LSH yesterday - home today

Hi ladies,
I am back from the castle. Despite all my anxiety & fears - all in all I have to say the visit was terrific. (Well as terrific as major surgery can be. )

I was totally freaked out about anesthesia, pain, etc. as many on the board have also shared. I just wanted to let you know that I am having a very positive experience thus far. Don't get me wrong. I am in a moderate amount of pain and the gas pressure is tough, but I would not have believed that I would be feeling this good the day after surgery. So all you ladies in waiting for an LSH - it is not too good to be true.

I had a c-sect with my DS and this surgery was a cake walk in comparison.

I expressed my anxiety over general anesthesia to the nurse anesthetist and she said they would give me some vercet (sp?) aka 'happy shot'. She was very kind and reassuring. After the shot, I honestly don't remember much. It felt like it lasted about 2 minutes. I woke up in recovery and the nurse was right there holding my hand and talking to me.

I was taken to my room shortly after to rest. I was very sleepy, but pain was not bad at all. (morphine).

My surgeons said that the procedure was very routine. They gave me pictures to take home - I know a little funny - a little wierd. I was able to keep both ovaries and my cervix. I did lose one tube as there were cysts developing on it. (I saw them in the pics) There was no endo present, but a bit of past scarring may have been some pre-pregnancy with my son. They said we are waiting for pathology to confirm, but my uterus appeared to be textbook adenomyosis. My uterus was very spongy and soft. Doc said we made the right call.

I was receiving IV pain meds & anti-imflamatory until yesterday afternoon. I was then switched to oral vicodin. This was not very helpful in managing my pain (especially after I got up to sit in the chair for a while) so when one of the docs came for rounds, I explained that I was not getting relief - she prescribe a little strong med called norco. Great stuff and is helping much more.

Today I knew I that I had to get up (dreaded that), walk and pass gas before I could go home. The doctor gave me a suppository to help with the gas. I know yuck! But it worked and I walked the floor - very slowly with DH. This really helped get the gas moving. I also had to pee without the catheter. After all these tremendous accomplishments, I was discharged and home on my very our couch in less than 36 hours.

I did have one small problem. At one point, I began to feel bladder pressure. It was actually getting painful. I rang the nurse (it was shift change) & the chick who came in basically dismissed me. Said it was normal, etc. I knew that this didn't feel right. A few minutes later, my nurse for the new shift came in and I told her what happened. She checked the catheter line and there was a kink in it. As soon as she straightened it out and turned me a little sideways. I felt much better. Bottom line, if you think something is off - speak up!

All in all my nursing staff was terrific. Very friendly and compassionate. They kept telling me how great I was doing. Encouraged me to drink lots of fluids to get things moving and made sure my pain was managed. They stressed not letting it get too bad. Said it was better to stop/maintain moderate pain than to let it get too sever.

Anyway, I know this is a bit long winded, but since I was soooo very scared one week ago, I wanted to share my story in the hopes that it may help someone else feel more comfortable about their upcoming visit to the castle.

Thanks to everyone who was so encouraging to me. And best wishes to everyone on the board. I hope all have as good an experience as did I.

God Bless,
Michelle 34, LSH 7/17 - adenomyosis. Removed uterus and one tube. Kept cervix and ovaries.