Getting Scared, Total Hysto in 5 days!!!

I am not very good at getting around in herehttp://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=23# I am getting scared. We had a car wreck, I had surgery on my neck just 8 weeks ago, hubby just had back surgery two days ago... Just us two here, family is all 90 miles away... What can I do to make my recovery fast? I have had 6 surgeries along the Bikini line and Dr. said this is a serious operation for me to have. Many scars and fibroids and Endo. I joined here and was going to order the belt but it takes 6 weeks. Husband will stay in room with me at the hospital because he can't drive. I am driving us to the hospital and he will have to stay with me because of his surgery only one week before my total hysto. they are also taking the cervix. Any advice would be great! Wednesday Feb. 18th is my surgery...

I'm sorry you're going through all of this at once, that sucks.
My best advice to you is to have faith that everything will work itself out (I found myself stress about the logistics of everything since we just moved to this country and have no support system established here), because somehow it will.

If you can't get the belt from here in time, you could try checking out a maternity store, I bought one when I was pregnant and it's helpful now. Probably not as good as one designed for this, but still helpful.

Other than that, try and prepare yourself mentally, stay calm. Try and eat healthy foods, drink lots of water and get lots of rest. If anyone offers any kind of help (meals, cleaning, driving, etc) take them up on it and don't feel guilty. If possible, you might want to try and prepare some meals now and freeze them so you just need to reheat them during recovery. Also keep lots of easy to grab foods around, and phone numbers for some of your favourite take out places.

Good luck! I'm sure you'll find this website to be extremely helpful. The women here have lots of wonderful ideas and advice.

{{{{{HUGS}}}}}

Thank you! I don't feel so bad since I do have family only 90 miles away! I really wasn't scared until yesterday... We live 20 miles from the nearest town so no take out for us. I bought food and it is in the freezer. I hope to be able to cook after the first week. I looked at the hospital when husband was in surgery on Weds. and they didn't have the belts in the baby part of the gift shop. I asked at the pharmacy and they didn't have it either. I will call around tomorrow to the maternity shops. Our medical supply store in town doesn't have them either. I just seen online a home made pillow for riding in the car.... ... I am going to call them tomorrow and see if I can over night one. I wish I could take my own sheets with me to the hospital... I always feel like everyone else's sickness is all over the place. Does anyone take their own sheets? Thanks so much for your support. I wish you the best and I hope that you meet all of the best people while in our country!

mysticwhispers. You have had a rough time of it lately, eh? The part of your story about your DH having surgery before you is similar to me.

My DH had a bone spur surgically removed and the big toe joint realigned the week before my TVH. We were quite the pair! Me in ICU receiving multiple transfusions and him hobbling along in his surgical boot to visit me! giggled a lot at the both of us! I hadn't planned it that way, though. I began to bleed suddenly and massively and my surgery was an emergency. Poor DH just had to deal with it! We laugh now, but it really wasn't too much fun for us at the time!

We ate a lot of easy fix meals for awhile when I came home. Mostly just stuff we could heat and eat - soup, freezer dinners, etc. I was amazed how quickly I was able to get up and about. By the 2nd week, I was feeling much better and could move about for short periods of time. DH could hobble about better too.

I wouldn't worry about the sheets too much. They wash them in the hottest water imaginable and use lots of bleach. They are clean, believe me! And if you are worried about the belly band, ask your doctor for one. Many times they have them in the hospitals and your doc just needs to "prescribe" one for you. And you can use any old pillow for your ride home, just as long as it's firm enough to support your tummy when you are bouncing up and down over the bumps. You don't need a special one for that. I have heard some women telling about using a stuffed animal for that too!

Best wishes and to both of you!

Thank you Stonebo! I knew we just couldn't be the only couple out here that was having back to back surgeries! I try very hard not to complain. We were in a 55 MPH head on crash and only came out of it with 3 disks taken out of my neck with a bone fusion and he had to have one disk taken out of his lower back and no fusion. The older man who hit us lived and didn't even go to the hospital. By Grace we lived. Our oldest son was a passenger in a car that was hit head on just two weeks ago. So We can handle this too I am sure. I just am getting worried. I have been planning in my head, later today I will start the task list and tomorrow have it all done and in order. We moved from a big 2 story to a single wide mobile home that is handicap set up so that will make things much better! I have had several surgeries along my "Bikini Line" and I remember hugging the pillow for comfort. I was 23 yrs younger though! I have 8 frozen dinners ready and Lunch meat frozen we can take out for sandwiches. Do they give everyone a Cathiter? I get a yeast infection if I even look at a glass of wine or eat to much breads. If I take one Antibiotic I have to take 12 Fluconazole tablets. Most doctors will only give you two! It is in my chart that I have to have 12! This is a new doctor for me so I am terrified I will have a ragging yeast infection and he won't care. I hope that after this hysto and I am no longer bleeding 20 to 25 days a month that problem will go away! Thanks so much for your support!
Many Blessings, Tracy

