Hysteroscopy and Spinal Block in Hospital

I mentioned before that I was waiting for a procedure in hospital and I think I mentioned too that I'd had to go to A&E at the end of April because the pain was so bad. I have endometriosis and I have had really bad bleeding for a while. I had some biopsies taken in December and when I got the results in January they were concerned because I had pre-cancerous cells in the lining of my womb. I was supposed to have the hysteroscopy and more biopsies taken in April, and sure enough an appointment came through. 

However, the referring doctor messed up the referral meaning I hadn't had any pre op assessment, so I couldn't have the procedure done. I ran out of the medication that he had put me on as he'd only given me twelve weeks worth, and that's when I started bleeding horribly again. And the pain! It was the pain that was worst, I've never known pain like it. Fortunately I was given more meds. I had my pre op assessment and finally got a date through for the 3rd of June.

Coincidentally that week was Lee's first week in his new job. I had a Covid swab on the Monday and then we both had to self isolate until Thursday morning. I had to be at the hospital by 7. I was one of the first to go into theatre, partly because I'm mildly allergic to latex so apparently they do those first. I had all the pre checks and spoke to the anaesthetist. I didn't want a general anaesthetic and I didn't want to stay in overnight either. She agreed with me, saying they would do a spinal block and that if it wore off and I felt okay, I would be able to go home later that day. 

I was taken into theatre around 9.30. The spinal block took effect very quickly. They asked me what music I would like to listen to and it's funny because when I had some teeth taken out at the hospital a couple of years ago they asked the same question and I said Bruce Springsteen. So I said Bruce again and all I could hear was Bruce singing in my ear. I was singing along at some point, I'm sure. I had been given two anti anxiety meds but otherwise no sedation, but it was fine as I really couldn't feel anything. 

I was taken into the recovery room and the doctor immediately came and said to me that I have no tumours inside my womb, that they got lots of "good" biopsies, and that the lining of my womb looks healthy. So that's all excellent news and I'm glad, although it still doesn't cure me of the bad bleeding or explain it. I was supposed to be in recovery for about 20 minutes, but my blood pressure was too low so I ended up being there around an hour. Apparently everyone's blood pressure drops after a spinal block but mine didn't come up very quickly. 

Eventually I was back in where I had been admitted first thing. I got a little bit of feeling back in my toes, and then could move my knees, but I was numb from the belly button down. I had something to eat and felt okay, but as the day wore on it became clear that the spinal block was not wearing off my left foot as quickly as it should. It should take between 2 and six hours, so six hours took me to 3.30pm, but I couldn't feel all the way down the back of my left leg from the middle of my thigh all the way to my toes. I couldn't stand up or walk. I was reading and cross stitching, and was basically fine, but bored. Theatre admissions shuts at 6pm so as it got towards that I was panicking that I would be kept in. The nurses got an anaesthetist to come and see me, and he wasn't too worried, and also didn't want to admit me. I could feel him touching most of my leg, and even moved away when he tickled me, so he was like, okay, it will wear off. He asked me to move my ankle, which I couldn't do, but then after a few minutes I could. I managed to walk a few steps so they discharged me. I had to think very much about moving my foot, but I did manage a few steps. 

Lee picked me up and we came home, and then my mum and stepdad arrived. My stepdad is really strong so I knew he would be able to help me, so he helped me from the car to the bottom of the stairs which are just inside the kitchen door. I went upstairs on my bum and then turned on to my front, and managed to stand up with a little help from Lee. I hobbled into the bedroom and sat on the bed and then I was okay. My mum and stepdad stayed for a while; my mum was poking the back of my leg and foot to see where exactly it was numb. She helped me get undressed and into my night stuff, too. 

They left and Lee ordered some food which was good cos I was hungry. I went to sleep really early. I woke up in the night and needed help to get to the bathroom, but I was okay. But in the morning, the numbness hadn't really worn off much more. Say on Thursday it had gone from 100% to 60% numb, well overnight it had only gone down to 50% numb. They had told me to phone back if it hadn't worn off, so I did, and was told to phone my GP. I did THAT, and the nurse phoned me back and told me to go to A&E. It was completely the last thing I wanted to do, but I didn't really have a choice. My mum took me around 2.30, but of course she couldn't come in with me (which upset me). I was triaged very quickly and had to explain everything, and I was crying because I just wanted to go home. But I was really lucky and a doctor came within about 20 minutes and he was convinced that because I could feel most of the sensation, that it was a sensory nerve that was trapped and wasn't permanent. He told me not to worry and to go home and rest basically.

