few days.......

Let's start with Thursday morning, 3am....Take double dose of Cytotec. Cytotec is a pill that is used to induce labor. For me it was going to start dilating my cervix for the implant. This phase was horrible. I don't even know how to put it into words other then I was basically "in labor" without actually being in labor. There were contractions which started 30 minutes after each does that started about 5 minutes apart and would get down to about 2 minutes apart. This would last for about 4 hours after each dose (which I had to take 8 doses over the course of 3 days so you can imagine how fun that was).

Thursday was the day of my procedure and things went fairly well. The doctor dilated my cervix and implanted the laminaria. Laminaria is a thin rod of seaweed used to slowly dilate the cervix. It is mostly used to induce labor but in my case we just needed it to dilate the cervix. The rod is inserted into the cervix and over the course of several hours (or days, in my case), they slowly absorb water and expand, dilating the cervix. The procedure went as planned and I felt fairly well for the remainder of Thursday (other than cramping and the "contractions" caused by the cytotec).

Friday was a recovery day and the day that I would remove the laminaria (there is a thread/string attached to the implant that I just pull and it comes out, similar to a tampon). Friday evening couldn't come quick enough....I just wanted this thing out!! So I pull and pull and nothing happens. My fiance then assists me to try and pull...nothing happens. 30 minutes into this process I am in excruciating pain. I ask my fiance to pull one last time with everything he has and........the string breaks off! By this point I'm screaming, crying and in more pain than I have ever felt in my whole life. Immediately it was decided that I needed to go to the emergency room. So here it is 9:15pm and we are loading the car and heading to the ER.

After 40 minutes of the ER physician attempting to get the laminaria out....he finally gets it. Mind you.....I'm screaming and crying through this entire process. I've never experienced something so horrible in my entire life. I have physically never felt such pain (and to be honest, I didn't think it was possible). I was in pretty bad shape at the ER so the doctor decided to give me some morphine for the pain. I will forever be grateful to him for that decision. It was the first time in 48 hours that my body was able to relax. The pain subsided so quickly and all I could think of was going home and getting some sleep...........WRONG!!! My body reacted to the morphine like it was "crack" or something. I was wired ALL NIGHT LONG!! I finally fell asleep around 6am Saturday morning. So, needless to say, by today I was pretty exhausted and I can't wait to get to bed early.

I spoke with my original doctor on Saturday and we are going to set up a "check up" appointment for this week. At this time he will check my cervix to make sure there was no damage done by the ER physician and we will also discuss what our next step is. At this point, the implant was unsuccessful! It never dilated as it was intended to and in the short amount of time that it was in, my cervix had already started to close around it.

I will post another update after meeting with my doctor this week. To be honest, I'm so worried that at some point he's going to recommend a hysterectomy.......please God, I'm not ready to make that decision yet!!