I had my DvH yesterday and was "under" for 3 1/2 hours. That was a surprise to me, as I had hoped mine would be maybe 90 minutes under general anesthesia. The hospital specializes in *high risk* hysterectomies, i.e. in my case, obesity, and for other people, perhaps people with heart conditions, etc. so I knew I was in a good place.
Anyway, post-op recovery was a bit rough for about 90 minutes, as I was hurting and quite nauseous, and chilled to the point of shaking. Special anti-nausea meds in my IV too care of the nausea, and a couple of warm blankets helped with The Chills. My pain level was a '5-going on 6' and they gave me some good pain medication in my IV that brought it down to a very manageable 3. I was then admitted t the hospital (originally, the plan was to be discharged within 23 hours of the surgery) so the staff could keep a closer watch on me and I was glad of that!
I didn't realize I would have some phlegm, but one of my closest friends (who happened to be a nurse at that very hospital) said it's because there's some minor irritation as I was intubated and this is my body's way of healing that irritation. Time to cough! Coughing isn't too bad because of the DvH surgery, but there is a bit of tenderness.
My nurse friend also suggested I ask for one of those *incentive* breathing things, where you inhale through a little tube and try to move the marker to a specific point--this helps get air to the alveoli at the very bottom of the lungs and also helps avoid the possibility of pneumonia.
The compressions stockings were quite lovely, like getting a little massage. I was pretty much resting most of yesterday, only getting up to urinate (hooray! success!) and then to walk a bit from one end of my room to another. Today, before discharge, I did some more walking and have been trying to walk every couple of hours now that I'm home. Even those short walks tired me out!
I'm a believer in pain management, because the body heals better when it's not in pain, and healing takes place during sleep as well. Norco has been able to control any pain, although my pain only got up to maybe a 4-going-on-5 on the 1 to 10 pain scale, but everyone emphasized how important it was to take it on a schedule or else it would take longer to get back to where I was in terms of pain management.
I have five small incisions, all above my waistline. They are not painful, as the pain comes from my uterine area--weird because my uterus was removed along with cervix, ovaries and Fallopian tubes. It's like a phantom organ pain and apparently, feeling like you have cramps is a common but a strange phenomena.
Sooooo glad this is over and behind me, and while the surgery was longer than I wished, so glad that there were no complications and I did not need a blood transfusion.
For now, a day at a time, a little at a time, being careful and using affirmations and guided imagery for healing.
I am so glad for all the info and support I received from my HysterSisters.
It's so very nice that the surgery is behind me, as I was making myself sick with worry!
Jo
So far, so good! Hysterectomy yesterday!
