LSH: Worried about long surgery time

I am having a Da Vinci LSH on Jan. 5th, because of large fibroids and 20-week uterus. I trust my doctor, but I haven't had surgery in almost twenty years, and I've never had a long surgery like this one. I was told it would be anywhere from 3 to 5 hours.

I am a healthy 51 year old woman. I am just looking for some encouragement to allay my fears. Thank you.

Dear Stephanotis,
I am writing to you because of your concerns. I am 44 and I had three major surgeries in the past 5 years. Two open heart surgeries in 2005 and 2008 and my hysterectomy in Nov 2009. As you can imagine, the first two were long (4 and 3 hours). I was healthy too going in (meaning I was weak, but no other medical problems).
To me, whether it was a 10 min or a 4 hours, it seemed the same, meaning I just woke up in the recovery room...
I know all these procedures are serious, but the anesthesiologists really know what they are doing. I learned that they only give you a specific amount of medication, that can be adjusted to 10 min +/-, which is amazing.
I did not have any issues with any of the surgeries, from that point of view.
I will keep my fingers crossed for you! Good luck!

It sounds like we are in the same boat, I am having the same surgery Jan. 5th. I have an enlarged (4 mon. preg. size) uterus and cysts on both ovaries. I had my gall bladder removed the old way with a huge incision 21 years ago. I have my fears also. My encouragement was that someone told me that she had a tumor removed from her ribcage, and surgery in the upper stomach area affects many more muscles than her 2 C-sections did. So I am hoping there is much less pain than when I had my gall bladder surgery and had a 15 in. incision across my stomach. Plus I do not have 4 kids under 7 years old to chase this time! I have been very encouraged by the support I have seen on this site in just the couple days I have been on it. Keep reading, there are lots of answers from experience here!

Dear Stepanotis,
I think what you are feeling and your worries are justified and normal. You are so close to your surgery it's normal to worry about all sorts of things. I agree that with the anesthesia when you wake up it feels like you just fell asleep. I look forward to the sleeping part myself, but I am a bit sleep deprived right now. Hang in there, you are healthy and I am sure you are going to do great. They can only estimate the length of time until they get in there and see what they are dealing with. Maybe your's will be shorter than the initial estimate. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. We are all here together. I'm sure when I get that close to my date I am going to be posting on here, who knows what with my anxiety!
~HUGS~
alicia

Thank you all so much for giving me just what I needed. I have gotten so much information from this site; now I am getting something just as valuable: a feeling of caring.

Thanks again, so much.

Hi there. I was in surgery a little over 6 hours because of a few different reasons. Nevertheless, I came out just fine. They were actually worried about me because I was under so long and were very surprised at how quickly I woke up and how quickly I was recovering.

Modern medicine has come a long way since those old days of surgery and they seem to be very precise at knowing how much/little anesthesia to give.

I hope you do well and I will keep you in my prayers as well.

Best wishes!

Hi Stephanotis,

I had a LSH for two large fibroids. My LSH is still one of the best things I ever did for my long term health. I hope you have similar results.

Best wishes~

Mary

I had the DaVinci procedure in September and I have to say that I had no problems with the longer operation time. The anesthesiologist was great. They really monitor the amount you need. I remember being a little surprised when I woke up and realized it had been four hours or so but it didn't bother me. I have had very good results from the procedure and feel like it is one of the best things I have done. I am feeling a lot better now. I have discovered since the surgery just how many of us are really nervous before only to find out that our fears were unfounded. My doctor was great and the hospital staff fantastic. Good luck with your surgery. Sending you wishes for an easy recovery.

Again, thank you all so much. I didn't want to go into the surgery feeling afraid, and thanks to all of you I won't. I know deep-down I'm doing the right thing with this surgery, or my instincts would have told me to say no to it. But it's been so good to hear from all of you. Thanks again, and I'll certainly let you know how I do on the 5th.

My doctors thought my surgery should only take 6 hrs., 8 max but ended up being 15 hrs. I had a total pelvic exenteration due to my recurring cancer. When I woke up in recovery it was like my other surgeries and couldn't tell this one was 15 hrs. Wishing you well and hope you recovery quickly.