So I did! I left and my mum and I picked up Costa which was nice. I slept early again on Friday night, and when I got up on Saturday a lot of numbness had worn off. It was about 20% numb, meaning I could manage the stairs by myself, although slowly. 

I've had some cramping and some bleeding, so I've been taking lots of painkillers. I've had to rest and nap a lot. My legs still aren't back to 100% right, but I'm sure it'll be fine. It's Monday 7th June as I write this, and I'm just tired and reminding myself that I had quite a big procedure and need to let myself recuperate! I've got a couple of friends coming to see me this week which will be lovely. I will get full results in about four weeks, so hopefully I'll be okay! 

Waiting in theatre admissions first thing in the morning

And about to go to sleep at around 8.30pm!

My First Covid Vaccine Jab

 

I thought I would just do a quick blog about my first vaccine injection which I've had today, 6th March 2021. If you haven't had yours yet maybe this will help you. I encourage everyone who can to get their jabs as soon as they're invited, if they are able! Vaccines are safe, and protect all of us, including those who can't get vaccines because they're immunocompromised or something like that. This one hasn't been on the market very long, that's true, but that's partly because the makers haven't had to wait for funding to come through - they've had money thrown at them by governments and so on, and apparently waiting for funding is what usually takes forever in science like this!

Recently, the NHS started doing vaccines on everyone up to Group 6. This included anyone whose BMI is over 40. A lot of people didn't know this, but I saw fat friends of mine post about it in various places. They were saying you could book a vaccine online, but that if you couldn't, you might need to speak to your GP surgery and make sure they knew you have a high BMI. I left it for a few days. I would be in Group 6 because of my chronic illnesses anyway, so I thought for sure my surgery would be in touch soon.

However, a week or more went by and I was getting a bit anxious, so eventually I went on the NHS website and put my details in. I didn't know my NHS number but I could put my date of birth in instead. It is obvious that if it lets you book an appointment, then you are in one of the risk groups and that's fine. I was offered a choice of venues, none of which were less than ten miles away from my house. The date was also 2.5 weeks away, but that was okay. I was lucky because I knew Lee would drive me to the appointment (and I could drive myself, I just would prefer not to) but if you couldn't get there easily that would be a problem. I knew they had been doing vaccines at my GP surgery but that didn't pop up as a choice. So I booked somewhere in Wakefield and booked the 2nd appointment at the same time, and as far as I was concerned, that was that.

However! Two days later I got a text from my GP surgery inviting me to a clinic at my surgery between 2pm and 3pm on Saturday the 6th. This was closer both in time and geographically so I cancelled my other appointments and went along to the doctor's at 2pm. There were a few people queueing in front of me - maybe 15. We had to queue out of the surgery and into the courtyard they have. I can't queue very well because it hurts me so much, but the line was moving quite quickly so I didn't worry too much. It was cold though! But before long I was in the surgery, with only 3 people ahead of me. 

I had to give my name to a lady on the front desk. She gave me a medical record print out for me, which included my current medication and my known allergies, which includes penicillin. Apparently I had an averse reaction to penicillin in 1991, which is way later in my life than I thought. I'm often told that babies grown out of a penicillin allergy, but I was seven so much older than that! I never let a doctor or dentist prescribe it to me. 

There were some questions to make sure you hadn't had another vaccination and to make sure you didn't currently have Covid, and then I queued a tiny bit longer before I went into a room. I asked to have the jab in my right arm, my non-dominant arm, cos I've heard that everyone's arm hurts after. I sat down and pulled my sleeve up. One nurse on my left was writing down the details on the card, and telling me that my appointment would come through for the second jab in a few weeks, and in the time it took her to do that, the other nurse had jabbed my arm and that was it. I was done! It barely hurt at all. Queueing had taken the most time!

Currently, my right arm hurts - but it had been hurting anyway (I think I've got some RSI in it...) and it's honestly not much more than that. I'll see how I feel tomorrow!