Nervous Wreck!! Surgery Scheduled for July 29th, 2004

Hi Everyone,
First let me say that this website is awesome!! My girlfriend had a hyst 12 years ago and said that she wished she had resources like this while she was working through her surgery. I'm a nervous wreck about my surgery but I'm also excited about the prospect of not having heavy periods any longer and being held hostage in my home for 2 days. Planning my life around my period has never been fun. I cannot wait to take on my new endeavor, uterus free!! I thought of making T-shirts that say, "Has anyone seen my uterus?" This may seem cavalier to joke about such a serious procedure but I'm trying to keep my witts about me, so please pardon my ill humor. I must admit, however, that I have not logged onto this site in a couple of week thanks to my job interferring with my personal life (Ugh!). Thankfully things are beginning to slow down. Anyway, in preparation for my surgery I have been exercising a lot and doing lots of "core" exercises (like Pilates) to strengthen my abs. Seeing as I'll be having a TAH hyst I want to make sure I'm as strong as possible. Also, for the past month and a half I've been eating stricly whole foods, lots of fruit, veggies and fish. Seeing as I am a vegan, I normally wouldn't eat fish, but added it back to my diet about 7 months ago after reading a book about Endometriosis. That said, is there anything else you guys think I should be doing in preparation for my hyst? I'm supposed to do a bowel prep, which I'll find out in more detail next week when I go in for my pre-op. Also, do I really need to take all that stuff with me to the hospital as outlined in the hystersisters book??? I just assume pack as light as possible... I don't plan on wearing any makeup during my recovery and my hair is long so I don't really care what that looks like either. I would amagine I'll be too drugged to read/write, so... should I just pack the essentials: underwear, T-shirts, sweat pants etc. Also, have any of you experienced moments of mini anxiety attacks? I have been suffering form them off and on since the confirmation of my surgery. I'm trying to keep them at bay by not thinking about my surgery but sometimes it's difficult. OH and I'm finding that a lot of women, especially those associated with the Endometriosis websites are attacking me for choosing a hyst. I realize a hyst will NOT cure my endo but it WILL cure my heavy painful bleeding. Right? I'm scared to think about what may happen to my body once my uterus is gone, but I am also frightened by the prospect of living the rest of my life with horrible, painful, heavy periods... It seems we women carry a much heavier burden then men. In my next life, I want to come back as a Lion or Tiger. LOL!
If you have read this far, thank you and BIG thanks to the people who have created this website and published the hystersister book and notebook!! Kudos!!!
Thanks all!
Love, Sue
TAH Hyst schedule 7/29 and keeping ovaries/cervix.
Also, huge animal lover with 4 cats and 3 feral cats.

Hi, Sue. My surgery is July 26, and I'm a nervous wreck now, too. I mean...I WANT to be a princess, but as it draws closer to my time in the castle, I'm becoming much more edgy and nervous. Don't worry what the naysayers (regarding hysterectomy) say. Every single person I personally know (sister, mother, aunt, two friends) who have had hysterectomies have all told me they never knew they could feel so good, and it's improved their quality of life incredibly. We'll be glad we did, too. Anyway, just wanted you to know I'm waiting anxiously with you. Hang in there!

Sounds to me like you're doing all the right things in preparing for your upcoming surgery. I have had a very fast and easy recovery and my doc says that it's because of my good physical condition at the time of my surgery. Mind you, I don't have a Cindy Crawford body but I did exercise regularly and ate well beforehand. I am getting back into the exercise routine slowly now that my body is almost healed.

As far as what to take to the hospital, my advice is as little as possible. I took my robe, slippers, glasses, chapstick, and clothes to wear home. Oh yes, and extra undies! I brought a book and magazines to read but never touched them. Between visitors and sleeping, I really didn't have the time.

Good luck to you. I pray that your recovery will be as good as mine.

Lori
*Fellow cat lover - have 2 cuties

I had TAH but left in the overies and cervix also. I think It was alot easier than I thought it would be. The pain was not that bad, and the drugs make you almost forget all of the pain. I really had less pain than before. I had alot of endo that took the Dr. 4 hr to get out. (he said it was the most he had ever seen.) but the hysto only took 15 min. I was very sore after, but it wasn't as much as the pain before!!!! So I am so glad I did it. And my family is glad to see me smiling again. I have had endo for the past 15 years with 4 surg. to keep It at bay. This may not be the end of the endo, but atleast alot of the pain is gone.

