Length of Hospital Stay

Hello all you wonderful women. I am so glad I found this site and I have been reading posts here for about two weeks! Now I have a question: I am scheduled to have a "laproscopic, supra-cervical hyster, leaving ovaries" on June 14th. My doctor says I will go home the same day. Nothing I have read here indicates that any of you have gone home the same day as surgery. Is this a good idea? I don't really want to stay in the hospital but I don't want to get into trouble at home either. Your thoughts are welcome. Many thanks and hugs to all of you.

Hi Sherry,

I had LAVH on 3/25/02. The insurance papers I recieved said "outpatient". I was curious and asked my doc at the pre-op visit. She told me that LAVH is considered outpatient and that the insurance company expects a stay of 23 hours begining after I leave the recovery room. She assured me that if I needed more time in the hospital there would be no problem.
My surgery was scheduled for 9:45 a.m. so I went to the castle at 7:45a.m.(Monday). The surgery actually started at 10:10 and lasted about two hours. I spent one night and the next day worked on getting everything to work(bladder, walking, etc.). I went home around 3:30 Tuesday afternoon. I don't know if the insurance co. still considered that outpatient but I didn't feel like leaving any sooner.
Don't be afraid to communicate your feelings to your doctor and nurses so that the decision to leave the hospital is the correct one for you.
Hope this helps to give you a better picture. God bless!

I had a LAVH on 2/8/02. I checked into the hospital on a Frifay at 8:00 am - my surgery was at 9:30 and lasted about 2 hours- I went home the next day, Saturday, about 6:00 pm. I wish I had stayed a second night. If you can spend at least one night I would. Take care.

I had a TLH (sometimes called a LAVH) this past Wednesday 5/15. I went to the hospital at 5:30 a.m. on Wed. morning, surgery was at 8 a.m. I spent the night and was discharged at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday.

I wouldn't have believed at 9 a.m. on Thursday that I would go home that afternoon. Things really picked up after I got out of bed and walked for the first time. Once I could get out of bed and go to the bathroom and got something more than ice chips to eat, I really began to feel better. Pain meds helped the pain and with one last shot of demeral, right as I was being discharged, I was good to go.

I had a laprascopic hysterectomy with upper abdominal exploratory. Both ovaries/tubes also were taken. I live three hours from hospital, but with two pillows, a blanket and two ice packs (and that final shot of demeral) the ride back home wasn't that bad, I slept through most of it.

This is my first time online since my surgery. Still everyday I'm feeling better. Being able to eat some solid food (still doing mostly "soft" diet) and drinking a lot of water (almost a gallon a day) is helping flush out the system.

My doctor said I could stay an extra night if I wanted to, but I just wanted to get home and sleep in my own bed. I think you'll know what is right for you when you get there -- and if you're doctor says you can stay an extra night and you want to, then take it. As I said, at 9 a.m. I couldn't get out of bed and by 4 p.m. was ready to leave the hospital. Once I could walk and go to the bathroom I really felt more like myself.
Good luck,
from a new princess,
Kathryn

Thank you for the replies and information. I will talk with my doctor about the length of stay at my pre-op visit so I won't be rushed out too fast. What a blessing it is to have women who have been there (princesses!) to talk with about this. Thank you, thank you, thank you!