I'm back - Adominal Hyst surgery on 2/27

Hi Girls,
We survived huh? Well, a minute before surgery I decided on the spinal. I was asleep for the entire surgery and didn't know anything about the needle. I woke up thrilled that they saved my 1 ovary and left the cervix in. My uterus was a mess w/ huge fibroids and scar tissue. I'm good except for being a little weak and dizzy. I get headaches when I don't take the meds. Consitpation is awful... I spent yesterday being very nausaus but bottom line was because I hadn't moved my bowels since the day of my surgery. I'll get into more detail when I can spend more time at the PC. My DH has been marvelous - almost to the point of getting on my nerves ( are you ok? are you ok? ) haha.
Love you all.
Joanne

Welcome to post op Joanne.
I'm glad you've come through the surgery so well and are being looked after with such tenderness. Drink lots of water, try to keep your diet full of good fiber and walk as you feel up to it. All this will help keep your bowels regular.
I hope everything continues to go well. Get your rest and keep us posted on your progress.
's, Rita

I'm glad to hear you're doing so well. I also opted for the spinal -- it was great. (It was actually a "depidural" -- a shot of morphine into the area, rather than an epidural.) I had bad headaches when I woke up in the mornings (normally not a headache sufferer), and I think it was due to the anesthesia in my system. They subsided after about a week. I was quite nauseous, too, but I think it was due to the medications and my not eating much. So, I think the ol' "vicious cycle" started: not eating much, not keeping down what little I did eat (and I normally have a voracious appetite), then plunking in the meds into an empty and irritated stomach probably made it worse. They then started giving me my meds intravenously, and that helped tremendously.

When I finally got released from the hospital, I was so sick of Jello and yucky chicken broth (my God, how do you screw up chicken broth?!?), on the trip home I asked my mom to run by McDonald's for an Egg McMuffin. It tasted so good, and I had no trouble keeping it down. My mom started pumping me up with her magical homemade beef & vegetable soup -- it was the most delicious thing on the planet! So, once I got home, I really had no trouble switching to real/solid food, but my appetite was quite a bit diminished -- maybe eating about 1/3 at each meal of what I normally do. But, I would say I was back at full amount after about 3 days. (Although I craved only certain foods -- meats, vegetables, fruits and Triscuits.)

Welcome home and wishing you a speedy recovery.

I'm having an awful time the last few days, nausaus all the time. Bowels aren't normal because I can't eat. I think I'm going to stop the percorcet today to see if that's causing all this. Otherwise, I'm fine. Any suggestions?

I think it might be due to the Percocet along with the other meds combined with the anesthesia still in your system. And, honestly, I wasn't that impressed with Percocet. I didn't really suffer from pain, despite having a vertical incision, and found that the Percocet didn't make much difference, except for making my eyes feel weird -- as if I had had 2 glasses of wine. So, when I got home, I did fill my Percocet prescription, but took Advil instead so I could still have my wine in the evenings! The Advil worked just as well for me. I'm curious to see if you will improve once stopping the P.