Recovery Progress Reports for Hysterectomy dates Aug 06-Aug 12,2012

1 day post TAH (9am) didn't get anything but ice chips and water sips till noon today. By this time I was sobbing, nauaeated and had a headache. Thank god I got a great nurse to get doc convinced to give me a clear liquid plate. Was hoping to fart before dinner to progress to full liquid. No, luck due to missing breakfast. Now on to oral pain meds no more morphine. Lots of urine passing. No gas yet but good digestion sounds.

8/7/12 SAH checking in.

As most, I was terrified going into this and had zero sleep the night before my operation. I had to be at the hospital by 5:30 am for 7am operation. I had a trial run just a month ago with a failed ablation/d&c/hysteroscopy/resection . I had 1 very large fibroid and many smaller ones and had heavy bleeding and clots that had gotten increasing worse till this year when it got REALLY BAD. In fact I have only had a few days off in the last 9 months. We tried bc's, provera, and then the failed ablation. It was down to me or my uterus, it was time for it to go. I have to say that I would have still been trying to fight this with herbal remedies had I not found this site and started reading everything here that I could. I found much comfort in everyone's stories, and questions and answers I too was looking for. The doc told us that he would be about an hour and when the hour hit hubby started getting worried when he didn't come out. It was about 20 more minutes before he came out. He said my big fibroid was much larger than expected and it took longer to get it all out. It was the size of a softball and way in the back on the outside and he said he had to get that out first and it took a while. My ovaries and cervix all were good so all I lost was my uterus. He did say that there was a tiny bit of endo and he cauterized it and said it should not come back but because I still have my ovaries it's still possible. At 49 I probably have time on my side. I was in recovery for about an hour. That was not fun and thankfully my hubby was right there with me. He was not fond of that nurse and thankfully I was too out of it for emotional values. I kept telling her my pain was a 10 and she kept giving me stuff that was not helping the pain but putting me more out of it. Hubby finally got after her. She kept yelling at me to breath and get my oxygen levels up but they were higher than the levels she said I needed to be at. Hubby said she then put the oxygen on me and then my levels went to 100 and then she was fine. The nurses for my 2 night, 3 day stay were all terrific. They did keep getting me up for meds, vitals, and to stand up. I know that's their job but I was glad to be home to get some real sleep. I had a roommate that could not have made any more noise if she tried. The nurses all felt bad and kept apologizing for her. It was not their fault. The catheter was in till wed. am and then I was on my own. OMG...... getting out of bed, trying to sit on the toilet...........OMG.......way more painfull than I expected. Laying still I have had minimal pain but any movement is horrible. Short of my nurses saying to keep taking my meds to actually help the healing I would ditch the percocet. I have a LOT of swelling so the ibu's are helping a lot. I have a very large cut and I suspect I will have a longer time healing. I am using an ice pack continuously and that helps. Still no BM so that worries me. All the nurses raved about my doctor and were quick to let me know he's the best. There were several nurses that have had a hyst so they could speak to me from experience and that was comforting.
I'm glad it's over and look forward to having my life back in a few weeks. Best wishes to all waiting.

I had DaVinci hyst. on Aug. 8th. I came home the next day and feel great. The most bothersome thing is the gas moving through my digestive system and the "swelly belly". I feel really bloated! Overall though I feel great and sleeping well. I am only taking Tylenol for the discomfort. So glad I did this. I had stage 1 endometriosis and a 4cm fluid filled cyst on an ovary.

I had my TLH on the 7th. Was in AGONY after the surgery and thought they'd never give me some pain meds. I was begging and begging and begging. Once they set in, though, I was fine. I was also wide awake and spent much of the night dorking around on my iPhone and catching up with work.

I regretted this the next day, though, because I was soooo tired. Tried to urinate and ended up throwing up my pain meds, which was devastating. They wouldn't let me go home unless I peed, which just wasn't happening. I ended up staying another night under the guise of "feeling really horrible". . .but really I just wasn't about to go home with a catheter that wouldn't be removed until Monday or Tuesday!

That did the trick and the next morning (Thurs) I was able to pee straight away. I went home on Thursday afternoon. Couldn't sleep worth anything last night because I was getting up every hour (possibly from having slept the entire day) and because I was sweating heavily (common for me).

Today I was a new person, though. I worked a full day at home on the computer and totally caught up on the three days that I had missed. I am slower than normal and my belly is giant, but other than that I actually feel OK. It's sorta odd. . .I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop

Overall, much better than expected! YAY!!!

Well I'm full of surprises. Feeling great today and have refused pain relief since yesterday decided I dont like feeling drugged out. I was ready to go home but my wonderful Dr offered me an extra day in the castle so I took it. Means I'm more likely to take an extra day to relax. In no pain today. Yesterday had a terrible time though with pain, low blood pressure and feeling out of it. I know I'm probably stretching the limits my staying but as she offered I couldn't say no. It's a public hospital but very private like conditions in this hospital. Have a room to myself and a gourmet menu to choose from so now going to try get an appetite back in the next day. Can't believe how well I feel today though!

