Vaginal hysterectomy

I am new to this website/ message board. I am due to have my hysterectomy on Oct 31, 2005. I am 32 years old and have been having irregular pap smears for a year. I've also have a cone biopsy done. The follow-up pap smear did not come out good. I was wondering how many of you had a vaginal hysterectomy done and what can I expect from the doctor performing this procedure on me. The doctor said he will examine me and try to do the hysterectomy vaginally. He said the hospital stay would be shorter. Do you bleed from your vagina for a while and if so, for how long? Are there any stiches that have to come out? Is there anything else I should know? Thank for any input.

Dear Peanutschipmunk,
Before I tell you about my TVH to answer your questions, I would like to ask you a question. I sincerely hope that you don't mind my asking this, but since I believe it to be so important (and your post and personal profile did not answer this for me) I am going to go ahead and ask my question. l am not sure for the exact reason for your hyseterectomy, so this may be a moot question, but have you and your doctor discussed all the other alternatives? I am not asking this to make you feel bad or to question your doctor, I am asking just because for me knowing that I had discussed all the alternatives with my doctor (and I had the luxury of having the time to try several of them) has given me additional peace of mind post op. Again, I hope that you are not offended by my question, I just was concerned for a sister.

I should start with I had my TVH because I was suffering from fibroids for the second time, The first time (seven years earlier) I had a hysterscopy and D&C. This time I tried hormone therapy first, and that didn't work for me.

I'm not sure what you mean when you ask "what can I expect from the doctor performing this procedure on me". Please elabotate on that and I'll be happy to tell you about my experience.

I was in the hospital for 24 hours. All I had done was a TVH... nothing else. I have had some light (and I stress light) spotting after I am on my feet to long, but I haven't bled. The spotting generally goes away after I rest the next day. I do have many purple internal stitches and they will desolve (I hear around the 7 or 8 week mark). I recommend that you do all the research that you can so you are well prepared to discuss everything with your doctor during your pre-op. One thing that you need to discuss with your doctor is wheter or not you will/should keep your ovaries. There are many opinions on this. I'd advise doing lots of reseach in advance so you can have a good dialog with your doctor in order to build a partnership for your health care concerns. This site is full of resources... there are some good preop questions that I used.

Good luck to you and I look forward to talking to you more!

Hi Peanutschipmunk,

I am going to agree with what spasmo posted. I also talked with dr about other procedures and found that have a tvh was the best thing for me. I also had a health coach in which my insurance provides and was able to talk with a nurse about my fears of having surgery. (this was before I found this wonderful site)

I had surgery in am, stayed overnight, released early evening.

I didn't bleed at all after coming home. I had some spotting that was in packing, that was removed the morning after surgery.

My stitches disolved-- never saw them. When I went for my six week post op, dr stated that almost all were gone.

Good Luck

I forgot to add that I did not have any packing. I don't know what is the criteria for packing, but I would add this to the list of questions for my doctor.

I have already discussed things with my doctor and we both agreed that a hysterectomy was the best thing for me. I do not plan on having anymore children. My tubes have been tied already. He said I have a pre-cancerous condition. And since cancer runs strongly in my family, the best thing is to get rid of it. My mom died when I was 26 from colon cancer, she never went to the doctor. I wonder if anyone gets a swollen stomach before having a hysterectomy. I've felt blotted for a couple a of months now. I do not have much of a period anymore.

Thanks for easing my mind. I figured that you had talked to your doctor, but on such a major issue, I just wanted to be sure. There are many, many posts by women who did not seek alternatives and ask their doctors questions, and now regret it. I just wanted to be sure that never happened to you. Good.

My stomach did seem to be swollen before my surgery... kind of bloated. Since I was having my surgery for fibroids, I had a second sonogram done to be sure they hadn't grown too much to prevent me from being able to have TVH. If you read these threads, you will see that several women have some REALLY big fibroids! It turns out that mine had not grown much, but I was really bloated. I am about the same level of bloated now. In fact I can easily wear my regular clothes ~ but I still prefer pajamas these days. Good luck and keep asking us questions. You will think of more... trust me on that. Please feel free to PM me if you want.

I had a bit of bloated tummy before my tvh as well, to the point that I thought I was just gaining weight, but when weighed at the doc's office it turned out I had LOST weight. It was weird. I also had a lot of pelvic pains and twinges in the weeks, months leading up to my surgery (I had to fight for a hyster despite my dx). My doc explained that because I had been experiencing so much stress from the dx i was more aware of feelings in my pelvic area. I felt soooo much better after the surgery - emotionally relieved that it was finally over and out of me! I didn't have any packing with my tvh, I was in hospital for just over 24 hours. The recovery has been a bit different than I expected. Week one I felt great, week two absolutely horrible, week three kind of in between, week four a bit better, week five not so great again. It's not so bad that I have to take pain meds, just being uncomfortable and tired.

I totally understand your reasons for having this done. I am so happy you have a doc who was willing to sit down with you and discuss your options (and give you the choice). Mine decided for me to watch and wait even after cancer was found, even nine months later when I had another abnormal pap they said come back for another pap in six months. The best thing I ever did was consult with a gyn-onc (on my own because my doc wouldn't refer me...), who assured me a hysterectomy was indeed an option for me. Sorry for the vent...still working through some issues, obviously...

anyway, if you have any other questions, please feel free to pm me, and I'll try to help out best I can. Good luck with your surgery.

I can't answer your question b/c I am scheduled for a TAH 2 weeks after your surgery. I will remember you in my prayers though, and wish you a speedy recovery. Oh Peanutschipmunk, your surgery date is on my B-day, I will turn 46. Take care of yourself honey, God bless.
Cindy

I am new to this site also. I am having TVH ( total vaginal hysterectomy) on Nov 3rd. I also have bad paps.
I can't tell you what to expect, because I dont know, but I can tell you, the women on this site are so wonderful and will tell you their own personal experiences. From posting and reading post's ,I have learned that everyone is different when it comes to surgery and recovery.
I wish you a uneventful surgery and recovery !
Keep asking questions , you will get answers !

Best Wishes, Cara