TAH - My Story - Hystersisters Hysterectomy Article

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TAH - My Story

TAH - My Story

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Pre-Op Hysterectomy
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Hormone and Menopause
Intimacy after Hysterectomy
Pelvic Floor
Fitness after Hysterectomy
GYN Cancer
Grief and Loss
Endometriosis
Uterine Fibroids
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Hi all! Today marks week 9 since my TAH. I first started with a problem in early January - I had not had a period for about 15 months - so they considered me to be "in menopause" (I turned 50 in Sept 04 - but it is a young 50 (LOL)) In January I started spotting which lasted about 2 days - everything I was reading said to go to the doctor, then exactly 30 days later, I again spotted for 2 days. When I went to see the Dr in late Feb, she sent me in for a ultrasound - that is when they discovered that I had several fibroids in my uterus PLUS a grapefruit sized cyst on one of my ovaries. Next step was the VERY painful endo thing (where they clip a piece of your uterus) - which came back negative - no abnormal cells or anything. Next step was to wait 6 weeks and redo the ultrasound to see if the cyst was shrinking/changing or just hanging out on the old ovary. So - 6 weeks later, I back in for another vaginal ultrasound. The next day was probably the scariest day of my life - my dr called to tell me that the lab results showed that my cyst had gotten larger AND that it had changed from a simple cyst to a complex cyst, then she gives me a the phone number of an oncologist gyn and tells me to call today and make an appt to see him asap. The minute she said oncologist - I actually got lightheaded! I called immediately to schedule an appt and was fortunate to get an appt the very next day. (Seems someone was looking out for me - I called only 10 minutes after someone cancelled their appt). So - the next day my husband, who insisted on going with me, took me to the dr's. I did feel a little better after seeing him - although the risk of it being cancer was there - he said it was a very low risk, which, at this point did make me feel a little better. Anyway - one week later, I am in the hospital for surgery. Because of the size of the cyst, they had to do an vertical incision in my abdomen. The onologist wanted to make sure that they were able to go in and lift out the cyst without risk of it breaking (if it was cancer, they did not want to risk it breaking and spreading cancer cells) so....my incision starts at my belly button! The great news was that they did a frozen section while I was in surgery and they found no cancer!! They had already decided to take everything to avoid risk of another cyst on my other ovary and to eliminate possible problems in the future from the fibroids (and to make sure that a full biopsy of everything was clear). I was in recovery longer than normal due to low blood pressure and of course, I do not have a very clear memory of the day in general. Not sure how I got back to my room or into my bed -- but when I woke up enough to know what was going on, husband, sister and nephew were all standing there looking down at me (I know I said something dumb like "hi- whata you doing here?" Anyway, the next 12 hours literally dragged by - I was on a morpin pump and it seemed like I would doze off, only to wake up, look at the big clock on the wall and realize I had only been sleeping for 5 minutes! This went on the entire night - it was " doze, look at clock, okay 3 minutes have passed - but it seemed like it was an hour - then doze off again. In the morning I was beginning to feel sick from the morphin, so they took me off the pump and removed my catheter. My only thought at this point was how fast I could get out of the hospital! Friends and co-workers, who have had surgery had already clued me in on a few things (one of which was how quickly you were able to get on your feet - use the bathroom etc.) so my goal, no matter how much it hurt, was to get out of that bed and start walking on my own! So....by that afternoon, I was walking down the hallway and sitting up in the chair and doing a pretty good job of faking how great I was feeling. My dr was so impressed when she came in, she told me that she would probably let me go home the next morning. For the most part, considering what my body had just went through, I was feeling pretty good - until I got in the car for the drive home. I felt every bump, turn, and I swear, every pebble in the road! The pain was terrible! The first day home I had to sleep on the sofa, in a semi reclining position - laying down flat hurt too much. A good friend recommended hugging a pillow to my abdomen, which REALLY helped a lot. I never did use the perocet that the dr prescibed - they made me sick, so I just took the presciption strength ibprofin. Then the hot flashes started! Next came the staple removal - no pain, but apparently I developed a blood clot under one of the staples and when she removed the staple, my incision opened - so now I had a 2 inch "gash" (a little over a quarter inch deep) which I had to wash out twice a day with peroxide and keep it bandaged (it was not a pretty sight and it did freak me out a bit). It actually took a good 6 weeks to fully heal up to the point that I did not have to bandage it. I did try taking Premarin (HRT) for the hot flashes, but after just one pill, I ended up with a migrain so bad that I was actually throwing up (which really feels good on your incision!) so...I have had to just rough it! I started taking a herbal supplement (of all thing, they are called "Flash Fighters") - I have been taking them for about 7 weeks and they seem to be helping - I am still getting the flashes, but they are less severe and less frequent. There for awhile I thought I was going to spontaneous self-combust! They do make you feel like you have a very serious terminal condition! Night time is the worst - my internal clock turns them on between midnight and 4 am! And night sweats are the pits! I finally broke down and bought a pair of wicking sleepwear PJ's - they actually wick the moisture away from your body so that you don't wake up soaking ringing wet! (Highly recommend these - bit pricey, but well worth it!) Anyway - I just hit 9 weeks since the surgery - have had what my dr calls "twinges" this week-they feel more like a major a "charlie horse" only located on the left side of my abdomen. Very painful!! Dr said they are muscle spasms and nerve ending coming to life. She said they had to retract that side of my abdomen pretty wide which can cause spasms while the muscles are healing. It was so painful I was beginning to think they left a knife or other metal thing in me! But even they seem to be getting better! Well- that's pretty much my saga! I am pretty much back to normal (driving, working etc.) just get tired easy - probably as much from the surgery as from the hot flashes at night! Haven't had an uninteruppted nights sleep in 9 weeks! Just wish I could figure out a way to "bottle" the heat from those flashes - I could probably heat my house next winter! Thanks for "listening". Kathy

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TAH - My story

TAH - my story

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Emily Cunningham, M.D. 1720 Nicholasville Road Suite 702 Lexington KY 40503 859-264-8811	Larry R. Glazerman, M.D. USF College of Medicine 12901 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. MDC 62 Tampa FL 33612 813-259-8500	Terry Grogg, M.D. 4461 S Broadway Suite 200 Suite 200 Grove City OH 43123 614-875-0444
James Kondrup, M.D. 161 Riverside Drive Suite 109 Binghamton NY 13905 607-770-7074	Iris Orbuch, M.D. 202 Spring Street 2nd Floor New York NY 10012 212-343-3040	Susan D. Hunter, M.D. 626 Ed Carey Dr Harlingen TX 78550 956-428-4868

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