My Big Fat Abdominal Tumor!

Life is crazy. For about a week my stomach was a little painful - not too bad. I also was wondering why my belly was still so fat [I was pretty sure it was my lack of crunches or bad genetics (my dad always had a cute pot belly)] I wanted to go the doctor, but I was afraid he would just tell me I was a hypochondriac and should just exercise more. Finally, on Wednesday the pain increased enough where I was having a hard time picking Berkeley up and down and walking (again not that unusual for me considering all my arthritic pains), but it was different this time. I thought maybe I had appendicitis. So I called my sister-in-law Anne Marie who is the nurse for my primary care and she had just had a cancellation. So I immediately went in. The doctor examined me and said if he didn't know better he would say that I was pregnant. My belly was really distended. He called my Ob-GYN and he told me to come over immediately for an ultrasound. So as I watched my worried Dr. give me an ultrasound I could tell something was wrong by the look on his face. He told me that I had a huge tumor that was taking up the entire right side of my abdomen. WHAT!!!! I was in shock. He told me to get Corey down there right away. So I called Corey and cried a little and then we talked with the doctor. He called his mentor that he had trained under that was a gynecological oncologist in Portland. He was going to see me in the morning (Thursday 8/7) and they were trying to schedule surgery for Friday morning. It all happened so fast. My doctor was amazed. I had just had a c-section 3 months ago and there was NOTHING at that time. So my doctor sent me down to the hospital for a CT Scan and blood work. The CT scan showed a 21 cm x 18 cm tumor.
So here it is Thursday and I am at the oncologist. They think the tumor is my right ovary or my uterus. Surgery is scheduled for 9 AM the next day and I have to decide if I am going to have a complete hysterectomy. Yikes - things still do not seem real. But, I am not freaking out. I had a fantastic blessing Thursday night and I had said at least a million prayers - seriously.
So My kids are with their grandma at their Aunt Kimmy, Kimmy, Kimmy's house (yes three times according to the queen Carlie) and Corey and I stay at a hotel close to the hospital.
So Friday - surgery day. The surgery is supposed to be a 2 1/2 hour surgery. I pretty much remember nothing about that day. I was very DRUGGED.
But, here is what I know. The tumor was the size of a small watermelon (yes a watermelon). It was attached to my colon and small intestine not my ovary. They had to remove part of the right side of my colon and small intestine and appendix (it was wrapped all the way around my tumor). They also had to reattach the small intestine to the colon. The tumor was a solid mass. The pathology report will not be back until Monday or Tuesday to find out if it is benign or cancerous.
Due to the nature of my surgery I was not allowed to eat or drink anything for 3 - 5 days. But, because I am recovering quickly I was allowed to start having clear liquids today. My incision is huge and nasty. It goes from my pubic bone up to my belly button with some very attractive staples.
All I have to say is thank goodness I went to the doctor, for modern medicine, and for morphine.
I will blog some more when I know more. Hopefully this post makes sense - I am high drugged at the moment.