I had my surgery today. My doctor did answer all my questions. The resident arrived to my pre-op about an hour before my doctor did and so I chatted with her for a while and that helped me feel better. Then when my doctor arrived and asked how I felt, I told her that I felt "really scared" and her response, was "ok, tell me what I can do to help you feel better?" Really great bedside manner. Her demeanor was very laid back and I didn't feel rushed at all. She actually walked with the stretcher as we were going back to the OR and she did the q-tip test one more time to map out where she would cut before I was given ANY sedation. She wanted me to be fully alert for that part. I got to see the stirrups that they use in the OR -- they look like torture devices but they are not painful, just awkward. We did the Q-tip test a few times just to make sure and then the anesthesiologist put me under. (Just another note about anesthesiology- you can ask for them to put an EEG strip on your head so that they know you are truly asleep. I only knew about this because last year I had my appendix out at another hospital and they did that and I asked them what it was for.)
I did ask my doctor for Percocet but in Texas you need a special prescription pad to write for Percocet since it is a CII (triplicate rx pad) and my doctor did not have one. I asked her if the resident could go get it (I thought she meant it that she left it in her clinic or office) and she said that she just didn't have one- that she didn't know of any of the attendings in her department who did since they don't usually write for those drugs. That struck me as odd but I am used to working with cancer patients. Anyway, I asked her if she could give Tylenol 3 and so she did. She also gave me 800mg ibuprofen and some Estrace cream. I haven't used the Estrace cream yet.
We went into the OR at around 9:45 and I was woken up at around 12:45. I was in A LOT of pain 9/10 overall- it felt like stabbing and throbbing. The nurses gave me IV fentanyl up to 80mcg over the course of the next 3 hours and also 10mg Norco and IV diluadid and also IV something that is like motrin, but stronger. After the first few fentanyl and diluadid doses, my pain came down to an 8/10. With the ice on for about an hour and that ibuprofen like IV medication, it came down to 7/10. Finally about an hour before I left they gave me a final fentanyl dose and I felt like my pain was at 6/10. I felt like my bladder was full (probably from the IV fluids) so I went to urinate. It was not painful to urinate, but difficult. I just couldn't get it going. It took me about 10 minutes and I did feel like my bladder was empty at all, however there was what seemed to be a lot of blood in the toilet and that freaked me out a bit. The nurse said it was normal and that it was just kind of built up. After that they thought I was ready to go home so I dressed and got a wheelchair ride downstairs (I put a pillow in the wheelchair and tried to lean back as much as possible-- at that point it was not comfortable to sit).
When I got home I put an already waiting ice gel pack on and took a Vicodin while my friend went to the pharmacy to fill my scrips. My doctor wrote the tylenol 3 to take every 4-6 hours as needed but the anesthesiologist told me to take it every three hours for the first couple days. I just took my first dose about an hour ago (because I had taken Vicodin earlier) so I'll see if it makes me feel better than the Vicodin. The ice is SO SO SO important and I am glad you guys told me about it or I feel like my nurse would not have thought of it (and my doctor did not write it in the orders). When I asked the nurse for ice she had to page my doctor for the ok.
My doctor is going to call me tomorrow because she thought I would be too out of it to talk today after the surgery. She did say that she only expected me to be on bedrest for the first couple days. She said after that I should feel free to do stuff in the kitchen and take short walks, or walk as much as I feel comfortable. She said I could start sitz baths tomorrow afternoon. Also, at the hospital they gave me a squirt bottle that I am supposed to use to rinse the area when I urinate. This is really helpful- I put warm water and he helps me urinate. Also, the urinating is not painful and there is not as much blood AND I can feel like I've emptied my bladder.
Another pain thing that my doctor told me (and nurse and anesthesiologist said same thing)-- if I get my pain to a tolerable point at the hospital and then just keep taking the pain medications as prescribed (instead of waiting for pain to increase) then pain will stay tolerable. Otherwise I could have breakthrough pain.
Of note, I went to one session of PT and that was what finally made me decide to do the surgery. I had virtually no hypertonicity or hypotonicity-- essentially normal. I had been trying oral gabapentin at increasing doses for months, had tried various compounding creams, tried capsacin (painful, just ouch), and things just seemed to be getting worse over the past 10 years or so. Sex used to be manageable with lidocaine but in the past year it was not at all. That and my doctor said she had just been to a conference session on vestibulitis and there seems to be a consensus that this is primarily a disease of neuron over-proliferation, which currently is only solvable by surgery.
I won't know if this worked for some time, but I am hopeful. I am feeling emotionally ok tonight, too, but that may be a lot because I was so well supported by the medical staff (and by my friend who sat with me in post-op and helped me fill scrips, etc) today. I won't have a follow-up visit unless I experience more pain or some other problem for 4 weeks. That seems a long time but it is just as well-- I wouldn't want anyone to be feeling around the wound until it has healed. I'm afraid to look down there. I don't think I will - at least not until the pain subsides a lot more.
Now I need to make a list of questions to ask my doctor tomorrow! I always forget on the spot.
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