Navigating the Maze: My Personal Battle with Uterine Fibroids Part 3 of 4

Ever find yourself staring down the barrel of a major surgery and feeling completely unprepared? Well, I did and lived to tell the tale. Join me, Teresa, as I unpack my personal journey from the meticulous pre-op planning to the first two weeks of my recovery from fibroid surgery. Hear about the crucial role of my support network, the significance of pro-active medical preparation, and the labyrinth of healthcare finances. 

My recovery tale continues with the initiation of this podcast, a crucial part of my healing process. Explore the power of positivity in the face of adversity and step into the operation room with me as I detail my experiences, including the robotic surgical system and the warm blankets that made a world of difference. I also discuss post-op pain management and my adventures with a belly binder. With personal insights and practical tips, this episode is an empowering journey offering real-life guidance for those considering a similar procedure.

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Chapters

• 0:09 Preparing for Surgery
• 11:59 Starting a Podcast and Post-Surgery Recovery
• 20:31 Fibroid Surgery Recovery Tips and Experiences

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:09

Welcome to season two of the Infusion podcast. My name is Teresa and I am your host. I'm excited to be back for another season. The goal of this podcast is to help women and young girls fill up their cups. Oftentimes, we are so focused on helping and supporting others that we forget to take care of ourselves too. My mission is to spread love and joy through movement, education and motivation. Happy Sunday.

Speaker 1: 0:33

Today I will continue sharing my fibroid journey. This is part three of a four-part series, so if you haven't listened to the first two parts, please pause this episode and go back and listen to those two episodes first. On today's episode, I will dive into my pre-op experience and the first two weeks of my recovery. I would like to thank everyone that has followed my journey thus far. Several women who follow me on social media have reached out with questions as they are going through, or have gone through, a similar situation. As I mentioned in part one of this series, I am sharing my journey so that other women are empowered to speak up to ask questions about their health and also so that they can be empowered to help other women who they may know are going through a similar situation. So at this point in this series. We are three and a half weeks prior to my surgery and my mind is racing on all the things I need to prepare before I have the operation. My number one priority of focus is our daughter. If you've been following me, you know that she has special needs and requires around the clock care. She is dependent on us for her survival. My husband and I are her primary caregivers, but now he would also need to step in to help me through my recovery and be my primary caregiver, so we would need some support. I reached out to our son, my sister-in-law and my mother-in-law for their help. I created a schedule so that everyone was on the same page of who needed to do what and when.

Speaker 1: 2:06

Now that that was out of the way, next I had to determine coverage at my job. I am a senior administrative assistant at Honeywell and my role supports our entire plant plus our integrated supply chain team. As I started to review all of the things that I do, the list kept growing and growing. Even days later, things popped into my head that I had totally forgot that I do, because it's just things that I do, without question or direction, as part of my standard work. So what was I going to do and how was I going to get someone to cover all of the things that I did on a daily basis and a weekly basis, on a monthly basis? I had to strategically determine who that person would be, because I'm tied into so many different things. It was very challenging to try and identify one individual that could handle it all, so I decided to split it up, kind of like I did for the coverage at home. I broke up my list into sections and assigned them to different individuals on my team, as well as the other admins at our site. I prepared meetings with each of them before my last day of work to ensure they understood what needed to be done in my absence. Now, work was off the list, but there was still so much more to do at home Cleaning, organizing things just the way I liked them, because I knew that I wouldn't be able to do much of anything for the first couple of weeks after my surgery. I had to make sure groceries were stocked, the bills were organized and paid or set up for auto pay. So all of these things.

Speaker 1: 3:39

If you are listening to this and you are thinking about having this procedure or a similar procedure. These are things that you need to be thinking about as you prepare. Especially if you have children or people that are depending on you for support, you'll have to make sure that you prepare all of that ahead of time. You cannot wait to the last minute. So all of that was out of the way.

Speaker 1: 4:01

Now we're going to dive into the pre-op steps on the medical side. So once I got my surgery date, I literally was calling my surgery scheduler weekly. She probably said why does this lady keep calling me? I told her I would call her, but I called her weekly to check and see if my insurance had approved the surgery, if the hospital had confirmed the time, if there had been any changes. So a little over a week before my surgery, she finally confirmed that my insurance had authorized the procedure, my time was confirmed with the hospital and she said I would be receiving an email about the next steps and that the hospital would also be reaching out for some pre-op testing. So, again, being proactive, instead of waiting for the hospital to reach out, I went online, completed their pre-admission registration and then I called the admissions department.

