New here/ Hysterectomy soon

Hi,
I'm new here as you can see. I am going to be having a Full hysterectomy soon (making the arrangements next Friday). I will be having it thru my stomache (not lap), taking everything out.
Doc says I will be in the hospital 2 days probably, did any of you have to stay longer? And if so, why? I am worried about the pain, was it a grab your tummy and cry till dawn type pain, the first 2 days or was it leave me alone and let me sleep kina pain.
I get sick from anesthisia every time I go in for surgery, I am worried about vomitting afterwards and having it rip at my stomache..any advice on that.
I never feel comfortable asking my doc this type of stuff, 'cause I don't want him to think I'm being overly worriesome..but this kind of stuff plays over in my head and makes me wonder what it will all be like. I reall like this site, I just found it last night, and was so happy and greatful that I clicked on this link first....I usually click on links that are never very informative..you guys are doing a fantastic job here, and I figure someone above led me to you guys. Anyway, I am 37, have Endo and cysts, and some other stuff I can't spell, (has to do with not ovualting) and heavy-frequent periods..after more than 5 yrs. of pain, too many drugs and hormones I am finally doing the hysterectomy to get some kind of noraml life back and hopefully some sanity back in my life not just for me, but for my husband (god bless his heart). And I want to be able to go to the National Endurance ride next year, PAIN FREE! Any info and advice would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks again and I look forward to reading more of the posts. Have a good day.
Tina

Welcome to Hystersisters Horsenut! I'm so glad you found us and love this site! It's wonderful isn't it? It has been a real breath of fresh air to me. The ladies are very loving and very knowlegable.

I didn't have an abdominal surgery, but a vaginal one, so in that respect it would be different. However, the internal part is the same. It's a major surgery that takes initially about 6-8 weeks to recover from, but my Doc said it takes about 6 mos. for all the internal stitches to dissolve and all the healing to be completed. My surgery was 13 weeks ago and I am feeling very "back to normal" at this point, but it has been a very, very gradual thing. My doctor told me it would be an exhausting surgery and I couldn't agree with him more. It takes alot of resting and allowing others to do all the things that we normally do....a time just for you to take it easy and enjoy some of the quiet things you've always wanted to do, but have never afforded yourself the time.

My pain was mainly cramping internally. The pain on a scale from 1-10 was about an 8 right after the surgery. My pain got better as time went by. I was pretty stiff and sore the first 4-5 weeks. After that things began to improve. but very gradually, as I said.

I believe they put something in my IV for nausea either before the surgery or right after. I didn't have much nausea after. Just a little. Tell them that anesthesia makes you nauseous and they will give you something.

I don't regret having this surgery at all. I feel 100% better. Other than my resistance being low and getting some bugs that have been going around, it has all been pretty uneventful. I would ask your doc about this and see what his advice to you would be. My mom lives in a retirement home and I have to walk down a very long hall to her room. That hall used to seem like 10 miles to me before my hysterectomy, but I noticed last night when I went to see her I had a little bounce in my step and felt so much lighter on my feet.

My very best wishes to you! You will do just fine and please let us all know how things are going for you!

Love and s

Gosh, with a name like "HorseNut", how could I help but drop in and say hello? Welcome! You'll find several horsey-kindred spirits here.

I also had an abdominal hyst. "Everyone is different" of course, but you might be glad to hear that I was back on my horse (with my doctor's blessings) at 5 weeks. OK, just puttering around bareback, but still... At 8 weeks I was doing one-hour lessons and rides. The morning after I came home from the hospital I was out in the pen, petting my horse and donkeys.

I think I was in the hospital about 48 hours - I went in around 2 pm for surgery about 4:00 - stayed that night, the next day and night, and went home the following morning - so it was "three days", but really only 48 hours start-to-finish.

I had some pain - it really doesn't work well to refuse pain meds the day after surgery, y'know. Mostly it wasn't bad at all. When they make the incision it also cuts a lot of nerves, so for the first 12 days the whole area was pretty numb. Lucky, eh? For the first few weeks the "pains" were gas and bowel pains, bladder cramps, nerve twinges, etc. I didn't experience any "yucky all over" feelings, like having the flu - just localized ouchiness. I always compare the pains I had to whacking your shin on the coffee table. It hurts like the dickens for a minute, and you have to grab a doorframe and cuss a bit, but it goes away and you feel OK. At least, that was how it went for me.

