Warning for any men that are sensitive to female talk, exit the blog now! LOL!
Well, it's been a while since I have posted anything on my blog. It's been a crazy few months if I say so myself. Summer came and went, and it was a relaxing time. The girls got to swim to beat the horrible heat we had this past year, and the sibling fights were at a minimum!
Jason and his sales team worked really hard this year so we were able to go to Hawaii again in October. A few weeks prior to finding out that we were going, I started have some bad abdominal pains. I figured they were "female" related so I made a visit to my OB/GYN. She had her suspicions as to what was going on, so sent me for additional tests. The tests showed that I had 2 fibroid cysts that were on the uterus. She thought that they might go away, and to give it a few weeks, and if I was still in pain, to come back and she would see if they were growing or shrinking. She did give me some pain meds in the meantime, but those who know me, I HATE taking anything other than Tylenol or Advil. The pain was awful! Just wasn't going away. I was downing Advil every 4 hours and even then, it really didn't work. The Hawaii trip came, and we were so excited! A trip to beautiful Maui! I still was having pain. Some days were better than others. The day we left to come home, I wasn't sure if I was going to make the 9 hour plane trip home. The pain was unbearable! Had several hot baths, (Amber's cure all to everything!) and lots of pain meds, I got on the plane and made it home. The next day I made a call into the doctor and was seen immediatly. She said the cysts were rapid growing and really the only was to solve this issue was a hysterectomy. I was very unsure about the entire thing. I'm not even 40 yet, and a hysterectomy!? Jason and I discussed the situation, and thought, as did the doctor, that this was my best option. So the surgery was scheduled...5 days after Thanksgiving. She said I would be in the hospital at least overnight, possibly 2 nights. She discussed with Jason and I that she would be operating on me via robot! What!? Did she say robot!? It's a relatively new procedure (da vinci robotic surgery) that is supposed to less invasive, quicker recovery, and no large incision scaring. She also mentioned that I couldn't drive for 2 weeks. Well, the OCD control freak that I am could only think about what all was coming up. Lots of big things in a matter of a few weeks. Grace's birthday, Christmas decorations that needed to go up, Christmas shopping, baking, school functions, soccer, laundry, car pool, you name, I was thinking about it. So after I collected my thoughts, I sat down and made a plan. So far so good right? Just wait. Surgery came and went. All went well. Turned out she found 12 more small cysts. My uterus had attached itself to my bladder, so she repaired that, and also found an infection on my right fallopian tube and had to remove part of that too. So I suppose it was a must have surgery. I left the hospital the following day. Very little pain. Similar to my previous c-sections was what I could relate it to. I just didn't have the huge cut across my belly. All I had was four 1/2 inch incisions. Once home, I settled in fine. I had awesome friends that brought food so that I didn't have to cook. What a relief that was. I seriously thought the girls were going to live on McDonalds and Lucky Charms! My surgery was on a Tuesday, and my the weekend I felt great. This is where things go down hill...We met my parents for lunch on a Saturday afternoon and noticed a lot of blood when I went to the restroom. Now wait a minute...the doc said little to no blood, and what the heck was this! So Jason took me back to the hospital, and after my exam said that I had several internal stitches that had come open so they cauterized them, and a hemotoma in my belly that should correct itself. So after a few hours they sent me home. Well that worked for a while, but then the big one! After picking up the girls from school I found my self hemorrhaging in the bathroom and had to be rushed back to the hospital. The doctor said I had an arterial bleed and that I needed surgery. Well, surgery didn't fly with me, and I wasn't real sure about this ER doc anyway. While he was ordering a CT scan, I was demanding they call my OB/GYN that did the surgery. She couldn't come, but did send the other Dr in her practice. She immediately said absolutely no surgery, and assured me that she could fix this by just going in and cauterizing it. Just as they had done before. After my results from my CT came back fine, and my CBC came back fine, so they released me and told me to take it easy. Still had bleeding, but not like before. I did make several trips back to the Dr to fix any other blood vessels that were "leaking". Now it's been 8 weeks since the surgery, and I am feeling great. Got the "all clear" from the Dr! Yay! It's been a long recovery and I am ready to get back to my normal routine. I have signed up to participate in the Warrior Bash taking place in April. So I guess I better get my rear in gear and start working out! April will be here before I know it.
Here are some pictures from the last few months....Sorry for the delay, but I hope to back on track on updating you on the life and times of The Reynolds Family!
Click on photo to view larger!
Maui
Turtles in Maui
Halloween 2011
Grace turned 7!
Maddy's Soccer Tournament
Thanksgiving 2011
Christmas 2011
New Years 2011
Thanks for checking in on us, I'll be posting some craft projects that I have been working on soon!
~Amber
