More Nervous Everyday

Yesterday I talked to the Dr's office again. I now know that I am having a TAH with bowl prep. I think the thought of losing everything is making me more uncomfortable. I have never had a bowl prep, I'm not sure I want to do that. I am also stressing over the hormone situation. I have read everything I can find about them, and I don't think I want to take them. I go in for my pre-op on the 21st. The Dr's assistant told me to talk to the Dr about it then. What are my alternatives?

More experienced sisters will be here soon to discuss hormones. I'll limit my comments to the bowel prep.

I'm very glad I did extensive prep (per surgeon's orders) because my surgeon ended up removing endo from my bowels, among other things. I, personally, am not comfortable with the thought of extensive surgery going on NEAR my bowels, let alone ON my bowels, without them being empty and as cleaned out as possible. One nick and you've got potential for a very very nasty infection. I worked my way gently to liquid foods and worked my way off gently as well, and I think I'm seeing zero constipation because of it.

BTW, since yours is an abdominal hysto, ask your doc how she/he feels about On-Q (Essentially it keeps the incision flooded with local anesthetic which means pain relief without using system-wide drugs). I envy the gals who had that as an option for post-op pain control.

Thanks for your reply. What is On-Q?

On-Q is a device that essentially keeps the incision flooded with local asnesthetic, delivering pain relief directly to the wound. Thus you get pain relief without needing to take narcotics or other strong painkillers. If I remember correctly, there's some sisters around here who actually have first hand experience with the device. Your doctor may or may not be familiar with this device, it's a new technology.