Tah

My hysterectomy was on July 12, 2012. My surgeon recommended a hysterectomy as a last resort for dealing with a long history of fibroids and heavy periods. We tried other methods but they did not help very much.

My surgery was supposed to be at 11:00 a.m. but did not occur until 2:00 p.m. During the delay, I was very nervous and scared. I was tempted to ask the nurse to unhook the IV so I could go home but I decided I should stay.

I read on this site that the preop room is cold and it was. I discussed my pain medication concerns with my surgeon and the anesthesiologist as suggested by others on this site. I told them that Morphine makes me throw-up, I did not want to be on opioid medications for very long, and I don't like how opioids make my head foggy. My surgeon said that at this hospital they use a combination of anti-inflammatory and opioids for pain control. She suggested we try Voltaren/Diclofenac (a non-steroid anti-inflammatory) suppositories as our main pain control with the morphine pump as a backup.

The surgery went very well. One minute the anesthetist, operation room nurse, and myself were having a discussion about the best kind of rum to use in a rum cake and the next thing I remember is waking up in my hospital room. I have no memory of the recovery room. Most importantly, I was not in any pain when I woke up. The Voltaren worked great. The Morphine pump was set up so I could use it once every 8 minutes but I only needed to use it a total of 12 times in the first 15 hours after surgery, at which point it was discontinued. I continued with the Voltaren 50 mg suppositories every 8 hours.

Surgery was on Thursday afternoon. Friday morning the catheter came out. I was able to stand without assistance and walk to the bathroom. No problems peeing. No problems eating solid foods. No nausea, vomiting, or foggy head feeling. During my 4 days in the hospital, I got out of bed and walked the halls at least three times per day. It's very important to get up and move around. The only time I had any kind of discomfort was when I tried to get in and out of bed, otherwise I had no pain. I do not have a high pain tolerance and have never had surgery before so I was very surprised at this. If I knew the surgery could go this well I would have had the procedure years ago.

I am now about 18 days post surgery. I parent on my own and have a nine year old son. I hired someone to cut the grass and arranged for homecare to provide homemaking service to vacuum and clean the bathrooms. My son is able to do the laundry and take out the garbage. We practiced doing the laundry in the months leading up to the surgery. I made about 3 weeks worth of dinners for the freezer so I only have to prepare breakfast and lunches.

I was on the Voltaren suppository medication for 8 days after the surgery, then used Aleve for about 3 days before going off all medication except the stool softener. I still have not had any pain. The hardest part during the first two weeks home was getting in and out of bed, sitting in a regular chair eg. at the table, or standing/walking for more than 30 minutes. I spend a lot of time on the couch watching tv or playing board games with my son.

I gave up trying to sleep in my bed after the first night home and now sleep on my couch. I live in a 2 storey house and there are 14 steps to the second floor. Someone on this site suggested going up/down the stairs backwards and this works great (you use less stomach muscles). I try to plan my day so I go up/down as little as possible. I go for a walk every day to get out of the house. I started driving at 2 weeks post-op but limit my trips to within 5 miles of home.

The only issue I had to deal with is a little bit of bleeding from the incision site. The sutures were removed on day 4 before I was discharged from the hospital and steri strips were applied. The bleeding started after I struggled to get out of bed during my first night home. The bleeding was very slight and came from a one inch section of the incision. It usually occurred if I struggled to get up. There was no fever or swelling and the bleeding stopped about day 12 when the incision healed.

I think back to how scared I was while waiting for the surgery and am so glad I did not chicken out. Good luck with your surgery. Keep reading info on this site to get an idea of what to expect post surgery. My surgeon was great but she gave me very little information so I found the info on this site to be very useful.