I was scared but I prayed alot and my Dr. and I prayed together before. So I knew we were in God's hands.

I used lip balm, hard candy for my dry mouth, but most everything I brought I didn't use. I wore loose fitting clothes to the castle and my DH folded them up and I wore them home. I never wore underwear, they stuck to my staples (I never had any bleeding) My mother in law bought me this silicone bead filled small pillow for my tummy!! It was the best!! I couldn't have lived without it. My family brought in great food so my iron would come back up.. Steak-Out was the best and the sweet tea was the best. Also, talk to the nurses about your body and what is going on with it. I didn't remember talking to the dr. that much and the nurses would help if somthing didn't feel good. They even called the dr. when my pain med. gave me a headache and had them changed. They were so good to me , so let them be your friends.

Do all the bowel prep. You will be glad you did, and take stool softners at every meal or you will be sorry. I didn't and I had alot of trouble. Take pain meds. every time they are called for the first week. Don't feel the pain if you don't have to.

Sorry to ramble on and on. this is the first time to talk since the castle. I hope you have a great TAH just as I did. Prayers to all of you.

God bless you,
Robyn

My surgery is scheduled for July 14th. I am nervous--my stomach is in knots. I am so glad that I found this website, so I can relate to others going through the same thing. I have had problems for years, excessive bledding, severe cramping, enlarged uterus, and the last straw was decreasing hemoglobin even with vitamins. I had an endometrial ablation in January, that proved to be unsuccessful. I appreciate all the thoughts and suggestions,

Hi

For what it's worth, I think you are doing the BEST thing for YOU, that is all that matters. I do understand all of your questions, I have many of the same concerns. I think you have the right idea and a good plan while having your H done, good luck!

Sue:
i think a case of the "HeebeeJeebees" is par for the course. Even though i had complications, i'm glad the TAH is OVAH..no more periods.

I just wanted to say, i also have long hair, and I managed it by putting it in a long braid and leaving it that way until i got home from the hosp. Just get a bottle of "No More Tangles" (baby aisle) and liberally spray your hair once you unbraid it.

I also used some of my nervous energy to hostess a "Farewell to my Uterus" party. fun fun fun

good luck you'll be fine!

Fluffy Lemur

let me just say, that I understand all of what you are saying. I am scheduled for a tvh the 28th of july. I am also scared to death. and have even been ridiculed for my decision.But ultimatly you are the one who has to live with the pain and bleeding. Good Luck

Hi Sue,

I am sure you will do fine. My surgery was not that bad. The recovery to me is hard. I have never had trouble controlling pain before. I seem to be having trouble controlling the from this. But I am working through it.

They went through a c-section scare I have and I had many people tell me that it sould be easy and less Painful going through an old scare << Thinking someone fooled me>> LOL. I have spurts where I want to cry for no reason at all. I am not sure why. But It happens.

I Had very little blood loss during surgery. And have not Bleed that much but am still scared to go with out a pad. All I can say is when they tell ya to walk do it because it does help. If they offer you a shower take the shower.

I found that I had Trouble passing gas but when I took the shower and let the water run down my back it relaxed me and helped me a lot.

Feel free to Send me an e-mail if you would like I will try and answer questions for you if you would like. I am kinda Drugged up right now so my minde is S L O W... LOL

Take care and keep us postes
Amy
(admin snip of email address for user privacy protection- please use email click in left hand panel)

Hi all,
Just for clarification. A TAH means total abdominal hysterectomy which means removal of both the uterus and cervix. The term hysterectomy refers to the removal of the uterus while the T=total uterus and cervix. If you are or kept your cervix you have/had a supracervical or subtotal hysterectomy. This is important information to know because you will need to know what to watch out for when signing the hospital surgery forms. Mine said TVH with possible laporotomy. When I asked about that, I said to the nurse that my dr. never mentioned to me anything about that to me and she said that was there in case he couldn't get my uterus out vaginally. Now I knew from this site that I had seen TAH so that was another way of saying it in his terms I guess. One woman caught a mistake on her papers she was to sign at the hospital and if it wasn't for her knowledge of the proper terms she may have woken up with her ovaries removed. That link will be at the bottom title Pay attention at pre-op. http://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/sho...ight=attention
found in the link "Immediately I saw beside procedure it said "TAH/BSO." Well, I only knew from being on this fantastic site what the heck that meant. AND I knew I was not scheduled to have a BSO!"
I've included a list of abbreviations below to help with the confusion.

