Upcoming Hysterectomy 6/17

Hello ladies
I will be going into surgery 6/17 and it seems as if the days are passing by so fast i'm getting more nervous are the day approaches. Could anyone give me a play by play of what to expect from when I get to the hospital that morning until after surgery I will be having a abdominal hysterectomy so I know that I may be in a lot of pain

We were all nervous, but we all made it! I was scared to death! I will tell you how it went for me. My surgery was at 7, I had to be at the hospital at 5:30 am. When I checked in, they gave my husband a pager so that the could update him. They called me right back, a nurse came, introduced herself. On the way to the prep room, they weighed me and had me stop in the rest room to do a urine sample to test for pregnancy, ha ha. Then I went to a small room, where I changed and got in the bed. They gave me bags for my clothes and a gown to put on. Then the same nurse came back and took blood, blood pressure, heart rate, put the iv in. She told me that after I talked to the anesthesiologist, my husband could come in to see me and take my valuables. Then a stream of people came thru. Mine was a teaching hospital, so there were lots. My dr, then another dr who assists her, then an anesthesiologist in training, then a nurse anesthetist, then a surgical nurse, then the regular anesthesiologist. They all introduced themselves and made sure that I knew what I was in for, asked me various questions and explained their role in my surgery. The prep nurse told me that I was in the best possible hands with my surgeon, and just made me feel very comfortable. Finally my husband came in, but only for a minute and they took me to the or. I remember getting in the or and thinking that it didn't look like tv, and don't remember anything after that until I vaguely heard someone ask me if I minded going to the maternity floor. I said no and they wheeled me for what seemed like miles to my room, where my husband was already waiting for me with all my stuff. That was about noon. They helped me off the gurney onto the bed, the nurse came in, introduced herself and asked me if I would like ice chips. My mouth was EXTREMELY dry, so of course I said yes! I became alert pretty fast and was feeling pretty good and in no pain. The nurse then surprised me by telling me that they had only tylenol and toradol in my iv for pain, no narcotics. That made my day as I hate taking narcotics. I was able to order and semi eat dinner, but the food was pretty awful. I was thirsty thirsty thirsty and tired of water, ginger ale and apple juice, so when I sent my husband home for a rest I asked him to bring me back some caffeine free diet coke. That was a treat! About 5 or so, I was allowed to get up and walk around and surprisingly it felt pretty good. Got the catheter out later, and then had to go the bathroom every 20 minutes all night. Finally I ask the nurse if they could stop giving me fluids in the iv. She gave me a last dose of tyelenol and toradol and took the iv out around 2 am. Those were the last pain meds I had. They woke me at 5 am to take blood to be sure that I didn't lose much during surgery, I showered, dressed in my own clothes, ordered breakfast (at the nurses urging, I actually felt a little queasy, which I think was from the meds on an empty stomach) I managed to get a little food down and then I felt fine. My husband came, and then I started badgering the nurses until they discharged me a couple of hours later. I had tah, so I had to spend the night. I hope this helps you! I can say for sure that it was nothing as horrible as I imagined in my own mind, I was really surprised at how good I felt.

I wrote a play-by-play of everything in great detail about the day of surgery, starting with arriving at the hospital, to waking up from surgery - with no pain. You can search under my name in Hysterectomy Stories. It's meant to be very encouraging.

Best of luck!

When I got to the hospital, I was routed through admissions really quickly and sent on to the prep room. A nurse gave me a completely inadequate bag for my clothing. I'd had to leave home at 6 AM to walk two miles to the bus station and it had still been chilly, so I was wearing a lot of layers. I managed to jam my sneakers and most of my clothes into my backpack, with a few in the bag. I took my wallet and keys out of the pockets of my pants and hid them deep inside the backpack. I took off my glasses and put them into a hard case I'd brought and also took out my hair clip, then put the glasses and clip into the pack.

When I was in my hospital gown, the nurse came back and administered a Fleet enema. (I wasn't told to do any bowel prep at home.) I lay on the gurney until I could feel the enema starting to do its thing, then headed for the washroom. I might have been in there about 20 minutes? A while, anyways.

When the enema portion of the morning's entertainment had concluded, I went back to my gurney. The nurse came back and did various things: shaved me, measured me for compression stockings and put them on, got an IV started. I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before and was really tired, so I didn't really care what she did as long as I could lie down while she was doing it. Also she got this hose going blowing warm air underneath my hospital gown, which felt really good!

When the nurse was done, a friend of mine who lives in my surgery city showed up and we were chatting. At about 11:30 - two hours after I'd gotten to the hospital - the request came down to move me along to the OR. My friend went with me as far as the doors of the OR anteroom, then she had to leave.

Different members of my surgical team came and introduced themselves. The anesthesiologist was running late, everyone was waiting for him. Finally he ran in and announced we were doing an epidural. I said that wasn't what I'd expected, but he said it would be better for pain management. Then he ran off again to scrub in.

The nurses were annoyed because if they'd known ahead of time that I was having an epidural, they could have had me all set up. They had me sit up and lean forward in an "angry cat back" for the insertion of the epidural catheter. That's the last thing I remember. (I was probably given Versed and lost a few minutes of memory.)

The next thing I remember I was waking up in my hospital room. It already evening, about 7:30. I wasn't in any pain at all! The room was larger and nicer than I'd expected, and I could see my pack in one corner. My friend was there, so we were talking. A nurse showed up and took my vitals.

Visiting hours ended at 8 PM, so my friend had to leave. I curled up on my side and went back to sleep. I slept like a log despite the nurses coming in periodically to take more vitals readings.

Different women have different experiences with pain. I can honestly say that I had soreness and twingey-ness but never anything I would call real pain. I was off narcotics by the morning of day 3 and was released that afternoon.

hello ladies thank you all for sharing i am happy to know what to expect I guess all I can do now is wait until the days comes I am praying that I would have much pain but i will keep everyone updated also about how long did it take before you felt better and where able to move around on your own

I am heading over to read your post now thanks for sharing

Thank you for the info I was told to do the bowl prep the day before thank god because i am not to found of enemas

I am glad you asked this question"
My AH, is also scheduled the 17th, I didn't know an enema may be involved. Also, good to know a possible epidural could be involved. I have to be at hospital at 5:15am. Im getting freaky and having second thoughts. I think because of reading about complications. I freak my self out about every other day.

I'm having mine due to fibroids-excessive bleeding.
I am 49, I tried to wait for menopause but the bleeding is just too much.
Best wishes on your surgery. I'll be remembering you on that day- now that I know someone else is doing the same thing.

Hello yes i am also feeling a little nervous the days are passing by so quick i am 30 and I am also getting one due to fibroids and excessive bleeding I have had to get several blood transfusions within the last few months as well as iron infusions I hope all goes well with your surgery