LAVH/BSO 10-21-09--VERY LONG & Descriptive

I have a very big family history of "female problems" within my family. I have suffered from Endo for over 20 years. Just 3 short months ago decided that I could no longer live with the daily pain I was in. Doctor said that more than likely I would have to have a TAH--luckily he was able to do a LAVH w/BSO. I did have to have A&P repairs with a TVT and I did choose to do HRT.
I went in the morning of Oct. 21 not knowing exactly what I would wake up with so I felt like a little kid on X-mas eve....couldn't wait to wake up to find out what I got! LOL

IV was started, and surprisingly I was not a bit nervous! I was told that if I didn't have the Hyst, I would wake up in the room I was currently in, if I did have a Hyst I would wake in a different room. I was wheeled into the OP room and was talking to the nurse and holding a pic of my family(it disappeared). The aneth. told me she had started the "happy juice" and I started to feel really drunk. I told them I needed to close my eyes as I was moving over onto the OP table. The next thing I remember is hearing people talking and thinking to myself, please let this be over with and not just starting. The next thing after that, was feeling my DH putting carmex on my lips as they tend to get chapped very easily and I made him promise me that he would put it on me as soon as he saw me. The first time I opened my eyes I looked around the room to see which one I was in---I had been moved to a different room!! Yeah---at that point I knew that I had the Hyst, just didn't know if it was TAH, LAVH or what. The nurse was putting the little pain button in my hand telling me I had to hit the button myself for pain relief. I wasn't really in any pain, just some pressure in the pelvic area. Come to find out, that was the packing they used and when they took that out---NOT pleasant!! It felt like rope being pulled from a very delicate part of my body! Because of my low tolerance for pain meds, they had me on a very low dose of Morphine which really only put me to sleep. I could hit that button every 7 min. (I timed it) and unless I was already awake to hit it, I didn't bother. I had the IV and drain tube and the cath removed the following day, Thursday, and was started on oral pain meds. I have Naproxen 550 mg (pres. strength Aleve) and Hydrocodone 7.5, they gave me 1 of the 1st and 2 of the last one and I promptly threw them all up! They started giving me something for that from then on and I didnt have any more problems. I took a shower that 2nd day in and got to wear my own clothes. I took a few laps around the 3rd floor that day (not at once) but really I would just walk around the room. I had to stay one more night in because I got sick from the pain meds and because it took me FOREVER to void once the cath was removed.....they threatened to cath me again so I had big motivation to go! On friday, the doc came in to see me and told me if I felt well enough I could go home! I jumped on that and was home snug on my couch 2 hours later. The only real pain I was having was some pressure in my pelvic area with just a little spotting. I didnt have my 1st BM until Sunday morning, even after taking tons of stool softeners and eating prunes, and drinking tons of water. Once it finally happened, I thought I was going to faint the pain was so bad. But haven't had any probs since that day. On Monday, I had more pain and more bleeding and I called the doc's office to make sure it wasnt something that I needed to be seen about, the nurse assured me that it was normal and unless the pain got to be so bad that I could not stand it, I didnt need to come in. I woke up on Wednesday morning with NO PAIN!! I have a little pressure (like period pain) in the pelvic area but other than that I feel wonderful. The pain I have had for more years than I can count is gone completely and I don't miss it one bit although I keep waiting for it to show back up like a bad dream! LOL

My doc does want me to take the full 6 weeks off although I feel like I could go back to work as soon as I can drive again, because the prolapses I had were so severe that I will be needing reconstructive surgery done to my pelvic floor. I am not looking forward to more surgery so we will have to see about that! LOL

All in all, I had a great experience, and I am feeling better and gaining more strength every day.