TAH 11 days post hysterectomy - ABSCESS, most painful thing I've ever experienced in my life

Hi Sisters,

I could really use some kind words.... I'm 11 days post up from a TAH and tubes removed and have been admitted back into the hospital Tuesday night. It all started with intense pain that no oral pain meds, even Dilaudid could touch. So I had a CT and an X-RAY done and was told that I have an approximately 4 cm abscess in my pelvis. I have been running a fever since Sunday and I'm in tears almost all day everyday. The doctors started me on 3 different kinds of iv antibiotics and so far nothing has improved. I'm supposed to see another Radiologist and Inf. Disease Doc today to see if the abscess is in an area that could be drained.... I'm absolutely terrified and can't handle the pain anymore.... Did any of you experience something similar like this?

An abscess sounds so painful! Did the doctor say what caused it? I hope your doctor finds a solution for you soon! Wish I had some advice for you, but I will be supporting a sister with prayer during this difficult time.

I'm so sorry.

I have no experience with this. My sister had a breast abscess after nursing that went undiagnosed too long and she said it was 100 times more painful than anything ever. Had to have surgery.

I'm glad they are trying to get this under control for you. I hope you have some relief soon.

Thinking of you.

Please ask your nurses to advocate for you to ask for better pain control, if your Dr has already seen you and gone. There should be someone on call. Be sure when you do see your Dr that you tell him your pain is not controlled. Try to be as specific as you can about your pain level, and ask about the pain med plan to see if you are getting all the various meds you may have ordered, and getting them at the times available. This seems like too much pain for being in the hospital, they do have the resources to help you. I hope they get the infection under control fast, but the pain should be addressed, too.

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Originally Posted by greyown Please ask your nurses to advocate for you to ask for better pain control, if your Dr has already seen you and gone. There should be someone on call. Be sure when you do see your Dr that you tell him your pain is not controlled. Try to be as specific as you can about your pain level, and ask about the pain med plan to see if you are getting all the various meds you may have ordered, and getting them at the times available. This seems like too much pain for being in the hospital, they do have the resources to help you. I hope they get the infection under control fast, but the pain should be addressed, too.

Thank you and I just talked to my nurse about that. They originally had me on iv dilaudid 1 mg every 2 hours. Than somebody decided it was time for oral dilaudid which at 2 mg's did absolutely nothing. So now I'm back on iv but every 3 hours which w my pain level isn't enough. I was screaming and crying for 3 hours in pain, it feels like hot constant knife stabs in my abdomen, radiates down my right leg and up my back.... I don't wish this on anybody, this is pure torture....

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Originally Posted by Mari3208 An abscess sounds so painful! Did the doctor say what caused it? I hope your doctor finds a solution for you soon! Wish I had some advice for you, but I will be supporting a sister with prayer during this difficult time.

Thank you, I'm so scared as my WBC keeps going up instead of down....

I'm so sorry you are dealing with this. I experienced the same, but quite quickly after surgery. My partial hysterectomy was March 25th. I was released from the hospital on the 27th. That night I had a low grade fever. Dr gave me antibiotics on the 28th, but the fever persisted. By the night of the 31st, my fever was 101 and my 1 week post op was scheduled for April 1st, so I figured I would wait till morning. She admitted me to the hospital right away, did a CT and found a 4 cm abscess in my abdomen. They pumped me with 2 separate IV antibiotics every 8 hours for 48 hours and did another CT. The abscess shrunk to half the size. (I wish I could give you the names of the antibiotics, but my husband threw that paperwork away.) I was sent home after that with the same 2 antibiotics in pill form and I have recovered quite well. It was pretty scary though because I felt like death. Had the antibiotics not done the job, their next plan was to go in and drain the fluid to determine what exactly it was and what antibiotics it would be sensitive to. I will pray they figure it out for you! I wish I had more to offer.

I hope this radiologist and Inf Disease doctor handles it soon and gives you some relief.
Please keep us posted.

I had a similar experience a few years prior to my hysterectomy. Was in so much pain, high fever, even hydrocodone would not work, doc sent me to the ER right away. I had a kidney infection and after 4 days at hospital, despite IV antibiotics, morphine, I was getting worse, my vitals were going down, they had to put me on Xanax as I was getting panic attacks from the pain, they also brought oxygen support, of course I cannot remember everything from the first 5 days, definitely wouldn't have been to use my phone, barely remembered my name.
On Christmas Day, the urologist decided to puncture and drain the cyst in my kidney (had it since I was a kid).
A few days later, I started to feel better.
Basically my cyst was full of the E. coli bacteria and dispensing it in my kidney, antibiotics were useless.
48 hours away from not making it.
Hysterectomy was a ride in the park in comparison.

Hope you feel better soon

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Originally Posted by GPMS I had a similar experience a few years prior to my hysterectomy. Was in so much pain, high fever, even hydrocodone would not work, doc sent me to the ER right away. I had a kidney infection and after 4 days at hospital, despite IV antibiotics, morphine, I was getting worse, my vitals were going down, they had to put me on Xanax as I was getting panic attacks from the pain, they also brought oxygen support, of course I cannot remember everything from the first 5 days, definitely wouldn't have been to use my phone, barely remembered my name. On Christmas Day, the urologist decided to puncture and drain the cyst in my kidney (had it since I was a kid). A few days later, I started to feel better. Basically my cyst was full of the E. coli bacteria and dispensing it in my kidney, antibiotics were useless. 48 hours away from not making it. Hysterectomy was a ride in the park in comparison. Hope you feel better soon

Thank you. They switched and added some pain meds around for me today and I think that the Radiologist is going to try to drain the abscess if he can access it. Doctor also ordered different Antibiotics since nothing changed from taking the other ones.... Sorry to hear that you had such a horrible infection as well.