Pre-Op Appointment

Including this winter, I will have had surgery for the past three years. For two years, I've had my ACL repaired, and this year, I will have my uterus repaired.

At the preoperation appointment with my surgeon, Dr. Lee, we discussed my situation. He asked me questions about the history of my menstrual cycle (normal and very cyclic), we talked about my family history of abnormalities (my sisters extra ureter), and we reviewed my MRI in detail (I have both kidneys, hooray!).

After Dr. Lee questioned the severity of my cramping in the past during my menstrual cycles, I told him that I didn't think my cramps were bad at all. After he heard my answer, he cocked his head and looked into my face for a few seconds. After I fidgeted, he commented, "You seem like a very stoic person to me... After all, you went to 18 weeks pregnant, dealing with uterus cramping, and then went through a painful rupture... Can you tell me what you think your pain tolerance is like?"

It seemed like a hard question to me. How should I know if I have a high or low pain tolerance? What can I compare it to? And then I remembered a funny example, "Well, when I blew out my ACL while skiing, I skied down the mountain to my car and then drove myself to the emergency room. So, I guess some consider my pain tolerance is high."

The doctor-in-training that followed Dr. Lee into the room snickered at my answer. Dr. Lee smiled and wrote something down in his notes. Then, he turned to me and explained his conclusion about what I could have, and what he will do on the operating table.

I probably have something that is more considered a bicornuate uterus. He thinks that there probably was access to the left horn side, but it wasn't large. When the egg planted in that side, there wasn't good access for a vaginal miscarriage, and the uterine rupture was inevitable. After the miscarriage, the surgeon scraped the in-tact placenta from the uterus and may have scarred the opening shut.

Without using the 15-letter medical terminology words, he will begin the operation vaginally (laparoscopically) to see if he will be able to repair the opening between the two bicornuate horns and make it the uterus larger. He's not sure if that can't happen (because the connection between the two horns appears small), so he may have to just remove the left uterine horn and fallopian tubes completely.

I am so confident with this surgeon, I am not scared at all for this surgery. And I trust this great surgeon and his decision, because as he said, "We will do whatever to save the most of your uterus."

He added, "Now, I just have to legally list the possible things that could go wrong: there could be a loss of blood, bleeding out, or even a hysterectomy... And remember, don't eat anything for 24 hours prior to surgery."

Although I acknowledged everything that he said, the only thing I REALLY heard was that I couldn't eat! Ugh. THAT will be the worst part of the entire day.