Freaking Out - Surgery on Tuesday

Hi,
I'm having hyster (leaving cervix), plus repair of rectocele and cystocele on Tuesday. I'm extremely nervous. They're doing burch procedure, plus grafting skin from a lab and using gortex to hook the cervix to my tailbone.
I'm terrified. Never hit me until my last day of work (I'm a teacher) because I kept extremely busy. Now I have the long holiday weekend and Monday to get through.
Any post-op success stories would be appreciated. What I'm most nervous about, is that I've had pain in my back and abdomen from years that was attributed for a long time to scar tissue from a right side removal of my ovary. Now they say it was from the prolapse. But, they also say they're deliberately grafting skin and that scar tissue will be my friend in this procedure. My question is, if doctors thought scar tissue was causing my pain, I'm afraid that I'll have even more pain afterwards. Dr. assures me I won't be worse-off painwise, but I'm still scared.
I have two urogynecologists in Albany NY and they're wonderful doctors. I have great trust in them, but I guess it's normal that I'm terrified, right?
Debbie

You sweet dear! YES it's perfectly normal to be scared witless
the few days before your surgery! You're not alone! We've all been there!

As for your procedures, I can only say that my doc had to clean up some scar tissue from a prior surgery and that this incision, even though I'm only 4 weeks post op, feels different from the first one. I think I have more feeling in the skin around the incision. After the first surgery, I had a two-inch "dead zone" that had absolutely no sensation at all. Don't know if it's related, but this surgery feels better.

I have read that scar tissue can cause lots of bewildering symptoms, and symptoms that often go mis-diagnosed as other things. I've read that scar tissue in the abdomen can even affect bowel function and digestion. If it can do that, I'm pretty sure pain would be a factor in a big way! In my case, I also had endo adhesions in the bowel tract, so the scar tissue and the endo both had a hand in what was originally thought to be a case of IBS! Glad it's all finally gone and I feel so much better already!

If you trust your docs, and you indicate you do, just relax and let them earn the bazillions of dollars your op is costing!
Just kidding, but I do want you to relax as much as possible before your crowning day! Just think - once they get all those nasties fixed, you'll be feeling much better in no time!

Until then, check back here and post any other concerns you may have. The sisters here are super at sending tons of cyber- 's and care and support! Here's hugs and prayers sent your way for a quick and speedy recovery! BTW my real life sister is having her hyst the same day as yours! You have a twin here in Louisiana! Have a good day!
Love,
-di

I am 8 days post-op (11/15 - TAH/BSO), and I feel great! I, too, had abdominal and back pain prior to the surgery. My worst fear was that I was going to be incapacitated for weeks because of the abdominal incision. I had surgery 8 a.m., was in recovery by 10:30 a.m. and was up and walking (very short distances) by 7 p.m. that night.

I'm sure you've read over and over again that the waiting is the worst part, and it's absolutely true! Remember to drink lots of water and walk when you can, and I'm sure you'll do just fine.

Dear ITeach,
I can't answer any of your questions about scar tissue. My TAH/BSO and Burch were 16 days ago. Aside from being very sleepy the first hours after surgery can't say that I've been incapacitated at all. My surgery was late, so they didn't get me up until the next day. As the hours progressed lost the oxygen, i.v. pain meds in favor of oral, advanced to more expanded diet, lost cathether, and finally i.v. I did read at the castle, but didn't have enought concentration for things like puzzle books.

Pack light you won't need much! Since you teach you are probably well-organized and this will be an asset at home. I've been up all but about 2 hours a day. Although much of it is from one chair or couch to another!!

You face highly unpredicatable children daily. You can do this!! Jan

Hi Iteach,

My surgery is also on Tuesday and I am also a teacher, taking advantage of the winter break for recovery. I decided to work on Monday because my surgery is scheduled for 2pm on Tuesday and if I had to stay home alone on Monday I'd drive myself nuts with nerves. At least this way I'll be too busy to think about much. Good luck on Tuesday! I'll be thinking about you and all the sisters that have been so helpful these past weeks with questions and support

Thanks, everyone, for responding so quickly. And good luck to SVSister on Tuesday also.
I decided to just take this one day at a time. I hope it's true that the waiting is the worst part.
Thanks again.
Debbie

Hi Debbie,
I totally understand your feelings. I am scheduled for surgery on December 11th and I teach too. What grade do you teach and how did you explain to your students why you were going to be gone for so long? I teach 8 and 9 year olds and I don't know what I am going to tell them about my surgery. I feel so overwhelmed by what I need to do that I don't know where to start. It's easy to feel terrified but at least we have this web site where other people understand what we are going through. I hope your surgery goes well and you are able to rest and take care of yourself.

Hi Racyheart,
I teach gifted middle school students (grades 6,7,8). For most of them, telling them that I was going to be out for at least six weeks because I was having "some" surgery sufficed. I had a few students probe deeper -- my response was, "Well, that's a rather private question, (I did this so they'd know it's not a socially correct question) but I'll try to answer." I didn't go into the hysterectomy part, but I did explain that I needed some surgery in my abdomen to make the connections holding up my organs stronger. That usually worked.
For much of the last year, I'd get days where I wouldn't be able to sleep because of pain either in my flank or lower back due to the extreme prolapse. My dr. also thinks that I'm having compression of some circulation because of it, which added to the problems. So when I got a "bad day," I was always honest with students. I'd say, "Hey, take it easy on me today. I don't feel so good." Sometimes I'd tell them I had a "backache". So except for my new sixth grade students, my 7/8 students knew I had been having problems from last year, since I teach the same students for three years. I'm lucky because most of the students I teach are thoughtful, caring kids. Great kids. The hardest part was walking away from them for nearly a whole quarter of the school year. I wrote mostly all the lesson plans ahead of time for the sub, so they'll still have my input in some fashion...
Debbie

Hi Debbie: Good Luck to you on Tuesday. I still have a while to go. I didn't understand exactly what it is you have but I would be nervous (and I am) too. I know what you mean about your work and not being able to do it. When you love what you do it feels like a very big piece of your life is missing. The children will miss you as well. Wondered if you might explain to me what Burch is. I , as well, have scar tissue I'm sure. They are going to use the same incision from a 30 year old scar. I can relate to what that one woman said about there being a dead area at that time around the scar. I also get keloids and it has taken years for that one to go down to a normal size. It was from an eptopic pregnancy that had burst. The only other thing I want to add is I hope you take this time for yourself because I have a funny feeling this is a rare time for all of us to do nothing. Remember as a child when we got to do that and didn't even know the value of it. We can read, get on the hystersister site, watch the clouds, call our friends (that are running around like we usually do in their busy routines) or just sit and meditate about how good we are feeling. Good Luck and my prayers on Tuesday. Please come and tell us your story. We will all be waiting.

You sound like me--I was nervous as all get out.

Read my "Wendy's Hysterectomy Story (Lots of Details)" in the post-op forum. I still haven't figured out how to insert a hyperlink that will take you right to it, so you may have to use the search tool.

Good luck and trust me, the waiting is the worst part.

Good luck

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