Need helpful tips to get me through this. please!!

Dear friends,

I just found out that my hysterectomy is scheduled on Thursday, June 30th, and now I am starting to get the jitters! Please--can anyone share some helpful tips and ideas about what to expect just before surgery, during, after, and the day after that??

I am supposedly having a Total Hyst., with my doctor (who is GREAT, by the way ...a wonderful, considerate man, thank God!) first using a Laprascope to determine if he will be proceeding abdominally or vaginally, as he won't know which way to go for sure till he eyeballs the situation internally.

I had a Thermal Oblation in February of this year after suffering for almost 34 years with extremely heavy periods and horrible cramps, but the last two months have proved that the oblation made the cramping almost intolerable, to the point of going to the ER for relief. So, considering my age (I'm 47) and my kids pretty much grown, we decided to just "clean me out for good!"

I sure would appreciate any and all tips and advice from those who have had a hyserectomy, especially what to expect after I wake up in the recovery room, and what I may be feeling like after I go home.

Thank you all so much~

Mary in Mich

I'm the same day as you! Don't have any real tips, unless you are extremely anxious I have heard on this board that your dr can give you something to keep you calm and/or help you sleep the evening before. Do you have to do a bowel prep? Have you had your pre-op visit? Mine is Friday. Lots of good luck to you!

I was scheduled for an 'either or' operation, too. I'm 47 tomorrow, so we're in the same era of period-history. As a grandmother, I found the idea of "definitive treatment" to be sound, I certainly don't plan on any further procreation.

I awoke to find I had a TAH, because the fibroids and my uterus were too big to come out vaginally, even though I had 9 lb babies back in the day, and had a first degree prolapse.

So, depending on your exact surgery, your body may recover differently. One thing to know is that at "our age", we don't heal as fast as we did when we were in our 20s. So, it really is likely to take 6 weeks to be ready to return to your full routine.

Waking up... I had an incredible urge to go pee. It took 3 tries for the nurse to convince me that I had a catheter and I really was just feeling a swollen sensation. A year later, I can tell you that my bladder capacity on road trips is astounding me - I had no idea my uterus was crowding things so badly. I just thought it was "my age" that made me have to pee every 45 minutes at work!

Ice chips, lip balm, hand sanitizer and that all-wonderful PCA pump will be your best friends the first 12 hours after surgery. A fanny pack to keep the balm and sanitizer, and a comb in is also a great thing - hook it on your bed rail so you don't have to go searching for those things.

You have a week to read the lists here, the threads of great hints and ideas. I didn't find this site until I was home a couple days. I envy you!

Some things that I did were:

Make sure my furniture was arranged so that I had places to set down a drink and a snack wherever I might perch. Also, made sure ahead of time what comfy chairs I could and couldn't get out of by myself without using my abs.

A walker purchased at a local thrift store can help you get off the potty and out of bed (turn it around backwards to hold like a bed rail) those first few days. Put that same fanny pack on the walker to carry your lip balm, and your cordless phone. Donate it back when you're done with it.

Purchase a folding stool that allowed me to sit at the right height for my kitchen counters. When I felt like cooking, I didn't have to stand in one place so long while stirring or chopping things.

Learn to let others do things around the house... if the towels aren't folded my way,, well, at least they're clean, dry and in the linen closet. Oh, and the dust bunnies under the couch really won't come out in the night and get you... I did a google search and there are no reported dust bunny attacks in North America to date.

Hi Cdogger ,

If you look at the top right of this page, there is a pull down link for "Hystersisters Quick Links" . Click on the arrow, and you will find "Princess Stories". There you will find lots of posts about Castle visits and preparations and recoveries.

Not everyone's experience is the same, so grab a cup of tea and just sit and read a few.

If you have any more questions, we are here for you.

's
Kay

And take some baby wipes to the hospital with you too. Just be sure to get the okay from the doc to use them. They were so soothing to the tush and to other areas. I kept some in the bed tray because I was using a heating pad that would make me sweat a bit. They provided a great cool down from time to time when the pad was on.

Like Sanguiness said, lip balm is a must too.

I took a couple books to the hospital but couldn't concentrate enough to read them so I was glad that I'd also thrown in some catalogs that I hadn't had a chance to browse. Not much thinking required there!

I used a dining room chair - back to the bed - to use as a hand railing to get up and down from bed. Speaking of getting up and down from bed, in the hospital, I found it easier to get up when the hand railing was still up. But, I had the nurse put it down for me to get back into bed. That allowed me to sit higher in the bed and have to scooth up less. It still allowed me a grip because the top of the railing was still accessible.

