Home from the Castle!

Hello sisters. I had my TAH/BSO on Wednesday, June 28. I got home yesterday afternoon, but took it easy, so I'm writing to you today.

All went well. My recovery was completely noneventful. However, when they take you off of the bladder catheter, make sure that you can empty yourself all the way. 50% of patients who have our surgery fail a void. I ended up failing and never, ever experienced this type of pain. It was worse than childbirth and I have 4 kids. Your bladder can comfortably hold 300-500 mL. By the time that mine got drained, I had 2000 mL.

Other than that, it was okay. I didn't get sick. No nausea, vomiting, etc. I made sure that I had plenty of meds for that.

Being home is weird. I want to jump into my life again. My incision lets me know when I've gone too far by this stabbing pain that just paralyzes me. I only had to use Motrin in the hospital for post-op pain.

I remember being so scared and freaking out, and honestly girls, that is the worst part of it all.

I'm bloated or have the swelly belly, but it's not that bad. I was upset because they removed 5 pounds of junk and yet I somehow gained 4 pounds! I had this tumor on my right ovary that encapsulated it, wrapped itself behind my uterus and was attaching itself to the left ovary. Creepy! I also had some precancerous fibroids in my uterus.

I just got out of the shower to get that hospital smell off of me and am ready for my nap! I'm dying for a cup of coffee, but I know that'll get me wired and in trouble.

I just wanted to share my experience with you.

Welcome home!!! Glad thing's went well for you.Now rest and be sure to Take care.

I hope your recovery continues to be so blessedly uneventful. So what's up with the cath thing? Are you saying that after it was removed you couldn't completely empty out and kept getting fuller and fuller before you could void? Is it due to the anethesia that still in your system so you don't feel like you have to 'go'? I had a cath in after my first child was born and I couldn't pee (natural,vaginal birth) but that was 28 years ago and I don't remember if I was in pain or not. Must have been for them to put a cath in.

Welcome home new . I'm glad things went fairly well for you. It is tempting to try to jump into normal activities, but you need to rest and recover!! So be sure to and of course

Glad to hear you are home and well. Rest up! School will be starting before we know it! ((hugs))

ITEACH,

I had my surgery 2days before you and posted about my catheher experience, but fortunately my catheter experience wasn't that bad. I asked for them to remove it a few hrs after surgery, dr. said he's never taken it out that early(they usually keep it in at least 2hrs) He stressed over and over to me, that i had to void within 4hrs b/c ppl get nasty bladder infections holding it in after surgery. Aftre he told me that I MADE myself go within 20min of them taking it out. Anyway...got side tracked....my prob was that the catheter was causing me severe pain/cramping and w/in minutes of it's removal my pain level went from about a 7 to a 3. The nurse did say that it causes cramping.

Hooray for us...we made it past the most trying part.

btw-when did they tell you about the precancerous cells? I thot the path reports took at least a week?!

Also don't worry about the weight, it's most likely left over from the fluids. I noticed I lost two pounds a couple days from leaving the hosp, AND I was eating like a cow, so I'm assuming I woulda lost more.

I too got home last night only after I could demonstrate a BM. I'm still tired but I thought it would be good for me to start posting from my laptop, computer/bed table (a wonderful purchase), and "nest" on the couch.

I was lucky enough to get a shower at the castle before I left. I am in no condition for stairs and will ask my husband for a sponge bath tonight in our little half bath on the main floor.

For me the most pain had been the pack and the cath since there was so much pressure. My pain dropped once they were removed on Friday. At one point on Friday they said that I could stop measuring my output, which was huge.

It took me a long time to recover from the anesthesia and I was rather nauseous for the first 36hrs. I had three kinds of antinausea meds plus an ice pack behind my neck until I left the castle. I had asked for this in advance and warned the folks who were helping pre-op so I guess I was the only one who wasn't surprised by the reaction.

Now the pain is focused on my back again...sigh. I'm still wearing teds as my legs are a bit swollen and my DH says my belly is too but I can't see much difference from the pre-op swelling I had.

The strangest thing is not knowing the details of what happened until my post op appointment on the 11th. The doc who handled my after care wasn't my doc (he went on vacation as it is a holiday weekend) so she couldn't do more than a nurse would have done to keep me comfortable. Speaking of nurses, they were great and are very wise about these procedures so I'd advise on asking them anything that comes to mind while you are in the castle.

My last pre-op thought is that I should have made a list of questions for my DH to ask my doc after the surgery. I love my DH but he had no clue other to say that the surgery was successful and that the doc rescued an ovary that was trapped between my uterus and wall. That last bit was unexpected so I can't wait to hear all about it along with my path report (I'll be posting about that on the post op side).

sorry for the long post

-ebeb (30, LAVH, 6-29)

Glad to hear that all went well, I can't wait to get this done and over with! Remember to relax and rest! Take Care!

I teach[u] Good to hear you are having a good recovery! I hope mine goes well. My anxiety is really high and I'm really nervous! It's coming up soon now!

Glad to hear you are recovering nicely, make sure to take it easy and do not do too much too soon. For me that has been difficult some days. The best of health to you.