My LAVH/BSO was completed yesterday morning, June 24th. I just got home a little while ago and thought I would share my story---
I was diagnosed in 2001 with PCOS and also had increasing abdominal pain and was finally diagnosed with Endometriosis during a laparoscopy in 2006. The doctor lasered away as much of the Endo as he could, but just over a year after my lap the symptoms were back. In addition to the abdominal pain, I also had a lot of bleeding between periods, etc. I tried several options over the last year and nothing seemed to help the bleeding or pain. The doctor recommended a hysterectomy.
In May of this year I went to another doctor who specializes in minimally invasive procedures and after she reviewed the medical information and examined me she suspected that I also have adenomyosis. She also recommended a hyterectomy. I decided to have her do the surgery because of her experience with minimally invasive procedures. The doctor also outlined the pros/cons regarding ovary removal. In the end I decided that she should remove my ovaries if there was clear evidence that the endometriosis had returned. Otherwise she should leave at least one ovary.
We arrived at the hospital at 5:30 am and the nurses prepped me for surgery. I had spoken with the anesthesia group prior to the surgery and told them about the problems I had with nausea during my previous lap - so this time they gave me a dose of Pepcid, Reglan, and put a patch behind my ear. After I was prepped they brought me into the surgical waiting area where I spoke with several nurses and anesthesiologists. I had to explain in my own words to each what type of procedure I was having.
Right before I was taken into the OR, my doctor stopped by and went over things again and asked if I wanted to make any last minute changes. I said no changes. After she left the anesthesiologist gave me Versed and told me I wouldn't remember anything until recovery. He was right, I only vaguely remember them asking me to roll to the left and right so they could position some foam padding underneath me on the OR table... The next thing I knew I was waking up in recovery.
I didn't have any nausea.. I was in a moderate amount of pain, but the nurse took care of it quickly and before too long I was taken to my room where my husband was waiting. I had left questions for him to ask the doctor when she spoke with him after the surgery so he was able to get the answers I wanted. He told me that the doctor was able to do everything laparoscopically (YAY) and that she found several areas that had deep implants of endometriosis - including on both ovaries which she removed.
Within the next hour the affects from the anesthesia seemed to wear off pretty quickly. I had a pain pump and could push the button every 10 minutes if needed for pain. I used it pretty often for the first 3 - 4 hours. Then I started tapering back to about every 2 hours. In the middle of the night I started feeling itchy all over and the night nurse explained that it was probably a side effect from the morphine pain pump. So after 2am I decided to hold off and see if the itchy feeling went away. It got a lot better and my pain was not intolerable so I waited to take any more pain medicine until after they removed the pain pump at around 7am this morning and gave me a Percocet pill for pain.
During the night I also had trouble with low blood pressure. My doctor didn't want me to try to walk until morning, but due to the concern about my blood pressure the nurse got me up and walking as early as possible - at around 4am - and it seemed to help.
My doctor came by this morning at around 7:30am and explained that everything went well, reviewed my restrictions - no lifting, douching, sex for at least 6 weeks, etc. She also said that my endo was pretty bad - not the worst she'd ever seen, but still pretty bad. (I forgot to ask her what stage.) She said that she was able to get all the endo that she could see but that there could still be microscopic endo in my abdominal area. For that reason she recommended no HRT for at least 3 months.
I was released from the hospital and got home today at about 11am. The pain is tolerable and so far I don't have any severe menopausal issues - but I know it will take awhile for my body to use up the hormones that I have stored. Luckily I have read through several of the hormone-related boards on this site and have a good idea of what to expect and how I can treat some of the symptoms with natural solutions. I am making up a list of vitamins and herbs for my husband to pick up for me. If all goes well, maybe I won't have to take any HRT... we'll see how it goes.
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I was in a moderate amount of pain, but the nurse took care of it quickly and before too long I was taken to my room where my husband was waiting. I had left questions for him to ask the doctor when she spoke with him after the surgery so he was able to get the answers I wanted. He told me that the doctor was able to do everything laparoscopically (YAY) and that she found several areas that had deep implants of endometriosis - including on both ovaries which she removed.