Tracy, I think almost everyone gets a catheter for surgery. I had a foley catheter during surgery that was removed the same evening as my surgery. I had no post op bladder problems. The hospital served me "gator-berry" juice, which is a 1/2 mix of gatorade and 1/2 cranberry juice. It was very good and helps prevent bladder infection. They filled my water jug with the gator-berry instead of water and told me to drink, drink, drink. I take Coumadin, however, because I get repetitive deep vein thrombosis and cranberries don't mix well with it, so I had to stay in the hospital a few days extra after my surgery to get my Coumadin levels regulated before they would let me go home.

You are very fortunate to have made it through that crash relatively well, eh? Is your son old enough to drive yet? I have a 20-year-old daughter who was able to take on some of our driving errands and help us out. Thankfully she attends the university in our city and could run over to mom and dad's when we needed her. I was able to drive immediately since I didn't need any narcotic pain meds, but I didn't always feel up to it because of the anemia I had due to how rapidly I lost blood before the TVH.

I lost over 1/2 of my blood volume in 2 days. Started bleeding heavily on Saturday and called my GYN on Monday. He worked me in during the afternoon and didn't even let me go home to get a toothbrush! He called for a wheelchair from the hospital and the orderly wheeled me across the parking garage and straight into ICU!!! I was having atrial fibrilation and breathlessness because of the blood loss, so they didn't mess around with me. It was determined that the Coumadin caused all of the bleeding. I knew the bleeding seemed heavier than what I usually had during my period, but I really had no idea it had gotten THAT bad! I should have been smarter than that!

I changed primary care docs during this time, too. My "old" one didn't practice out of the same hospital as my GYN, so he had to get an internist from down the hall to be the admitting physician. I liked the new guy so much, I stayed with him. I had to remind him a couple times about my DVT problems so he could put precautions in place before my surgery and take care of the risks post op, too. You may have to keep reminding yours about your med complications!

Sounds like you have a meal plan. Put snack food on your grocery list for the days you don't feel like "fixing" anything. It was nice to have crackers and cheese, cookies, carrots and dip, and chips to eat for those times. And don't forget grape popsicles! I had a weird craving for them after surgery!!!!

Wow, mysticwhispers--you've been through a lot already. It sounds like you've already done really good things to prepare for your recovery. I don't know that there's anything you can do to speed up your recovery. It's important to rest and really take care of yourself. I know that will be really hard with your husband having had surgery, too. If it means that you don't have a clean house for a few weeks, that's really okay. (Trust me, the mess will still be there when you feel like tackling it.)

Stonebo has given you excellent suggestions already. I would like to add one more idea: you might want to stock up on disposable dishes. Even if you prefer to never use them, this is the time to set that aside so you can both focus on recovering. Every plastic cup and paper plate you throw away will be one less dish someone has to wash.

I hope you begin to feel more comfortable with your doctor soon.

Great ideas ladies, thank you! I didn't think about dishes! We wash by hand, no dishwasher...
Bonnie, many women take Coumadin, I will pass that info along! How scary that would be. I guess I am ready. We live 20 miles from the closest town and 90 miles to the hospital... our boys live in the city so they will see me at the hospital, but they can't take time off from jobs to come to the country. Our oldest son stayed with us after our accident and was fired from his job. He is working again so I won't ask him. I am sure we will be OK. Think of what people did 100 yrs ago! Thanks everyone for your help... I hope I won't have more crazy questions!!
Many Blessings, Tracy

	Quote:
Originally Posted by mysticwhispers ...Husband will stay in room with me at the hospital because he can't drive. I am driving us to the hospital and he will have to stay with me because of his surgery only one week before my total hysto. they are also taking the cervix. Any advice would be great! Wednesday Feb. 18th is my surgery...

I hope he will be able to drive you both home after your surgery! You won't be cleared to drive for at least a couple of weeks. You both have been through quite a bit already, maybe you could postpone your hyst until he can drive?

Greetings, DH is up and moving more today... He thinks he will be OK to drive. If he can't his brother and sister in law will drive us home. We own cabins at a lake here in Iowa so that will give them an excuse to get a way for the night too! The clock is ticking and I just don't feel ready... but are we ever? Thanks to everyone for your advice, it sure has helped. Many Blessing to everyone! Tracy