Speaker 1: 4:51

Regarding the tests, I was connected with the testing nurse and she got me scheduled for my tests within the next few days. They had me to get chest X-rays and EKG standard blood work. They had to do blood typing so that they had my blood type in the system in case I had to get any blood transfusions, and also because COVID is on the rise again, they also had to do a COVID test. So I started thinking to myself, what if one of these tests comes back with something that prevents me from having this surgery? I didn't want to have to go back to square one, so I prayed and asked God to take over and give me the strength to lean in and depend on Him. After the testing, I also started wearing a mask for an extra layer of protection to make sure that I didn't get sick before the surgery.

Speaker 1: 5:40

Thank goodness, all of my tests came back great, and now I was connected with an admissions rep. He reviewed my insurance coverage, my out-of-pocket estimates and let me know what I would have to pay upfront before I had this procedure. Now, if you're familiar with the high deductible plan with the HSA attached, and then you know what I'm talking about. That's the type of plan that we have. So I knew that there would be some out-of-pocket expenses. But I was relieved to know that the hospital did offer payment plans. My remaining deductible prior to my surgery was over 4,000. Our standard deductible was 6,000. But unfortunately we just didn't have $4,000 lying around that we could just give a hospital to pay for this in full. So I was able to negotiate with the admissions rep to make a feasible down payment based on what we had available in our savings, and it was approved. So that's another thing you want to prepare for. If you do have a high deductible plan or a copay or anything of that nature, the facility will be asking for that upfront. If you know that you're not going to have the entire amount, I would recommend visiting the hospital website and find out if they offer payment plans in your area for the hospital that you're going to be going to or the surgery center.

Speaker 1: 6:54

So at this point, after I did the testing, I did the pre-admissions online registration, set up my payment plan for the hospital. I still hadn't got the email from my doctor's office. So I called the scheduler back and she said, yep, I sent it last week. But I checked my trash, I checked my spam, I checked my inbox and I had nothing from her. So she said she would go ahead and resend the email. About 10 minutes later I refreshed my email and there the email was showing up from Jackie, the surgery scheduler, and it covered all of the instructions of the day before the surgery what not to eat, when to stop eating, how to bathe yourself because there is particular instructions that they will provide you on bathing yourself with the antibacterial soap. There was also some wipes that I had to purchase to clean off my skin before the surgery. So all of those instructions were included. And then, when I scrolled to the bottom of this email, there was a message stating that there was a payment due of $1,500 by the close of business tomorrow.

Speaker 1: 7:59

Tomorrow, at this point, was the day before my surgery. What the F was going on, I told myself. I worked for two different major insurance companies over the years Cigna and Blue Cross, blue Shield and never once had I heard about a patient paying a surgeon fee up front, especially if the surgeon was contracted with the insurance company. So I was taken aback by this and also the fact that the scheduler didn't tell me that when I was just on the phone with her. She just simply sent the email. And why hadn't she followed up. If she sent the email a week ago letting me know this, if I hadn't called myself, I think she probably would have waited to the last minute to call and inform me. But this was the same lady who was so sweet and informative when we met her in person a few weeks back, so I was just shocked.

Speaker 1: 8:50

Now we had to come up with another $1,500. This was yet another roadblock. I'm sharing this information to share with you. To be prepared, ask questions ahead of time. Like I said, I've worked for two different insurance companies. Never have a pay. Has a patient ever had to pay a surgeon fee up front. It was just the facility where you're gonna have the procedure at and everyone else bills your insurance and waits for the insurance To notify them what your out-of-pocket is. So this was another roadblock.

Speaker 1: 9:21

I Was at work when I talked to her and got the email. So I went into the bathroom at work and I started praying for God to make a way. I made a few calls and I was luckily able to make the payment within the hour and I'm gonna take that back. I was not lucky, I was blessed. I am so grateful to God because it was all his doing. Now I could breathe and relax, knowing that the surgery was actually gonna take place in two days. No more surprises. I had hoped.

Speaker 1: 9:50

It was very stressful during this time. My emotions were all over the place. Hormones are already out of whack because I have these fibroids inside of my body. So just imagine that being on 100 at this point because I didn't know If there was anything else was gonna pop up at the last minute that would prevent me from having this procedure. So the night before my surgery, of course, I couldn't sleep because I was thinking about all of those what ifs. What if I oversleep and miss the alarm? What if my surgeon had an emergency that came up and he couldn't do the surgery? What if something went wrong in the operating room and they had to do an open surgery versus the robotic surgery? What if I didn't wake up from the anesthesia? I have been praying up to this point, asking God to make everything okay. But now the day was finally gonna be here and I began to get so nervous. So I started praying and crying, asking God to please see me through. As I finally drifted off to sleep, it seemed like only minutes later my 4 am alarm went off. It was time to get up and get ready for the day that I had been praying for, the day that would put me back on my journey to a healthy mind, body and spirit. Because, god knows, the fibroids had attacked me from all sides, not just my physical body, but my mental, my spirit. So as we arrived in the parking lot it was still dark outside I started crying again. The tears started flowing down. I was finally here.

