I am 26 years old. On December 30, 2008, I had to have a total abdominal hysterectomy. My problems originally began shortly after my tubal ligation in March of 2003. I had my tubes burned off so I could not have any future children. After I began having periods again, they were horrible. Each period was worse than the last one was. They became more and more painful and lasted longer and became very irregular. I had no idea when I would start, how long I would bleed, or how many boxes of pads I would go through. Tampons weren't even an option for me as I would just bleed through them and have to wear a pad in addition anyway, so what was the point in a tampon? The only time I wore a tampon was the 1st night of every period, in addition to a pad, so I didn't stain the bedsheets at night. The tampon at least slowed the bloodflow a little bit. My first concern began in October of 2005.
In October of 2005, I noticed my periods were becoming....different. I started having one every 2 months and then every 3 months and then every other week....very irregular. They could last anywhere from 5 days to 3 weeks. The pain was unimaginable. I began seeing a new GYN in January of 2006 as my previous GYN no longer accepted my insurance and I was a newlywed. One day, at work, in February of 2006, I blacked out from the pain in my abdomen. I got sent home and went the next day to the GYN. He ordered a sonoram and tests. Tests showed nothing. He decided to do exploratory surgery to see if I had endometriosis. Turned out that I had an enormous cyst on my right ovary that had been causing all these problems and one on my left ovary had burst, creating fluid behind my uterus. My doctor removed the cyst, that had made my right ovary 4 times the size of the left ovary, and removed the fluid. We thought all was well. For now.
In July of 2008, I went to the ER....twice. Both times they could not figure out what was wrong with me. Both times I went complaining of pelvic pain that was so severe that I couldn't even stand up. Weird enough as it is, the pelvic pain both times would disappear in about 24 hours. Tests were run, sonograms done....no results showing the problem. Beginning during the summer of 2008 I had noticed that my already abnormally long and irregular and heavy periods were getting even worse. In December of 2008, I finally made an emergency appt to see the doctor because I could not stop hemorrhaging. I went through 32 pads in 3 days. The doctor immediately stopped the bleeding and ordered a sonogram. The sonogram finally revealed my pain symptoms. I had fibroids in my uterus and another cyst on my right ovary. We scheduled the hysterectomy.
Since I had never given birth vaginally (only C-section), the doctor said that I needed to have my hysterectomy through my abdomen because the bladder would have too much scar tissue on it to do the hysterectomy vaginally or laparoscopically. We also decided to take out my right ovary since I had the recurring problems with cysts on it. We wanted to try to leave the left ovary to avoid menopause at my age.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008, I went in for surgery. I remember joking with the nurse in the pre-op room as she blew my vein trying to insert an IV. I remember the doctor coming in and saying we would not do any antibiotics unless it looked like we might start seeing an infection because I am allergic to 4 different families of antibiotics. Then I remember my husband kissing me, telling me he loved me, and them giving me "something to help" make my sleepy. I don't remember anything else until waking up in the recovery room. When I woke up, I immediately tried to sit straight up. Finding that impossible, I cried out and laid back down and started flipping over from side to side all the while crying "it hurts" and "where is my husband?" The nurse simply gave me more morphine and I went back to sleep. Awoke again in my room, with my husband there. The first day is a blur. I remember consciously trying not to push the demerol button too many times because before my surgery I had read on hystersisters.com that a lot of women said the oral pain meds didn't really help the day after having the morphine pump. I didn't want to overuse my pump, so I only pushed the button when I could no longer take the pain. That night, the nurse got me up and we walked to the end of the hall and back. It hurt. The next morning, 6 am, the nurse removed the catheter. Thank God. Felt so good to get that out. Now, though, I had to walk to the bathroom to potty....hmmm... That took effort. Doc came in about 9 am and told me I could probably go home the next evening or Friday morning. Probably Friday morning. My doc, though, was going out of town until the following Monday. One of his associates would release me. I should see him the following Monday to have staples removed. A couple of people came that day and visited. I was on the oral pain meds only now. Started eating solid foods that night. The next morning I still had not passed any gas, so I asked the nurse to give me a laxative. She agreed and within an hour, I passed gas. The doctor's associate came by and released me! I went home about 11 am on Thursday, January 1. Felt great to get home.
Recovery has been slow. I saw the doctor on Monday, January 5, to remove the staples. Found out that not only did I have fibroids and an ovarian cyst, but also had endometriosis all over the back wall of my uterus. My uterus was also retroverted and laying on my colon, which had been compressing my colon for years and causing chronic diarrhea. That is now gone and I now have normal bowel movements. I no longer have a period. I am still experiencing some difficulty with hormone adjustments. My left ovary it seems is having difficulty producing enough hormones. I keep having hot flashes and night sweats, so the doc put me on HRT temporarily. I have also developed a UTI, which is rather painful, so I am now on antiobiotics for that. I am slowly working off the pain pills. Today was the 11th day since my surgery and today for the first time since before my surgery, I did a load of dishes. It felt good. Recovery is going slow, but going well. Doc says I should be back at work by 6 weeks postop.
I thought I was going to be emotional over this surgery. I expected sadness because of no longer being able to have children; even though I had already had my tubes tied; and because of no longer having periods when everyone else around me still had their periods. Amazingly enough, I am not sad at all. I don't feel the need to cry about not having children ever again because I can't now anyway, so why cry about it? And honestly, the periods were so awful and even the constant pain in my abdomen from the fibroids, endometriosis, and ovarian cysts, so horrible that I don't even miss the idea of never having a period again or never being able to have children again.
This was the best thing that ever happened to me. Best decision of my life.
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