Need Help

Hello everyone. I am 27 years old. I am new on here. I had to get a total hysterectomy because for the last 5 years I have been dealing with very bad endometriosis and heavy bleeding. I went through 2 other surgies toremove the endo and went on to try other methods to take care of it such as birth control, but none of them would work just seemed to make it worse. So Yesterday July 26th 2012 I actually got my hysterectomy. I had gotten it done by the Divinci robot. WHen I first got out of surgery I was feeling almost no pain, all the way up until they moved me from the recovery bed into my room bed. I was in pain for awhile but with a little bit of pain medication I was doing okay. I was able to walk about half way down the hospital hallway by 1030 at night(I was in my room about noon) I was able to eat half a piece of toast by 700pm. I went completely off the pain meds by midnight. THe next morning(today) they started me on some vicodin. I also have to take some xanax because I stopped breathing once and they had to call a code blue becuase of an anxiety attack. Since then I had 3 other anxiety attacks. Today I was able to walk down 2 hallways of the hospital and back and go pee by myself with out the cath. I do still have my overies. I am now at home and was able to go to the grocery store for a little bit before halfway through getting stuff( I went with my husband and i was in the rider chai) I started to feel like crap. I was in soo much pain. Now that I am laying down again I feel okay. I am just so afraid of getting blood clots( I do smoke) that I think I may be over doing myself. I do have one question. I still have not been able to pass gass except by burping and and have not had a bm yet? is this normal? I also feel very emotional and am not used to my family waiting on me hand and foot, it makes me feel so bad and like less of a person. Is this normal to feel this way? My family does not quite understand me and I do feel alone even though they are trying to be there for me they just dont get what I am going through.

coley27,

First, you are doing too much! Please rest and let your family take care of you at least for the first few days. It is perfectly normal to feel emotional and weepy. You just had major surgery even though you had a less invasive version, you did have a major organ removed. Did your doctor tell you to take GasX for the gas? Are you on stool softeners? It can take a few days to have a BM because the anesthesia slows your system down.

Eat lots of fresh foods, fiber and take your stool softeners. You can also search other threads about tips on passing gas and BM's, there are a lot of them!

Take care of yourself and in case you didn't find it yet here is the link to your recovery date thread Recovery Progress Reports July 23-29

Yes your feelings are normal. I feel the same way and I had my surgery two weeks ago. The best advice I can give you is to REST. When I over do it the pain is unbearable so I'm trying to just take it easy. I have good days and bad days still and some days I'm more emotional or feel like Im a burden on everyone . It took me a while to have a BM (11 days post op) I would suggest talking to your doctor. My doctor prescribed a stool softer and Miralax. I must admit I did start feeling better after my first BM. As for the family I wrote a letter expressing my feelings and what I needed them to do for me( They thought because I went to my two week post op the recovery period was over) I hope this help and I pray for you a speedy recovery!

Hi, and welcome
As others have already said, what you are feeling is entirely NORMAL. The first few weeks of recovery are the hardest, then it gets much easier. I too found it really difficult to let other people take care of me as I'm used to being so independent. I felt lazy and useless which is really silly as rest is very important, and there's not much you can actually do other than sit there and let people take care of you (and walk around the house every so often)! It's also important to try and stay on top of your pain meds too, so make sure you are taking them regularly. As for bm's, it's not unusual for it to take up to a week - make sure you stay well hydrated.
I had my hyst for endometriosis too, although I'm 39. I really wish I'd had it done in my 20's as I'm now 8 weeks post op and totally pain free. There is light at the end of the tunnel!

coley,

first of all, you must remember that you have had major surgery. I, too had the Davinci Robotic Surgery. While the outside healing is much easier, the internal healing is much the same. It's really important not to overdo so early in your recovery. Stay on top of your pain medication. Your body is working very hard to heal and being in pain will make it more difficult.

As others have said, it may take a while to have a BM. Ask your doctor what he would suggest to help. I took Colace, Metamucil and drank some Prune Juice. I didn't have my first BM until 5 days after surgery. After things got moving, I felt much better.

It's important to walk, but I wouldn't recommend outings for at least a few days. Drink plenty of water and rest, rest, rest. Accept the help of your family and friends. It's very common to feel emotional but this does not make you weak or less of a person. You only have one chance to heal properly so take advantage of all the help you can get.

Take care and remember your number one job right now is to

THank you everyone for all your support. I am taking colace, and my pain meds. I also have xanax because of my anxiety attacks and zofran and rantidine for nausea. I am resting now. I didnt do too very much walking. I have been having issues laying too far down. It feels better to sit up for part of the time. I am trying to lay in bed now but have to be propped up otherwise I feel like I am being stretched out. I also cant get too comfortable because they just took my cath out before I left so I literelly have to go to the bathroom every five to ten minutes. It is really starting to get sore getting in and out of bed.I will check out that thread because I couldnt find it. I do love that I have you guys on here. I know i have the love and support from my family but they still dont quite understand what I am going through. THank you everyone

I just want to say thank you... I finally passed some gas this morning. It helped alot. I still am in alot of pain. I didnt really do a whole yesterday after everyone told me to rest. I slept pretty good last night but only for about 2 hours at a time. Slowly but surely.