Home time and recovery

I am at home one more day today, I have to get a medical release to go back to work from my doc's office, for my Boss.

Well, I have to say that the whole thing has had it's ups and downs- i was pretty nervous going into the procedure. the night before the surgery I had to put on a anti motion sickness patch, I will tell you why this was critical in a few moments. I did this following the directions, it resided behind my ear.

the morning of the surgery, I was at the hospital a little after 7:00 am but didn't get up to the room on the 5th floor until about 8:00 am too late to be the first one in the surgery suite. I got to go second. The NP Renee and the nurse Christa where there and got me ready to go and consented me by telling me all the awful things that might happen as a result of having the surgery. the poor nurse need to start an Iv and that didn't go so well on the right arm as that vein "looks great" but never gives any blood- it is now one big bruise- so left arm and more talk about all the things I needed to know. the IV went fine in this arm and we were getting there. at 9:30 or so I got wheeled to another floor for the surgery. Nice nurses here too, Jackie I think was at the head of the table with me, What ever they gave me made the whole room begin to roll - thus the motion sickness patch....!!!!! - a life saver I am sure other wise it would have been gag city with dry heaves. they shaved a spot on my right side groin and then there was a pinch and pressure. Then the rest of the procedure was alot of lights on and lights off and warm feeling in my abdomen ( the dye) alot of the Dr. telling me to hold my breath and then to breath! and then it was done?? it seemed to go by pretty fast.
According to S it was about 1 1/2 hours overall. but it seemed to take less time then that. I then went to the recovery room on the 5th floor with nurse Christa- she hooked me up tot he PCA and let me start dosing ? at some point. S finally left to go into work about 12:30 pm and at that point I was pretty out of it. I was in some major pain for a while then... cramping and fevery and moaning. I wanted to drink but had to remain laying still for quite a while after the procedure was finished.
Later on in the afternoon Christa took me to the 3rd floor for my 23 hour observation! I had my C-pap machine with me, but was not coherent enough to hook that up. so I was in and out of it for quite a while then. They took the Foley catheter out prior to moving me to the observation. That was a good thing, I was getting some kind of drug that didn't really let me go pee for a while. but I tried. Tuesday night S brought Hh to the hospital and they visited with me, we managed to get a pulmunology nurse to come hook my c-pap machine up with oxygen and that helped me actually get some rest. I had a rough night but not a huge pain med need. I had one vomiting episode ( with my iced tea at dinner) and then they gave me a couple does of toroidal to help not do that anymore. my BP remained high for quite sometime after the surgery and into the recovery. That was a little scary but i was in a lot of pain and had a lot of stress.
I felt much better after the 24 hour mark on Wed morning about 9:00 am or so, and S and Hh came to get me to take me home after 10:30 we had to wait quite a while for discharge orders. we got home about 1:00 pm or so on Wed. I have been convalescing since then.

I am home

feeling a bit under the weather, still- but made it through the major pain the 1st 24 hours were unbearable. The nursing staff at St. joe's were wonderful and kind. I really had a long sweatty night.

Poor S and Hh came to see me tuesday evening and I scared them both with my green around the gills.

I am just up taking some meds but heading back to bed today for a while/ will post up more later.

I will be MIA for a few days

I will be having the UTE very soon, and may remain missing for a few days. I will blog when I a up to sitting up and doing a few things.
in the mean time send up a good word for me to the big guy to keep me safe and have a speedy recovery.

more places to understand about UFE

Here is the food and Drug administration web site

it is an aproved procedure.

Here is American College OB-GYN association - in 2004 still a relitivly " new procedure" ACOG

NUFF- interesting site full of info on this procedure

do you know about UFE?

