Tubal ligation 20+ yrs ago, TVH & BOS Oct 10

[Warning: A bit graphic, skip to the next topic if you are extra squeamish]

I had a laparoscopic tubal ligation in 1985 with a very quick recovery, home same day, a bit bloated first few days from being filled with air during the surgery, back to work after the weekend, and a few days of feeling like I'd done way too many situps then totally back to normal. Getting a tubal at age 30 as an unmarried woman with no desire for kids EVER (I take after my parents hahahaha) wasn't completely easy but I eventually found a doc who would do it through the local abortion clinic. Totally happy with the results, no regrets whatsoever. Same with the tattoo I got when I was 27 for that matter :-)

Tolerable periods through my 30s and early 40s, but they started getting really ugly by mid-40s, so I asked my PCP for help.

She put me on birth control pills (Loestrin 1.5/30 was the one that did the trick, I had breakthrough bleeding on anything milder) at about age 45, taking them continuously to suppress really really bad periods as an alternative to needing vicodin and adult diapers to cope, and passing clots big enough to wonder if I should have given then names before flushing them away. The only goofups have been from GI bugs or antibiotics that made the BCPs ineffective and caused a "surprise" period with all the joy of sitting on a towel at 3 in the morning while I drive around looking for an allnight pharmacy for some Depends. Thank G-d for maroon sweat pants.

So, I asked for a referral to the OB/GYN from my primary MD during my physical in August to see if I was anywhere near actual menopause (I just turned 53, mom didn't stop till 56) and see if I just might be a candidate for hysterectomy because I am so bloody tired of the bleeding and pain and being afraid to leave the house during my monthly "flowers". BTW I love how the booklet they gave us in Jr High said I might experience "insignificant twinges" and to do situps to get rid of them, so I wonder if they hired drag queens to write it. Anyway.

Just before the GYN appointment I had another bout of GI flu and must have spewed the BCP because I started bleeding a day or so later (doesn't take much).

So yay, mindbending cramps and hot flashes and the joy of diarrhea all at the same time. I am TOTALLY done with this as I told the GYN the next day (he actually doesn't mind doing pelvic exams on bleeding patients, which I worried about horribly beforehand, he is totally compassionate about dysfunctional bleeders and whipped out the Chux and got right to work).

Anyway, we discussed the problems, he said BCPs at my age weren't a great idea, described the alternatives: depo shots, with risk of depression & weight gain (I already take Zoloft and I'm not really in need of extra poundage), or hormonal IUD, or get it over with and do a hysterectomy. Fine, let's go for it I said, he said everything looked good for a TVH but that removing the uterus wouldn't necessarily get rid of the monthly pain unless he took the ovaries as well, so I said go for it, I have no further use for them. An actual workup to DX the problem other than "dysfunctional bleeding" wouldn't be all that helpful if the cure is the same regardless, so he said "pick a Wednesday", Oct 10 was the first available date (wow, efficient!), so I signed a bunch of stuff and wrote a big check and I'm good to go.

I also asked if he could give me something to halt the flow so I wouldn't spend the next 10 days exsanguinating (seriously, the last period left me so weak and anemic I was wobbly for weeks afterward), so he gave me some samples of Prometrium 200 mg and a scrip for more.

So, the last week has been interesting. No more BCP, just the prometrium once a day. The bleeding tapered off almost immediately to almost but not quite nothing, I am having what I would consider "mild" cramps all the time, had a few world class hot flashes the first couple of days, but otherwise feel fine.

I think prometrium likes me (but doggone it's expensive), I think I'm not making much estrogen any more (looks like I'm having good ol' breakthrough bleeding, it's down to a daily smudge), and I'm going shopping this morning at Target for my Princess Attire and getting the house ready for my triumphant return as Post-Hyster Queen.

Of course I'm preparing for the worst (weeks of pathetic debility and utter dependence on DH for every little need, he almost seems up for it at this point), and hoping for the best (a few days of ouch and then a leisurely journey back to abnormal). I have plenty of chocolate to see me through, a cat to use as a tummy pillow (he's already practicing for that), and I don't think it will be really hard to delegate DH to stop on the way home for takeout if I don't feel like cooking.

Meanwhile, I'm dreaming about (other peoples') babies, of all things. Still no desire for my own, or regrets about not having any, so I'm bemused by this but not at all distressed. I actually found out this week from a cow-orker that she got hers from the same doctor about 10 months ago and totally loves it and congratulated me on my upcoming surgery, so I can only imagine what she was putting up with beforehand. I think I love her.

So, I'm all excited, a bit trepidated but who wouldn't be. Would anyone else who had tubal ligation and TVH-BOS like to compare notes? Or just the TVH-BOS?