Fears, ???'s...sound familiar? HELP!?! Procedure is 10/11

I just found this site thanks to my husband, who apparently understands my stress about a possible hysterectomy more than I realized. I have so many questions. Here's my quick story. ALL HELP WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!

I'm married, 34, very busy with work and school and art, but generally happy. I have 2 wonderful daughters 15&17, and don't really want any more children.

I was very nomal until I began 8 months ago to have difficulty with periods, way too much bleeding which has been increasing despite the BCP's (First OrthoNovum 135, then LoOvral) I'm on and pain. I have been on BCP 15 yrs. I began having pain in my left side and sought out an OB/GYN after my family MD seemed to ignore my symptoms. My new OB/GYN has scheduled a D&C and laproscopy next Wed 10/11 and believes I have adenomyosis. I am relieved to be on the surgery schedule, but he has told me that he will wake me up before he does a hysterectomy. I assume that means another surgery, and I'm not sure I want to go through 2 surgeries. He hasn't said which procedure would be used for the hysterectomy or how much he would take out. I'm assuming everything would go. Any thoughts?

Also, if I have a hysterectomy, I'm worried about the BIG O (as it appears many of us are) because my really great ones are accompanied by uterine spasms. SO SORRY if I offend anyone being so honest. I'm only 34 and my sex life and itimacy with my hubby is very important to me. Can I expect to still have orgasms? Will they be as good? It is very important to my husband that he still be able to give me pleasure and I'm afraid I'll disappoint both of us. (Incidentally, I do not have any pain on intercourse now.)

I am also very frightened by the idea of surgery and all the recovery. Any encouragement or details help me. I like to know everything to expect.

Thanks again to everyone who responds!!!

Why is doctor wanting to try and piggy back your surgeries? I have been through multpile Laps and usually the Dr. does a diagnostic Lap in which he may be able to fix things or he may not. But the thing that bothers me is that this is such a big decision for you that if he barely wakes you, you may not be able to make a complete informed decision. If I were you I would call my Dr. before surgery and discuss what he is looking for and why he would want to piggy back the surgeries.
If you do have a hysterectomy, the big "O" is just fine! In fact since there is no more pain it can be even better. It does feel a little different but you will still be able to enjoy a great sex life afterwards.
Also, definitely find out what he plans on taking out. Because if he takes your ovaries, you will need to talk to him about HRT. Also,see if he plans to take your cervix out, these are all things that youshuold be informed about.
Good luck!
Gala

Hi,
I had adenomyosis, and my doctor wanted to do the hyst with the lap. My insurance would not approve this, and I had the 2 surgeries within 1.5 months. It was a lot of time away from work, but I was actually relieved to have time to discuss other options in between the surgeries. I was also better able to discuss the type of procedure that would be done, and what was going to be removed. After my lap, I was barely able to remember the word adenomyosis, let alone talk about everything coherently.

What I had thought to be uterine contractions during the "o," was actually abdominal contractions. Once my abdominal muscles were healed, the "o" was back to normal.

Thanks for your thoughts Gala and Robinc! I may have been a little unclear on the thing about the MD waking me up. I believe he means that he would wait until I came out of anesthesia, then discuss the options for another surgery at a later date. I am becoming more comfortable with the idea of having diseased organs removed, despite what they are, but it is still scary, especially because I've never had ANY surgeries before. I have asked him for a response on how much they might need to remove, but have not yet heard back. I do not want to lose my ovaries yet unless it is necessary. Again, thanks for sharing with me!

I'm only 28, and sex is also an extremely important part of my marriage, so I too was a little nervous about it. I had my TAH 8 weeks ago (removed cervix and uterus, kept ovaries), and we were just cleared last weekend to resume "normal activities" I had no problems with the big "O", and it felt great! I didn't notice any difference at all. Good luck, and make sure you discuss all your options with your doctor. Please read as much of this site as you can, as I found it to be extremely helpful in knowing what questions to ask the doctor and what to expect. My doctor seemed to be a little surprised when I marched in with a well-prepared list of questions, and that I knew everything about the procedure. I told her about this site, and she's going to recommend it to future patients. Take care!

hi,
Even though I am much older than you{44} I have had similar experience.
Doc did lap diagnostic surgery and told me that if he found anything that he thought was life threating he would alert family and do a complete hyst.
I agreed. I was in so much pain and I would have agreed to almost anything! It turned out he was able to make diagnosis but could not help me by lap procedure. so I had complete hyst 4 weeks later.
I had adeno, fibroids, cysts and uterus was very large so I had adb cut. I am now 11 weeks post op and doing good.
Now for the "Big O"!! I am older than you but still like the BIG O!! !! It is wonderful! You will feel a little different at first but good different. I chose to have cervix removed because of my age and the dangers of cancer in my family and I can not even tell it is gone. Husband said he wants to THANK doc! He likes the difference too! {don't tell him I told you!} Try not to worry! Things are really not bad on this side.
Hope you feel peace making your decisions. Prayers are with you, Deb TAH/BSO 7/17/00