Treating uterine tumors can be done without invasive procedures
July 30, 2008

As a physician who specializes in vascular and interventional radiology, I am excited about bringing new, non-invasive, endovascular techniques to patients in the Fox Valley. For women suffering from symptomatic uterine fibroid disease, one such procedure called uterine fibroid embolization provides an exciting new treatment option for their symptoms.
Simply put, uterine fibroids are benign muscular tumors of the uterus. The fibroids can range in size from very small to the size of a grapefruit, and women can have just one or several fibroids in their uterus. It is estimated that half of all women have fibroids, but the majority of them do not cause symptoms. Fibroids are also more common in women who are of African American descent.

Of the women with fibroids some have no symptoms, but others suffer from heavy, prolonged menstrual bleeding and pain. Fibroids may also cause bulk symptoms, putting pressure on the bladder and rectum, causing frequent urination and rectal pressure. Some fibroids cause pain in the back and legs, fullness in the abdomen or pelvis, pain during sexual intercourse, and in rarer cases, an abnormally enlarged abdomen.

When fibroids begin to interfere with a woman's daily life, she often visits her obstetrician/gynecologist to seek treatment. In many cases, these physicians will contact and consult with me about whether a patient may be eligible for the UFE procedure. My specialty is based on using sophisticated medical imaging technology to diagnose and treat disease using small instruments and minimally invasive techniques. Patients will leave the lab with no external evidence that a procedure was even performed.

During the UFE procedure, a patient is given mild sedation. Then, a small catheter is inserted through a tiny incision in the groin into the femoral artery. The physician uses X-ray technology to see, in real-time, images of the uterine arteries, and a microcatheter is inserted directly into the blood supply of the fibroids. Tiny plastic or gel particles are injected into the arteries, blocking flow of blood to the fibroids. Without their blood supply, the fibroids cannot survive. So far, studies have shown that fibroids are unlikely to grow back after UFE.

At Provena Mercy Medical Center, patients who receive UFE remain in the hospital for one night. The mild pelvic pain and cramping associated with the procedure are usually worst during the first 24 hours. Patients may experience mild flu-like symptoms over two to three days as their bodies begin to reabsorb the fibroid tissue. We manage these symptoms with anti-nausea medication and provide antibiotics as a safeguard against infection.

Our patients also have prescriptions for pain management at home, but within a few days most women feel significantly better, and they return to normal activities usually within a week. About 90 percent of women who have had a UFE procedure experience total relief of heavy bleeding, pain and fibroid-related symptoms.

After a UFE, a woman's menstrual period usually returns within a few months. However, for a small number of women who are perimenopausal, the procedure may trigger the early onset of menopause. Many women have had successful pregnancies following the UFE procedure, but a woman should carefully consider the risks relating to fertility.

UFE can be an excellent alternative for women wishing to avoid hysterectomy or other more invasive surgical alternatives for the treatment of fibroids. Women who may be candidates for UFE typically undergo a special MRI examination of the pelvis to rule out other diagnoses or pathologies as well as to determine the size, location, and number of fibroids in the uterus.

Dr. Suveer Tatineni is a Vascular and Interventional Radiologist at Provena Mercy Medical Center. He is board certified in diagnostic radiology and fellowship trained in Vascular and Interventional Radiology. He is a graduate of Northwestern University Feinberg School of MedicineTreating uterine tumors can be done without invasive procedures
July 30, 2008

here is a very comprehensive web site ask 4 ufe

I have had fibroids for more than 20 years, I have had a surgical procedure to take 7 of them out, prior to having my children. But I have more at least 3, they are in the walls of the uterus and thus I am a good candidate for this vascular procedure. I had a drug therapy to try to shrink them too. so I would say I know a lot about them.

my Mother says my Grandmother had them too, and had them removed ( along with her uterus). the research I have done over the years say lots of ladies have them and may never even know or have symptoms. I have heavy bleeding and bulk in the abdominal area. When I had the first ones removed I had over 80 grams of fibroids- that is about the size of a 3 month pregnancy. These are not quite that large, but are causing severe bleeding and my life has been disrupted by them.

I will keep you apprised of my progress and the outcomes.