My TAC Story

So, I've been MIA for a bit. I was so completely busy last week with our 3rd wedding anniversary (yay!) and preparing to leave for my surgery in Chicago. Oh, and of course...working myself up about Mother's Day.

For our anniversary, we went out to dinner and laid low. It's nice to have down time with my husband sometimes. I think I decided not to go to that restaurant anymore, though. I realize that babies are everywhere since we live out in the burbs...but really. Do they have to surround me with babies? Plus the food wasn't that fabulous - it was the company that I enjoyed.

DH left for Chicago on Friday to join a few other guys for a bachelor party. Yes, my husband participated in a bachelor party prior to helping me through my surgery! He apparently had fun because I received a few slurred speech calls from him and he had a crazy sunburn on his forehead! I'm glad he could have fun with his friends...really.

I left for Chicago on Sunday after surprising my mom on Saturday. I flew up to my hometown to see my mom before the surgery mainly just because - but also because I knew she was nervous about my surgery and it was Mother's Day too. She was totally surprised, and I loved it.

Anyway, on Sunday we walked around Chicago a bit (it was raining) and had some good food. We went to bed early because I needed to check in for the surgery at 6am on Monday. Once we got to the hospital, the nurse wisked me away to the "prep" room and left DH in the waiting room to fill out all the paperwork. He joined me in the "prep" room after I had put on my beautiful gown and given the usual specimen in a cup. I guess they needed to make extra sure that I wasn't pregnant! After asking the usual questions, they put the IV in at my hand (those flexible "needles" still amaze me). Then they brought me warm blankets since the IV fluids can make you cold.

Promptly at my scheduled surgery time (7:30am), I was walked (yes, walked) into my surgery room with my doc, the resident, the anesthesiologist, and an intern. I'm sure we looked pretty funny with one carrying my gown, another with my IV bag, another keeping the warmed sheets draped around me, and the last leading the way. When we walked into the room, I was amazed by the number of people that were in there. Really, what were they going to do to me that would take this many people? I swear, there were like 10 more people besides the ones that had ushered me into the room! I layed down on the table/bed and they started situating my legs and arms. They put these expander things (like legwarmers) on my legs - felt quite weird. Apparently these expanders were to prevent clots in my legs. I was talking to the doc about this...and then...white....I guess they didn't ask me to count!

First thing I remember when waking up is telling them that I was going to be sick - I was just so nauseous. At that point I realized that I had no voice really. It had apparently been taken away by the breathing tube. I'm so glad they don't put that thing in while you are awake because that really terrifies me. They told me they would give me something for the nausea soon. They were wheeling me to my hospital room and DH was with me. The doc was with me too...I think? Anyway, someone told me that everything went great with the surgery. They didn't have to do anything extra to my insides...yay! They got optimal placement of my TAC (transabdominal cerclage)...another yay! They thought we would have no problems carrying a baby to full term in the future...hooray! Then we reached my room, and they wanted to move me to my hospital bed. Oh no, now I could feel the pain and really didn't want to move and aggravate it. Somehow they got me onto the bed and hooked me up to all sorts of monitors and drips. I had a pain med drip that I could punch every 8 min if I wanted too - which I did if I was awake. I slept for most of that first day. Oh, and they had snuck in a catheter while I was under anesthesia too.

Sometime during that Monday I got up to walk a bit. That was a weird feeling because I could feel the pressure of my insides move to the stitch. I felt the need to hold onto it for some reason - as if it might fall out! I made it maybe 20 feet and decided that was enough for the day. That first night was pretty uncomfortable. I wasn't really in pain (thanks to the pain pump), but I just couldn't find a spot that was comfy - between my IV, the catheter, the expanders on my legs, and my stitch. I finally ate my clear liquid dinner later in the afternoon - chicken broth, apple juice, and berry jello!

The nurses checked my vitals every 2 hours or so. I also had visits from the resident. At 4am on Tuesday, they took away my pain pump and the catheter. That definitely made me a bit more comfy, but I still had those things on my legs - making it not too easy to lay on my side. Not that I could lie on my side because everytime I tried, I felt like my insides moved to that side and would have a sharp, steady pain present on the side I was on. Since they took my pump away, they started me on pain pills. I took these about every 4 hours, and they managed my pain well. Sometime in the morning, the intern came by to look at my stitch and she removed my "big" bandage. You see, they kept telling me that my visible stitch was only 2 inches long. I found that weird because the bandage covering it stretched from hip to hip and from my belly button to down low. Taking off that humongous bandage may have been the most uncomfortable thing of all. After I ate lunch on Tuesday (chicken nuggets and a baked potato), we left the hospital and headed to our hotel.

Here's something nice. The hotel arranged for us to have a special room on the first floor with a shower instead of a bathtub - so I wouldn't have to raise my leg to take a shower! When we got to our room, there was a care package with balloons and a card from the staff (with real signatures). They definitely went out of their way. I took a shower that night - about 36hrs after my surgery. DH went out and brought dinner back to me. After eating, I took my pain pill and drifted off to sleep.

Our flight out on Wednesday was early in the morning. We got a wheelchair for me, not because I had to have it, but just to be safe. Plus, I was walking REALLY slow. I had my pillow with me and hugged it across my stomach everywhere we went. I had found that putting uniform pressure on the stitch could help with the bumps and jars of taxi rides, wheelchair rides, and plane rides too. We got home on Wednesday around lunch after two plane rides. The good thing is that we just missed the weather and possible turbulence.

My suggestions to others getting ready for this surgery:
You don't need a full sized pillow, unless you want it. A travel pillow would do - about half the size of a standard.
Don't cough without putting pressure or something to brace the stitch on your stomach. This really hurts and is startling for both you and anyone else in the room.
Don't eat anything that could cause excess gas before the procedure. This is totally TMI, but the gas will "bubble" and I guess it hits the incision point. This is quite startling.
Ask for the anti-nausea meds with your anesthesia. If I hadn't had these, I know I would have been soooo sick.

I'll write more tomorrow. I plan on working from home for the rest of this week, and having DH drive me next week (not allowed to drive for 10 days). The pain is manageable, but I think I may have overdone today. Guess I'll take it a bit easier tomorrow.