Abdominal hysterectomy on 1/7/15 and nervous

Good evening everyone! I am 37 and having an abdominal hysterectomy on January 7. Ironically it is 33 years after my mom had hers. She had cervical cancer which had metastisized to the uterus due to being pregnant with my sister. She had a vertical incision because they were not sure what they would encounter. I have not had my pre-op appointment yet so not sure what my MD will be doing but I guessing will be a transverse incision. This will be my first real surgery. I had an Essure placed in 2007 in the MD office with local anesthesia. The only other surgery I have had was oral surgery for wisdom teeth removal and again local anesthesia for that along with nitrous. My hubby and I tried for years to get pregnant, for 8 months under care of Reproductive Endocrinologist who diagnosed me with PCOS. We have had 3 early losses. We went on to adopt and I have never looked back. I have had moments where I regretted not trying one more time then I look at my son and I am positive everything happened the way it did so that we would be a family.

So I will have my procedure because I just had a 23 day cycle with clots, heavy flow, and just feeling miserable. Thankfully I did not have full flow all 23 days but this was just the spark I needed to seek out some options. For the past 2 years I have been having hot flashes, regular cycles, even ovulating--that ticks me off like no other as now it is painful due to my Essure or just my wonky ovaries. I had my Essure placed as I was 30 and knew with my previous history as well as age a pregnancy may have potential complications. I got tired of wondering every month if the twinge I felt was ovulation, would I just wind up losing another pregnancy? So my hubby and I discussed at length what to do. I went to OB/GYN to discuss options. I was not a candidate for hysterectomy at that point but she suggested Essure over traditional tubal ligation. I know some have had trouble with them but I have been very happy with mine. I have been thinking on this for months, years really and this last cycle was just the catalyst for me to take matters into my own hands.

I had a consult with MD on Monday and she offered me Mirena, ablation, or hysterectomy. I am not a good candidate for birth control pills. They make me psychotic. I already have enough trouble with hormones and adding them in is just not a pretty picture. I considered the Mirena for a bit but my hubby and I were worried it would just exacerbate my condition. I considered ablation but MD told me most women come back in 5-6 years with problems and resume bleeds so I figure let's just get this done and over with. Because of my age MD wants to leave ovaries in place. I have an ultrasound tomorrow to be sure everything is ok and I am curious to see if I do have any cysts. I feel like I do from the dull ache in pelvis. At exam MD said all felt normal so will be interesting to see what the ultrasound shows. No history of endo but I do have aches, most likely from the PCOS. No history of cancer or precancer in my self but my mom had cervical cancer as well as her 5 sisters. My grandmother had her uterus out at 56 for DUB. Both my maternal great-grandmothers had uterine cancer and died from it. I would rather be proactive in this and remove what may potentially be a ticking time bomb as well as just remove what is ailing me.

All that being said I am still nervous. This is my first surgery. This will be my first stay overnight in the hospital since I was a child. I am a nurse, not practicing in the clinical setting but still have the knowledge, so nervous about how I will be treated. I am an instructor at the local community college and my semester resumes the week following my surgery so I am hoping to be up to at least partial days. My hubby will drive me to work and pick me up and the first few days back we don't have students just office hours and meetings. My teaching load is not too heavy right now so I am planning to have a chair to sit in if needed when I lecture. Will just see. I am working on alternate plans if needed.I am getting stuff ready at home. Need to pack my bag still. Will get my post-op OTCs tomorrow, going to get Colace and Gas-X. Have my nest set up. My son is graciously letting me sleep on his bottom bunk bed so I do need to take stairs first few days home and try to hop up into my bad which is raised up on double underdressers. Getting my hair trimmed on Friday. It is down to the middle of my back and my hubby already brushes it for me but need to get the tangled dead ends hacked off to make it easier those first few days home and because it needs done. I have flexible ice packs in freezer already and have heating pad so good to go on hot and cold which I swear by anyway. I have lots of nightgowns, cotton pull over style in short and long sleeve and a comfy bathrobe.

If you are still reading at this point I thank you. It has actually been very cathartic to write all this down and hopefully it will help someone else. I am enjoying reading other posts and getting ready. Trying to come to terms with everything and of course my uterus is acting up now so I am very positive that this is exactly what I need to do! Good luck to all who are still waiting and to anyone else going in on the 7th!

Good luck! It sounds like you are prepared.

Thank you for sharing your story and I will be thinking about you on your surgery date - best of luck