I got really sick from morphine after a laparoscopy I had (6 weeks before my hyst), and I wasn't keen to repeat that. I was going to ask for an epidural, but the anesthesiologist offered a spinal, so that's what I did, and it worked great. I wrote up everything I could think of about having a spinal - just click on the little "www" button at the bottom of my message to read my whole "hystory".

I have to go top off my critters' water tubs - please feel free to drop me a note if you have any questions.
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At the risk of being extraordinarily long-winded, I'll post a copy here of a message I sent privately to another horsey LIW months ago. I hope it's useful for you (and if not, maybe another horsey LIW can use the info):
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I was back on my horse at 5 weeks post-TAH. All we did was walk around, bareback, with a little trotting. I think I could have done more, but at that point she couldn't do more than a little puttering around - long story...

Here are some things to look out for:

Anything sudden and unexpected.
I think I could have handled more trotting just fine, but we did have a little spook - just one of those jump-sideways-and-snort kind - and I felt that! Same deal with leading - I was leading out 600 lb jenny donkey, she was being an angel (which is why I chose her, for starters) until she decided to run after and stomp a cat. I was able to stop her, pulling like mad on the lead rope (at 4 weeks post-op) and running behind her, but I hurt for several days after that one. Don't be afraid to get a friend to help you for a while.

Climbing aboard using the stirrups.
I'm not sure I could have done that. I ride bareback mostly, and my horse (bless her heart) sidepasses over to the trailer fender (or fence, or rock) so I can climb on. If you're not used to using a mounting block (or if your horse isn't used to it), you might want to practice beforehand. Also, if your horse moves off while you are mounting, you might find that really hard to deal with. Again, a helpful barn buddy would be a good idea.

Cleaning out feet!
At about 3 weeks I was feeling pretty good, so I thought I'd try cleaning out my mare's feet. I don't even need to "catch" her - she's really good about it. But between the bending over and the effort of holding her foot up I got really dizzy, and needed to sit down on the ground for a while.

Getting shoved or head-butted.
My little donkey, Eeyore, likes to rub his head on me. I know, I know, bad habit to allow it... but he's only 10 hands, and really sweet... But after my hyst I was afraid he'd try rubbing on me. For some reason he did not. What a guy! But if you have any animals that are prone to shoving you around, be careful.

Lifting and twisting.
I didn't have to lift a saddle (another advantage of riding bareback), but I'd think that would be hard to do. If you try it, be careful especially when you do that little heave-** thing throwing it over the horse's back. Maybe another good time to use a mounting block or a helper. Even sliding big barn doors open could be ouchy.

Otherwise, have fun. I was back in the pen, petting them at least (one horse, two donks) the day after I got home from the hospital. A sight, in my PJs, I'm sure. My DH took excellent care of them for 4 weeks - which was amazing, because he's really not involved with them otherwise.

Is your horse (horses?) at home, or boarded? If at home, you'll definitely need help for at least 4 weeks. I could carry 1 flake of hay at a time after about the first week, but it was wonderful to have help. Like when your horse is on "stall rest" you might want to come up with some toys or games to keep him/her from getting too bored while you are recovering. This would be a great time to try clicker training, if you don't already do it. You can work from a lawn chair outside the pen, even - just like whale trainers work from outside the pool. Let me know if you need any info on it. All my critters think it's great fun, and pick things up really fast with it.

Lemme know if you have any other questions.

Horsenut!
Welcome.
I just got home yesterday morning. My TAH/BSO was Tues. 11/13. I was out of surgery at 7 pm and home by Thurs. 11/15 at 10:30 am! Yea!

The real pain was immediately after surgery for me. As I was coming out of the general, I felt some serious pain, but asked the nurses to help me. They shot me up with something, keeping me groggy throughout the night, but by 5 am, the nurse popped in, asked if I was ready to have my catheter out and walk around. I said YES!

I said yes, because of all the wonderful things I've learned from this board. I took quite a few walks throughout the day and my pain meds (which I kept in me to keep me able to move around when I wanted to ) started with oral percocet, then moved to something less strong (forget :-) ) and now I'm on ibuprofen.

I feel sore and bruised from my ribcage to my butt, but that is it so far.

Best advice I picked up here was:
#1 - drink as much water as you can (this cleans out the general anesthesia drugs, but also forces you to get up every two hours to pee, and since you're up, you might as well walk 30 feet up the hallway and back.)
#2 - walk around - even little, tiny walks keep you from getting stiff and clear out the lungs (if you have general)
#3 - keep asking for pain meds. I would buzz the nurses and ask to be brought my pain meds as soon as I was allowed to have them since I didn't want to wait until the pain built up. They took great care of me.

