Recovery Progress Reports for Hysterectomy dates Feb 21-Feb 27,2011

woo hoo week one is over! it's been horribly boring but.... ever forward right hoping for the hourly urination to end but I guess that will come when I stop drinking the copious amounts of water! I do have a question.....
I have the DaVinci and 4 incisions. the lower two are healing great, the upper one under the ribs on the waistline seems weird. no red streaks but still the magenta bruising and the scab is more white then brown. thought it was due to the bending and movement in that area. it's not painful - unless you push on it and then it's like a bruise pain. nothing oozing but the liquid stitches are still over it so..... almost reminds me of a scab that got wet or was under the bandage for too long. no fever either so.....

Hi---had the davinci hyst(all but right ovary) on feb.24th. surgery lasted max of 2 hours, from time of going into operation room to back into recovery ---had enlarged uterus with 3 large fibroids & cantelope size cyst engulfing my left ovary(I've dealt with this for over 10 years, just kept going til could get the da vinci and time off work/show schedule, finally couldn't ride anymore and that forced me to find a good coworker). My doctor told my husband the cyst was larger than ultrasound showed so the surgery took alittle longer than expected. Seems like mine was short compared to others. walked at around noon, but cath had been put in crooked so I couldn't just drain but had to be manually drained but they wouldn't take out the cath--got a terrible headache (worst I've ever experienced and I've had quite a few whiplashes over the years from riding/training horses) and it took the nurse 1/2 hour to find a doctor to give me pain med---I had no pain abdomen wise, just the headache--thought my head would pop off or at least my eyes would explode! about 2am a nurse said try more oxygen--maybe gas went straight to head--it worked!! thanks to that wonderful nurse, who wasn't even on my floor but had visited with my husband downstairs! my floor was terribly short handed and the cna had a terrible cold. by friday am, cath out, bathroom both fine, started walking but husband had to push iv because they were too short handed to take me for the walks I needed to do so I could be released. Husband dressed me--finally took out IV, & off home. One hour car ride---been trying to eat healthy but went thru McDonald's drive thru on way out of town--ate over half of chicken filet and about dozen fries and diet coke----slept most of friday & friday nite ---up and walking house every day now---feel super---BUT waiting for other "shoe" to fall--Is this too good to be true? I'm walking 10-15 minutes every hour or so, lapping the house. I even walked the deck and front porch with the doors open but it is only around zero here, BUT tomorrow the weatherman promises 20 above!!! Do you push your "luck" and go for it--walk outside, go to the barn and say hi to the horses, drive to town (4 miles one way), I'm sleeping thru the nite on my side and back(normal), eat like crazy, take ibuprofen only because I think it may help with any swelling organs I have---no pain -----just stircrazy but scared to push it! Are there any others out there like cancer 1968 who is flying thru this---my thoughts and prayers are with the gals that are not flying thru this--but I don't know if I should push and then will be sorry--are there any in my position that ventured too far and have regrets ? too much too soon stories? or if I'm at this point I'm home free? thanks for reading my long "adventure" with da vinci and any thoughts or hints would be appreciated!

Hi FrostyND, my experience has been much like yours. I had a total daVinci hysterectomy and have very little discomfort. Nurses wanted me to take morphine that night. They were so amazed that I only wanted motrin. I told them that the pain in the last five years had been way worse than this.

Surgery on Monday, out to eat on Thursday night. Ran into friends who could not believe haw well I looked. Went to home show in nearby town on Sat. I feel great. Some gas pains, not too bad.

Like you, I am waiting on the hormones to drop. No hot flashes, no mood swings, or crying. Problem is, I want to do more than I should.

Glad you did so well. Thank you for sharing.

I had a total hysterectomy robotically due to cancer Tues. 2/22, which they also took a portion of my vagina and also the lymph nodes. Surgery took 4.5 hours and I had bruising on my head and arms couldn't open all the way. Glad to hear so many painfree stories! Mine is not one. I feel like they left a knife in my right side and as I move it gets turned sideways. I'm coping with it but the first night I though I wouldn't make it through it and asked all my family to just go home so I could deal with everthing.

I do have a side effect that I'm considering contacting the doctor about and wanted to check with you all first.

Last week I felt like the tops of my legs were sunburned and then got prickly feelings on top of that... which lasted a day or so and now I can tell my feeling came back in my legs. I didn't even realize they were numb until the feeling came back. Now my inner thighs and top of the vagina area are feeling that way. You know when your foot falls asleep and you stand up... the feeling starts to come back and hurts, feels heavy and feels like needles poking you? That's what it feels like. At times it also feels like a rug burn but I keep checking and there isn't even redness.

I'm afraid it will go to my tummy next and that's a senstive area.

Please help.

And I am with you two as well! One week post today and as of yesterday i was running around - forgot I had surgery. No hormonal affects yets - I kept ovaries.

Happy healing!

I am a week out today after LSH and BOS and feel really good. My pain meds are keeping me very comfortable. I've not had much trouble going to the bathroom, thank goodness for Metamucil and my high fiber cereal.

I have been able to walk outside the past 2 days which felt really good. Have a good appetite and a wonderful Mom and husband to take care of me. I, too, am not used to having people do for me, so it's hard sometimes to ask them to do the simplest things, but I'm learning. I'm so glad for all the cooking I did ahead of time, we only have to heat and eat.

Only problem is that I am experiencing some numbness below my belly button and to the left small incision. It's a tiny bit pink, not really red but this feeling isn't relieved by my pain meds. It's not terribly painful, just bothersome. Any thoughts?

Thanks for web site and opportunity to share experiences.

I had my complete hysterectomy on February 23 and finally made it home late yesterday. My 2 hour surgery lasted over 4 hours with a high blood loss and increased time in recovery. I ended up having a blood transfusion on Saturday due to a very low blood count and finally started to feel better late Monday evening. Its hard to describe how I feel now, a full week after surgery. Very glad to be home, to have a very caring family and to have a doctor that knows what he is doing. Thank God I am feeling better.

So, insomnia seems to have hit me. It took me forever to get to sleep last night, then I didn't sleep very long before waking up to go to the bathroom and to take some pain meds. On the plus side, I only took ibuprofen instead of percocet. Had trouble getting back to sleep. Got up at 10:45 to make up for it. Took more ibuprofen. I think it is helping the pain enough. I'll know in the next half hour or so (meds tend to take about an hour to really take effect for me). I don't know why I couldn't sleep. I was incredibly tired. I guess every day has its challenges.

Hey Frosty ND -- I seem to be sailing right through as well. Had RALH/LSO (kept the right ovary) on 2/23. I have been feeling so good that I overdid it on Friday (yes - two days after surgery). I also ride, and I tell you -- the hardest thing about this process has been not being able to go out and ride. I did go out and brush my beautiful mare - and cleaned her feet - yesterday. Of course she was nice enough to roll in the mud - on both sides mind you - within five minutes of being all beautified. I am hoping to be able to take a leisurely stroll around the pasture next week. Just hop on her bareback -- no lifting that way. Just climb up on a round pen panel and mount her that way. It is hard to remember sometimes all the internal stitches. So I keep telling myself and am counting down the days to my two week mark. I hope things keep going smoothly for you - and you are back in the saddle real soon!

Saw my great Doctor today, pathology came back negative(Thank God), stitches removed,healing well, got prescription for bio- identical hormones. Thankful to be doing so well. Sending prayers, love and positive thoughts to all my hystersisters. Love, Victoria