3 surgeries in 3 months...

I posted my original thread back in March of 07 after my TAH on February 14th and I was going through hell. (copy of original post below) I need some answers please!
Again...I apologize for this being so long. I'm hoping someone can shed some light...<Oops! Please keep the website Guidelines in mind when posting. Talk of legal action isn't allowed.> Well my boyfriend and I decided that I should go back in the hospital and have the blood clot removed so I could get on with my life and back to work. I went in on April 11 for the second surgery and ended up in the hospital for 9 days. My surgery was at 11a.m. that morning, and my sister came to see me in the afternoon. I was feeling pretty good and all of a sudden I started feeling really strange...I remember starting to loose my vision and hearing...my poor sister was scared to death and ran to get the nurses, apparently my eyes started to roll back in my head and the veins in my neck and chest were pulsing and protuding. They checked my blood and found that I went into sugar shock. (Not sure why, since I'm NOT diabetic). I had such bad pains in my right shoulder and under my right ribcage due to gas. The pain was horrific. They continued to draw blood through the night and the next morning they took me down for a cat scan. At the time I thought it was because of my gas pains. About an hour after I got back to my room, a nurse came in and took my water and food away and told me I could only have ice chips. I knew right away that something was wrong if they wouldn't allow me to eat. Sure enough...my gyno came in and told me the cat scan showed another blood clot. She did and internal exam as I lay there, and when she removed her fingers they were covered in blood. They started me on a blood transfusion that afternoon before my 2nd (3rd) surgery.
Back into surgery I went at 6 p.m. that night. when I came to in my room, I was feeling awful, I had a hard time breathing and was put on oxygen. The next day I wasn't feeling any better, so I had to go for chest x-rays. (at this time I still wasn't "out of bed" so it was tough trying to stand for the x-rays) The results showed that I developed pneumonia and had to start breathing treatments. My gyno came in later that day and told us that she had another surgeon with her the 2nd (3rd) time she cut me open (cut in same place 3 times) to take out the 2nd clot and make sure she didn't miss anything. They loaded my insides up with a surgical mesh to absorb any leftover blood and to keep my insides in tact. The same day I found out I had pneumonia I started to run a fever....I was having a reaction to the the mesh inside me. I was on so many pills and different IV's. For 3 days I lived on ice chips and by the time I was allowed to eat, I couldn't, I had absolutely no appetite. To make matters worse, they put a patch behind my ear before the first surgery to keep me from vomitting and told me the worst side effect was dry mouth, boy, they were not kidding! My poor boyfriend was with me and trying to be of help, but I was just feeling so miserable I didn't want anyone around, so I yelled at the poor guy to leave and go home. My gyno had put a hard bandage "shell" over my incision and it hurt when she pulled it off. A couple of days later I felt something on either side of my incision and when I looked down I saw these HUGE blood blisters, 3 on each side about a quarter in size, they were discusting! I called the nurse and she said they were tape blisters, but had never seen them that size...only me! Finally after 9 days I got to go home. I went to see the doc a week after my surgery and she told me how worried they all were about me and how close I came to ending up in the ICU. Apparently they told my boyfriend one day when he was there visiting, but NO ONE ever said anything to me! I went to see her again a couple weeks ago (for an internal exam) and this time she told me how close to death I was! I believe it because I felt like total CRAP! I had lost weight from my first surgery back in February and when I finally broke down and put on my jeans, they were actually a little loose...woohoo! Now, after my 3rd surgery I can get into my jeans but they're snug and my belly is still protruding, which kind of confuses me since I basically had nothing to eat for 9 days, and my boyfriend says that when I get on his bike, he can tell I've lost weight. (Yes I've been out riding) I feel pretty good right now, but my belly is SO sore when I touch it. It's not red or hot so I'm guessing it's my stomach muscles??? that are sore. Some days I'm so swollen all over that I look like I'm pregnant. I know it varies from person to person, but how long will this last?
My boyfriend insists that she screwed up and she knows it. Like I said earlier, everyone agrees with him.
I'm finally going back to work on June 4th after being out for 4 months and being in pain and discomfort for five months.
Again, for the second time, I apologize for this being so long. I'm hoping to get some thoughts or suggestions from someone.
This is my original post from my first surgery back in February:
6 weeks and still feeling lousy