Speaker 1: 11:15

As we walked into the surgery check-in area, many others followed. The waiting room was filled with people From all walks of life young, old, men, women who were all there to have some type of surgery that day. As I pan the room, I could see the nervous looks on their faces. Though they laughed and smiled with their eyes closed, though they laughed and smiled with their, with their loved ones because, you know, everyone had somewhere there, someone that was there with them I could still feel the nervousness. I could still see it in their eyes because I was just like them, the patient who was coming in For a procedure and was nervous and scared out of my mind.

Speaker 1: 11:59

Have you ever thought about starting your own podcast? Do you like to talk to people? Do you have something to share with the world. Well, if that is, you just like I was. I was so confused, didn't know where to start, what tools to use, what tools I needed, but I'm so excited to be partnering with Buzz Sprouts. They helped me kickstart my podcast. They have all of the resources that you need, both in written form and also YouTube tutorials, and if you sign up for their paid plan, you will receive a $20 credit if you use the link in my profile bio, and you will also be helping to support the Infugee Podcast.

Speaker 1: 12:33

Bobby was there with me and, as comforting as that was to have him by my side, my mind was still racing Now, because I did my registration online, which I mentioned earlier. My check-in took all of a few minutes, so I would highly recommend online registration. To save time, I had to use the bathroom and as I was washing my hands and looking at myself in the mirror, I told myself you got this and God's got you. Sometimes, all it takes is for you to speak positivity out loud, speak life into yourself, and at that moment, I had to remind myself you gotta speak it out loud. You gotta speak it to yourself. As I walked out of the bathroom. A nurse was waiting to take me to my bed, as it was already ready. She told me, as soon as she finished my intake questions, they would be able to bring Bobby back.

Speaker 1: 13:25

From that moment, things moved with lightning speed. I changed into the hospital gown, they did my IV, the operating nurse, my anesthesiologist, the surgeon, his assistant, they all came to review what to expect and how things would go once I was in the operating room. Then my nurse came to tell me that my sister had arrived and asked if they could send her back. I told them yes, it was actually my best friend, marcella, who is more like a sister. She had taken the entire day off work to be there with me and Bobby as she prayed a final prayer with us. Literally moments later, my nurse came and said it's time. More tears started to roll down, as they are right now as I'm recording this. The nurse asked if I was okay. I told him that we had just finished praying and these were tears of joy. Tears of joy Because it was time. It was time to get these fibroids out, to get back to healing my body, to get back to my way of living, to get back to the things that I love.

Speaker 1: 14:41

This was step one. Arriving into the operating room those of you that have had a surgery you know the operating rooms are cold and those of you that know me I'm always cold even if everyone else is hot. So as soon as we got in the operating operating room it was so cold and After they got me transferred on to the operating room bed, my nurse got me the warm blankets if you've ever been in the hospital having a baby visiting someone, those warm blankets that they take out of the warming oven, omg, I just wish I had that oven at home To heat up my blankets. But they got me some warm blankets. They showed me the robotic system that my surgeon would be using for my procedure and I wish I hadn't put my phone away quite yet because I wanted to take a picture was the coolest thing to see and how Technology has transformed to make these type of procedures less invasive, with a faster recovery time. So yeah, I didn't get a picture of it.

Speaker 1: 15:44

But then they started my arms were strapped down, blood pressure monitor put on and then in comes my anesthesiologist. He told me he was gonna start giving me some meds to help me relax and also the medication for the nausea because it never fails. Every time I've ever had anesthesia, I always wake up, vomiting. Then what seemed like many minutes later, excuse me, it seemed like just a few minutes had passed and I heard beeping noises and voices over an intercom. Then a voice close to me saying Mrs Coleman, mrs Coleman, you have to wake up now. Can you hear me? I Couldn't believe it. The surgery was already over. What seemed like minutes later was three hours later. The surgery was over. I was in the recovery room. I Opened my eyes and my nurse told me that everything went well and it was time for me to get up and walk. They shared with me that my doctor had a 95% rate of his patients going home the same day after the robotic hysterectomy, but he also Left it up to the patients to decide what they were comfortable with. I knew that I wanted to be in the comfort of my own home and Not stay overnight in the hospital. So I said, lord, if it is your will, I Need you to give me the strength to get up out of this bed, and he did. About 45 minutes later I was being wheeled outside to go home.

