Pre-Op Jitters/Concerns

I am new here and wanted to share my experience so far with being told I need a hysterectomy. I have many fibroids, some very large as well as cysts on my ovaries and just learned I may have endo on top of that although the Dr. could not see all he wanted to see on ultrasound on the left ovary. I just moved and he is the 2nd Dr. to recommend a hysterectomy. He is the Dr. who birthed my daughter 14 years ago. My pelvic area and back pain is getting worse by the minute!

I was told this after an ultrasound on 2/7/05 and he said to let him know what I wanted to do in a few days! After much searching for research and delaying it with pain getting worse, I finally called his nurse to see if insurance would cover it as that would be the determing factor. After having to call her 3 times after she said she would call me the next day after the 1st phone call, she finally said they approved it with no problem. Now I know I delayed calling back, but felt I was not important enough or my condition may not be bad enough for her to delay and have to be called 3 times within 2 weeks to get an answer. She did apologize and explained how busy the practice was.

Now, she told me I had to make another appointment in order to talk with the Dr. for further questions and then set the date for the surgery. Is this normal procedure? I found this site, thank the Lord, and I am reading everything I can. Appintment is March 28th, I had "preplanned" surgery date week of April 4th if he could but he is only doing outpatient that week, she said it would have to be April 11th or after for TH.

Any feedback, encouragement, suggestions, would be welcome at this point! I am so ready to be rid of the pain as it is hard to function normally anymore. BTW, I am a workaholic, hate to be sick or in bed but ready to do whatever it takes to be me again.

Thanks,
Ellen

Hi Ellen,

to Hystersisters! You will find a wealth of information and fantastic support here!

I'm sorry you are facing surgery. You might want to read through Checkpoints. There is a whole lot of great information there. Also, take some time to read Pre-Op Articles which you can find here.

Best wishes!

s

Deb

Hi,
I don't know if I can give you any advice but I am also anxious and nervous. I am supposed to have a supracervical hysterectomy on April 11th, (the same day as your scheduled surgery). It was supposed to have been done this past Monday but I had to cancel it due to a tooth infection. I have spent hours on this website since I discovered it a few days ago. I am going in because of very heavy periods and one doctor said that I have adenomyosis.
Please make sure you are comfortable with your doctor. I went to six different doctors before I finally felt comfortable with one who suggested the surgery. Several of the other doctors recommended the surgery as well.
I would be happy to hear from you. Maybe we can calm each other's nerves.

Take care.

amyr

Hi Ellen:

I had a TAH/BSO on 2/24, which was a week before I was scheduled because my pain got so bad it was incapacitating. I had fibroids, but I also had endometriosis. The dr. cannot see endo on the ultrasound or any other test and even after surgery sometimes they can't see it by their naked eye, but the pathology report will tell the truth. That is what happened to me. I already knew I had endo. It was previously diagnosed and treated, but it was back with a vengeance. After my surgery, my dr. told me she removed everything, but didn't see the endo. The pathology report came back that my uterus, tubes and cul de sac were covered in endo. My ovaries were healthy, although I had them removed too. Apparently, the endo in the cul de sac is what was causing my tremendous back pain and the endo in front caused the pelvic pain. I am recovering now and I can tell you, there has not been a better decision I have made for myself when I decided to have this surgery. From the moment you wake up, you realize you do not have the same pain that you have been suffering with for so long. You have "healing" pain, but it is nothing like what you had and not in the same place either. It is like a wand was waved over you and all the miserable pain that has been plaguing you is gone. This is a terrible time for me to be out of work, but I didn't have a choice and it sounds like you don't have one either. Be good to yourself. Make your best educated decision. Make a decision you can be happy living with. Once you do this, go for it, it is worth it. RAH RAH

Denise

I just like you had fibriods and was told a couple of times a TAH would solve everything......before finding this great website i kept reading about horror stories and thought well the pain is only five days a month i can handle that.........however my blood count was so low..........it wasn't changing so once i realized thanks to this website and conversations with others that this isnt' so bad i had a new attitude about the surgery. Now my doctor i believe is a miracle worker from the time i went to sleep and woke up i have had no pain......(the swelly belly) is the only thing i didn't bargin for..........lol however it doesnt hurt and its starting to go away with the resumuption of exercise. Overall i wish you luck i encourage you to read all the pre-op notes. Take that questionner to your doctor........i felt so empowered with questions i really didn't know about from this site and having him go over them with me.

also..........take it easy remember its your body your life and hey from what i have seen on Oprah.....we have a lot of living to do.......after 50...........good luck

Welcome Dreambig,

Enjoy this site, it has helped me lots. I have the same surgery date,

I had a Dr. appt. on March 7th for my Yearly and we talked about the surgery, switched dr. so this was a new office, all my records were sent to him. We talked about surgery & he sugguested Lupron, gave me pamplets on every thing told me to think about it & call office Monday & let his office know to either do the surgery or Lupron shots.

Well I called on Monday and said let's go for surgery, I have had 5 other dr. sugguest surgery. They told me either April 11 or June he will be open. I now have a Dr. appt with the Dr. to discuss the surgery April 7 & then do the pre-op appt.


I plan on being out of the office for 6-8 weeks, but doing some paper work at home as I feel up to it.

Hang in there, I know it's hard, We are women and are always doing it all. I just keep thinking I will be able to do it all and be in no more pain, and feeling good while I do it rather than holding my side while we work through the pain.

Just keep reading this site it helps calm the nerves!!!!!

Denise,

Thank you for sharing your story with me as it has been so encouraging and uplifting as some of the posts out there that are being honest have not had that great an experience.

I truly believe that attitude has a lot to do with it. I have always had the mind set that no matter what happens to you, how you handle it is totally equal to the overall outcome.

He mentioned I may have endo in there and he could not totally tell on the ultrasound and I bet that is what it is. I will find out on the 28th if he recommends cutting me in the abdomen or the other way. I would imagine abdomen is harder to overcome but yet "they" say they can see more if they do it that way and I want to know what all is in there that pains me so much.

Thanks again!
Ellen