Laparoscopic Supracervical Hysterectomy - Lvh--12/18/17 - Hystersisters Hysterectomy Article

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Laparoscopic Supracervical Hysterectomy - Lvh--12/18/17

Laparoscopic Supracervical Hysterectomy - Lvh--12/18/17

From the Laparoscopic Hysterectomy Stories Articles List

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Options to Hysterectomy
Pre-Op Hysterectomy
Post-Op Hysterectomy
Hormone and Menopause
Intimacy after Hysterectomy
Pelvic Floor
Fitness after Hysterectomy
GYN Cancer
Grief and Loss
Endometriosis
Uterine Fibroids
Hysterectomy Stories
Ask A Doctor

All I can stay is that having a hysterectomy was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Only wish I'd found my dr. sooner.

Someone elsewhere asked what made me decide to have a hysterectomy, so I decided I'd go ahead and tell my "story" here.

I'm a school teacher, and this school year has been unusually stressful for various reasons. One thing that just compounded the stress was unbelievable periods------VERY heavy bleeding, huge clots, back pain that wasn't touched by pain med most of the time, & so on. I've dealt w/this for years & just figured it was a "normal" part of growing older--I'm 41. I wish I'd educated myself sooner!!!!

Well, with the very hectic schedule at school, I found myself having to change clothes 3 months in a row due to excessive bleeding. That's when I finally started talking around asking for advice/help. I finally decided to go to the dr. in Nov. We live in a small town and have only lived here 2 years so the idea of finding a gyn was not exactly a pleasant thought. I didn't want to go to the one gyn in town simply because the town is soooooo small---know what I mean? Well, I finally went & I'm SO glad I did!

The dr's nurse was VERY sypathetic and helpful. I was bleeding profusely the particular day I went, but that didn't bother her or him. After going over all my history w/her, I got to talk to the dr. extensively before I had my exam. As I already said, primary symptoms were excessive bleeding, clots, and pain. He asked just about every question under the sun to determine what the problem might be (1st time I've had a dr. take this much time w/me.) What's interesting is that after my surgery and reading all these posts, I've had many of the same problems mentioned here before, but no dr. has ever taken the time to thoroughly pinpoint the problem, so I think I probably would've been a candidate for surgery many years ago, but just didn't know it!

Anyway, he did a pelvic exam (felt so sorry for him w/all the blood!) and an ultrasound. After viewing the ultrasound, he said it looked like adenomyosis to him-----didn't know what that was at the time, much less how to spell it! Again, he took the time to explain exactly what it was, and possible treatments for it. He made sure I understood the only longterm treatment was surgery. I had hoped for a simple ablasion or something like that!

I went home very emotional just from hearing the word hysterectomy. That truly wasn't on my radar screen. But I talked it over w/hubby, and scheduled another appt. so the 2 of us could go in together to discuss all the options. In the meantime, I started doing all my internet research which is how I ended up here. THANK the Lord for this site!!!! (by the way, I "confirmed" my diagnosis of adeno by reading up on it and found out my symptoms fit exactly what I had)

When we went back for the appt., we were ready w/a long list of questions (provided by HysterSister!). Again, dr. was SO patient to answer all questions & then some, even though he'd already delivered 2 babies that day and it was past 6 pm.

I did have my GP look over the diagnosis from my gyn., and he said pretty much the same thing........surgery was only longterm solution. It was really a quality of life decision.

I had my LSH on 12/18/07. I went in at 9 am, was in OR by 11 am, and in a room by around 4 pm (I think! brain very fuzzy by that time!) With only a couple of exceptions, the hospital staff was WONDERFUL!!!!! They truly did treat me like a princess.

I began to wake up, sort of, around 4 or so and have vague memories of my hubby and son in my room. I do remember fussing about needing to go to the bathroom while in recovery & the nurse kept telling me that I had a catheter in. I also remember hearing the nurse say, "She was hollering quite a bit so I gave her some morphine in her IV." My hubby told me later that I was letting everyone in the county know that my back hurt! Oops! Probably the reason I was screaming is one of my major concerns had been that I'll go thru all this and my back will still hurt! So I was probably very upset about that. (It doesn't hurt now, though!)