Speaker 1: 17:08

Now, the first 48 hours after this procedure were very painful, I'm not gonna lie. For me at least, it was painful. I Chose not to receive any opioid prescriptions because they make me vomit and I didn't want to give way for any Dependency to creep in. I have too many people in my family I had opioid addictions and I just I didn't want to even deal with it. And with my 3c section surgeries, I did take them while I was in the hospital, since for those surgeries I had to stay in the hospital for a couple days. But once I was discharged I requested 800 milligram ibuprofen. So I did the same thing here after my hysterectomy. Now ibuprofen not only helps with the pain, but it also helps with inflammation and I don't think people realize how much internal swelling you have with these types of abdominal surgeries. So ibuprofen it was.

Speaker 1: 18:04

I Spent the first 14 hours at home vomiting. The doctor gave me a prescription for nausea to take home, but it didn't work. I couldn't even take the ibuprofen because I couldn't keep any food down. Those that are close to me and know me I can't take any type of pain medication, even if it's just Tylenol or ibuprofen, without food in my stomach. It doesn't sit well. So the heating pad became my best friend. It was the only thing that would give me some relief at this point, as I gradually began eating. I started with saltine crackers and then soup, but it felt like my stomach was filling up so fast, faster than normal I could only take a few bites, so water and power aid were the next best thing. I stayed hydrated, so much so that it what seemed like every 45 minutes I was using the bathroom.

Speaker 1: 18:58

By the end of week one I had my appetite back, but my belly was still very tender, and so were the incisions. So initially my doctor told me I would have four incisions, two on each side of my belly, but I end up having five, and that is because we discovered that one of the fibroids had gotten so much bigger than the others. As I shared in a previous episode, all of my fibroids were around three centimeters, but this one, like grew. I don't know the exact measurement, but looking at the photos, yes, they took photos. It's so crazy. They took a before and after photo and Provided it to my husband after I came out of the operating room, but it looks like the. The one that was bigger was maybe I don't know like eight or nine centimeters. It just was gigantic compared to the other smaller ones. So there was an extra incision made on the the middle part of my abdomen and that incision is in a tender spot. So that one was very, very, very painful I'm, but by week one I had my appetite back, like I said, but it was still very tender. I had been walking every day around the house. Walking is gonna be your best friend. You need to walk, walk, walk. But I told Bobby I needed to get out and get some fresh air because I felt like I was trapped inside of a bubble because I had just been inside the house. So we went outside on the porch and sat for 15 minutes and it just felt so good to watch cars driving by, to see the sunlight, to feel the fresh air on my skin.

Speaker 1: 20:31

I did invest in a belly binder and it was a game changer. People I've spoke with who have had this surgery or similar abdominal surgeries told me that they were given a binder upon discharge from the hospital. So I'm not sure if the hospital forgot or if they just don't give them out anymore, but I was able to find a reasonable binder on Amazon and what the binder does is. It provides compression to your upper and lower abdomen, which then helps improve your blood circulation and oxygen levels, and the improvement of the blood circulation and oxygen levels reduces the swelling and promotes faster healing. It also helps to support your back and improve posture. So as I'm sitting here recording this episode, I'm wearing that binder and it's helping me to sit up right in this chair and help protect my back and also my belly, because when you're sitting for a long time it hurts. You have to get up and walk or just move around. Also, walking with the binder is easier. Sitting at my kitchen table or even on my couch, there was a big difference with the binder.

Speaker 1: 21:37

So by day nine I was able to venture out to this Arizona State Fair to celebrate our son's 16th birthday. We only spent a few hours there and we got there as soon as they opened to try and beat the crowds. I did a lot of walking, but I also did a lot of sitting. I couldn't ride the rides or do much of anything, but be there to enjoy and watch my son have fun for his birthday celebration. I'm so grateful for the State Fair because everywhere you turned there was a seat, so every time the boys stopped to get on a ride or play a game. There was a seat nearby where I could still see them and get joy out of them having fun. But I will tell you this the night after the fair I had the best nights of sleep I had since the surgery Now the best sleeping position that I would recommend. What helped me is sleeping on my side with a pillow squeezed against my belly. That has been the most comfortable position Now.

