vaginal cuff cellulitis vs. hematoma, 19 days post op

I had LAVH (ovaries removed) on Dec. 28, 2009. First 1 1/2 wks seemed great, thought this would be a piece of cake! I began to notice a fullness in my bladder like I wasn't emptying properly, then the ache and fullness in my pelvis :confused:started. For a couple days that's all that was different, then it became harder to sit, or rise from a seat. Felt like I was sitting on something. Also have a lot of gas. Saw my doc who did an exam(NOT FUN), and an in and out catheter(EVEN WORSE) and he said he could feel a fullness which could be vaginal cuff cellulitis or maybe a hematoma. My bladder was not fully emptying and I had a trace of blood in my urine. Doc put me on loads of antibiotics and pain meds. Didn't think it necessary to CT or Ultrasound yet. It's been 3 days since that appointment and I'm very little (if any) better. I don't know what to do next. Demand a Ct to see what's going on? Wait it out? Has anyone had this kind of experience? I'm really worried...

Yes, i would demand a ct scan. This is YOUR health and if you do not feel comfortable with your drs decision to just " wait and see" you absolutely should request a ct. BTW My hematoma did not show up on the ultrasound.

After my davinci surgery, the day I left the hospital I didn't feel right. You just know. The doctor told me I should be up and about in about
2 days after surgery. Called her on the 3rd day telling her I just felt
awful, she told me "people heal in different way, give it sometime".
I ended up vomiting all night long, at this point my husband had enough
he called the doctor in the morning and said, I am taking her to the
emergency room. After spending all day in the emergency room, where
I had a CT Scan, and ultrasound test they found I had a trocar hernia with a bowel obstruction. Had to have emergency surgery and ended up in the hospital for 5 days. My advice to you, is you know your body
if your doctor isn't listening to you, find someone who will. I wish I had,
Go to the emergency room like I did, they will help you there. Good Luck. I never thought I would feel well again, but everyday I feel better and so will you.

what did you feel when you had the hematoma? How did you fix this, did it resolve itself or did it take treatment of some kind?

With my hematoma I felt ( and still sometimes do) pressure in my pelvic area and on mybladder. I was told that you want to do a ct scan to make sure you are no longer bleeding, because having the hematoma means that I did at one point have an internal bleeding the dr also measures the size of it. Mine wasn't too big so they decided to leave it alone , let my body try to reabsorb it , and recheck in a month. I don't know what they would have done if it was bigger... I too had my gyno/surgeon tell me the pressure I felt was normal and not to worry blah blah blah... I finally did the ultrasound ,and either he isn't the best at reading the results, or he truly couldn't see the hematoma, but it wasn't till 1 week later and a hospitalization( for a different reason) that another dr ordered a c scan and there it was. Honestly my advice don't do the wait and see approach if you are t comfortable with it.

Was your surgery LAVH? Did the pressure on your bladder and pelvis get worse the longer you were on your feet? It seems to me that I start out a bit better in the am and as the day goes on the pain gets worse. Thanks for the info, if this isn't much better by Monday I'm going to ask for a CT scan. I'm ready to feel better and get back to work, but my job (xray tech) requires me to be on my feet 10 hours/day. Don't see how I can possibly do that!

Not getting better and definitely gtting worse is usually a sign that something needs to be done, so I don't blame you for being concerned. Keep us updated.

Hey there again! I had a tlh but my cervix was removed vaginally rather than thru the portal in my abdomen. I did feel more pressure on my bladder as the day went on ... It definately was worse in the evening. I think my situation is a little different, as I was diagnosed with a bleeding disorder AFTER my hysterectomy and that is why there was such a concern that I still was bleeding internally. My hematologist explained to me that most of the time hemstomas get reabsorbed and you go on to be just fine. All this explanation about hemstomas went on while I was hospitalized for my bleeding disorder and to be honest I was a little foggy, but I seem to remember that the size of the hematoma makes a difference in what they do. I hope you feel better soon. My surgery was over 4 weeks ago and lately I hardly feel the pressure at all. Few weeks ago I felt I was dying, and this week I went back to work. Don't get discouraged, like everyone said you need to do what feels right to you, even if that means offending your dr. Your health is more important than anything else right now, don't let drs brush you off!