Total Abdominal Hysterectomy - TAH/LSO - The Castle & Recovery

I went to doctor due to sever pelvic pain & horrible cramps during my period. Ultrasound showed no reason for pain, so my doctor wanted to try uterine ablation with a 50/50 chance of it helping with the pain! I thought about it, talked it over with my DH and came to the conclusion I was tired of "trying" things and I wanted it all out with the exception of my one healthy ovary! Doctor agreed, insurance accepted and my surgery was scheduled for 09/12/07 @ 7:30am. After the surgery was over my doctor thanks me for listening to my body and making the decision I did because he was flat wrong. He said if we had tried the ablation I would have been back in doing the surgery within a month!

So without further ado here is my story!

My Journey to the CASTLE and My Recovery!

Sorry this has taken me so long to get back with and update but my computer would not let me post from home! Darn thang! So I had to wait until I got back into the working world! Here goes the details.

* I now agree the waiting was/is the hardest part of the entire trip!

My surgery was scheduled for 7:30 am on Sept. 12th, 2007. I had to go thru the bowel prep which stated two days prior to surgery. 1st day was liquids, 2nd day was clear liquids and a bottle of magnesium citrate @ 4pm. Oh my it didn’t start working until 2am the next morning! I had to be up at 4 am to make it to the hospital by 6am, I had taking my Xanax so I was calm as a cucumber. We arrived at the hospital a few minutes before 6 and I was immediately put into a nice room and asked to adorn one of the beautifully crafted hospital gowns and grey non-skid socks for my feet! I was tucked into bed and a nurse came in to take vitals and asked questions about medical history! After the questions had been asked and I signed all the paperwork my IV was started and then I had a visit from who I call now my miracle worker, my anesthetist. He explained what all he was responsible for and what to expect when I woke up! He explained that if I would allow him to, He was going to use a partial spinal block. He explained that the needle was only the size of a strand of hair and that he would be giving me versed and that I would remember very little. He said that he would be inserting a tube to help me breathe and that my throat would possible be sore when I woke up! Since I have acid reflux he also gave me a drink of something that he called a margarita without the rita!!!! It was sour & nasty. Then my Knight in Shining Armor aka Dr. Simmons came in to check on my anxiety level and go over once again what we had planned to do! Everything was in order and I was ready to get going (my surgery actually started about 10-15 minutes early). I kissed my family and said I would see them when I woke up from my nap! With that finished I was whisked away to the OR, It was very big and COLD! I remember the nurse asking me to move over on the operating table and sit up on the side, she then had me lean forward, hug her, and lay my head on her shoulder. My miracle working anesthetist swabbed my spine with alcohol and that is all I remember until I woke up in recovery. When I woke up I was coughing but I didn’t hurt, I could tell I was bandaged on my abdomen and had lots of blankets on top of me. I was very sleepy and wanted to see my husband & parents to let them know I was ok and then I wanted to sleep!
I was carried up to my room sometime between 10:30 & 11:00am, I moved myself over to the bed. This was not an easy task. I was hooked up to the IV, I had a catheter and I had the leg massagers to help with circulation and the machine that measures the oxygen level taped to one of my left hand fingers. I was finally settled in my castle quarters and I was still NOT in any pain!!!! The spinal block was wonderful!!! It kept my pain at a minimum for my entire stay; I did have a morphenine pump but I never pushed it!! The only medicine I was on was two different high powered antibiotics, one of which gave me a GREAT case of colitis (more on this later), due to Dr. Simmons doing two urine samples and both came back with a wicked infection(I had no symptoms) in the urinary tract.
The evening of my surgery I was still on clear liquids, so my dinner was broth,jello,juice & some kind of ice dessert. I was so sick of broth & Jell-O by then I only ate the ice dessert and drank my juice! I watched a little TV and rested as much as I could between vitals being taken, blood being drawn and housekeeping cleaning my quarters! I was doing so well I sent my dear hubby home for some rest & decent food!
The next morning I was unhooked from the pain pump, oxygen monitor, oxygen nose tube, the leg massagers and catheter but the IV stayed! I was allowed up to sponge off, brush hair & teeth and change into a fresh designer gown. My bed was changed and I sat in the chair awhile. I was sore but not in pain! Breakfast came and still clear liquids – again all I ate was the ice dessert and drank my juice. I was hungry and wanted real food, the nurse said she would ask Dr. Simmons and maybe lunch could be real food! I got back in bed and rested and visited with hubby who had come back up for awhile. Dr Simmons Okayed regular diet and I had real food for lunch. I was still in no pain and I never was sick to my stomach! I was able to walk some as long as I had someone with me. It felt good to move. Dr. Simmons was due to come by around noon but he was running late (another surgery). I was sitting in my chair visiting with my hubby & sister-in-law when I noticed that my hand was swelled on the arm that had the IV in it, yup my vein had burst! I called for the nurse and she was going to take it out and put it in the other arm, I begged her to leave it out until I saw Dr. Simmons. I wanted to see if he would put me on antibiotic by mouth so the IV could stay out!!! She agreed and I was free thank goodness because the colitis hit me and I was in the throne room every few minutes. The only good thing was that the nurses knew I could pass gas and p—p! Have I said I was in NO Pain! Dr. Simmons made it by around 8pm that evening and that is when you know what hit the fan!!! I did not know that he had put it in my chart that the bandage was to come off that morning and I was to be helped with a shower! He had also ordered a stool sample that I did give earlier but it was never picked up!!!!!!!!!! He was one HOT DUDE! By the time all this was going on I had started to run a fever (100.1), if it got to 100.3 the IV had to go back in!!! So He asked the nurse to start my antibiotic by mouth and give me Tylenol to run my fever down. He left me with his personal cell phone # and told me if I was not given my shower/bandage removed to give him a call. He left and I still had no antibiotics or Tylenol! About an hour later my hubby calls to tell me goodnight and I started crying, I felt bad and I didn’t want the IV to go back in. Hubby got Dr’s # and called him! It took about 5 minutes and my room was swarming with nurses. I had all my meds and a clean “hat” for another stool sample! Dr. Simmons called my room and asked if everything had been taken care of – He said that the charge nurse was to be my nurse and that he told her if she could not take care of me He would come and do it himself!!!! That never had to be addressed again!
Then next morning I was up, bandaged was removed and I was in the shower! Thankfully the Tylenol took care of the fever and the IV remained out. If I stayed fever free I would get to go home today. Dr. was to see me around noon – He finally showed up at 4:30pm and I was on my way home during rush hour traffic.

Fast Forward to today>>>>>>>> I stayed home for 4 weeks! I was feeling great by the middle of week two! I was no longer as sore and I could walk for some distance without giving completely out! I took it easy the entire 4 weeks and did not push my recovery. I am now back at work with some restrictions. I still can’t lift more than 8 lbs and no pushing shopping carts, vacuuming or sweeping! On my last dr’s visit he said we would do a sonogram every 6 months to check on the one ovary I have left. The final diagnosis was intramural fibroids, too many to even number! Dr. Simmons said that at his first look at my uterus he knew it was sick. This may be TMI but when he lifted it out it was not stiff as a normal uterus would be it was like jell-o.

I feel great now. I still get tired easily but that will get better with time and exercise. I have already experienced one month without a period or cramps! Woo Hoo!!!! My last word will be if I had to do it all over again I WOULD DO IT IN A HEART BEAT!

Cheers
Iwant2bpainfree