need some calming

ok so in reading some of the dvH stories is it true that they strap you to a board and you are basically on your head vertically?? I started crying when I read that! Can anyone tell me based on their experiences how long surgery will last? I am having my cervix and uterus removed along with my right and left fallopean tubes! They are leaving my left ovary (only one I have left) my family keeps asking me all these ?'s and everything is a blurr I dont know how or what to answer! Thank you

Surgery times vary but a couple hrs more or less. You'll be tipped down while you're out but not vertical and if no one told you, you would never know. You'll be asleep/under anesthesia for all of that. You will go into the OR, and then wake up in recovery, and you won't know what happened or for how long. It was so much easier than I thought it would be. Try to distract yourself as you get ready and it will be here soon. Good luck with your surgery.

You are not vertical, but you are placed in what's called the Trendelenburg position. You head will be lower than the rest of your body, but you will not be vertical. They do this so that your other organs (intestines, etc.) will "slide" out of the way so that there is more room for the surgeon to work and less chance of those organs getting in the way. No matter what surgery you have, they always strap you in- they want to keep your body as still as possible, so that if the table gets bumped you will not move.
I am not sure how long it will last, it varies from person to person and it depends on how familiar your surgeon is with the procedure. I have heard usually 2-4 hours, but others may be able to tell you more. HTH!!

I had a LAVH/BSO on March 29. I know that I was in the Trendelberg position but I sure didn't know anything about it. I went in to OR awake, remember them positioning me flat on the table and a very warm blanket being put over me and then three deep breaths and sleepy time. Some people don't even remember this because they are giving some sleepy stuff in the preop - I have troubles with the "relaxing meds" so I go in awake.

My surgery took over six hours which is abnormally long. My uterus was very large and the fibroids were in very difficult positions and my wonderful doctors stuck with it and didn't do the easy thing to stay on schedule which would have been an abdominal incision.

I woke up in recovery and remember being surprised at the time on the clock because it felt like no time had passed for me at all. The only pain I felt was a slight crampiness - taken care of by shots in the IV the first 24 hours. The only other thing that happened was that my right arm and hand were numb from the position on the table and I think the blood pressure cuff inflating and deflating for that length of time. My son had to feed me my jello that night because I couldn't grasp my spoon! That only lasted about 24 hours and then back to normal.

Good Luck, don't worry about the position - it won't mean a thing to you - and you will do just great!

When I read about the positioning during surgery, I was a bit worried too. Just as the other sisters above mentioned, you won't know a thing regarding your position during surgery. The last thing I remember after scooching myself onto the table was them putting the pressure thingies on my legs and wondering why they were putting boots on me... LOL!

Surgery for me was 2.5 hrs which is about average. If its longer, you won't know till you wake up. Besides, once you're on the table its rest for you until you get the all clear from the Dr!

I had no idea what position I was in until after the surgery. I think mine was about 3 hours or so. They wheeled me in, gave me some medicine, put an oxygen mask on me, then gave me more medicine and off to sleep I went.
When I woke up I was shaking from the pain and cold. I told them and they gave me pain medicine. It helped the pain but it turned out I was allergic to it so they gave me Benadryl. I think the next thing I remember was being in the hospital room with my mom sitting next to me about four hours later. It was a very nice sleep. I was so sleepy she said goodbye and left and I basically slept the whole night. Had minimal pain but was tired. So really you won't remember anything about it and all you do is rest. It won't affect you at all after the surgery. Personally he could have done it with me on my head and I would have had no clue!

I was put in a recliner during pre-op and they started the fluids IV. When they were ready for me I walked down the hall and into the surgical room. Each member of my surgical team introduced themselves. The room was blue with music playing and a large flat screen TV on the wall showing pictures of flowers (it was really cool). I climbed up on the table, warm blankets, adjusted the leg/pump boots, I heard "this may sting a little going......."and I was gone. I woke for a minute as they started to take me out of recovery and then woke again as they wheeled me into my room. My surgery was about an hour long (LAVH).

I had no clue that I was tilted during surgery until I read about it in other's posts.

Hi hurly7

Some things sound much more distressing than they actually turn out to be. I wanted to let you know that this Thursday, we'll be having a roundtable discussion focusing on the da Vinci hysterectomy, with several of our members sharing their own experiences. You can find more information here. If you're able to attend, this would be a great question to ask about there, too.

Fortunately, we don't actually experience anything that happens during surgery, since we get to be blissfully asleep throughout it.

	Quote:
Originally Posted by fritzi64 Some things sound much more distressing than they actually turn out to be.

Well said--this is so very true. I didn't care about the surgery position; I was worried to death about the silly catheter. Well, guess what? I never even felt it until they took it out the next day (a very minor, very quick pinch of discomfort as it came out was all). And, it turned out to be a blessing, because it meant that I never had to get out of bed the first night or ask anyone to help me go to the bathroom. I could just lie still and rest. Wonderful!

A whole lot of this process is mental toughness. Something we ladies know all about!