Around 6 pm, respiratory therapist came and woke me completely to do a treatment. Evidently, that's standard at this hosp. to prevent pneumonia.

I was foggy most of the rest of that evening. Only had apple juice to drink along w/ice chips. BE SURE TO TAKE CHAP-STIK to the hospital w/you! My lips were SOOOOOOOO dry!!!!!

Another thing......if your nose itches like crazy, you're not going nuts.......the pain med's do that to you. I didn't know that until the nurse explained it.

I had all kinds of cords hooked up to me or in the bed ~ my IV, my pain "friend", nurse call button, and catheter. I also had those things wrapped around my lower legs for ciruclation, can't remember what they're called. AND I had a pillow on my tummy, between my legs, and behind my back. Pillows become your best friends after surgery! And the nurse told me I should switch from side to side as often as possible during the night. No problem, ha! Thankfully, she helped me.

The nurse came in several times during the night to check my IV and vitals and pain levels. I was doing tremendously better than I expected. I thought I'd be in pure misery, but wasn't.

The next am when nurse said I needed to walk, at about 6:30 am, I walked a few doors down the hall and back. Whew! That wore me out! Once I was back in bed and nurse was checking IV, etc., I puked. Later, when they brought me my liquid breakfast, I puked again. So much for breakfast! New nurse by this time, and she finally gave me a shot for nausea and pain since IV was out (it came loose so they took it out all together.)

After sleeping, peeing, walking for the next few hours, nurse checked my bladder at noon to make sure I had no residuals. I didn't so I got the OK to go home. I did get a "soft lunch" before I went home. The pudding was great!

Came home and plopped right into bed. DD stayed home w/me that night and slept in my room. We were both exhausted so I think we both slept very well. Not too much pain, but I was still quite foggy at that point. DH slept in living room.........he was afraid he'd bump into my tummy! DS was at a friend's house.

Overall, I must say the pain hasn't been nearly as bad as what I'd expected. The surgery went quite well. I forgot to mention that I also had a bladder suspension, a sling put in, and I'm not too sure if that has been successful yet or not. I guess we'll see.

As for my recovery since being home (I'm 12 days post-op), it's truly been a day by day thing. No two days have been the same. I can definately notice that I'm just a little bit stronger each day. Again, the pain just hasn't been the problem I thought it would be! Thank heavens!

I know this has been a long post, but I've never been accused of being short on words

One thing I want to say for sure is that this site as been the BEST therapy for me! It's kept me sane, alert, and even given me cause to giggle on several occasions! When I feel well enough to get up and move around, the computer's usually the 1st place I head to check in here. I'm glad now that I have the chance to turn around and help others. I want to change my name from supportneeded (that's how I felt that 1st night after going to dr.......I was so scared and sort of numb!) to GIVING support!

Blessings to all of you, especially if you made it all the way thru this long thing!

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Recommended for Hysterectomy Recovery

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Laparoscopic Supracervical Hysterectomy - LSH a year ago - have my life back1

Laparoscopic Supracervical Hysterectomy -- My experience -- long post

Find A Doctor Near You

Elizabeth Case, M.D. 1720 Nicholasville Road Suite 702 Lexington KY 40503 859-264-8811	Susan D. Hunter, M.D. 626 Ed Carey Dr Harlingen TX 78550 956-428-4868	Nonnie-Marie Estella, M.D. 10 Research Place Suite 520 North Chelmsford MA 01863 978-459-8300
David Newman, M.D. 10030 Edison Square Drive, Suite 100A Concord NC 28027 704-403-7670	Marshall Bovelsky, M.D. 200 Banning St Suite 320 Dover DE 19904 302-674-0223	Geoffrey Bowers, M.D. 834 Chestnut Street Suite 300 Philadelphia PA 19107 215-955-5000
Debra Richardson, M.D. Gynecological Oncology Clinic - SW Med 2201 Inwood Road Suite 106 Dallas TX 75390 214-645-4673	Aarathi Cholkeri-Singh, M.D. 120 Osler Drive Ste. 100 Napeville IL 60540 630-428-2229	James Kondrup, M.D. 161 Riverside Drive Suite 109 Binghamton NY 13905 607-770-7074

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