A lazy stretch that sent me to the operating theatre

On the lazy Saturday morning, I was lazing on my bed. I thought maybe I should sleep a little more since I had been plagued by fatigue for the whole week..... nights of interrupted sleep due to frequent toilet trips......I stretched lazily on the bed...and there was a weird sensation. It was different from the sharp pain that I felt before or the menstrual cramps that I had. This time, it was a consistent dull pain on the right side of my tummy. Very soon, the pain spreaded down to my hips and thighs, and even to my back. I laid uncomfortably in bed waiting for the pain to go away, but it didn't.

I woke my husband up and we decided that if the pain still persist for another 15 mins, we would go see my gynae. The pain did not stop even after we reached my gynae's clinic. It was quite unbearable then....neither sitting down, standing up or lying down made me feel better. The cyst was still intact in my tummy when the doctor did an ultrasound scan.

It was then the doctor suggested that I should probably remove it on the same day as it was causing me pain. I was terrified and in a dilemma as any operation would mean a high chance of abortion as my pregnancy was still in the first trimester. I knew that I needed to take the risk as the pain worsens. The doctor gave me a jab of progesterone to stablise the pregnancy. It was the most painful jab that I had ever taken in my life!

By 1.30pm, my husband gave me a tender, loving kiss on my cheeks and off I was wheeled into the operating theatre. I could not wear my spectacles, so everything I saw was in a blur. Nurses and doctors kindly enquired about my condition as they began to get ready for the operation. This is my first time in the hospital undergoing an operation. The wait before the operation was an excruciating experience. Apart from the pain from the cyst, I was overwhelmed with anxiety on the effects of the operation and anesthesia on my baby. I made an effort to tell all the doctors who would be helping me that I was 7 weeks pregnant.... just to make sure that they know.

While waiting, I saw newborns being carried out and placed on a weighing machine nearby. They are so tiny!!! The soft cries of the baby makes me wish that I was there for cesaeran instead.... I wish I could hear the soft cries of my baby too in seven month's time.

At 2.00pm, my handsome anaesthetist came by to say hi. My fatherly-looking gynae reassured me that it would be a very short process. He would be making a 5 cm slit on my tummy and he would find the 8cm cyst, puncture it, drain away the fluid, pull it out, cut it away and sew me up. Sounds simple enough, I felt I could even operate on myself. As reassuring and as confident as he sounded, tears started to well up in my eyes. I quickly wiped them away as I did not want to appear like a big baby.

I was wheeled into a vacant room with huge lights overhead. My anaesthetist held me hand and started to search for the teeny weeny little vein for him to poke to fix the drips. "Piak...piak" he tapped my hand. He let me squeeze something to get the veins out....after quite a while, finally, the elusive vein popped up and he poked me and attached the drips. He said, "You never do housework izzit? You can go model for those hand advertisement, you know?" I smiled.

He then gently placed a rubber mask over my face and told me to think of happy things. In my heart, I prayed hard and hoped that Buddha would help me get through this ordeal smoothly. Slowly I inhaled the gas, it smelled like lemon. By the 4th or 5th time, I could feel my eyeballs roll backwards and I was falling into a deep slumber.

A short while later, I heard noises around me. "Let her rest in the recovery room first..." I tried to lift my heavy eyelids to see the surroundings and tell them that I was conscious. My doctor was with me and reassured me once more. I was sleeping like a baby afterwards.

When I had awokened, I was already in my ward. My parents and my husband were already there. They told me that everything was ok and the baby is fine. My husband even tried to describe the cyst that was taken out to me. I was relieved.

I realised that my wound was still very painful and told the nurse to give me more painkillers. I felt weird as I did not feel hungry at all even though I did not eat the whole day. I was totally immobilised on the bed. I had a catheter attached to me. It felt really weird as I did not feel like I needed to go to the toilet at all. But before I know it, I saw a nurse emptying a jar full of urine from my bag...hmm...how interesting... to pee and not feel it at all!

Hmm... on hindsight, cesaeran birth is really quite a easy way to have a baby. No labour pains, episiotomy or epidural needed....just sleep and baby comes out. No wonder so many people go for it.

Anyway, I laid obediently in bed for the next two days. Doctor allowed me to discharge the following Monday as I was recovering well. I had to learn how to get out of the bed without using my stomach muscles. Just to ensure that baby was still well, I went for another scan again before I was discharged. This time, there isn't any more ominous looking balloon hanging over the womb and baby. The baby's heart was thumping and it had grown to more than 1.3 cm. I was so relieved!

Although the scary operation was over, I still had to return to the clinic twice a week for progesterone jabs, to keep the pregancy going. I have no qualms about it as long as it was good for the baby.

I am really thankful for my experienced gynae, anaesthetist and supportive family and friends who had helped me through this crisis.

The Drama Unfolds...

Just as I was keeping my fingers crossed, praying hard that the cyst will stop growing and start shrinking so as to make room for my little one to grow...... On and off during the week, I had menstrual cramps and occasionally sharp pain in the tummy especially at the end of the day. Initially I shrugged it off thinking that the pain was due to the expanding uterus. However, upon the kind reminder of my colleague, I decided to call up my gynae to double check. My doctor summoned me to the clinic and told me that those could be signs of threatened abortion. My heart missed a beat..... Immediately, I dropped the work I had at hand and went to see him.

Fortunately after some scanning, the embryo was still surviving well. He warned me to be extra vigilant about such sensations as I should not be feeling anything in my tummy during the first trimester. I had MC on the last day of school before the one-week March holidays began. I thought that it would be a good time for me to rest during this short break.

Surprise!!!

Life is full of surprises! This couldn't have been more true during my rollercoaster ride in the past week. After close to another week of waiting in agony, I decided to see another gynae from Gleneagles recommended by my friend this time.

The doctor gave me a sonogram and there underneath the large cyst, there was a tiny black patch in the uterus area. It was a tiny gestation sac. "Congratulations! You are pregnant!" doc exclaimed. I was in a state of shock! That explains all that is happening to me......feeling hungry all the time, sudden craving for food, bloatedness from indigestions and so forth. Based on the size of the gestation sac, I was already six weeks pregnant. The little embryo has heart beat. It was amazing to see the throbbing little white patch. This confirmed the existence of a little life in my tummy. My life is about to change irreversibly!!! I was filled with excitement and apprehension.

So how will my large cyst affect the pregnancy was the biggest question in my mind. The doctor advised against any operation in the first trimester as the fetus was not developed yet. The second trimester would be good for the operation to remove the cyst as the major organs of the baby would have been developed then. I went home and did some research on the Internet to find out more. The advice given by the doctors were more or less the same. I also checked out the effect of any form of anesthesia on the babies brain development. I realised that any form of anesthesia could potentially affect the baby's brain development adversely.

I shall pray hard for my cyst to reduce in size so that I would not need to undergo any operation during my pregnancy. I am looking forward to my next appointment with my gynae next week.