My Post-Op Open Abdominal Myomectomy Experiences

Open Abdominal Myomectomy 9/8/2014, UCLA Santa Monica Hospital.

I am 43 yrs old. Average weight. Active but not athletic.
No children. Have pre-existing endocrine disease (Adrenal Insufficiency), for which I will receive life long treatment.
I am a smoker, do not drink much, do not use recreational drugs.


15 fibroids removed-
ranging in size--largest was grapefruit sized, tennis ball, golf ball, & a bunch of large grapes...My uterus pre-surgery was 4 mos size+.

I had every type of fibroid except pedunculated.

*The best piece of information I can offer is to research your surgeon--Your ability to recover will be largely based on 2 things:
--Your surgeons experience to perform the procedure
--Your state of health & mind before surgery

I have a very rare, but serious pre-existing medical condition that causes complications that have nothing to do with my surgery.
I had to have special measures taken & be under the eye of an Endocrinologist in order to make it through surgery, as I do not produce the very hormone that is essential for life (cortisol).

That being said, again, I cannot stress enough the single most important factor: Your surgeons experience. His preparedness for complications-his experience handling complications, should they arise.

***I had ZERO complications during my surgery****

BUT--One of the biggest complications is bleeding & the need for a possible blood transfusion.

My surgeon has access to something called a "Cell Saver". It is kept outside the door during surgery.
This is a device that should you begin to bleed out, it will take your own blood, filter it & feed it right back to you. Thus eliminating the need for a transfusion of someone else's blood at the time of surgery. Sounds like the most common sense thing in the world--but not all Dr's use or have access to them.

My surgeon also utilizes a device called an "On-Q Pump"
Please look this device up--I cannot post the link here.
This is for post op pain control. It treats the actual incision & makes it pain free. You can then take less mind numbing pain meds as a result & are more self aware.
The incision is the most painful part, I had no incision pain, just a feeling of tightness where I was stiches back together.

Personally, I believe this device is *key* to a speedy & less painful recovery, from my *direct experience*.
It numbs the area of the incision completely & allows you to be able to get out of bed & move about easier so that you can get your system running again, both circulation & bowels.
I did not need one of those morphine drips, I was able to mange pain with 1-2 vicodin by mouth every 6 hours.

Walking after surgery is so very important, & I was able to get out of bed the same day as my surgery, as soon as the anesthesia wore off.
This was my decision, because I felt capable of doing it & because I know how important it is walk after this surgery.
I had them remove that annoying/irritating catheter & walked to the bathroom to pee. It took multiple attempts to pee, & I was afraid there was going to be pain.

It was that heavy urge to pee that actually woke me from anesthesia. I felt no pain at that time (drugs in my system), & actually asked "When are they going to get me in to surgery--Let's get on with it already!" The nurse looked at me & laughed & explained I was in my hospital room, post op.
I explained, in my drug induced haze that I wanted to get up to pee, she explained I was catheterized, showed me the urine bag--but that urge to pee was too much for me! I wanted it out!

It was at this point that my brain started to become "Aware". The questions started formulating-- I asked if I still had all of my organs-I was told my surgery was a success. 1st thing I wanted to do was look at my belly. The bed was moved so I could sit up, I lifted the gown to see the covering of my incision. I tried to rationalize the catheter, but it was really irritating, so I insisted it be removed. The nurse complied.
Removing the catheter burns-she was fast but darn it sucked. She then reminded me of the On-Q pump, & assisted me to the toilet with my IV's (I had IV fluids which were required due to my adrenal insufficiency).

I had the wonderful (lol) mesh hospital panties & a huge hospital pad already in place.

I had some blood, more like spotting.

The 1st attempt to pee felt something like a very mild bladder infection type of burn, I believe due to being raw/irritated from the catheter, & was just some dribbles. After that, the next few were more of a stream & just an odd 'pulling' sensation, but no pain or burning. I had multiple attempts over the course of 2-3 hours due to feeling like I needed to pee--again, I think that was just irritation from the catheter.

I did not have the type of pain like I expected. I felt something like dulled menstrual cramping & a lot of bloated feeling that 1st 24 hours after surgery. I was also exhausted.

It was difficult to stand up completely straight, so I did not push that aspect.
Also, no reading quite prepares you for the aspect of not being able to get out of bed due to weakened abdominal muscles.
I knew it was going to happen, but the experience is disconcerting.
If you are the only one in the room, it is scary & you can easily hurt yourself, & I almost did, because I did not want to bother the nurses again to pee.
I don't know what I was thinking-that was just stupid on my part, & probably due in part to pride & the drugs.
I do NOT recommend trying to get out of bed that 1st day without someone there from start to finish. So do NOT try to do it alone.
It is difficult trying to find ways so that you can get out of bed. What works for one person may not work for another, some people have more arm & leg strength to pull/push themselves. I tried so many different ways, & all I can say is--no matter which methods you try-it WILL be difficult, & you can get stuck in a painful position easily. You need the assistance of another person period.

I was vigilant about taking my pain meds on time, because this keeps the pain at bay. If you skip one dose, it takes much longer to get the pain to subside.
My surgeon told me before surgery "Don't be a martyr-take the pain meds". He strongly feels less pain means speedier recovery. He is of course correct.

Not being in pain allows you to focus instead on things like taking a walk, eating, & getting on with the healing process.

My surgeon came to see me post op in my hospital room once I was awake.
He explained how my surgery went, even showed me pics of the surgery & of the fibroids removed, & asked if I wanted copies--of course I did...
He told me: "Your uterus looks wonderful" which took me by surprise. He was also clear that every fibroid was removed, even the little ones.
He felt the location of the small ones were causing me issues with prolonged menstrual bleeding due to location, so he removed them. He explained aside from going abdominally, he had to go through my vagina to get to some other ones & that I had a few stitches inside & to expect to see some small threads come out vaginally in the next couple of weeks when they dissolved.
He also told me I had very minimal bleeding.

I believe the minimal bleeding is due to his techniques.
2 hours pre-surgery, I was to vaginally insert 2 Cytotec tablets, & he uses other methods like Pitressin during surgery to keep bleeding to a minimum.

I could not eat the 1st day because the kitchen was closed when I woke. I was starving & thirsty! I was allowed to drink liquids & asked for some cranberry juice & water--wanted to flush my system so I could finally have a good pee & get some relief!!!
I was mostly in/out of sleep until the next morning, aside from multiple bathroom trips.


This is the review of my 1st 24 hours post abdominal Myomectomy.