Abdominal Hysterectomy TAH/BSO - so Glad that I had this surgery

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Abdominal Hysterectomy TAH/BSO - so Glad that I had this surgery

Abdominal Hysterectomy TAH/BSO - so Glad that I had this surgery

Date : 12-04-2007 - 11:53 AM - Readers : 963

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Sorry if this is long. I should have posted a while back, but now i am about 12 weeks post op.

I can tell you for me this path has been a relief to finally have this surgery. I had a TAH BSO

I had heavy painful periods since my daughter was born in '81 -- actually were like that before she was born -- but I was told that heavy cramping and heavy bleeding was normal.
The cramping would start about 2-3 days before the period did and then continue 2-3 days after I started. I found that a couple of glasses of wine would relax the system so that it was not as intense. I would sleep with towels under me because of the flow.

I could never wear tampons -- even in high school -- as i would be doubled over in pain.

After my daughter was born -- we tried the IUD and I was miserable. we tried pills, the husband did not like the fact that over half the month I was untouchable. finally had my tubes tied. ( I think that helped add to the issues)

so as the years progressed -- it just kept getting worse - but since i did not run to the doctor every month, nothing ever happened to change anything. I would do the yearly pap smears, they were abnormally normal. So was told to never worry about them. I had a few D&C's through the years -- had them take samples of the cervix to many times -- just to double check everything was OK -- and all along was told this was normal to cramp and heavy bleeding.

This past May i had 3 full blown periods in one month -- i made an appointment with the GYN -- she said "you are in perimenopause -- and your thyroid out of whack". They were only going to treat the thyroid and figured once it was in check, I would be normal once again.

I told her that the only way I would do anything with the thyroid was to see an endocrinologist.I have been told for years that my thyroid is low -- but taking the medicine changed nothing. So set up an appointment and he just frustrated me -- his answer was everyone wants this drug (thyroid) that they were knocking down his door to be able to take it -- go figure -- they tout it is the way to control your metabolism -- and with that under control everyone can lose weight. He also told me that no doctor will look at anything else that might be causing my problems until you get this in control.

Doing some research -- the thyroid is effected by estrogen. it actually binds the thyroid so the body can not see it to use it -- so your numbers look like you need thyroid. I know that for me -- taking thyroid does not change a single thing for me. ( so we are going to recheck the levels now that I am about 3 months after surgery and see what they now say!!)

So after the visit with the endocrinologist -- I finally got the GYN to look for something other than the thyroid for the problems.

We did the pap smear and yes it came back abnormally normal. We did ultra-sounds and could see fibroids-- with some size.

I was given 5 choices
do nothing -- ( which I had been doing for years)
take birth control pills
try an IUD
try an Ablation
or do a total hysterectomy
I did some research over the next week ( which led me to this sight-- :lovehs

and went back and discussed my findings with the GYN. I felt the 4 of the options were delay tactics and did not feel like they were an option for me.

We looked at her schedule and finally come up with the Sept date for the surgery. I had almost a month to prepare for the surgery once the date was set. I already had plane tickets to go spend 10 days with my grandsons and was not going to change that.
That month flew by so fast. But in that month, because of this site -- I was able to get more information. I emailed lots of questions to the doctor. When I had my pre-op she asked where I was getting so much great information -- I had to give credit to this site.
This site gave me info on endometriosis, adenomyosis or internal endometriosis, more info on cysts, etc. When reading the descriptions of adenomyosis or internal endometriosis-- i asked the doctor if that could be what is causing most of my issues. ( after surgery -- she told me that i had diagnosed myself for that one.)

At the pre-op, we decided that since I had such a huge keloid scar from previous surgeries, that we would do a vertical incision and remove the old scar. Which in turn would give her more access to get the enlarged uterus out.

The day before surgery Aunt Flo came for her last visit. My thought was that at least when i had surgery they would see what was causing all the pain while it was causing it.

I was the 2ND surgery of the day so at the castle at 6:30am. They sent me back to change in to my little gown. The gown had vent holes that they hooked up to a little heater that blew warm air over me, it was quite nice. We went over everything again, talked with the nurses as they started the IV and anesthesiologist about his role in all this.

I kissed my husband as they rolled me into the surgery suite. I remember laughing with everyone as we moved me from the cart to the surgical table. I remember telling them that we could not use benzoine as I was allergic to it. The anesthesiologist asked if i minded if he said a prayer before we began. It was so comforting to hear that. the last thing I remember was him putting the oxygen mask on my face.

The next thing that I remember is this soft male voice telling me that they were going to move me to the bed and make sure that the pain pump was working. I slept off and on the rest of that day and already felt so much better. The heavy weight on my tail bone was gone, as well as the cramp and bloated feeling. Had the catheter removed the next morning. Did short walks around the hospital. They came to check my pain pump and was surprised that i had not used it that much. I was put on oral pain pills. By Saturday morning, I was ready to go home.

Because of husbands work schedule and some very good friends, I had someone with me for the first whole week. I did nothing except walk to the bathroom, the bedroom, and sit and watch TV. They waited on me for everything. I did not even get my own glass of water.

I slept when i was tired. and put my energies into my recovery.

I went back about a week later and had the staples removed and had already lost 8 pounds. Since I was feeling so good, we took a road trip from our house to Canada for the weekend.

my doctor and I decided to wait and see what symptoms that I would experience before putting me on to any kind of HRT drugs. I have had a few hot flushes but nothing that I can not live through. I sleep in a cool room, so if I get hot at night, then I just kick off the covers.

I took the full 6 weeks off of work and think that it really helped in my recovery to focus on me. When I went in for my 6 week check up and the release for work, I had lost a total of 14 pounds and was feeling fantastic. I really have had a text book recovery with no complications.

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