So far, so good (LSH) Day 4

Ever since I was a teen, my doctors have talked to me about having a hyst. They found that I had the ADPKD gene when I was about fifteen and wanted me to understand then that I could pass this onto a child if I decided to have one. As I got older, I put it off, thinking that someday I may want children. When I was thirty, I had my now 3yo daughter. Pregnancy was not easy. That was when I was diagnosed with ADPKD and due to a previous blood clot, was giving myself shots daily of blood thinner and seeing a doctor twice a week. This is when the constant bleeding started. After I had my daughter, that is when the clots started. Over the past three years, it has grown worse. A year ago, I was told about the large fibroids. Unable to go on b/c because of the blood clot I suffered from years ago, I struggled with whether or not to have an IUD. I put it off. I have been so exhausted for so long. A month ago, I went to the emergency room because I would not stop dropping clots, causing me to be further exhausted and having one heck of a mess to clean up here at the house due to unexpected excessive bleeding. It was worse because I was attempting to work out. I went in to my gyno, crying, and told her to get it out any way she could. She was wonderful. I was anemic and still so tired even though I was taking iron. She set it all up. I started my period (again) the week before. I did movi-prep on the 30th of July. It really is terrible. Both going in and coming out. So far, that has been the worst part of this whole thing. I'm not sure there is a trick to making it taste better. I felt like I was licking a cloth sprayed with lemon pledge.

I went in at 5:30. Met with my anest. and gyno. briefly. At 7:30, right on schedule, they took me back, explaining that they had just put something in my IV to relax me. I did not feel any different. They had me move tables and strapped me down. I was then told to think of a happy place and breathe deeply. The surgery lasted about three hours. My uterus was larger than the 10 weeks they thought it was going to be. I have my cervix and my ovaries.

I woke up as I was being rolled into a room with other recovering patients. They were discussing whether I was an in patient or an out patient. Through my mask, I explained I was an out patient and would be going home today. They found this amusing. Guess they expected me to rest. The nurse asked me if I wanted morphine. I initially refused. I don't like pain meds. After a few minutes, I asked her for the lowest dose. She gave it to me. I still did not feel any different. She did get onto me constantly about breathing deeply. I figured if I did not sleep, I could get out of there sooner. I had her pull my cath because I kept feeling like I needed to pee. By 11, I was being wheeled into my room. The worst part of this is the cotton mouth. I have never had it before. There was no liquid to moisture my mouth what-so-ever. She brought me juice, crackers, graham crackers, and narco. I took and kept them all down. Soon after, I got up to pee, did two laps around the ward, got dressed and went home. (Against orders I did enjoy Jack in the Box when I got to the house.)

Day 1: When I got home I slept for about an hour. Walked some, rested much. I did not take the narco, but did rely on the Ibuprofen. Day 2: Felt like I could run a marathon...probably the meds talking. There was stomach pain involved when getting up and down. Walked around the house, relaxed. There was some tailbone pain from sitting. I did lay down more on day 2. Day 3: Walked to the corner for the mail. Dealt with some pressure on my chest and pain in my shoulder from trapped gas. With some deep breathing and resting, it passed. Day four: Everything is better after a stool softener. Yay! There is a little pain when I move wrong. But today is my first day with no meds and it was relatively painless. I will rest tomorrow and be ready to grocery shop the day after.

I have read about people who have had mental fog. I did not. I do not regret the LSH not one bit. It has been an easy process. I look forward to meeting with my doctor in a week and so I can be released back to work (and see how large my uterus actually was). Frankly, I feel better now than I did before I went in for the LSH.

I have also been on hystersisters like crazy looking up every thing, I am most concerned that I am going to overexert myself, because I do feel so well. I am going to try to keep a low profile and rest up over the next week. Thanks so much to this site for providing so much info. I have learned so much about the process that I did not know existed.