Reasons for Surgery #2

Hi Ladies,

I am sorry that it took me so long to respond back. I've just been tired and really thinking about this surgery thing. It isn't just because of the ovaries not functioning that we are taking out the ovaries. In fact one of the only reasons my former doctor said she left them in was for the hormonal benefit which I don't think I was receiving. She said I would have to have them out eventually because of how bad things were. At this time we are still not 100 percent sure how many ovaries I have even though it appears that I have one ovary and a part of another. The reports were not written clearly so that even other physcians are not able to read them without difficulty. Nothing showed up on the pelvic ultrasound just like last year before my hysterectomy and yet their were two cysts that had to be removed, adhesions, and I had adenoymyosis. Some of the pain I am in is the same as some of that pain. Only this time the pain is radiating down to my leg. Sometimes it feels as though my insides are on fire down there. So, in some ways it is worse than what I had before my hysterectomy. My doctor is worried that my ovary may be attached to my bowel or something else because of the type of pains I'm getting if I turn wrong. He will have a back-up physician with him incase the ovary is attached to the bowel and the bowel needs repair after removing the ovary. I really wish that my ovaries had been taken out last year. I also wish my former doctor would have done a blood test to test my hormone levels last year before the surgery. <admin. snipped for legal reference> I know it sounds funny but I know the pain and my gut instinct is that this surgery is necessary. I know on the inside something just isn't right. I'm sorry if I've repeated some of this too much. My posts might sound like a broken record. Perhaps I can blame it on menopause. I was wondering if anyone has had two surgerys and if it was worse or better the second time. It looks like I will have a lot more help this go around and my dd isn't as worried. Last year she asked me if I was going to die and was so worried the school called the hospital for a report to give to my dd. My ds haven't said anything. If anyone reading this has any info on their experiences with 2 surgeries, I'd like to hear. Thank-you.

Cathleen
I went in to have a total in 98. But my dr left one onf my overies
He said I was too young to have them both removed. they one he left he said looked good. So he removed the right one it had 2
big cyst's on it. I was fine for about 8 months then I started having really bad pain. It got so bad I couldnt walk sometimes.
I went back to my dr and he ran some tests and Back in to surgery I went. Once he got in there he found that my bowel's
were wraped all around the overy. what wa supposed to be an hour surgery turned in to a 3 hour one.I have some problems, that landed me in the er. The ER DR said he thought my bowel had been nipped during surgery and that was why i got so sick. As far as the operation goes i didnt think it was any worse than my first. I am wishing you well and will keep you in my thoughts...

Hugs
Brenda

I'm sorry you're still in pain and having to go through another surgery. I had my cervix and uterus removed in 97. In 2002, I had my ovaries removed. My surgery was suppose to be only 45 minutes to an hour long. It lasted over 3 hours. My ovaries were buried in the adhesions. The adhesions were all in my colon. I had two doctors working on me. He left my ovaries the first time even though I had had cysts on both of them because he wanted me to get my hormones naturally. My surgery the second time around was worse to me. I think alot of that was because my hormones were so out of wack. Once they got undercontrol a few months later, EVERYTHING was wonderful. Try to be patient afterwards. Don't get too frustrated. When you do, come to the hystersisters. I wish I'd found them before I went back to work. It would have made my life so much easier. lol

Good Luck! Please keep me posted on how you do.

I'll keep you in my prayers and thoughts.

Dear Cathleen

I hope this surgery goes really well and you are on your way off the road afterwards. I have had multiple surgeries too. I think age affects how well you recover.... the older I get the harder it seems to be.

Best wishes for a straight forward surgery and easy recovery.



Sarah

((Cathleen)),
I'm sorry to hear your facing additional surgery It can be quite disheartening & frustrating to have underwent the Hyst only to be left w/ further issues exp. further surgery!! I am almost 4 yrs Post TAH. My wishes were to retain both Ovaries but if one was diseased to the point of being unsalvageable, I told my Dr one could be removed but I wanted to keep at least one. Well, I awoke w/ both Ovaries intact...I was soo relieved at the time :-) Time went on but so did the pain, it began to increase. After multiple trips to my Dr he ordered Ultrasounds to see if there was any visible problems. The results shown a big mass residing on my right Ovary, it was covered in multiple blood filled cysts & was enlarged. Due to the increasing pain & *unknown* mass my Dr scheduled me for a Lap/RSO. I agreed to the RSO it would put an end to this pain. The surgery revealed the mass to be Adhesions adhering my Ovary to my Vaginal cuff...ahhh the source of my pain...NOT! That surgery was by far the easiest 4-5 days rest, back to work in a week, w/ my Drs. of course Unfortunately, that dreaded right sided pain lingered on <sigh> I wound up undergoing a 3rd surgery about 5 weeks after the RSO. This one tho was done as an emergency...I was admitted thru the ER & immediately, after they discovered the source<Bowel obstructions strangulating a portion of bowel & Intestine> whisked me off to the OR, yet again. It was a surgery lasting over 3 hrs in which my Intestines had to be bought outside the abdominal cavity to search them over inch by inch checking for further obstructions...apparently I had quite a mess in there..Adhesions had plastered all my organs on the right together, stuck in various places they definitely didn't belong. Now that recovery was hard, I assume due to the extent of repairs done in there...multiple bands of Adhesions were removed from various places on my Intestines. They also tried to do some reorganizing in there..lol I suffered post-op complications again<sigh> that kept me in the hospital for almost 2 weeks...my digestive system was paralyzed, refusing to work no matter what was tried, I developed thrush in my mouth :::YUCK::: from all the IV antibiotics, pneumonia & was actually prepped for more surgery twice, I got lucky w/ those! The entire stay I was NPO~nothing by mouth; no food, no water not even a lil ole ice chip..lol
That surgery as the previous one resulted in more pain as well. Due to the extensiveness of the Adhesions, my previous surgeries only worsening things, I was told no ore surgery unless an emergency. The risks of going in again were to great & the chances of it creating further pain were to high for me. Somewhere between surgery #1 & #3 my lone Ovary's blood supply was altered to the point it had none. So now I was left still in pain, awaiting Surgical Meno to kick in full blast & to boot had a blood clotting disorder confirmed leaving me unable to take any form of HRT....Geesh, I opted to keep those precious Ovaries & here I was left w/ one that didn't even work! It seems I've become the exception to the rule or better yet the one that suffers the complications that they state "ohh don't worry about that it barely happens." I think someone forgot to let my body in on that useful pc. of info All this long-winded text to say my Hyst was still the worst..there is some major cutting & stitching going on w/that on..after my Hyst experience, for me anything had to be easier!
It still all falls back to, IMO, the type of surgery & how much work is being doe this time around. I did feel more prepared tho, each time, so in that aspect it was easier. I also found out that walking gets rid of the surgical pain faster meaning a faster recovery. Since my system has shut down they wanted me to walk as much as I could tolerate to help get it going sooner..let me tell you, my buddy, IV Pole w/the good stuff, hung around the top like a crown traveled many a halls those days! It later dawned on me why the last surgery was easier despite the incisions & amount of work..walking gets rid of that surgical pain soo much faster!!

Good Luck ((Cathleen))..I will pray that this surgery will bring you some permanent relief to your pains & problems! Pls keep us posted....(((hugs)))