My Recovery. and the 4 most important things to take to the hospital!!!
I am now 2 and a half weeks past my total hysterectomy and appendectomy. Vertical cut to my belly button, I think this is the worse kind you can do it was for removal of Hyperplasia Atypia ( pre-cancer cells) Fortunatly no cancer was found!! I thought I also had a small hernia because I was having pain in right side and hip, ended up being a stone in my appendix that was about to burst! I am feeling totally blessed that all was found and removed before I had appendicitis or cancer! Dr said I would have had cancer with in a year based on what the final results showed.
I am feeling really good so I hope that gives you hope! I was scared to death, I have no kids, (the sad part) I’m 43, so I had almost given up having kids, but life with out cancer is what is important now! But honestly it was not that bad. I have a long, story which I think is very important and inspiring but if you don’t have time to read it here is the
4 most important things to take to the hospital!!!
1) A good flat backscratcher… the morphine made me itch a little I would have gone nuts with out it, I was able to reach my legs that itched like crazy with those massagers to keep blood clots away. It was like having a cast on but I could scratch with the flat end of my back scratchier. I could reach things on my table, and even close my curtain.
2) A hand held battery operated fan!! I got hot the first night started having mild hot flashes, but my husband brought me a fan that was light clipped to the bed and had adjustable neck, I held it and if I fell asleep the blades were soft and stopped so it was PERFECT!!!
3) A soft neck pillow like you use in the airport!! Mine is unscented and I think that is important for the hospital it was great I could use it for my neck, my arm with the IV or to hold against my stomach when I walked, the nurses said they had never seen any one use one but it was perfect, it cradled my belly with just the right amount of support.
4) I package of Jell-O cups, the strawberry was perfect. I know hospitals have Jell-O but my hospital had sugar free which I hate! And lime or orange which I hate. I asked for Cherry but my friend only found strawberry but it was better, it is a mild flavor, you can have it even if you are on the clear liquid diet, which I was because if the appendix. By having it there at the nurses station in their frig with my name on it I could have one in a minute any time I asked even at 3 in the morning when I just needed something in my stomach. It made every thing better! I would get up go pee and walk then be starving at odd times all night long, the walking is so important you have to do it as much as you can I know that is why I got so good so fast! It was not easy but after the first time it just got easier every time. With the neck pillow on your stomach go walk every chance you can.
Then ask for the Jell-O :O)
This is my survival guide, and honestly I did 4 days In the hospital with out much trouble. I didn’t have the gas pains that they talk about. Maybe because I had had a colonoscopy the week before! Maybe because I had to do an enema the night before surgery. Either way I was glad to not have the gas pains.
I had some constipation which was painful after I got home so take the laxatives until you are normal again. I did very well on the morphine except for the itching… so take a back scratchier! AND WALK!! I couldn’t get out of bed until the third day because of the morphine, and catheter ( which is a God send and not painful at all!!) Because of my appendix and the kind of cut I had I was a day behind what is normal I think. But when I did get up sure it hurt but not worse then I could stand. Then I figured every time I was up I was going to walk so about every two hours I was up to go pee and I was walking down the hall, so by the start of the 4th day I got to go home! I know how scary this all is, I had never had a surgery or been in the hospital, except my tonsils when I was 5. I had to let go of the dream of having children, once and for all. But I also got to know I will never have uterine or ovarian cancer, my colon polyps were caught in time to be removed so with a colonoscopy every 5 years now, I won’t die of colon cancer like my father did! ( had I waited until I was 50 I probably would have had colon cancer too) and
I no longer have pain from my appendix… SO do what you can to look on the bright side what ever the reason you are having this done, in the end you will be glad it is over. On the side of getting on with your life, and hopefully two weeks later you will be sharing your story so others are less scared too. God bless you and keep you well.
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