Packing Our Bags.. Time To Go..

It was the 1st of June 2009. The date for my scheduled operation was coming very near (the next day! Yikes!). I had only told my whole family and several close friends about the operation that I am about to go through. Since it was the last day before I go under the knife and be knocked out, my dear husband took me out to buy some supplies we would need for our brief stay at the hospital. We went to Jusco Taman Equine to get some lunch and buy some groceries and disposables. Then we stopped by at Alamanda to stock up on things we didn't get at Jusco and then just hang out together.

Later that evening, my family came and did a small kenduri doa selamat for me. Even though my mother didn't show it I think she was a bit worried about the whole thing since none of her children had undergone a huge surgery before. My siblings were joking with me and making fun at each other as always but I sensed there was a solemness behind all that. I guess they were also worried about the operation thingie.

After everyone had left, we packed our bags for a week with basic essentials. It seems like we were packing for a holiday but in truth we were not. I packed a week's supply of day and night wear (mostly t-shirts and comfy trousers), kain sarong, thick socks, disposables and non disposable undies, my toiletries, a soft jacket in case I get cold and also lots of books. My dear friend gave me a round soft beanbag yellow ball with a smiley on it for luck. I brought that too. My dear husband packed his t-shirts, work clothes (in case he needed to go for a meeting from the hospital), night clothes, extra blankets, his kain pelikat, prayer mat and his essential toiletries. We even packed some candies (ok, it was me! hehe..) and all the supplies that we bought that day. My husband had arranged for our insurance officer to meet us there the next day and he had also packed all the necessary documents alongside our own personal file of my medical documents.

As it was time for bed, I laid down with all sorts of thoughts going through my head non stop. My husband held my hand and told me not to worry and we went to sleep. I think I didn't dream anything that night. It was a peaceful slumber. I hope everything goes well with the operation tomorrow. Please pray for us ya! ( ^_^ )

Waiting For My Referral Letter.. In Pain!!

I had undergone my first try for IUI fertility treatment in early 2009 but had to abort that holy mission because my doctor found a large endometriosis cyst on my left ovary during my first ultrasound scan session. After the first ultrasound session I had in February 2009, my doctor had instructed me to come in again during my period because he wanted to reconfirm the existence of the cyst he found earlier. The procedure of getting an appointment for the ultrasound is the same i.e you wait till the first day of your menstrual flow comes, call after 2.30 pm and get a date from the clinic. As always, it is very hard to get a date on your first call and I had to wait out two months to finally land an appointment date with my doctor in April. 

So, on a fine day in the month of April, my husband took me to the LPPKN clinic to get our second ultrasound, not to see eggs, but to reconfirm the cyst I had in my ovary. The doctor did the procedure and confirmed the existence of the Chocolate Cyst and that it actually grew a little bit larger than the last time he scanned me. I would have to get that removed but had to wait for Dr.G's referral letter to a surgeon to make things more smoothly for my operation.

I had several discussions with my dear husband on which hospital we are aiming to do our surgery at and decided to go with my cousin's suggestion to go to Damansara Specialist Hospital. All we had to do was pick a doctor's name and give it to Dr. G so that he could write the referral letter. My sister suggested to me to go to Tawakal Hospital where she delivered her baby because her doctor was also a specialist in gynaecology. Her name was Dr. S. I agreed and she made a call to her doctor's office to set an appointment date for me. My husband later discussed the choice and we finally agreed that we go to Dr. S for my operation. A few days later, I called up LPPKN and told Dr. G about my choice of hospital and Dr. S' name for the referral letter. Dr. G told me that the clinic will call me as soon as the letter is ready. Then it was waiting time! Waiting.. and waiting.. and waiting.. but still no call from LPPKN. The waiting caused me another 3-4 months of waiting (hence, the waiting game!) and finally we received a call to stop by the clinic and collect my letter. That was already in the end of May!

I have always had painful period pains before but I never did suspected anything of it. But I did notice that ever since Dr. G told me that I had endometriosis, my period pain had become even worse. It became too painful for me to bear until I was gripping my steering wheel while I was driving back to my home from work one evening. I took painkillers to ease the pain. Unfortunately, the following month's monthly flow, that the pain doubled and I had to call my sister for help (my dear hubby was away for a course that week).

My sister came by and took me to a local clinic to get some medicine. Then she suggested to me to go to see Dr. S. I agreed and she made a call to her doctor's office to set an appointment date for me. Since I had not send the referral letter yet, I brought it along with me when my sister took me to the hospital for my first appointment with Dr. S. 

Dr. S is a very kind and warm doctor. I immediately like her. ( ^_^ ) She did an ultrasound on my tummy and confirmed that I had endometriois and the measurement had increased a little bit. It definitely needed to be removed because she told me that if the cyst were to burst, my health would be in danger and I could be in severe pain. She scheduled me to come in again on the 2nd of June 2009 to be admitted for my operation. That was fast!! If it were up to her, she would've admitted me then and there but I had to ask to postpone for a week because I had a course coming up the following week. She wrote a letter for me to bring along my week long course to inform the secretariat about my upcoming surgery and how I should not exert myself too much in the course.

Well, that was that. Now all I had to do is admit myself into Tawakal Hospital on the 2nd of June. Boy, I am feeling really scared and unsure of everything now that things are moving along. I pray to God that everything will turn out all right in the end. 

Please pray for us guys! ( ^_^ )