Another ? Is it normal to not know what will happen during surgery?

IMMS1981

My LAVH is scheduled for March 3rd so we are having our surgery very close together. I was also told that it could change during surgery. I was told it could change to a TAH and the plan is to leave my ovaries but is they are diseased or when the lab report comes back on my uterus and if it were to show cancer they would remove the ovaries. So none of that was a comfort to me. I want to know and have it planned in my mind, so it is difficult for me not knowing until I wake up what will happen. But my doctor assures me they have to say the possibilities just to cover themselves. She told me that a surgeon who has done lots of these procedures can be accurate 90% of the time. Sometimes when they get in there they find things that even the ultrasounds don't see. I understand that but it is hard to deal with mentally. My thought is, this has to be done and we want the best end results, so if we face more than we planned, we will survive. Best Wishes to you.

Hi where did you find a video on the surgery? I am also one who likes to know all of the ins and outs and do my research. My family is pretty upset with me because my surgery date was set for January 28th and because I called the Dr. and asked him why I needed to have a hysterectomy when the problem is a prolapsed bladder, rectoceole, I need a uretha sling...etc...I need everything but nothing is wrong with my uterus and cervix so I wondered why I had to have a hysterectomy. Needless to say he cancelled my surgery and I now have a new Dr. She is gathering all of my previous medical records and did a new pap smear (something no one else did) and we are going to make a decision on 2/10/2010. She did say I would have whatever procedures I need done sometime in March.
Thanks for all of the information. I feel so much better knowing than not knowing. I am sure one surgery gets closer I will be anxious all over again but atleast I will go into it knowing what's what.
Have a Great Day!

Candy1965,

Look at the top right for "Videos". I also just did a search on the internet. Geeze, I also have watched a couple of Hip Replacement Videos and searched for the positions that they can put you in there. Sometimes I think it is better not to know everything but that is not my nature.

Did your doctor do an an U.S. and D&C? I wonder also how he could justify that without doing the other tests. Maybe he just thought since you needed everything else done, why not just take out all of your female parts. I would not think that the insurance company would go along with a hysterectomy without supporting test and documentation to confirm it is necessary.

I am glad you got another doctor. You have to be your own advocate today, believe me, I know about that with my Family Doctor and my back and now my hip. Which the Spine Surgeon's PA picked up on during his exam. I would have eventually been in a wheel chair according to the hip surgeon. I would love to fire her right now, because she has not been any help to me. I need to have a doctor down for my insurance, and I have not found one that I want to go to. Just trying to hold my tongue with her now. My DH said what is the difference between her and me, the degree on the wall. I have had to do all of my research on my own. She has refused to send me to a back specialist a couple of years ago. Given me wrong information. Told me I had a pinched nerve in November from the MRI taken in 2006. Spine Surgeon informed me I did not have a pinched nerve. Funny, I had not been told that before. She told me that 12 visits of P.T. took care of my herniated disks in 2006. She can't see my spine. P.T. want more visits, told me I had major problems and I was going to be there for a long time. She refused the request for my visits. She tried to walk out on me in 2007, I stopped her with her hand on the doorknob. I was given Darvocets, which I didn't take. Gee, I wonder what she would have to say now. I have to have referrals from her for everything but the GYN Doc, eyes and the dentist. So she controls my medical life. She wanted me to let her do my gyn checks also. My DH said I would have died. I am so glad that I did not do that.

Please do all of your own research so that your are informed and can make your own decisions. It sounds like you are doing that now though. I am glad to see that. Call a nurse friend if you have one. I did and have talked to her about all of this. They can make suggestions to you also. She used to be my neighbor and I miss her.

Good Luck,

When I went into surgery I didn't have a clue at what all the doctor was going to have to do....3 ultra sounds and all the other tests that I had to have didn't show why I was having the bleeding problems that I was having.....but I totally trusted my doctor!!! And we agreed she should save everything that she could...but I also told her this was a one shot deal and I didn't want anything left in that could hurt me....I was so LUCKY....my ovaries were in great shape!!! But we need to get real....doctors really don't know everything until they get in there. You just have to trust your doctor....and if you don't trust the doctor that you have....GET A NEW ONE!!!! This is life changing surgery and it all boils down to trust.

I just plugged into a search engine davinci hysterectomy, I think I watched three dif ones. they are interesting.

I watched a video online for a TVH. Interesting to say the least. We have a MRI report saying that I had fibroids, but I don't know if I have anything else.

I am sure at my pre-op on the 15th I am going to read something along the lines of if they can't do it vaginally then they would have to switch to abdominal. I trust my ob/gyn though and believe that he will do what is best for me.

I already wore out Google trying to to find out everything I can about a TVH and a bladder sling as I am also one who doesn't like to go in without knowing everything. My surgery seems to be about 2 weeks before OP and so I will be posting on the post boards when I am out of the castle.

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You can find surgery videos in the Resources section of the site (top right of the screen). Here's a link but you also might want to see what else is available in resources.

Surgery videos

It is quite common to have a surgeon say they will attempt to do certain things but won't know until they start performing the surgery. Even women who haven't had surgery could have adhesions or scar tissues from other injuries that could necessitate a different approach. Also there could be additional circumstances that would cause them to change an approach.



G.

I totally trust my surgeon and am so happy to have found her. So that is definitely not an issue. After years and years of (male) doctors telling me that they could "appreciate" the fact that I have pain, I just wanted to punch them in the balls. That would probably be 1/4 of the pain that I feel 80% of the time. They all say that if they had to have periods they'd probably want to do whatever they could to make it stop too. But what they didn't understand and REFUSED to process in their heads was that aside from the fact that I have no sex life because I'm always bleeding and I'm always hormonal so I've turned into a big GROUCH (which is not the type of person that I am), what I can't take is the pain! Each of these previous doctors made me CRY because I couldn't get them to understand the PAIN! Telling them that it feels like I'm in labor does no good because they've never FELT labor. The closest analogy I could come up with was... "Imagine your body from your belly button to your knees is on fire and in a trash compactor at the same time, then multiply that by 10." Of course then they thought I was just being dramatic... haha
Now that I've gone on a little rampage there...
I'm so glad to know and find comfort in knowing that it's normal for things to be this way. I know that nothing is guaranteed and I could wake up with completely different results than what I expected going in. And the more I read about everyone's experiences, the better I feel about it.

I know what you're saying. I expected to get a TAH and ended up with a SAH because my cervix was adhered to my bowel. What helped is my surgeon advising me about this possibility before surgery. She also brought in our HMO's cancer expert for a second opinion, which made me feel at ease.

SAH for endo/adno