Speaker 1: 22:31

During the first two weeks I was also able to go out for lunch with my friends. These weren't very long outings as it was still tiring to sit for long periods of time without getting up to walk in between. But these outings made me smile. They let me know that, though I was not 100% myself, that my friends still had my back. They still wanted to love on me and to be in my company. We laughed and I had to hold my stomach to laugh because at this point it still hurts to laugh really hard. We cried and we fellowshiped. So day 17, day 17,. We are actually in the now, so we are catching up.

Speaker 1: 23:10

Day 17 was actually yesterday, october 21st, and it was a fun field and tiring day. I was able to take my sons well, I should say they took me, because my oldest son drove us to my company's open house family event. They got to learn all about the cool things that we make at Honeywell and they also got to receive first hand accounts of the impact my role has on our site. Overall, it was a very amazing thing to experience. Then, yesterday evening, we celebrated our daughter's 25th birthday at our home in a very small, intimate party. I was very pooped out, but it was all worth it.

Speaker 1: 23:49

So some tips that I would share thus far For those of you who are listening and maybe on the fence about having your fibroids removed or having a hysterectomy for other hormone and or menstrual bleeding issues. These are my tips. Talk to your physician to identify the best course of treatment for you. All of our bodies are different, so what your friend did or your sister did or your mom did or your cousin did, that may not work for you For your particular situation. However, talk to those people. Talk to those other people who have gone through a similar situation, because they may be able to share some insight on what worked for them, what challenges they had, how they were able to make a decision on what to do best for them. I'm open to answering any questions that you may have, so feel free to email me. My email address is TCfitnessfusion at gmailcom, or you can message me on Facebook or Instagram.

Speaker 1: 24:52

Number three do your own research. Do your own research and make the best decision for you, not the best decision for everyone else. This is about your body, about your mental state, about your spirit. It's all about you. So make the best decision for you, not the best decision for everyone else. Now I will share with you when this first started out. If you listen to I think it was an episode One. I can't can't remember if it was in the first part of this series, but I shared that I I was thinking about getting matablasian Because it was the fastest recovery. It was just a 30 minute in and out procedure and I would be back to work in two days because I was concerned about Everyone else and being away from work and being not being able to take care of my daughter. But I had to make the best decision for me and my body, even though I have to be down for four weeks. This was the best decision for my body and for my overall health, so that I can live longer and be here longer To do the things that I love to help take care of my children, to go to work, to work out.

Speaker 1: 25:58

So make the best decision for you, be prepared and have these items available if you don't already have them at home. A heating pad Heating pad is going to be your best friend. Extra pillows you're going to need those to use, like I said, for sleeping positions. Also if you have lower seating at your home. So if your your couch is low, if your favorite cherry that you sit in is low, you're going to need pillows, because the first week or so it's going to hurt to have to stand up from that low seated position. Also, if you have a low seated toilet, you may want to look into getting a toilet riser or a toilet cushion, because again, it's going to hurt to To stand up from that low seated position.

Speaker 1: 26:46

Also, the pillow is going to come into handy when you cough, you're going to need to cover your belly, even if you're wearing the binder with a pillow. For the first week now, after the first week, like now, if I cough I have the binder on, so it doesn't. It's not really painful, but the first week I didn't have the binder. I don't even know if I could have worn the binder for the first week because my belly was so tender. But the pillow just placing the pillow over your stomach and gently pressing down will help to prevent pain when you cough. The abdominal binder that I mentioned. You want to get fat. Also, moderma advanced scar gel that scar gel will help to heal your scars Faster and so that they're less visible. I use that when I had my 3c sections. I swear by it, so that's another thing. Now, all of these items are items that have significantly helped me, but I would recommend that you talk to your physician about what you specifically need and if there's anything else that he or she may want you to have again for your specific situation.

Speaker 1: 27:53

Now, on next week's episode, we're going to take a break from my fiber journey because I want to make sure that I give you the full Story. So I still have about 13 more days to go until I go see my doctor for my post op, so I want to be able to share that experience with you. So next week we're going to take a break and pause to celebrate National Make a Difference Day. National Make a Difference Day takes place every fourth Saturday in October, so what I want to do is share the history of that national day, and I'm also going to share with you the things that I have done Throughout my life to make a difference in my community. Then, on November 5th, we're going to return with part 4 and the final 13 days of my fibroid surgery recovery. So I appreciate each and every one of you. You have been listening to the infusion podcast. I hope that something was said today that will help you along your life journey. Until next time, continue to do you, be you, infuse you and be blessed.