LAHV 2/11/03...more pain than expected

I'm the DH...so I feel a bit like I'm trespassing into the Women's Locker room...so cover-up please. I promise not to stay!

In baseball terms, DH is designated hitter...I guess that's what I'm doing here.

Quick history:
- Very large uterus 3-4 month preg size due to fibroids
- 3 children, no stretch marks (a big deal to DW), small scar from tubal 11 years ago.
- 41 years old increasing limitations due to pain and large investments into sanitary products.
- first Gyn said TAH including ovaries and cervix (approx 30 year old female OB/GYN)
- second opinion, LAHV keeping ovaries(60 year old male OB/GYN)
- went with experience, less scarring and keeping ovaries (already on Synthroid - sythetic thyroid harmone)


My dear wife is now 6th day post-op. She gained very much info from this forum in the pre-op area. Unfortunately, she focused so much on the pre-op she didn't venture into the post-op and is experiencing unexpected pain. The surgery went well...but was more intense than expected...fibroids had apparently merged and enlarged in the 7 weeks in between in the ultrasound and the actual surgery. Therefore, there was much more tugging and stress during surgery...now more pain in recovery. What was initially expected to be a 1-day hospital stay turned into 3.

She had a miserable day yesterday. Saying that if she knew it was this painful she'd have put up with the problem. She's typically very tolerant of pain. Also she vomited yesterday in the a.m. Talked to Dr., needs more substantial food on tummy. Anyway, she blamed the nausea on medication (vicatin - 1-2 pills 4-6 hours) and tried to reduce from heaviest dose (2 pills per 4 hours) to lesser. She also, was bothered by the cloudy head and weird dreams. I think the reduction added to the miserable day. Anyway, she managed to get a good night's sleep last night -- by post op standards.

The gas of course is really bothering her...and her inability to spend any significant time upright. She's very uncomforatable and living on ice chips, crackers, bananas and yogurt and gallons of water. We've added Gas-X to the menu too.

Anyway, because she is down with the pain and the cloudiness...she isn't upright very much. Any suggestions for sleeping positions to take more stress off her back, without adding more on her tummy. The tummy pillow isn't comfortable either...her tummy is just very tender.

Thanks for listening! I'll slip out now...and see what you wonderful ladies have to say.

by the way, I think this is a truly wonderful site.

hyster hubby

Hey there. I too had a LAVH on 1/22 along with other repairs, alot going on. Maybe you should talk to your dr. about another pain med. I was on percoset..1 or 2 every 4 hrs. The dr. told me to not let the pain get ahead of me and take the pain pills as needed. Once you feel the pain you already waited too long. You do need to try and eat because pain meds are nauseating and constipating. Are you on a stool softener. Maybe you need to have a BM to relieve some pressure.I had my first BM day 5 and it was a celebrated moment. The Gas X will help along with short walks to let up the gas. I found my comfort zone was in a recliner instead of bed for my aching back. Also while laying down try pillows under your knees. That helps too. sounds like your DH is a sweetie and trying to take care of your needs. Hope this helped some. Keep us posted. Have a great day. Cindy. LAVH, BSO,A&P repairs and bladder sling.

dear fotogal DH,

it is very nice of you to write in on your wife's behalf, and hopefully you'll encourage her to read and post here. (The powers that be may end up closing this thread, though, because this is a women-only site--sorry)

anyway, it sounds unfortunately that your wife is having a tougher time than hoped for with this kind of surgery. Did she have morphine? That would explain the weird dreams (I had some very disturbing ones but they passed.) has she had a bowel movement yet? If not, her current diet might be exacerbating her problems in that area and constipating her a bit. So she might want to try some fruit juice. Or you might want to ask about her using a stool softener.

I had abdominal surgery, but found in general that being upright helped most, and if she can manage it at all (frequent but short walks around the house), that will likely alleviate some of her symptoms.

If you have a lot of pillows, maybe she could try sleeping on her side with one leg bent and supported by pillows. Some find that comfortable.

It's good that the surgery went well and that she got a good night's sleep last night--hopefully she will notice a steady improvement from now on.

you are a dear person to take such good care of her!