This is long, bear with me. I had to take a pain pill just to be able to sit here at the computer. On January 4th I went to see my gyno because I was certain I was going through menopause (I'm 47). I told her my periods were erratic and I was having bad cramping during the first 2 days of my cycle. (I can count on one hand the number of times I've had cramps in the last 35 or so years). I was hoping to talk her into doing "thermal balooning" just so I could cease having my periods. She did an exam and much to my surprise, she told me I had several tumors in my uterus, 2 of which she could feel were quite large. Shetold me I had to have an abdominal hysterectomy, not vaginal because of the size of tumors. She wanted to remove EVERYTHING. She was also a little concerned because they were quite large and there were no signs a year ago at my checkup. When I got home, I absolutely lost it. (I don't deal well with this kind of stuff)! After my visit, I immediately started having pain and my belly started to swell. I think with all the poking and prodding she did set something off. To make matters worse, I couldn't have my surgery until the 14th of February. I ended up starting my short term disability on the 1st of February because it was too painful sitting at work. I was a wreck, crying all the time, couldn't fit into my clothes (still can't after 6 weeks). Just wait it gets better! That night after my surgery I vomitted all over the place...twice. My doc came in to see me the next day and told me I had 5 tumors which had ALL DOUBLED IN SIZE since the beginning of January. I had 2 that were 5" x 6" and 3 that were about 3" x 4".They tried to get me out of bed the next day and I came close to passing out. They took blood tests and discovered I was anemic (the doc said the tumors apparently held alot of blood) so I had to have a blood transfusion. I ended up staying in the hospital for 5 days. In which time I became extremely constipated from all the pain medication (I didn't know pain pills cause constipation, believe me I don't need help in that department)! The night after I came home, my fiance' had to bring me to the emergency room because I started to run a high fever. They stuck an IV in and gave me tylenol and antibiotics and told me I PROBABLY had a post op infection. I was still in alot of pain prior to my first checkup, which once again I started running a fever and she discovered at my checkup that I have a "blood clot mass" in my abdomen. She doesn't want to open me up because she said the blood is too vulnerable to infections. She wants to wait and see and HOPE that my body will absorb it. So I've gone for an ultrasound and went to see her again...the clot is the size of a baseball. Another ultrasound this week, then wait and see...and another ultrasound next month...then wait and see. If after 3-4 months if it doesn't go away she'll have to open me up again to remove it. She has been a gyno for 20 years and this is only the 3rd time she's seen this. In the meantime, I can't go back to work because I hurt when I sit up or walk for any length of time, plus my clothes don't fit and I'm an emotional wreck, especially when I look in the mirror and I'm standing sideways. GROSS. My stomach is still so swollen(?) and I'm beginning to think it will never go away. I am extrememly tired sometimes and I feel SOOO unattractive. I'm in pain if I'm "up" all day. I don't leave the house much because I can't fit into anything. I don't sleep well at all, I'm awake most of the night throwing covers off then pulling them back on, over and over. I finally sleep between 5 a.m. and 9:30 ish. Sometimes I feel like I'm going to lose it and have a breakdown. I cry just about everyday.
I just can't stand the way I look and feel. This has been going on WAY too long...I've been feeling like crap since January 4th when she poked and prodded for the first time. I'm not sure when I'll be able to get back to work and I can't afford to stay out too much longer.
I'm sorry this was so long, I needed to get this out.
Thanks for reading
P.S. I hope you all are doing LOTS better than me!By the way, has anyone out there tried the swelly belly band?

(((ritz_curry)))
You have been through quite an ordeal. I was so relieved to hear that your story seems to have a good ending. It sounds like you were one of the unfortunate women who faced complications. We all hope nothing like this will happen, but there is that percentage of people who have adverse reactions to meds or don't respond in what is the typical way to whatever procedure is done.

It's hard to say if there was human error involved here. I would encourage you to be thankful that you are on the road to recovery and let this go. We can't discuss any type of legal action here and in all probablitity your dr was doing her very best for you.

I'm so sorry for all you've suffered in this ordeal. I hope once you're healed you'll find you feel better than ever. Your body is going to take some time to completely heal. A hyst without complications can take six months to a year to heal completely. We're all individuals and heal at different rates, but this will give you some indication of what you may be facing. It should continue to get better and better, but this swelling sounds like a normal part of the healing process.

Thank you for sharing your story with us. Please take care to listen to your body and don't push when you're tired or hurting. Rest when you have time off and take good care of yourself. Keep us posted on your progress please.
's, Rita