My long surgery story

Ahhhhhh, home sweet home. DH set up my computer here in the Living Room so I can sit and surf from my recliner. Wasn't that sweet of him?!
O.K. Here it goes . . . I hope that reading Princess's stories helps the LIW out there. I know it did me.
Monday 6:00 a.m. I arrived at the hospital got checked in, put on the fancy little gown, and waited. Nurses were VERY nice.
6:45 Respiratory Therapy came in and taught me how to use their funny little breathing aparatus. It is to prevent blood clots and really is no big deal. You breathe into it and they take a reading as to how much air you can breathe in. They want you to reach that same level (or close to it) after surgery. Don't try to out-do yourself, it will only make it harder for you after surgery - but do give it your all.
7:15 Anesthesiologist came in and I begged him for the anti-vomit stuff in my IV.
7:45 Nurse came in and put sleepy stuff in IV - just to relax me. Well, it relaxed me alright. That's the last thing I remember until I woke up.
About 10:30 if I remember correctly, I woke up wondering how long it would be before someone came to get me to take me to the OR. Then the circulation boots kicked on and I realized I must have already been there and back! The pain wasn't so bad unless I tried to move. If I laid real still it was o.k. My mom says I kept telling them it was a 7 out of 10. I guess that's not so bad. I wouldn't say I have a REAL strong pain tolerance but I have lived with these monster fibroids for several years now and haven't really complained TOO much. The circluation boots weren't so bad - they were warm though.
Visitors came in and out most of the day. ADVICE: Ask your visitors to come the day after surgery. I fought and fought to stay awake and in the end fell asleep in front of most of them.
I didn't feel as though I had to go to the bathroom. I knew I had a catheter only because they told me I would. It didn't hurt or anything.
I didn't get up that entire first day. I was nauseated and had the dry heaves but "thank you DD" I never did vomit. It was all I could do to sit on the edge of the bed without feeling like I was going to toss my cookies much less get up to walk. By 10:00 p.m. I was so nauseated on and off I couldn't sleep. I had my morphine pump and pushed my button when I felt I needed some, but it seemed every time those goofy circulation boots kicked in I got nauseated. So, I finally talked the nurse into letting me take them off at about 12:30. She said she'd be back at 2:00. She came back, I said I had slept great, so she told me as long as I made ABC's in the air to keep the circulation going in my legs I could keep them off for a while. Yeah!!!!! It did seem to help with the nausea.
So, the next morning (afer a not so swell night of sleep - they got better) a nurse came in and I told her I still felt nauseated and she stopped my push button and gave me pain pills (Percocet) and that seemed to do the trick.
She took my catheter out (no sweat) and got me up for a walk. That actually felt pretty good. She was a great nurse. All of the nurses that I had, were very nice. I only had one that I was kind of happy to not have again. But if there was a problem, I didn't hesitate to speak up!
By Wednesday I was eating regular foods and pretty much independent in my room - getting around (to the bathroom, washing up, that kind of independent). Went home on Thursday and here I am. I still tire easily and apologize for any errors in this typing. It's hard to see the screen when my eyes are bobbing.
All in all, I am glad I did it. DD said that the uterus and fibroids were the size of a basketball. Guess that would explain a lot!!! She called with path reports and I had pre-cancer cells in the one tumor. That made me really glad that I didn't try to go on without doing something about them. And there was no way of knowing that until we took it out and biopsied it. Guess you win some you lose some. I don't have any bio children, but I don't have Cancer either! I am going to live!
LIW - I swore I wasn't going to say this because I didn't believe it when I was in your shoes, but the waiting really is the worst part. I'm not going to say I'm not in pain, but there again - it could be worse.
Good luck to all of you. I am 6 days post op and feeling pretty o.k.
Take care, Everyone!!
~Tammu
P.S. Feel free to e-mail any questions!!!!!! Even the ones that seem silly or stupid. They aren't!

I was so glad to read your operation story and realize that not everyone feels like they are going to die while recovering. I am due for surgery on June 25th and yesterday I started reading some horror type stories posted on the site and almost had myself talked out of surgery. Until this morning, when ironically I got another very, very painful period (I too have fibroids and they have been causing a great deal of pain). I am 50 years old and have been putting surgery off because I thought that I might be going into menopause soon and the fibroids would shrink. However, that could be another two to three years away too and I don't want to continue being out of commission for two days every month from the pain.

I am debating leaving my ovaries in -- but having the uterus and cervix removed.

Any advice/comments anyone else can give to me (and any not-so negative and scary recovery stories) would be much appreciated.

Lou

Tammy,
Congrats on your successful surgery and hospital stay!
You are a champ! Please keep us posted how things progress.
I have a 5 cm pedunculated fibroid that isn't causing many problems other than some pressure, bloat and possibly constipation. I have a TAH scheduled for 6/15 and am thinking of cancelling and take a "watch and wait" approach. Your fibroid was so big -- is that what you did?
Rest, dear Princess!
Sincerely,

TNT!
It sounds like you did great! I appreciate your detailed story about your surgery and post op. I'm in the process of getting my surgery scheduled (probably August). Did you ever ask yourself, "Am I being a wimp about all this blood loss and pain?" I keep second guessing myself even though I have extreme anemia to verify my fibroids are doing me in. And I am so glad to have found this site. Some sites are sooooo negative they are scary!

Welcome Home, Tammy. I'm so glad that your surgery went well and that your recovery is progressing nicely.

Now, remember to rest, rest, rest and to drink that walk and walk as much as you can. When you're done, rest so more.

Dear Ladies,
I wish you all the best of luck. The decision to have the hyst was not an easy one for me. For those of you who haven't read my posts before, I am 27 and have no children. I was diagnosed with large fibroids in February. Something that was apparently missed for several years, despite the fact that I went in faithfully every year for my pap and pelvic. So, I chose to have a hyst instead of the myomectomy or other procedures available for removal of fibroids. I am sure glad I did.
No, you are not whimpy for feeling like you can't deal with the bleeding and pain! This is a major deal! And I'm not going to try to tell you that this was an easy thing from deciding to have a hyst, to actually scheduling it, to following through with it and now the recovery. It's been a rough road but it is all down hill from here. You ladies have to do what you feel is right for you. I don't recommend the wait and see approach to anyone because they CAN grow very quickly. They don't always, but they can. Pedunculated, I believe can be removed a little more easily. Have you checked into other options? I think even with lasers or something.
So, I'm glad I did it and it has been well worth it - even this early. I expect it to only get better.
Please feel free to e-mail me with any specific questions. I want to help as much as I can. The ladies here were sssoooo helpful to me, now it's my turn.
Take care, and good luck,
~Tammy

Tammy,

Glad to hear that you are recovering well and that your surgery went well. Keep resting and watch out for those pillow police.