Halloween Hysterectomy

I had my TAH on Tuesday, October 27th. A day I'll remember simply b/c it's the birthday of my favorite musician.

I had an abdominal CT scan a few weeks back and it showed that I had a fibroid. I had a fibroid a few years back and had the endometrial ablation surgery, leaving me with no more periods, that was great right there! So knowing that I had another fibroid, it was pretty much hands down going to be a hysterectomy b/c I've already had a previous intervention.

I hadn't even had the chance to schedule my hysterectomy when last weekend I was in so much pain feeling like the worst menstrual cramps ever. My dr's nurse said to go to the ER if it got too bad to handle, but I didn't want to go to the ER and be exposed to swine flu or anything - so I waited until Monday morning. My dr sent me over to the hospital from there, not even having the chance to go home to pack stuff. Tuesday afternoon was my surgery.

Morphine did nothing for the pain, just made my head feel foggy, so I was switched to dilaudid and so glad for that. Apparently it's common to have a chest x-ray prior to surgery so when the tech came to get me, wearing some awful smelling perfume, I vomitted. I can tell you first hand that you're not supposed to wear any kind of perfume if you work in the hospital, but apparently this tech didn't care for that message. I'm just glad I puked before I had my surgery.

Apparently, my fibroid was much larger than the ct scan or the ultrasound had shown. It was a soft-ball sized fibroid that had misplaced my bladder, cervix and part of my intestines. My surgeon had to rearrange my internal organs. Ouch!

while in the hospital post-op I was doing rather well. I had my hubby bring my laptop and I was keeping in contact with friends and such. That dilaudid drip was the bomb!
As soon as I got home I realized just how awesome that dilaudid really was b/c the percocet I was given did absolutely nothing for the pain.

I called my dr. twice on Friday b/c of the pain, just really wanting permission to take 2 percocet every 4 hours instead of just 1. I knew enough math to know that it wouldn't last the weekend if I took 2, even though the label said I could take 2. The nurse said if it's still unbearable to go back to the ER to get IV dilauded. Again- swine flu is prevalent in my area right now so that's not really the option I wanted to take.

I finally figured out- through the grace of this website - that most of my pain was associated with gas and constipation. Even before leaving the hospital I was having a hard time passing gas. When I would void, my bladder would go into spasm, and again, thanks to this website to understand I wasn't alone.

My dr said my surgery would be very much the same as recovering from a c-section. I've had 2 c-sections and I can tell you this is WAY worse! Perhaps it's because I'm a yoga instructor and massage therapist- it's all been about the core for me for so many years - and now, my core is in recovery.

I will say that today, Sunday, is a better day, thankfully! Friday night I ended up taking an enema just to be able to pass the unpassable and that helped a ton. I still have some bowel movements and gas that take my breath away and leave me panting in prayer, but the last few visits to the bathroom have been more successful and less dramatic. That's improvement in my book.

This site is such a wealth of information and has given me so much more understanding. Apparently the pain of the hysterectomy leaves your memory and almost everyone has a difficult time remembering their experience, so it's nice to see it documented here and read what others are experiencing - I don't feel so awkward and alone.

The most difficult challenge for me is not doing too much too soon. Yesterday I sat up for about 2 hours (and took a shower first) to visit with my sister-in-law... apparently that was too much. I've been more restful today and last night. It was rather interesting to be home and not answer the door when trick-or-treaters came begging for candy. Thankfully hubby was here for that.

This will definitely be a Halloween to remember!
Thanks for Hyster-Sisters!