Well, after being discharged on Weds morning, I was readmitted last night. Yesterday I still felt really nauseous, had the most extreme back pain, and couldn't keep my eyes open. When I'd walk around I could hear my heart pounding in my ears and I'd feel lightheaded. The clincher was last night when around 6pm I had a fever of 100.8. Off to the ER. All they needed to hear was "surgery" and "fever" and I was taken right in. The dr I saw thought I had an infection going on somewhere so they started bloodwork, urine testing, and a ct scan w/contrast. After everything was done, the dr told me the ct scan showed nothing remarkable other than some free fluid in my abdomen. However..where my white blood cells were "beautiful" on my bloodwork, my blood count was only 22..down from 40 last Thursday at my pre-ops. I just finished having my second unit of blood being transfused. My dr doesn't know what happened, I essentially lost half my blood. They are convinced that I'm not bleeding internally. My dr thinks maybe the heparin shots had something to do with it...I just happened to see the anesthesiologist who did my surgery and he said he had a few ideas to talk about with my dr. He's on call this weekend here so I'm hoping to go home tomorrow. I miss my family and I hate being here. I started crying earlier..I really want to go home. My roommate is diabetic and has been vomiting, the sound gives me anxiety so there goes any sleep. I can't stop tearing up.

I'm sorry you're having a rough trott suddenly. I guess its a good warning for us all to still take things easily and seriously if we do have symptoms. Can see how easy it can be to forget we've had major surgery. Hope you are well quickly.

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Originally Posted by Soxlovah Well, after being discharged on Weds morning, I was readmitted last night. Yesterday I still felt really nauseous, had the most extreme back pain, and couldn't keep my eyes open. When I'd walk around I could hear my heart pounding in my ears and I'd feel lightheaded. The clincher was last night when around 6pm I had a fever of 100.8. Off to the ER. All they needed to hear was "surgery" and "fever" and I was taken right in. The dr I saw thought I had an infection going on somewhere so they started bloodwork, urine testing, and a ct scan w/contrast. After everything was done, the dr told me the ct scan showed nothing remarkable other than some free fluid in my abdomen. However..where my white blood cells were "beautiful" on my bloodwork, my blood count was only 22..down from 40 last Thursday at my pre-ops. I just finished having my second unit of blood being transfused. My dr doesn't know what happened, I essentially lost half my blood. They are convinced that I'm not bleeding internally. My dr thinks maybe the heparin shots had something to do with it...I just happened to see the anesthesiologist who did my surgery and he said he had a few ideas to talk about with my dr. He's on call this weekend here so I'm hoping to go home tomorrow. I miss my family and I hate being here. I started crying earlier..I really want to go home. My roommate is diabetic and has been vomiting, the sound gives me anxiety so there goes any sleep. I can't stop tearing up.

Starting to do a bit better from my surgery yesterday. Stayed overnight (my choice) and was discharged this am. It felt good to sit up today. Still tired of course, but the anesthesia was much better this time (aside from me being so sick yesterday).

I am sore but now I am finally "about as sore" as I expected to be. Yesterday I was downright hurting, bad. I changed out my dressings today and my right incision is a bit more sore than the rest but feeling better since changing the dressing.

I can finally pee without my bladder spasming from that stupid catheter. Man, those things REALLY mess me up. I know they are necessary... but this is the second time I've had one and the second time I've gotten messed up. My bladder will not empty with one in and they have had to remove it early both times because of that. Both times I had over a liter of urine I was able to expel RIGHT after catheter removal. LOL. I don't know why they don't work on me, but they don't. It has made me re-think my whole plan of a tummy tuck because I do not wish to ever have one again. I think I'll just walk around with my flabby stomach.

Anyways... laughing still hurts but I've done plenty of that tonight. I heard it's good medicine

Hope everyone is recovering well. I plan on taking it easy but still being active. My doctor gave me few restrictions, just saying to be reasonable and do what I can do. I am going to try to get as much schoolwork done as possible since my mind is much more clear than after my last surgery. It's looking like I'll get my daughter back sooner than I was expecting. Good emotionally... physically not so much. So I need to try to work on schoolwork while she isn't here, because my multitasking skills will be a bit messed up for a while I think. LOL.

hey guys got home last night, left one ovary took uterus repaire bladder with sling and i look pregnant. it was quite a blur yeah i'm home and having lots of gas but walking as much as my energy will allow. I went in at 5:45am wednesday had funny juice laid on operating table they said Good morning and than it was nite nite. 3 hour surgery recovery 1 1/2 and the funny thing was tape on my eyes. Than to my room given pain medicine and a blur for 4 hrs than family came yeah. next morning catherder out up in chair took a shower wobbled all over than rest rest rest. had to pass tests before i could go home. thanks for all the support and well wishes. Going to bed now where is my meds!! love ya all rest rest rest, lots of fruit and drink lots of liquids stephanie

My surgery was on Tuesday Aug 7th at 11am. My doc started me with an epidural before full anesthesia, to manage the pain. Going in, I knew it wouldn't be a fast one - I had a TAH, managed to keep both ovaries. But my uterus was 20 cm and I had over 40 fibroids - one bigger than a softball.

After recovery, I felt great - the big bulge in my tummy was GONE! but around 12 hours later, when the last of the epidural wore off, the pain was intense. They moved me to percocet from norco and I got the swelly belly - so not happy about that. STILL have it, and am SO glad to have the belly band and the ice packs. They make my life worth it!

THey kept me for two nights and I came home yesterday - peeing like a champ, and passing gas, but no bowel movements. Still on percocet, too...and today it made me so nauseous that the doc switched me to Vicodin. Percocet too strong...I haven't been able to eat a "real" meal, just bits and pieces throughout the day.

I sleep a lot. Right now is the first time I've felt good enough to get on the computer - but I've been reading like a fiend. Have gobbled up about 10 romance novels since I've been in recovery.

Life is better on the vicodin. Now if only I could sleep, lol! You guys have been a bright spot for me, even though I haven't been contributing much. I'm so glad you're here!