I don't remember much of recovery but I was glad that someone was there (my parents) after I was put in my room. I was so out of it that it was nice to have someone know that I needed ice chips, lip balm, etc in the first few hours after surgery before I could get my wits about me.

The one thing I didn't know was that I was going to have leg compressors on my legs when I made it back to my room. They were WONDERFUL. You might ask your doc if you are going to have the compressors or the TED hose just so you know what you will wake up to. I thought I had someone sitting at the end of my bed massaging my legs! Now that would be a full service hospital! (There is a chain about leg compressors on this board if you want more info...just page down until you find it.)

If you have any other questions, just ask!

Ladies, if it helps any I will share...before the surgery I was a bundle of nerves, I was in a panic the night before and now I can look back and laugh! The surgery went well, I had a little extra bleeding but no biggie, after the surgery they put a demeral pump on me and I was up and going the same day...I will not say that after the surgery there is no pain, because there is, so take and get some Gas-X it will be your best friend! However, I am 8 days post op...and not really having no problems...except DH needs to learn how to cook LOL...everyones surgery is different, but I think if you go in with a positive attitude, you will come out and heal with a positive attitude also...I did have a friend spend the night with me, so when I did rest, she would push the pump...that is one thing that I would suggest, or have your DH stay with you...don't be afraid of going to the bathroom...nothing is going to fall out, or at least nothing has fell out yet on me....of course every woman is different. Main thing is a Positive attitude and a good support team...which I have found this group of women to be the best! Good Luck and if you have any other questions I will be back later, and I am sure others will be here also to share and give some helpful hints...Brenda

I'm 3 1/2 weeks post TAH-BSO with horizontal incision. The best "tip" I have is to be flexible with yourself post op. I imagined jumping right on the computer and coming here, and I scared a few people that I wasn't answering emails...., I thought I would sleep on the couch, but the recliner was much more comfortable for about 2 weeks...just little things that I thought would be good, turned out not to be the best for me. Who knew? If you have never done this before, how can you really plan, right?
One thing that I absolutely loved at the castle, was that I brought my own cd player/headphones and relaxation music. THAT was great!

I'm sure you're going to get "tons" of tips but I just want to add a quick one that might vary from some others.

If you feel nauseous after waking up from surgery tell someone, other than your family members, that is wearing nursing garb immediately. I kept mentioning to my family I wasn't feeling well and although they were very sympathetic they didn't know, nor did I, that they can give you a shot to help. It wasn't until a nurse came in a couple of hours later that I mentioned that I REALLY wasn't feeling well; she handed me a little bowl and stated she could give me something. Apparently it is standard script that they are allowed to adminster two shots of anti nausea drugs. She administered the first shot (which burns bad going in) and about a half hour later I was in a real quandry as I knew I was going to be immediately sick and anticipated it wasn't going to be pretty!


WARNING>>>DON'T READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH...BUT IT IS AMUSING (IN HINDSIGHT THAT IS)...

I can't roll over fast enough to hit the "little" bowl they were kind enough to provide (added visual...my IV was in my left hand with a short tube going over my body to the unit that is on the right side making any maneuvering a little restrictive) while holding on for dear life to my incision. So I had to make a quick decision...should I roll and hold with the one hand that's not holding on to the bed post or should I just accept the fact that my priority at this point is my newly sutured abdomen which I prefered stay sutured and to heck with my pride! I opted for the latter and needless to say it wasn't pleasant (thankfully I hadn't eaten since the night before and was on a clear liquid diet). Needless to say the nurses were called by me (in a very weak voice) and advised of the situation and myself and my bedding had to be changed (resulting in a controlled rollover maneuver). They then proceeded to give me my second shot which appeared to be a moot at this point

Anyways the final outcome of this was I went home with a severly strained neck which caused me more pain than my TAH and one more body part to get comfortable during my recovery and a much greater appreciation for the supply (if you want to call 20 pills a supply) of painkillers I was given.

The best advice I got was to ask the anaetheologist for anti nausea drugs so you won't be nauseous after surgery. I didn't feel sick at all. Next is the lip balm - a must. There is tons of other obvious stuff but these things I didn't think of. Also I took pajamas but I didn't want to move to change so I just sent it all home and stayed in hosp garb until I was discharged. They give you socks and underwear ( not very sexy). Hope this helps