Abdominal Hysterectomy TAH/BSO - 4 Days Post-Op

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Abdominal Hysterectomy TAH/BSO - 4 Days Post-Op

Abdominal Hysterectomy TAH/BSO - 4 Days Post-Op

Date : 12-02-2007 - 07:12 PM - Readers : 639

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TAH-BSO - 4 Days Post-Op

First, I want to say how incredible this site is and how much it helped me, not only with information, but with the knowledge that so many women were going through the exact same emotions I was going through. It made the waiting so much easier!

So on to my story...

Feb 2007 ended up in emergency room with a diagnosis of acute diverticulitis on my right side (which was causing the severe pain) and while running the CAT scan they found a 6cm cyst on my left ovary. My CA-125 came back at 1598 (normal being like 0-30). My OB-GYN was freaked out and sent me to a GYN Oncologist who looked at my CAT scan and the subsequent ultrasound my OB-GYN did and said it was totally benign. Well, with my OB-GYN freaked out and the CA-125 being so high, my DH and I didn't know who to believe. But my OB-GYN wouldn't touch me with a 10-foot-pole with regard to surgery because of the diverticulitis.

We waited until July when my Dr. agreed to drain the cyst with the assistance of a CAT-scan. Did that, won't go there again. I don't know about anyone else's experience with the draining of an ovarian cycst but in my case, an out-patient "easy" procedure had me almost crawling backward off the table and took several days to recover from the pain.

Had another ultra-sound at the end of Sept and guess what? - the cyst was back as if nothing had ever happened! (Dr warned me that this was a good possibility).

We were 8 months out from my diverticulitis so my Dr agreed to go ahead with surgery. He let me decide what I wanted to take & leave. I am 43 years old, have always had very painful periods that, over the last several years, have become heavier and heavier to the point where I am afraid to leave the house on days 2 & 3 for fear of having and "accident" within one hour.

I decided on a total hysterectomy, malfunctioning ovaries and all. (I've had a large cyst on my right ovary in the past as well).

Day before surgery I was extremely anxious. Ate only clear liquids that day and was STARVING by early evening. The bowel prep was not hard. I got the bottle of lemon-lime stuff that you drink. Put in the fridge and drank the doses all at one time - gulp gulp gulp. Had to have a fleet enema at bedtime which I asked my DH to do and he said "No way! Gross!" It wasn't bad, just weird and icky.

Arrived at the hospital and was ushered right in. The nurse told me this was the best thing I was ever going to do for myself. She had hers 20 years ago.

Said goodbye to hubby when it was time to move to the holding area - didn't cry and I was surprised. I was just ready to get this over with. The game me the equivalent of a valium while in holding and that was good. I remember being wheeled into the operating room and waiting just a minute or two for the anasthesia guy to show up. Last thing I remember was him putting a mask on my face.

Woke up in post-op in excrutiating pain. One nurse was telling another nurse to give me another dose and the other nurse was saying "but I already gave her blah blah blah." And the first nurse said, "I don't care, she's not supposed to be hanging onto the side of the bed like that!"
The whole thing probably took 30 seconds.

Next thing I remember I was in my room. I didn't have a certain moment when I "came out of it." DH says over the next several hours I started making more & more sense. He admits he was laughing a lot (inside) because I was rambling a lot about anything that came to mind.

My Dr was so pleased that I decided to do the TAH-BSO and that the surgery was perfect. His fears about adhesions from the diverticulitis were for naught. He said I had very little scarring - could hardly tell I'd had the infection. On the other hand, he found extremely nasty endo! He said it looked like someone poured a whole bottle of chocolate syrup all over everything. So all this time I thought my periods were normal...I'm so glad I did this!

The nurses took excellent care of me, had a great room-mate and felt ready to come home the day after surgery, but I stayed one more day because my Dr said so and I know myself - I always think I feel better than I really do.

I really missed my hospital bed once I came home. Being able to go up & down with the push of a button was a heck of a lot easier! Plus lying flat was much less comfortable than sleeping half sitting up.

Walked about three blocks today and am just feeling really tired. I mentioned to my DH that I thought my incision would be painful but it's really not - my pain is higher up like I have pulled every muscle in my stomach. Plus I have been trying to start having a cough since I've been home and coughing makes me feel like every stitch inside is tearing open! Also, I sneezed today with no warning and I thought I was gonna die.

So far so good. Still waiting for my first hot flash. Very pleased with my choice!

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