Sometimes women that keep their cervix can have a chance of mini periods especially if endometriosis or adenomyosis has been the diagnosis. You may want to check out these links. It seems that I've read on here that if the women have had a history of adenomyosis or endometriosis, the chances of having a mini period is greater. Now there is a procedure that dr's can do to cauterize the cervix during surgery to prevent these mini periods but unless your dr. has told you this you should ask him/her otherwise you may get a nasty surprise of continued periods every month. There have been a few women that have had to go back into surgery to have their cervix removed due to heavy bleeding that was worse than before the hysterectomy. The cervix contains a lining that can shed every month because it is part of the uterus, only the size of a coat button, but it can bleed or cause continued spotting if it's not cauterized. See these links for further info.

No more periods? Yea right!
http://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/sho...periods+cervix

Painful Periods after SAH
http://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/sho...periods+cervix

adenomyosis should I have had my cervix removed
http://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/sho...omyosis+cervix

Is subtotal hysterectomy suitable for women with adenomyosis?
http://www.cmj.org/netprints/01/04/010421.htm
"Yet, the pathological change of adenomyosis is often diffuse[1] and even extends to uterine cervix. Therefore, in this study we make pathological examination on the incisal margin of hysterectomy specimens in the patients with adenomyosis after supracervical hysterectomy to investigate the factors relative to the positive incisal margin of hysterectomy specimens so as to guide the selection of treatment on adenomyosis."

Snail trail.......anyone?
http://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/sho...ight=underwear

I had a continuous discharge before my hysterectomy that required me to wear liners everday of the month before my hysterectomy and my dr. said it was from my cervix. Since I fully recovered, I haven't needed anymore liners or pads. No more discharge or bleeding. I do remember another post on here of a woman who went to her dr. complaining of discharge and continued cramps (she kept her cervix) and her dr. said it was normal. As for the cramps because endometriosis can extend down to the cervix that could be a reason why some people could contine cramping afterwards if the endo is not entirely removed.
Here's the link to that post. http://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/sho...threadid=91098

Is dry underwear ever possible with total hysterectomies?
http://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/sho...ight=underwear

Cervix to leave or not to leave, that is the "O" question! (The effect on sex)
http://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/sho...ghlight=cervix

Here is a link with the list of abbreviations to help as some can be confusing. One can have a total hysterectomy while keeping the ovaries. When one has the ovaries removed it's called an oopherectomy. Basically T in TAH means Total or entire uterus plus cervix being removed. So if you are keeping the cervix the proper one would be SAH if it's being done abdominally or LSH if it's being done laproscopically.
http://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/vie...=abbreviations

TAH--Total Abdominal Hysterectomy----Removal of uterus including the cervix with an abdominal incision
TAH BSO--Total Abdominal Hysterectomy- Bilateral Salpingoopherectomy---Removal of uterus and both tubes and ovaries.
LAVH--Laparoscopic Assisted Vaginal Hysterectomy---Vaginal Hysterectomy with visualization and resection of the uterine ligaments through a scope inserted through or near the umbillicus.The uterus is then delivered through the vagina.
TVH-- Total Vaginal Hysterectomy ---removal of uterus and cervix through the vagina
SAH--Subtotal Abdominal Hysterectomy--removal of uterus through an abd. incision leaving the cervix intact
SAH--Supracervical Abdominal Hysterectomy---same as above
LSH--Laparoscopic Supracervical Hysterectomy--removal of uterus using the laparoscope leaving the cervix intact.
Lap Hyster---same as LAVH
TVH---Vag hyster
LAVH---Laparoscopic Hysterectomy
TVH-BSO --removal of uterus, cervix, and both tubes and ovaries thru the vagina -------------

Hope I've helped you with this information. I'm not trying to discourage anyone from keeping their cervix because there are you will here both advantages and disadvantages of either keeping it or not keeping it but want you to be informed and prepared so you aren't surprised if you didn't know beforehand if complications like mini periods or continued cramps or discharge occur as these may be prevented. Ask your dr. about this. s