LAVH W/BSO & Bladder sling - Help w/questions!

My surgery is scheduled for 10/7 and I will be having the LAVH w/BSO and Bladder sling. I am wondering about recovery time and post-op pain for this. The doctor is putting in a suprapubic catheter and has said it will be in 10 day to 2 months. Did anyone else have this type of surgery?? And what kind of experiences did you have? Preop is Thursday and I am getting very, very nervous. I have also started nesting and am cleaning and cooking like crazy!

Even though I have had numerous surgeries before I find that I am more anxious than ever before and am now having trouble sleeping. Is this normal?

Yvonne

Hi Yvonne,
I had the same surgery as you are having Sept. 13. The LAVH was just fine. The bladder sling is somewhat harder to get over because there can be swelling, etc. and not everyone can go on their own when the catheter is removed. You are having a catheter inserted for quite a while, so maybe that is a good thing so you don't have to worry about emptying when you are in the early stages of recovery. I had to have the bladder sling but I had heard horror stories, so I understand your concern.

I had a regular cath in the hospital, they took that out, but I could not go on my own very much. I ended up with another catheter (the plug kind) for a second week. Now I am emptying more, but having to do a little self catherization to empty totally. It can be a slow process, so be patient - things will work again. They told me that as the swelling goes down and things get back to normal the bladder gets better, too. However, they told me if in two months I was not normal they would go back in. It is an outpatient procedure and is done if the sling is too tight.

I hope I have not totally clouded the issue! I nested, cleaned and cooked too - now everything is a mess! I figure it will all be there when I am well, too. Just try to relax (try at least! ha) and remember that you will feel so much better when it is all over. I feel better already.

You'll be in my prayers!
LCP

Thanks LCP for your encouragement. Just from reading the other posts in here, I can see that I am not alone in this. So many of the ladies that have posted are having TAH, so I wanted to get a feel for what happens when you have the all-in-one I am having.

Yvonne