Anybody else 1 year post op ?

Hello to everyone,
I'm officially a year post op - yea !!!!! This time last year I was so sick and bleeding and anemic and just drained from all the pain and bleeding fibroids.

Today I'm a new woman. I had an incredibly wonderful journey with the surgery and recovery, and I have sooooo much energy. I kept my ovaries and they're functioning beautifully.

My only complaint is a cosmetic one (sorry to be so vain). I hate my scar. It's vertical and it has not totally flattened down on my skin. It's raised just a tad. The dr said there was a small amt of keloid formation, but it should be okay. Well it's not okay. I'm divorced and am very self-conscience about a new potential guy seeing the thing.

Oh well, guess things could be worst. Just wanted to say hey to everyone on my year anniversary.

Cathy

the good guys don't care and the bad ones...well do you want that kind anyways...

Hi (((Cathy))) It's nice to see you again and hear you are doing so well. Sweetie, I can relate to the scar problem. I have a vertical from colon surgery and it's one foot long, a half inch wide and all keloid .

I wanted to ask you what (if any) treatments you've tried for your scar? There are some newer options available now that weren't a year ago... maybe you could talk with a DR about them.

My surgeon first had me using Vitamin E cream on the scar several times a day for a few months. It did nothing although it felt nice.

Then he switched me to using those new scar treatment sheets that you can get at the drugstores. Band Aid and Curad make two of the major brands. They are white sheets of silicone that you cut to fit on your scar. They have a light adhesive (don't hurt coming off at all) and come with some stronger paper tape you can use if they don't stay on without it. The reason they work for many people is that they hold moisture in the scar and apply light pressure to it. I used them for three months but didn't see a great improvement.

Recently I saw a plastic surgeon to talk about my further options for treating this awful scar. He put me on Aldara, which is an immunosuppressive cream. It works by getting your tissues to stop reacting to themselves. At this point it's only FDA approved for treating vaginal warts but some plastic surgeons are using it for scars and having good success with it. It comes in tiny single use packets, 12 in a box and is used every other day. It's very expensive if you have a big scar as I do, but I got the prescription written so that I can get two boxes for one copay. I've been using it for over a month now, and I find it is working better than anything else has so far. The scar has flattened some and is maybe two shades lighter in color than it was. The DR wants me to use it for six months and then we'll evaluate where to go from there... cortisone injections are the next option and that's about it.

In theory, I agree with (((casualcard))), that the 'right' guy won't care about your scar. But being a single person myself, I can understand completely how you feel about looking at the scar. Mine bothers me, too ... probably far more than it would bother a partner, but it affects my self-image negatively so I want to take care of it if I can.

Maybe you could get a referral by your DR to a plastic surgeon and ask what options they have for treating a keloid scar? Aldara might be something you could try, too. If you do, I hope it works for you!

s,
-Linda

Hi Cathy~

Congrats on hitting your 1 year mark! I'm glad things have worked out so wonderful for you. I just hit my 2 year mark & life is grand!

CHEERS!

Yes I am one year post op today.

I have been smiling from ear to ear all week long. Tomorrow night I plan on celebrating big time. I'm drinking, I'm dancing, I'm having sex, and I'm not wearing any underwear just because I can. Woo Hoo! I am one happy girl since my surgery. I had a TAH, kept ovaries at age 36. Tonight is my farewell here. I am ready to move on and not think about the aweful past that brought me here. I will miss you all. I'll check in every once in awhile, especially on my hysterversaries.

I was lucky to have had a large ugly scar running vertical on my stomach all my life, so a little horizontal scar added to my abdomen was no big deal. I'm married and DH doesn't see the scar or stretch marks. I don't think many men do when they're about to get some.

Enjoy your new freedom. Happy hysterversary to you on your day