TVH - Coming home...and giving Thanks! - Hystersisters Hysterectomy Article

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TVH - Coming home...and giving Thanks!

TVH - Coming home...and giving Thanks!

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Right on schedule, I entered Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas on Tuesday, two days before Thanksgiving to have a PVH with bladder sling. I'd already completed my pre-op bloodwork and check-in, so there really wasn't much to do but to undress (!). My two teenage daughters, my husband, and my parents were there to wish me well....and for me to calm down! I really tried to keep things "light" for them, but telling my oldest daughter two songs I wanted sung at my funeral (should I not make it through) probably wasn't the best thing to do. As they say....."bygones".
My anesthesiologist met with me; we went over my desire to not have any demerol at any time......sends me higher than a kite. He placed my IV and did very well, I might add. I have whisper-thin veins, but he did a great job, much to the horror of my girls....he joked with them and assured me he knew just what they were thinking because he has 3 teenage girls of his own at home.
My gynecologist also touched base...thank goodness for small female hands!! She's very upbeat and encouraging. We agreed that my ovaries would stay, unless there was some great reason to remove them (which there was not). I didn't see the urologist beforehand, but we'd met previously and I knew what to expect from him.
They started some sort of relaxing anesthetic, I told everyone goodbye, they wheeled me into the operating room...I remember looking around a bit and.....that was it! The next thing I knew was a nurse telling me to breathe, breathe deeply...it took me a bit to come out of the fog I was in, but come out I did. I don't really remember going upstairs to my room, but I do hazily remember the husband of my roommate going back and forth. She was getting ready to check out, which meant that my first night in I had the room to myself...yea!!
I slept pretty well, other than waking up to punch the morphine PAC a few times...actually about 15 in all, I found out later! Every time they'd turn me it hurt a bit, so I gave it the benefit of the doubt and punched it...the nurses told me to keep on top of the pain and not let it get too bad, so I minded them quite well!
The next morning brought jello.....yuck. Didn't really want much more than water, which I drank religiously. They discontinued the PAC, gave me phenergan for nausea, and vicodan for pain. It was good to stop the morphine. It puts you in a weird state, but the pain control is good. I tried a little juice---right back up it came. After a while, the phenergan kicked in, and I had a real lunch....few bites of chicken-fried steak, mashed potatoes, carrots...yuck to the rest. I got up a walked a bit, slept lots, and then got a new roommate.
This roommate groaned a lot....add to that the "need" to take a phone call at 3 in the morning and she was not on my list of favorites. The phone call was apparently from someone in jail that wanted her to come bail them out....which, she explained, was impossible to do because she was in the hospital! An hour later, another phone call.....this time she called out, "Sweetie! Sweetie!" I asked her if she was talking to me...."yeah...what room are we in?" I told her I wasn't quite sure and she proceeded to tell this caller how to find out.....oh, take her away! I did not sleep very well at all the second night. I also had a headache due to the very dry conditions in the room. My sinuses were swollen and my nose very congested. I finally discovered that soaking a washcloth, folding it so that a very thin layer went over my nose (the rest over my eyes), and resting like that alleviated some of the problem, but sleep still was not to come. By Thursday morning (Thanksgiving!!) I was ready to get out. They removed the IV shunt, and the catheter...unfortunately, I was never able to produce enough urine to qualify for going home completely free, so I'm stuck with this cute little bag until this next Monday! Removing and replacing the catheter were honestly no big deal at all. I've passed plenty of gas, but not had a BM yet...can't wait!
All in all, I'm very glad to be home. I'm glad I'm able to walk and talk with my family (my college-age daughter goes back up on Sunday). The very hardest thing for me is going to be rest. I feel guilty when I sit, and having to give orders to have other people do things for me is hard. So, God will have to teach me patience and humility through this; that's all there is to it. To sum it up....I've had my surgery; I've come home; I'm giving Thanks to God for all of it!

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