	Quote:
Originally Posted by jcluvsme Good evening everyone! I am 37 and having an abdominal hysterectomy on January 7. Ironically it is 33 years after my mom had hers. She had cervical cancer which had metastisized to the uterus due to being pregnant with my sister. She had a vertical incision because they were not sure what they would encounter. I have not had my pre-op appointment yet so not sure what my MD will be doing but I guessing will be a transverse incision. This will be my first real surgery. I had an Essure placed in 2007 in the MD office with local anesthesia. The only other surgery I have had was oral surgery for wisdom teeth removal and again local anesthesia for that along with nitrous. My hubby and I tried for years to get pregnant, for 8 months under care of Reproductive Endocrinologist who diagnosed me with PCOS. We have had 3 early losses. We went on to adopt and I have never looked back. I have had moments where I regretted not trying one more time then I look at my son and I am positive everything happened the way it did so that we would be a family. So I will have my procedure because I just had a 23 day cycle with clots, heavy flow, and just feeling miserable. Thankfully I did not have full flow all 23 days but this was just the spark I needed to seek out some options. For the past 2 years I have been having hot flashes, regular cycles, even ovulating--that ticks me off like no other as now it is painful due to my Essure or just my wonky ovaries. I had my Essure placed as I was 30 and knew with my previous history as well as age a pregnancy may have potential complications. I got tired of wondering every month if the twinge I felt was ovulation, would I just wind up losing another pregnancy? So my hubby and I discussed at length what to do. I went to OB/GYN to discuss options. I was not a candidate for hysterectomy at that point but she suggested Essure over traditional tubal ligation. I know some have had trouble with them but I have been very happy with mine. I have been thinking on this for months, years really and this last cycle was just the catalyst for me to take matters into my own hands. I had a consult with MD on Monday and she offered me Mirena, ablation, or hysterectomy. I am not a good candidate for birth control pills. They make me psychotic. I already have enough trouble with hormones and adding them in is just not a pretty picture. I considered the Mirena for a bit but my hubby and I were worried it would just exacerbate my condition. I considered ablation but MD told me most women come back in 5-6 years with problems and resume bleeds so I figure let's just get this done and over with. Because of my age MD wants to leave ovaries in place. I have an ultrasound tomorrow to be sure everything is ok and I am curious to see if I do have any cysts. I feel like I do from the dull ache in pelvis. At exam MD said all felt normal so will be interesting to see what the ultrasound shows. No history of endo but I do have aches, most likely from the PCOS. No history of cancer or precancer in my self but my mom had cervical cancer as well as her 5 sisters. My grandmother had her uterus out at 56 for DUB. Both my maternal great-grandmothers had uterine cancer and died from it. I would rather be proactive in this and remove what may potentially be a ticking time bomb as well as just remove what is ailing me. All that being said I am still nervous. This is my first surgery. This will be my first stay overnight in the hospital since I was a child. I am a nurse, not practicing in the clinical setting but still have the knowledge, so nervous about how I will be treated. I am an instructor at the local community college and my semester resumes the week following my surgery so I am hoping to be up to at least partial days. My hubby will drive me to work and pick me up and the first few days back we don't have students just office hours and meetings. My teaching load is not too heavy right now so I am planning to have a chair to sit in if needed when I lecture. Will just see. I am working on alternate plans if needed.I am getting stuff ready at home. Need to pack my bag still. Will get my post-op OTCs tomorrow, going to get Colace and Gas-X. Have my nest set up. My son is graciously letting me sleep on his bottom bunk bed so I do need to take stairs first few days home and try to hop up into my bad which is raised up on double underdressers. Getting my hair trimmed on Friday. It is down to the middle of my back and my hubby already brushes it for me but need to get the tangled dead ends hacked off to make it easier those first few days home and because it needs done. I have flexible ice packs in freezer already and have heating pad so good to go on hot and cold which I swear by anyway. I have lots of nightgowns, cotton pull over style in short and long sleeve and a comfy bathrobe. If you are still reading at this point I thank you. It has actually been very cathartic to write all this down and hopefully it will help someone else. I am enjoying reading other posts and getting ready. Trying to come to terms with everything and of course my uterus is acting up now so I am very positive that this is exactly what I need to do! Good luck to all who are still waiting and to anyone else going in on the 7th!

I wish you luck and pray all goes well. Sounds like you have all you need. One thing I wish I did have a one of those gabby things to pick up things off the floor so I didn't have to bend over. Keep us updated on how your doing. Sounds like your family will take good care of you.

My hysterectomy was the first time I'd stayed overnight in a hospital since I was an infant. And I wasn't staying just overnight - I was told to expect a 3-4 day stay!

It turned out that I was worried for nothing. The staff couldn't have been kinder or more friendly. And mind, my surgery was in a francophone hospital, so almost all the staff who dealt with me were making an extra effort to communicate in their *second* language!

I lucked into a semi-private instead of the four-person ward room I'd been expecting. My roommate was like me, a quiet, middle-aged woman.

Another concern for me was that I'm vegetarian, but someone from the kitchen paid me a visit after surgery to find out exactly what I could and could not eat. She seemed genuinely relieved to find out that I'll happily eat dairy products, eggs and peanut butter. :-)

I was ready to go home three days after surgery. If I'd had to stay a fourth, I would have been really bored (I was up and about starting on Day 2) but otherwise it would have been no hardship.

With 3 losses myself and one child, I understand your decision to not try again. I don't think those who never went thru it understand the pain, both physically and emotionally. Our family was complete before this came up, I still wondered if I should have tried one more time. It truly sounds like you are ready as you can be. Be aware some of your issues may come up after with hormone changes and such. I found myself re thinking my reasons, needing to remind myself why I made those choices, and even needed to hear it from my husband. But never thought I had made the wrong choice. It was a comfort. Hugs to you, bottom line is i needed to be here and healthy for the dtr i have!! Bet you feel that way for your children, too!!

Thank you all for the sweet replies! So I had my ultrasound today. Just talked to MD. She said everything is normal. Nice thin lining. Ovaries look fine. Ok except for the big cyst on the left! I could feel it when the sonographer was probing. My husband could clearly see it on the monitor. Oh well. I'm assuming what she means is all is within normal limits. Well I am done with this nine sense. All that my tests are showing is just an odd dysfunctional bleed. While I am still having some fears I am more fearful of not doing this now. So now to get through the weekend and into next week. Sometimes being a nurse is a curse for sure!

Amen to that! Rn for 20 years, never studied women's health and never intended to, so knew just enough to scare me!! I just kept studying and learning, it helped.

I suffer from the nurse curse too! I was worried about any and all potential complications no matter how rare! A also had two pregnancy losses in between my two girls which is why they are almost six years apart. I agree that only those of us who have experienced this truly understand the devastation. As for surgery I had a major abdominal operation and then my adenoids removed at three years old. Had a lap in my twenties and knee surgery and I was still terrified! I am sure you will do fine too!! Good luck!