8 wks later.....

Hi everybody, I had total hysterectomy Dec. 8th 05, for uterine cancer, I was fine up until 3 wks ago then I just felt like I wanted crawl in a whole and let it swallow me up. I am nauseated from the time I wake up until the time I go to bed and at first I could eat even though I felt sick now I can't. I had my first internal checkup yesterday and the Dr.said I'm fine down there and I can have sex now. Well yippee. We had sex last night , not because I wanted to satisfy my husband but I was curious if I could. well of course I needed lubricant. And it hurt. That brings up another question I want to keep my vagina healthy, which I have read about, how do you keep a healthy vagina? Should I run into the shower right after we have sex and clean myself ? I know I have hundreds more questios like these....

Hi (((chennyanny))) and welcome! I'm glad you found us. It sounds like you have a couple of things going on that are making you feel bad... one is the nausea, and the other is the concerns about discomfort during sex and keeping the vagina healthy.

Are you on any meds now - hormones or otherwise? Did you keep your ovaries, or were they removed with your surgery? It will help others to be able to reply if you could take a minute to fill out your user survey.

What explanation does your DR have for the nausea? I would be very concerned about that - not being able to eat because of nausea is not a good thing when your body is trying to heal.

One of the best ways to care for the vagina after surgery is to use some type of vaginal estrogen. I know you have a cancer history, but many oncologists (mine included) will prescribe vaginal estrogen even for ladies who may not use any systemic HRT (like patches or pills). There is an article about vaginal dryness, which talks about treatments for it, here:

https://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/article_97216.htm

I have used three of the vaginal estrogen products: Premarin cream (available by prescription at the regular pharmacy; works great but a little messy if you have to use more than a tiny bit at a time); compounded estriol cream (available by prescription at a compounding pharmacy; thought by some to be "safer" for ladies with a cancer history; also works and is a bit messy if you use a lot, but you can have it made up strong so you don't need much); and Vagifem (my current favorite - a very small bio-identical estradiol 'pill' prepackaged in a teeny applicator; no mess, very easy to use and it works). I find that using the vaginal estrogen products means I don't need a lubricant anymore

My GYN always told me that the vagina is basically self-cleaning; that we don't really need to wash ourselves internally. So, I never have - and haven't had any problems. Sometimes, in fact, cleaning in there can upset the natural balance (both pH and helpful bacteria) and leave us more vulnerable to yeast and other types of infections.

I hope you enjoy the company here... it's a great bunch of women, and it really helps to know we're all in the same boat!

s,
-Linda