I'm alive!

And home.

Sorry for not posting this last night but I was shattered. All went well, and everything went to plan, with all tissues removed sent off for testing but looking okay from the outside.

I had the most amazing treatment at the hospital - all the staff were fabulous, and as experiences go it has been an amazingly positive one.

I think I ended up going down to theatre at 2.30pm. I was having a nap when the anaesthetist came to take me down to theatre which wasn't ideal as I was a bit shaky and emotional, but then I probably would have been like that anyway. We had a couple of comedy moments en route, the first being the attempt to get the bed out of the room as it was a bit tight. I offered to get out and help but wasn't allowed! 😉

When we got down to theatre I will admit I began to get even more nervous and shaky, but the team we're great at keeping me calm, and the canuoa insertion (which I loathe to high heaven) was actually really good 😳. I don't remember much after that, as I went under pretty quickly in no time at all woke up in recovery, a bit shaky, emotional, and desperately in need of a hug, but after 15 mins or so of oxygen and talking to the nurse I was okay. My consultant and registrar, oh, and the anaesthetists popped in to say hello and goodbye (I was the last patient of the day) and reassured me that all had gone well, and after a while I went back to my room.

Being next to the maternity ward was a bit daunting, having just lost my ovaries as I felt a bit odd/different, and also weirdly under lots of pressure not to cry as I didn't want to upset anyone, particularly not the ladies wondering round in labour! I had a bit of a cry when I got back to my room, and was a bit panicky when I couldn't get hold of my husband Stuart so rang the friend where our children had been for the day and spoke to Lucy which took the edge off a bit. My other lovely friend, Bea, was at the hospital in the cafe waiting for me to come round, and shortly after me texting her was there for a much needed hug. Bea's husband had seen Stuart during the day, so could export back that he was fine and not worrying about me which was a relief.

Pain wise it wasn't too bad. The worst thing is the pain from the gas they pump into you (expands the cavity so they have more room to work) and of course the gas (CO2) takes a while to be re absorbed so when you move to become more upright there's a lot of pressure and pain in the shoulder/collar bone area which is really odd.

All in all, Bea and I had a lovely afternoon catching up. I went from being an emotional wreck to having verbal diarrhoea 😂, and managed to drink and eat enough to satisfy the nurses.

Eventually, I was discharged at about 8.45pm with a dose of painkillers, deptaparin injections (anti blood clotting agent) and lactulose 😳, and got home about half an hour later.

I didn't last long before going to bed, which was pretty uncomfortable (disappointingly) but managed to get a few hours sleep, but I have been up since 5am. Once the gas goes I will be much much much more comfortable, but it really is sore at the moment. My wounds are small and look fine under the dressings but due to their positioning I do look like I've been pronged with a big fork!!

I suspect I shall have a quiet couple of days before I'm back to serious walking with the dogs (😂😉) so will probably catch up on some reading and the pile of paperwork which is waiting for me.

I also have a job offer to consider - did I mention Friday's interview? Anyway, the offer was emailed through last night and I think that after a little tweaking I shall probably take it as the people I would be working for are really really lovely and it would be varied and interesting work with potential to work from home.

So, lots of positives already and it's only day one post op. It's certainly good to have something else to focus on.

Signing off for now, thanks for reading and putting up with me.

Rebecca X