Surgical Optimization Appointment, Calendar Updates, & TMI about lady stuff.

Yesterday morning was my Pre-Op appointment with Surgical Optimization, and I don't remember one of these being so difficult to personally process.

If you've never done this before, you go in to meet with a bunch of RN and NP's to go over general health and fitness, get fitted for your mobility aid, get your pre-op instructions for carb drinks and itchy body wipes, and get told when to stop taking what medications before you go under.

I told you this would veer pretty quickly into TMI territory - my birth control pill is a clot risk. I have to stop taking it two weeks before surgery, and I have a question in on MyChart as to how long I have to stay off of it, considering I'll be on baby aspirin for a month after surgery to make sure my blood stays nice and thin.

Now, I'm a 43 year old asexual person with hypermobile joints, I am not worried about any babies happening in this time off the pill. But I am on the pill because the fibromyalgia and the hypermobile joints made even the lightest menstrual cramps a disabling agony. And since the Possibility of Baby does not concern me in the least as an asexual person, with my gynecologist's blessing I have been skipping the placebo pills and taking the hormones constantly to stop my periods altogether. I have basically tucked my uterus away and let it gather dust while I went about my life effectively uterus-less. I did have one notable bleed experience after my last spine surgery, as I had a cerebrospinal fluid leak at the surgery site as well, and that was the last time I had to worry about a period.

But now, I get a period for Christmas.

In an ironically full-circle way, I got my first period on 12/21/93, at 11 years old. How do I remember this so precisely? One, that was also the day we got pet bunnies for the first time, and two, it was the winter solstice, which I'm pretty sure my mom made a point to mention as a science thing to her homeschooled brood as we were heading home in the dark before dinnertime with our new rabbits, that that was the darkest night of the year. Also, definitely still bleeding on Christmas morning, poor little me.

How am I doing one of the most stereotypically "old person" things ever, and yet I feel like such a young teenager about this part?

I just desperately hope Santa hurries up with the delivery if it's going to happen, because I have to go off all anti-inflammatories on 12/27, a week later. Meloxicam is the only thing keeping my pain reasonable right now. Before I doubled my dose, tho? A constant 8.5. This is not the kind of pain that comes and goes, or gives you any kind of reprieve, otherwise. If my uterus decides it wants to join the pain party then, I'm fucked.

I also have to give up the Naltrexone three days before, which my friend just texted me to let me know counteracts opioids, which she found out through some awful personal experience. Knowing that, I might just drop it with the NSAIDS...

They give you a big ol printout that they highlight with you about everything you take and when you need to stop taking it before surgery, as well as all of your post-op appointments. My advice: choose a color in your calendar app for everything about surgery, and enter it in with alerts. When last dose day comes (mark THAT, not the day after), put the now-verboten med out of reach, out of its usual spot after you take your last dose. I'm sure everyone has some version of "place where I put my daily meds" and "place where I store overstock until I get to it," I usually move said med from the former place to the latter. Also, put your post-op appointments in. It's nice to look at your calendar and be able to see at a glance, by color, when you have an action day. It also means you can eyeball appointments you should cancel and move, like I had to do with my next spine injection. tbh, I'm hoping this implant will re-align my lower back to where I won't need the injections anymore, but we'll see. My urinary checkup may need to be moved, too, again, I'm hoping a new hip joint fixes that, too... we'll see....

Also, name suggestions needed for the new walker, which I got yesterday.

It's older brother, a rollator, is named Kevin.

I'll be using it for six weeks post-op. So, basically, don't expect me to be going too far too fast for six weeks.