I too am home from the castle

I actually came home Tuesday at 6:00PM but haven't gotten on-line until now.
I went to the hospital Monday at 2:00 PM, having had nothing to eat or drink after midnight Sunday. I did drink all the water I could get in me before midnight and I think it helped me not be thirsty during my wait on Monday. I was taken into surgery at around 3:00 PM and don't even remember my last thought right before that. I admit waking up from anesthesia is the pits, being nauseated and in pain the first night not so fun. But, once they took the packing and the catheter out and I was up walking the next day I started to feel better. I wasn't sure how miserable I would feel after I got home but it's not bad, actually easier than I had expected. I just need to take my Motrin every 5 hours instead of 6. They also sent me home with Vicodan and I took that the first night to be on the safe side and did fine. I do get up frequently to urinate. I seem to be more more uncomfortable sooner when I need to go and it feels better to empty my bladder on a regular basis. I also have started to 20 Kegel exercises after I use the bathroom so it helps me to remember to do them. The nurses in the hospital were great. I was surprised how many male nurses I had. Found out that floor is also for orthopedics and so they have male RN's up there to help with lifting.
My doctor came to see me in the hospital and mostly what me said was that it went OK and that I had a "very large uterus". I had a total vaginal hsyterectomy (both tubes and ovaries) done, didn't need the laparoscopic he had mentioned pre-op. He just cut my uterus up and pulled it out. (Sorry if I made anyone cringe, but hey, I was asleep) I also had anterior and posterior repair done.
I came home Tuesday at 6:00PM and a friend from my church brought over dinner for us. I have never been on this side of that wonderful practice. Lord knows, literally, how many I have arranged through the years. Another lady brought us dinner last night and two other ladies plan on doing the same for Thursday and Friday. We won't exactly be on our own then because I have a married daughter and son-in-law who live a mile from our house who are very helpful and an almost 19 year old son and his fiance that will also help out. My husband stayed home with me Wed. and I sent him to work today, but actually my son has been here all morning and just left to pick up his paycheck and run an errand.
I'll go for now. Glad to have it over.
Melanie

So glad you are home and doing well. Waiting was certainly the worst! Like you I am also glad it is over!

Caren

I had my TAH/LSO on monday morning. I left the Castle yesterday and it was so good to get a good nights sleep. I have to say that the staff and Dr.s were terrific. They also thought I was too. After all, I was the candy lady. LOL!!! I also wrote some jokes on some index cards and left them next to the candy basket and they got a kick out of that. Talk about a little going a long way. I am convinced, it is all about attitude!!!

I am so glad that you have people bringing you food. It does feel good to be on that side for a change. Don't worry, you'll find that before you know it, you'll be the organizer again.

Take Care you new and God Bless You!!!

Welcome Home

I'm glad you are home and doing so well. That is nice that they were able to do everything vaginally.

Yes, it does take awhile for the bladder to get back to normal. The pressure does build up pretty quickly right after surgery. I might try your routine of doing the Kegals after urination. Maybe then I would remember too.

Take it easy. Remember all of your training and don't over do it okay?

Welcome Home Melanie!!

I also had a vaginal hyst with anterior and posterior repairs. I found that I had more discomfort from the episiotomy-like cut than from anything else. If your doctor hasn't already suggested it, you might want to use a Peri bottle to bathe that area with warm water after urinating. I also bought some Tucks wipes and found that they helped to numb the area a little bit.

And I didn't go anywhere without my donut pillow - even took it to work with me for a couple of weeks.

I hadn't thought about continuing to do Kegels as a strengthening exercise after surgery - thanks for mentioning it.

's

Karen