About that ‘minor operation’

 

Quite a number of you have asked me what was the operation all about, and does it affect my pregnancy… thanks for your concern! To put your mind at ease, baby is ok. The post operation wound has been healing quite well.

Well, basically the minor operation is to remove an ovarian cyst. I have no idea what a cyst was until the doctor saw it during our first prenatal checkup during the ultrasound scan. I believe I must have had this cyst for awhile, since it’s quite big… but I had no idea it was there till then. The last we had the checkup, it’s 5cmx5cmx7cm.

Pretty scary ya? Anyway, for precaution sake, my doctor advised me to remove it in case it ruptures during the pregnancy, and that might induce labour, and as a result pose serious risk and danger to the baby.

So ladies… if you have not gone for a thorough ‘women wellness checkup’ for sometime, do not delay it any further! Just pick up that phone and make an appointment today. That’s what I have been telling all my girlfriends, especially those who are getting married, who are planning for a family. Cysts are only detectable via ultrasound scan, and usually do not have any symptoms.

Ok, enough of gory stuff.

Prior to the operation, many of my friends asked me how do I feel about it. Am I worried? Am I scared? Well, frankly, I did not put too much thought into it. It is the first time that I have to be admitted into a hospital, and the first time I am having any surgery done.

The way I look at it was… it is something inevitable. It is not as if I can get out of it if I am too scared to do it. So either way, I will have to proceed on. Hence, I did not think too much about it.

I told my friends, “Well, I think I will start worrying when they wheel me into the operation theatre…!” They replied, “Well, wouldn’t that be a little bit too late?”

And so, it was time for the surgery. Jamie, my parents and my mum-in-law (who came from Singapore specifically to lend me support, so wonderfully sweet of her!!!) went to the hospital with me. After admission, the hospital staff sure know how to make you feel like a patient almost immediately. Haha! I was transformed from a healthy person to a patient with one gesture, that plastic tag that they hook on to your wrist…!

The nurses got me ready for the surgery. And I changed from my clothes to the hospital’s blue gown… you know the type where there are ‘ribbons’ at the back for you to tie to cover up your modesty.

Before I knew it, it was time for the surgery. I must admit, by then I was feeling a bit apprehensive. Jamie squeezed my hand and told me everything will be ok. The nurses came to my ward, to wheel me to the operation theatre. This is the scary part.

It’s exactly like the movie…! Actually, I don’t think I will be as nervous if they would have just let me walk there, since at that point, I am still perfectly ok. You hear the squeaking wheels of the bed, you are lying on the white bed, staring up at the white lights, and you see all these people garbed in blue/green walking around you.

They move you from one bed, to another. From the ward bed, to the pre-operation bed, and then finally… to the operation theatre bed… which by the way is the most uncomfortable one. It is pretty hard, and narrow. Not much thought was placed on the comfort level since the patient will be ‘knocked out’ soon…

Then comes to GA (general anesthetic). It works pretty quickly actually. I think I was unconscious in less than a minute. There’s the injection, the oxygen mask… and then the next thing I know was… I was back in the pre-op room. You know where you see in the movies… people who are unconscious sometimes keep shaking their heard from left to right, and right to left before coming back to consciousness? Yes, that’s what I did…

I was then wheeled back to the ward… where my family members were waiting for me.

The entire process, from the time I was wheeled out, to the time I was wheeled back in took… 2.5 hours.

(to be continued…)

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