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Life is good, again.

My last column ("Anticipated surgery offers opportunity for new beginning," Insight & Opinion, Nov. 28) was filled with anticipation and gratitude for the life I've led so far. Now that I'm getting back the life I used to live four years ago, I'm filled with anticipation and gratitude - for different reasons.

On Nov. 29, 2006, I finally underwent a hysterectomy that I've needed for four years. I was scared, relieved, hopeful and in a state of dread when I was wheeled into the operating room. I had nearly a dozen people surrounding me, all of them geared up for a surgery that was going to answer many questions and, I hoped, turn out with my living through it.

I was born with spina bifida, a neural-tube birth defect that happens in the first six weeks of pregnancy. My spinal column didn't develop correctly, leaving me with a hole right above my waist that was covered with skin, fat and spinal fluid instead of vertebrae. The spinal fluid formed into a large sac that extended to my tailbone.

During surgery, I had to lie on my back for nearly five hours, creating a constant state of pressure on the spina bifida area. My surgical team was well aware of how damaging this pressure could be and paid close attention to my vital signs.

Surgery began with a freakish, alien-type event. As the surgeon made the initial incision, my intestines, I was told, popped out like a gag gift of snakes in a can. One nurse screamed while the team hurried to catch my innards before they hit the floor. What a way to start!

From that point on, my surgical team worked quickly and efficiently, removing the bad parts and putting back in the good ones. My surgeon had a heck of a time, because I have a narrow pelvis. It required the assistance of another doctor and two nurses to help with tissue retraction. I was turned upside down four times to get my intestines back in without kinks or twists, which could be fatal. When the final stitch was done, the entire team collapsed to the floor in an exhausted heap.

In recovery, I awoke lying on my side, numb from the waist down, as if loaded with Novocain. My husband noticed a large red circle on the spina bifida site but said nothing, not wanting to scare me right after surgery.

The next day the Novocain feeling was still there, and the bulging sac that had been part of me was now flat. I told my surgeon, the nurses and every doctor who came to check on me about this unexpected outcome. None had any idea what was causing it, and they were concerned about whether it was going to be permanent.

I was terrified.

To be continued.