Silly Questions - excuse my ignorance...

Okay I had a TAH/BSO with mass removal on the 6th of Sept. I went home to a friends house on the 9th of Sept. My hospital stay was complicated by extensive bladder surgery and the repair of my bowels and liver. I was allergic to the first two pain killers they gave me and promptly broke loose my stiches. I'm not trying to complain just give background.

Previous to surgery I had horrible periods since i was 9. I am 31. (just turned 31 at the end of aug) I am not married and not currently seeing anyone. I have one child she is 5. That pregnancy was horrible. I was sick from the moment that i got pregnant until 6 weeks after she was born. Shes my greatest accomplishment.

I dont have a lot of female friends. I am mostly one of the guys and asking these kinds of personal questions is kinda wierd because im used to guy topics... not girl topics.. Mind you i know what is normal for my body. I dont generally go seeking information from other women about what is normal for them. I recovered with my c-section 5 years ago with my then 70 year old father babysitting me.

So my questions of today are... why am i bleeding if everything that ever made me bleed is gone? My bladder doesn't exactly give me the sensation that i have to void it... will that come back? I have a wierd sharp pain in my foot i never had before that lasts for a few seconds when im just laying here. My incision itches im guessing that is normal. I cry all the time. At stupid stuff. They have me on premarin. And have since the surgery. I'm hoping its like antidepressants and take a week or so to kick in. It hurts like no ones business to get up or move around. I kinda expect that since the incision is hip to hip. But what im worried about is if i move to say lay on my side it feels almost like its tearing something. I have been reading alot of other posts and feel almost stupid about all of this. People seem to have far more important problems than my seemingly silly questions. In my defense i had less than 24 hours notice i was having the surgery. I had no time to research and learn and i didnt have time to ask alot of questions. Unfortunatly they found the mass on sunday sent me to a specialist on wed and i was in surgery on thursday. I didnt even find out what the mass was until last week so i couldnt look up anything. So forgive my ignorance.

Hi Debu
Please don't feel ignorant for asking any questions you have. You're not alone. I think most of us had no idea what we would encounter when we went into the OR and the drs all differ in how much information they think to offer too.

We are all different in how we heal. Some women have no bleeding and some bleed through most of their recovery. The only place blood can come from is the internal incisions. With the extensive work you had it isn't surprising you are having some bleeding. Many women will bleed a little at first, stop completely and then start again when the stitches begin to dissolve.

I think you should call your dr about the pain in your foot. I don't know what could be causing this, but you don't want to risk the possibility of a blood clot when you have pain in an extremity. When you call I would also just ask how much bleeding you should consider normal for you. This way you'll have an idea what your dr thinks is normal and what you should do if it were to become more than is safe for you.

The emotions are pretty normal, especially right at first and will usually even out in a week or so. It can take time for the hormones to kick in. I would also mention it to your dr that they don't seem to be doing much for you yet.

I didn't have a large incision, but I know that turning and trying to lay on your side is hard. Use as many pillows as you can to support your tummy. I hope some others will have input for you on that.

I hope you'll begin to feel better soon. Keep us posted on your progress and let us know what your dr has to say. Please don't feel funny asking questions. We're here to help.
's, Rita

If you've read through other posts, just about EVERYThING has been discussed or asked, one way or the other.

Are you bleeding real RED or is it more brownish (a yucky color...)? a TRUE RED warrants a call to your doctor. If it is a more ahem subdued color, it is probably just a discharge of surgical crud at the vaginal cuff. If it is A LOT I'd also call the Doctor.

I've read here that quite a few women had this same issue with not being able to tell when they had to go. I think it has a lot to do with the bladder being such a sensitive organ. I would try to pay attention to how much you take in of fluids and try to gage if you are voiding regularly. If you don't gain more sensation soon, I'd call the Doctor about it. But DO drink as much as possible to get yourself back on track. It helps with constipation as well, to stay hydrated.

I just read a few other women mentioning hip problems and such, I wonder if the same thing that happened to my daughter during C-section delivery, might have happened to you and some of the others. When we're completely under the surgical staff often is wiggling us around to get the angle that the surgeon prefers. You'd be surprised how much repositioning actually occurs. And because we are unconscious, we have no protective muscle tension to keep things from being twisted incorrectly. The staff literally dislocated my daughter's hip during her C!!! She was "dead" from the waist down, they were moving her over a bit, with her knees up and the nurse dropped her legs!!!
Just a thought... about your foot.. a twisted nerve or something maybe???

Itchy incision area is just part of the healing process, perhaps some Benedryl (with your Physicians approval of course...) and I've used an ice pack that seems to help some.

The mood swings, I haven't really experienced.... I am on anti-depressants though and have been for years, so maybe I am but don''t know it?

Just the fact that your surgery was a whirlwind of activity prior to the big H, would be enough to make ANYONE a bit unnerved.

Hang in there, and keep reading and asking questions, its pretty much ALL here... somewhere. These are truly amazing women and I just love this site.

I agree you all are wondeful women. The other day when I found this site I was all freaked out. This surgery has been compounded by my dad being in the hospital with bacterial pnumumona 70 miles away. So i dont have my mom like i normally would and i can't be there for my dad. They called me last night and said they gave dad a blood transfusion because his hemogolbin was 7. Hes 74 and in remission for lung cancer. Any other time I would be sitting in the hospital with him the entire time annoying the bejesus out of him so he would want to go home. Its more like this is the worst time for any of this. I did call the doctor this morning and they told me to watch what was going on. The bleeding isn't exactly bleeding its a wierd color ive never seen before. I'm used to passing clots with my period but the idea of bleeding when its all gone was beyond my comprehension (i am still very medicated at this point). They said to watch the foot. And take asprin to help with the blood clot possibility. The bladder they feel is because i had the foley in for 8 days and its just adjusting to working right. And asked me to give it a nother week before i start stressing about the hormones. I was nicely told i had been through a lot and i need to be patient. So i go back to feeling like a toddler. I appriciate the support more than any of you would ever imagine.

9 days with the foley??? Yikes! Yes that's a pretty good reason. Your bladder is probably freaked out! My gracious!

My prayers for your Father. I'm sure you both are in angst due to the other's condition.

Take one day at a time and rest, rest, rest!!! The biggest ABSOLUTE set back is doing too much!!! Hee-hee... and I think we've ALL done it!!! Get some walking in daily too though... it will help eliminate some of the stiffness.