My sleep schedule is goofy which is why I'm up at 1:45 am, but I feel so happy to be home and resting. Really resting.

during surgery they found some freaky tumors in my uterus that did not show up on ultrasounds, so this surgery was lifesaving for me. I was scared going into it, but knew I really needed this to get my active, energetic self back so I just did it and 2 1/2 days post op I am soooo glad, so relieved and pretty darn sore!

But still smiling,
Pam

Welcome, Horsey-Sister!

Like you, I'm kind of new to the boards, but I've seen so many wonderful posts...it's like a whole new sisterhood of support has opened up (pardon the pun!).

I'm still in the limbo of biopsy-ville at the moment - it's scheduled for Dec 6th, and that will determine if I have a simple TAH or a TAH plus chemo, etc. Either way, this wonderful place is helping me to stay positive, and keep smiling.

Hang in there - we're all here to give you hugs and warmth

Tess
xxxxxxx

Horsenut,

Unfortunately I can give you no advice about the amount of pain because like you I am scheduled for a TAH, through my belly in December, however, I do know something about nausea. Over the past few years of I had several procedures where I have gone under general anethesia and the first few I vomitted for hours after. It also happened after the epidural from my first two children.

Eventually one must wise up and speak out. I began warning the anesthiologist that I get dreadfully ill (Don't let them tell you that anesthesia has changed because that's a crock). Now they give me something intravaneously to control nausea and it works. I believe it was phenegran but I can't be positive. I know after surgery if I felt the least bit nauseous they would give me phenegran but I'm not sure what I received through the I.V.

What's nice about phenegran is that it also acts as a sleeping pill so it has the added benefit of zonking you out. Something you'll need.

Well good luck to you. You found a wonderful site. Any question imaginable will be answered. Don't be afraid, there is too much support here for that.

Melanie

Hi Horsenut!

I had a TAH/BSO on Sept 14(Friday) and was released on Tues. The dr originaly told me Mon. but I was running a slight fever which turned out to be nothing. I was stiff and sore at first and as the other ladies said, it diminishes with time. But, you have to be patient. The other important thing for comfort is your little tummy pillow. I couldn't have made it without it! And remember, walk!! It may hurt like the dickens at first but it really speeds up recovery.

Good luck
Judy

Hi, I just read your post. I had a TAH four weeks ago and I'm doing very well. Back to work and living my life. You said you get sick from anesthesia. I always used to but now my doctor gives me a drug called Zofran in my preop IV to prevent nausea. It really helps. Ask your dr. about it. I had an epidural and a narcotic in my IV for sleeping, so I didn't have gen. anesthesia which means no poisons in your system and no tube down your throat. Much easier as far as I'm concerned and I've had both believe me. I stayed 3 nights in the hospital. I could have gone home after two, but my doctor said to be safe he wanted me to stay three nights which was fine. Take advantage of the round the clock care from the nurses. The first night after surgery is the worst but the epidural does keep the pain away for about 24 hours. After that, I took Darvocet for pain, but after about 4 or 5 days I stopped taking that. You will do fine. Trust your doctor, but do talk to him about the things I mentioned. Good luck and if you have any questions feel free to email me at Maggie44@aol.com. God bless, Peggy

Tina,

First of all, welcome to HysterSisters! We are so glad that you found us.

I am 8 weeks post from a SAH (Supracervica Abdominal Hyster) which means I still have my ovaries and cervix. As far as my hospital stay goes, I was there from Monday until Thursday. I began running a fever on Tuesday so the DR wanted me to stay and additional night so they could keep an eye on me. In the past I have never had a problem with anestesia but I did this time. Well that's what they thought it was at first anyway. I was also given a morphine pump for pain, which turned out was what caused me to throw up for 2 days straight! The first day the DR and nurses kept insisting it was the anestesia but as it turned out it definately was the morphine.

As far as the pain, it wasn't all that bad, it was more of a "leave me alone I'm sick" kinda pain. The best thing you can do is listen to your DR, drink plenty of water and walk whenever possible. But above all.........REST, REST, REST and when you are sick of that REST some more.

If you would like to talk to some really great women about any questions, concerns or vents you may have, please join us in the AIM/AOL chat room. It's great fun! If you want to join us and need some help getting there please feel free to e-mail me at TGolt@hystersister.com or even if you just want to talk.


Happy Healing.