Upcoming Davinci 4/25: I need some encouragement

Hi sisters. I am concerned about my uterus being so large and how difficult it will be to remove. My fibroid story is long and sad. I was diagnosed with a fibroid in May 2010 and because of my insurance company, at that time, calling it a pre existing condition and then later having no insurance at all, I have suffered for 5 years with this awful pain and bleeding. My last doctor thought that the Mirena would shrink my 7 centimeter fibroid which was a mistake and I have paid dearly for that in the last 2 years. Now I have a fantastic new doctor and am scheduled for Davinci full hysterectomy. My doctor says that my Mirena would NEVER shrink a fibroid this size and it's not working anymore anyway. Apparently that is why I have now been bleeding for 9 weeks straight and have passed clots the size of tangerines, very scary. I also have had bad, bad pain almost every day for that same period of time. To say I am sick and tired is putting it mildy. This condition has ruled my life for the past five years and I am sick of it! I have spent too many nights on the sofa in the fetal position in tears. I am scared of the surgery, but also anxious and eager at the same time for it all to be over with. I went on youtube and actually watched the surgery being performed. I don't know if that was a good idea or not, it did make me a little queasy, but now I know exactly what will take place internally. My nerves are getting the best of me lately, so I guess I'm just looking to vent a little. This website is a godsend for so many of us and I thank all of you for your words of encouragement. I need it right now. God bless.

My Dr removed a 900cc uterus from an elderly woman the day before my preop. That's big.(daVinci.surgery).

I worried too much before my surgery, look at my name!

Ive had no problems since the surgery.
I didn't realize though that I would need to take it easy for as long as I have/

I was cooking and washing dishes etc soon after surgery but I really didn't realize how long until ready to do the heavy lifting etc,

I haven't watched the video and do not really know what all was done inside me removing four of my organs
If I had watched the video I would've been more likely to have taken it even easier at the beginning.

Its normal to be anxious, perfectly perfectly normal

You still have a lot of time

Get your house clean, if you have drawers that are hard to open, put the stuff in an easier to open cabinet,
and if you have the storage space and money get a lot of the stuff you will need for two months.
Its not that you wont be able to go get it but that youll have it done prior and wont have to worry about it. Plus it will give you something to do w your nervous energy

Get exercise and eat healthy foods so you will go into surgery as healthy as you can

Try to relax and not be afraid

Put it on the shelf some of the time and let God worry about it

It will be so nice for you not to have tangerine clots

Ask your Dr lots of questions before your surgery

A lot of what I read on Hystersisters helped me tremendously presurgery and Ill be forever grateful, a lot too that I read presurgery totally freaked me out. Its everyone's story, theres been a lot of hysterectomies on these pages.

Hope this helps you

Hi there, Nancy! I was diagnosed with endometrial cancer last year and had a radical hysterectomy followed by brachytherapy. My hysterectomy was performed via DaVinci. I had 5 small incisions, which healed quickly, and not a lot of pain. I remained fatigued for quite a while after surgery, but in the scheme of things my recovery wasn't bad. Best wishes for a successful surgery and an easy recovery!

Hi Nancy, I'm 11 days po from my total DVH. I was also very nervous and anxious about the surgery (I watched a youtube video of the surgery too b/c I wanted to know exactly what I was getting myself into), and everything about it turned out to be pretty great and easy.

I had uncontrollable bleeding almost everyday for 2 1/2 yrs accompanied w/ constant menstrual cramps before surgery, and by 4 days po I already felt better than I had in years. By 7 days po I started to feel 'normal' again and now I'm starting to get my energy back which I'm sure is because I'm not anemic from losing blood everyday.

I am still slightly bloated in the abdomen, but I already fit back into my regular jeans...although I don't button them up because I want to keep pressure off my healing incisions so I've been keeping them 'closed' w/ an elastic hairband looped through the button hole and around the button ; )

I'm not going to tell you to not be nervous b/c I think it's very normal to be nervous or anxious before any type of surgery. What helped me through to recovery was thinking about and focusing on how great I would feel AFTER recovering from surgery : ) And luckily that great feeling has already come, right now I just feel like I worked out my ab muscles a lot.

Hi Nancy,

I had the Davinci on March 9th. I had horrible, clotting periods with awful cramping also. My surgery took only an hour & I have 4 small incisions that honestly look like small scratches right now. I did not watch the video before hand but have watched it since & it's really amazing what it can do. I was very nervous also but my entire surgical team came in and spoke with me & that put me more at ease, along with that wonderful pre-surgery stuff they put in your IV!

There is definitely the stomach swelling, I'm sure you saw it on the video and how they use the gas to "separate" everything in there so they have more room. You are going to have gas pains and they don't feel great but I will say they weren't as bad as the awful period cramping. It only lasted about 4-5 days for me & wasn't a constant pain. I took stool softeners also, you might want to get some just in case. The gas pains and first bowel movement were really the only painful after effects other than just being kind of sore.

Take it easy & rest a lot afterwards. Anything you might need on high shelves move them down so you don't have to stretch.

You will do great & I wish you the best on your recovery!!

I just want to say thank you so much to all my fellow hystersisters who have replied to my post. It makes me feel so much better knowing ahead of time what I am about to endure. Thank you, thank you, thank you all!

I had DVH March 17. Had everything removed. Since I have severe anxiety and am OCD, you guys can only imagine what I was going through..... and in the end, it was all for nothing. My surgery went well (1.5 hours) (was told that I had a uterine 'fibroid forest' - had so many in there); recovery was 24 hours in hospital and then went home. Five small incisions, no bleeding, no discharge, and after the first day, a lot of discomfort but not pain - honestly, have had more pain from an infected tooth than I did this surgery.
Still get fatigued - get a super start in the mornings, but by 1/2pm, need to nap. Fit into my pre-op jeans. Would be ready to do just about anything if only I didn't have the 12 week limitation on me- which I will abide by cuz I only have one chance to heal right.

I am 5 weeks out from my Davinci hysterectomy. To say that I was terrified before surgery would be an understatement. I know what you are going through. This forum really helped me to get through the waiting. I also watched the youtube video a few weeks before my surgery, it did help me to understand what was going to happen to me however it also terrified me. I know this is hard to do, but try and focus on other aspects of the surgery and recovery. I pre-made meals and froze them to help the hubby. I did a LOT of cleaning, it was like I was nesting Prepared post surgery crafts like scrapbooking, filled my netflix que, my co-workers made me a gift basket with coloring books, crayons and the game "Operation". Yeah, they are all comedians. But I found that preparing for recovery helped me to get through.
My surgery went really good. I was off pain meds in 3 days. I had EVERYTHING removed, and the robotics takes most of the incision pain down to a manageable level. I did get a pregnancy pillow off Amazon that was a life saver, so highly recommend it. I was able to sleep comfortably my first night home and every night since.
Sending you all my support and best wishes. I am very satisfied with my surgery.

Thank you so much Kat and everyone. Your words take away a lot of my fears. Thank you all so, so much.

I have my surgery scheduled April 28th and my story is so so so similar to yours!!!! I'm so glad I joined this page! I really felt like I was the only one with this horrible problem

I'm off work until after my recovery time.. I can't keep up because of the anemia.

Honestly my biggest fear is the anesthesia.. Anyone have any tips or words of comfort?

Thanks ladies