TLH: Today's panic

It seems like every day or two I get a new thing to panic myself over. This site has been wonderful because my sisters always come to the rescue with advice and calm me.

Does everyone get vaginal packing? It doesn't sound like something I want.

My doctor said my catheter will come out the morning after. Will they make me get up and walk with the catheter still in? It looks so tacky to see patients walking around with a pee bag.

I don't know who gets vaginal packing and who does not. I had a TAH BSO, and I did not get vaginal packing. I have heard about it, and if you have it it is because you need it.

Regarding catheter and walking. For me, I had a catheter in and they got me up the next day after surgery for me to start walking with catheter in. When I got up, and tried to walk, part of it unhooked. They then decided to just take the rest out. I could have walked with it, and I would not have minded. It would have been a bit physically uncomfortable. But I was not really worried about how I looked - I really don't think anyone cares. I was just trying to concentrate on walking. All the patients and their families are really focused on their own healing.

I had robotically assisted laparascompic hysterectomy and I didn't have any vaginal packing.

In the hospital I was at, they took out my catheter before they got me up, so I wasn't walking with one.

I had to deal with a catheter, too. I was bouncing off the walls wanting to get up and walk, so as soon as they took me off the automatic blood pressure monitor several hours after surgery, a nurse hooked the cath bag to the IV and pain pump stand, and off we went. I walked several laps of the hospital floor with it. Nobody looked twice. The nurses were really low key about the whole thing. I wouldn't want to walk miles that way, but it was tolerable.

My DvH is on Wednesday, and I already asked about a catheter I had one before when I had a Uterine Artery Embolization, and while they are less than glamorous, I really didn't give a hoot who was looking at me. I pranced myself up and down the hallway (with the aid of a nurse..I had LOTS of trouble after that procedure) with my IV stand and cath bag. No one pays attention... pretty much everyone feels like crap because they have just had surgery, so, if anything, we will all give each other the, "It sucks to be here, but we're going to feel better soon" type of passing glance. If possible, ask your surgery team to insert the cath AFTER you are out. Each hospital has different benchmarks reagarding when the cath stays or goes. In my case with the UAE, they took mine out because I was having severe vomiting, which was making things even more unpleasant. Once I proved I could pee on my own (while puking in a garbage can), they left it out.