The story behind my TAH... (children mentionned)

I waited a bit to see how the early recovery would go before telling my story. I’m now 9 days post-op from TAH/BSO and doing pretty darn good, better than I could have dreamed. Aside from the normal fatigue and the little aches and pains (I know they are normal from all the information I got here!), things are great! So here is my story…

(Warning : the story is a bit long, as are all stories I guess. But I think it’s important to mention some of my background, as it led me to accept the hysterectomy with lots of serenity, and to also mention where my child came from, which also contributed to me being so calm and comfortable with my decision. I also chose to put so much info because, despite the fact that, unfortunately, so many women here have problems after, my ride has been pretty smooth so far and it’s important to tell those stories too. Since I devoured this thread before my surgery, I’m sure others are doing the same! Maybe you, who’s reading this right now…)

Eleven years ago, I discovered a bump in my lower stomach, which was an 8 cm fibroid tumor. A year later, it had grown to a 12 cm one, and an ultrasound and MRI showed that there were 3 more like that, along with several smaller ones. My periods were 7 days (have always been…), but I was at the point were I couldn’t be away from a bathroom for more than an hour at a time because I was bleeding so much. The first two doctors I consulted sounded more like butchers than real doctors to me! The first one said that he would do a hysterectomy « and free me from all my problems ». I was single and 33 at the time… HELLOOOOO??? The second one agreed to a myomectomy, but insisted that I sign a consent form for a hysterectomy and said that I had to give blood prior, because I would loose so much during the surgery : red alert! On to the third doctor, who said there was no way he would do a hysterectomy on a 33 year old woman without any cancer, and that a myomectomy was the best way to go. We scheduled my surgery on that very day.

After the surgery, he told me that there was after all a bit of a cancer scare, and they would send some tissue to a special lab. In the end, everything was negative, and I went on happily with my life. He told me that I could probably conceive, but due to the extent of the surgery, it would be a high risk pregnancy. I guess I started my mourning for the possibility of bio kids right then, but it honestly was never a big issue for me. Some kids arrive by tummies, some kids arrive by plane… The doctor also told me that there were numerous tiny fibroids left, and it was likely that those would grow within 10 years. Forward 4 years, when I met my husband-to-be and we decided to try to conceive. It didn’t work, and since I refused to go in-vitro (didn’t have the courage…), we decided to go the international adoption route, and came back from China 2 years ago with the most amazing little girl.

In 2006, I felt that things had grown again. Because I had pretty much given up on bio kids, this time we went with a uterine embolization. It shrank the fibroids a bit, but not a whole lot, and naturally did nothing for the endo and ovarian cysts I also have. And by the way, I found the embolization awesome because of the short down time (a week), but much more painful than my hysterectomy. Over the last year or so, I’ve felt the fibroids grow again, the pain increase and the periods getting longer, up to two weeks. I saw my doctor, and he couldn’t even find my cervix everything was so messed up in there! I didn’t like the hospital he now operates at, so he referred me to a another doctor who, looking at my chart and tests results, became really concerned about the risk of cancer. They freak out when fibroids grow too fast…

At 44, I felt much more ready than at 33, and I immediately agreed to the hysterectomy. I knew going in that it would be a vertical incision, because by then, my uterus was the size of a 23 week pregnancy, and because of the adhesions from the previous extensive surgery, he felt that was the only way to go. My main fear was the pain when I would wake up : it was just awful after the 3-hour myomectomy, 8-9 out of 10 for several hours. But I got to talk with the anesthesiologist just before she put me to sleep, and she assured me that they would get it under control.

The surgery took 2 and a half hours, and I was ecstatic to wake up to moderate pain that was very quickly brought under control. I had a little tube for oxygen, and those funky pumping socks on. Since morphine didn’t work so much before, they used Dilaudid, which became my new best friend over the next 48 hours. Actually, my main complaint was a very dry throat, as they only allowed ice chips for the first day, because of the nausea from the Dilaudid. That was pretty well controlled too. And, the best : no sign of cancer in the OR! The other best : a much flatter stomach right away…

During the first night, the nurses got a bit worried because my breathing slowed too much, due to the Dilaudid. They simply took the magic PCA button out of my hand, and put it very slightly out of reach… However, I think I got unconsciously worried (breathing is pretty important, no?), and ended up in a full panic attack at around midnight, unable to breath! The nurse was fantastic, holding my hand and reassuring me. That eventually passed, and the rest of the hospital stay was uneventful. I had very little gas pains (just like the first surgery), and normal, painless BM after 3 days. Much to my amazement, I never got constipated from the medication, and I took narcotics for about a week total (they switched me to Supeudol when I left the hospital). Also, not much of a swelly belly so far.

I was really afraid of the discomfort from a vertical incision that ended up going from just above my pubic bone to above my navel, making a little detour around it, but I don’t find it any more painful than the bikini cut, just more annoying with the underwear. Things should improve tomorrow morning, as I finally get the 35 staples removed!

I have yet to feel any menopause symptom, but they gave me a shot of Depo-Provera after the surgery, which is supposed to control some of the symptoms, at least until the pathology report clears me for something else. We’ll about that…

So now, my wonderful husband is taking great care of me, making sure I don’t overdo anything and just spend my energy healing well. I’m looking forward to skiing and hiking and camping again without any « overflow » fear or too much pain to do it. Also, we want to adopt again next year, and I’m beyond thrilled to know that I won’t have to worry about heavy periods and frequent pain on the adoption trip and after!

This site has been a true gift, providing me with tons of useful information and really good advice when I needed it. If you are reading this and are still shy about posting your own questions, don’t be : this is a wonderful community, female support at its best! Thank you Kathy, and Princess Bea Well, and everybody else who makes this site possible!

I truly feel I chose to do something good for myself, and I hope that by reading my story, some of you will feel a little bit more confident, a little bit reassured, and a little bit more optimistic about the whole (big!) deal that a hysterectomy is. We are definitely not alone!