I had my LSH on Wed, June 18 and it was the best thing I have ever done for myself. Let me start at the beginning to explain my experience and if anyone has any questions, feel free to PM me.
I was diagnosed in my early 20's with PCOS although I had dealt with menstrual problems since I was an early teen. After going through 2 rough pregnancies, I decided that no more children was right for me, so I underwent the Essure procedure. Immediately following the procedure, I had trouble and the Gyn that did the procedure told me that my very real symptoms and pain and discomfort were in my head and not real. After finding a new Gyn and getting his opinion, he recommended waiting to see if we could control some of my symptoms with continued bcp's. Turned out that the Essure didn't take on my right side so I had to use BCP as birth control anyway and instead of my symptoms getting better, they got worse.
After many trips to see the Gyn and talk about alternatives to help my situation, he recommended a LSH to remove my uterus, the essures, part of both fallopian tubes and check on how my ovaries were doing. After much thought and a lot of wonderful information found here on the hystersisters site, I called to schedule.
The day before my procedure I had to do a full phosphosoda bowel prep and liquid diet from noon on. The morning of surgery, I arrived at the hospital at 5:30am for my 7:30am surgery. After talking with my Gyn, I was as ready as one can be for surgery. Since I have had a history of nausea with anesthesia, the anesthesiologist made a suggestion of pre-treating for the nausea as he has found it to be more helpful with his patients. So he administered pepcid and reglan in my IV before going back to the OR and he also placed a patch commonly used for motion sickness behind my ear. And after a dose of verced, I was ready to go!
After being taken into the OR and saying hi to everyone there, I was out!! Next thing I knew I was in recovery being offered juice and being asked about my pain. The juice was great, the pain was minimal. Once moved to a room, I was given some more water and some jello since I was super hungry. Around noon time I finally started feeling pain so was given IV pain meds.
Interestingly enough, the biggest issues I had post-op were from the catheter not working properly (due to an occlusion)so feeling like I had to tinkle, but couldn't and pain in my chest and shoulder areas from the CO2 used in surgery. By 3pm, I had my catheter out and was using the potty like a grow-up again , had eaten a clear liquid lunch, sat up in a regular chair and done a few "laps" of the small unit. Needless to say, I was feeling pretty good all things considered and was eager to get sprung!! LOL!! By the time dinner rolled around, I had done a 2 hr stint of being out of bed (dh actually took a nap in the bed even) alternating between the potty (all those fluids really made me have to go! LOL!!), sitting in a regular chair(more comfortable than the bed because there was better support) and wandering around with slim (my IV pole) trailing me like a lost puppy!! When my Gyn came in to check on me at 7:30pm, he was pleased to hear I was in minimal pain, had been cruising the hall, eating without any nausea, drinking, tinkling and passing gas!!! Next thing I new, I was headed to the pharmacy to fill my RX after being given a percocet for the road!!!
Once home, I slept most of the night without issue, only needing to get up to go to the bathroom and once to take some Aleve. Since that first night, I have been sleeping comfortably, even found a way to sleep on my side by night 2 which was great and moved slowly from a liquid diet to regular foods. All in all I have been feeling great!! My post-op pain is actually less than the pre-op pain I was having with my uterus in me! Oh, and turns out the Essure likely was only part of the pain issue, the bigger issue was that my uterus was in bad shape on it's own. The long periods with heavy bleeding, cramping, clots, etc was because my uterus had gotten harder and was no longer the normal texture of a healthy uterus. Turns out the it's common for people with PCOS and thyroid problems to experience this, but usually not until near menopause. Apparently even the high dose bcp's couldn't regulate my hormones enough to trick my body out of thinking I was menopausal.
Since having the LSH, I am having almost no menopausal symptoms which has surprised me. I was able to keep both ovaries which was a pleasant surprise when I woke up and I feel better now even with post-op discomfort at times than I have for the last 13 or more years when my cycles first started! So as much as I might miss my uterus on occasion, I am more of the "goodbye to bad rubbish" school of thought about it!! And since coming home from the hospital, I have only needed 2 RX pain pills and maybe a total of 6 Aleve over the last 4 days, nothing since yesterday morning, so I am pleased with that. But I am also resting, resting, and more resting so that I give my body it's best shot to heal quickly and smoothly!
Hope this helps anyone who is considering a similar procedure. I know for me reading other people's surgical experiences helped me feel more prepared and less scared.
Best of luck to all who might be going through a hysterectomy and the recovery!!
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, had eaten a clear liquid lunch, sat up in a regular chair and done a few "laps" of the small unit. Needless to say, I was feeling pretty good all things considered and was eager to get sprung!! LOL!! By the time dinner rolled around, I had done a 2 hr stint of being out of bed (dh actually took a nap in the bed even) alternating between the potty (all those fluids really made me have to go! LOL!!), sitting in a regular chair(more comfortable than the bed because there was better support) and wandering around with slim (my IV pole) trailing me like a lost puppy!! When my Gyn came in to check on me at 7:30pm, he was pleased to hear I was in minimal pain, had been cruising the hall, eating without any nausea, drinking, tinkling and passing gas!!! Next thing I new, I was headed to the pharmacy to fill my RX after being given a percocet for the road!!! 
And since coming home from the hospital, I have only needed 2 RX pain pills and maybe a total of 6 Aleve over the last 4 days, nothing since yesterday morning, so I am pleased with that. But I am also resting, resting, and more resting so that I give my body it's best shot to heal quickly and smoothly!
