LSH: HELP! New member, LSH in 1 week!!

Hi everyone! I'm 46 years old (no children) and have 9 large fibroids on my uterus which cause all kinds of problems. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, my hormone levels are totally normal so the estrogen continues to feed the fibroids and it looks like a hysterectomy is now very much necessary. My doctor recommended an LSH as my ovaries and cervix are completely healthy and I have read a lot about leaving the cervix as a way to preserve the pelvic floor. I totally trust my doctor of 18 years and he is one of the best at one of the best hospitals, so I feel I'm in good hands. However, I have never had surgery as an adult, so have no idea what to expect. The anesthesia scares me the most as I will have to be under for quite a while to remove a uterus this size. I would love to get feedback from any of you that have already had the procedure; the more informed I am, the better!

Thanks so much!!

I was under for three hours. Eating a meal slowly due to wanting to puke within 5 hours after surgery. It is scary but you will feel better. Best of luck.

The thought of being under terrified me, but after arriving at the hospital I felt much better, especially because the anesthesiologist came in to talk to me and explained everything. How going under would feel, what I may feel when coming out of it, etc. I remember him saying "time for some happy juice", then next thing I knew I was groggy, waking up and had nurses asking how my pain was. Poof! It wasn't terrifying like I had imagined.

I've had gallbladder surgery before so I'm not worried about being under. I told my daughter the other day that the good thing about being under is you don't really have to wait thru the surgery. One minute they are strapping you to the table, and what feels like a minute later, they are waking you up in recovery. It feels like only seconds have passed. Not like when you go to the dentist for a root canal or a crown and you have to sit there in the chair and wait thru what feels like forever til you are done.

I had been surgery free until all this happened to me and I was most afraid of being under general anesthesia as well. Everyone was so great and understanding and tried to ease my fears. I think I was the one who just had to let the fear go because it was taking hold of all my thoughts. Day of surgery for me was a lot of waiting since I was the last patient and my family support was there for me all day which kept my thoughts at bay. As you can see I am here to tell you about it. The whole surgery team was excellent and when I was in the OR they were great by rubbing my legs, massaging my head and just great talk. Once the happy juice was in I could feel it working and was not afraid. You will be fine

I was so afraid of the general anesthesia part. Because I have always had a problem with motion sickness, I was sure I would wake up throwing up and tearing open my insides.

However, my anesthesist (who was Asian and looked about 18) took my hx and offered a patch behind my ear to help with any post op nausea.

I was wheeled into the OR and the team introduced theirselves and told me to climb up on the table. I remember them apologizing for the table being cold, and then the anethesist saying, "I've already given something to relax you." Next thing I knew I was waking up in recovery.

No recall of going under, being catherized, having anything done to me at all. And waking up was hard to do only because I was so tired (not having slept for the 3 nights before probably was part of it).

Stop worrying...they have good drugs and will take awesome care of you. Let me know how it goes!

Thanks for all of the replies ladies, I'm starting to feel a little better about this. I love the "happy juice" (I get that every year with my endoscopy), but have never had anything other than Twilight anesthesia for very short (less than 30 minute) procedures. I'm hoping that all the juice I get is happy and I know I will be happy once I get this over with.

So, every day I will tell myself - STOP WORRYING!

Best of luck to all of you and again, thanks so much for helping calm my nerves about this. You all and the support from this website is priceless!