Not scared of surgery... Scared of aftermath

Thank you ladies!!! You really are helping quite a bit more than you know!! I had an interesting night/day. Stomachebflu (caught from my little guy), that and pelvic pain don't mix well!

I was able to get in to see Dr. < > today. I thought I was only going to get to see his P.A., but she felt strongly that I should meet/talk with him. So, this is what we know/suspect... bladder sling is TOT and is just not tight enough. (easily fixed during lap just by tightening it up a bit). He suspects that I have both urge and stress incontinence, which is why the bladder sling is not helpling as much as they thought. (10% and I have to be in it!) Suggests additional hydrodistention for longer period of time, in addition to tighting sling and possible medication. It does seem to be in the right place and not causing any erosion (from what he can tell so far - has to still look at it during lap).

Now the fun stuff. botox injections into my pelvic floor muscles combined with intensive physical therapy. (are you kidding? Apparently he wasn't - said my pelvic muscles are cramped all the time and should only have that response for short times, not constantly. Is major source of pelvic pain. Could also be contributing to incontinence.

Instead of mechanical supracervical, he suggests mechanical total hysterectomy. Said that with my history, I will most likely have to have a second surgery to remove cervix anyway, because of the endo. Said that the number one reason why women try not to have cervix removed is for suspension and sexual pleasure... then he proceeded to say that in his many years of doing surgery the one biggest factor in good sex afterward, was good sex before (less pain). So, that is a point in my favor.

Also, recommends taking both ovaries out instead of leaving one. He again said that the majority of women who have ovaries left, end up having them removed at a later date.

Said that on top of all that, he wants to do resection of endo, not just laser treatment..... removal all signs of adhesions, place interceed... go from there. He did bring up a really good point, no ovaries, no ovarian cysts!!!! Since I have those get inflamed and rupture 4 to 5 times a year (most of the time ending up in er) that is a MAJOR plus.

So, Dr. < > is supposed to be the best of the best... 1 in 10 surgeons who specialize in this kind of stuff (from google). He seems confident that this is the right way to go for me. Said hormones are hormones and whether they are "plant based" or "horse pea" (sorry don't know any other way to put it) they may have side effects. However, with that being said, they have found that taking hormones right after surgery does give a level of protection from plaque building up in your arteries. (Good stuff!!) He did say that the bio-idents are good because they tend to be more intune with what my body will need - I guess because the do all the testing to find out what I need and how much of what I need, rather than the one size fits all approach. Also said that there is protection against bone loss (another positive) and protection against most menapausal symptoms... although there is no way to tell who will get hit hard and who wont (if you are not taking HRT).

So, at this point, I have to decide if I should go with Dr. < > who seems to have a much more aggressive approach. Or, do I go with my gyn who I have a relationship with and is less invasive, with possible future surgeries and no promise to stop the pain?

I guess I just answered my own question! Sorry so long... just putting thoughts to paper...

If you are going to do Da vinci.. I would ask the dr how many procedures with the da vinci he has done. Read the Wall street journal article on da vinci. I had mine w it... horrible!! Im not trying to bring you down, but they do not train the doctors or have to meet a certain criteria. Just looking out!!

Just an update -

Drs should be trained in the daVinci procedure.

I visited the lab and the met with the trainer who worked with my surgeon.

He had to complete a certain number of hours on the system in the lab, he also had to view a certain amount of surgeries. He also visited a leading surgeon in NC to discuss technique and larn from him.

My GP's wife is a gyn who wanted to do daVinci surgeries and had to complete a study course on it.

daVinci has trainers that work with the surgeons.

Valkhub - You are correct it is always good to ask the surgeon how they were trained and how many surgeries they have done with the system. They will become more proficient the more surgeries the do with it. I am sorry you had a bad experience but unfortunately that can happen with all surgery types.



G.

How were u able to meet in the lab w the trainer? Not everyone can do that.

The doctor I met with yesterday is highly qualified. He is a gynocological surgeon. He does not perform ob/gyn stuff. His focus is only on surgery. He has performed over 300 davinci surgeries. I feel very comfortable with his skill. He spent an extra three years longer in training to be a gynocological surgeon, than the standard ob/gyn. I am not scared of the surgery. I have had so many of them (went back through my medical history and counted 10 surgeries total and three medical procedures that required anesthetics.) I have had so many that I forgot about a couple!!

The only thing I am worried about is the aftermath. What is this going to do to me emotionally and physically with the lack of hormones and how it is going to impact my sex life. Glad to hear that there are a lost of positive stories out there. It is so scary to hear only negative stuff. I am trying to keep a positive attitude about it. I am also trying to stay physically healthy (finally getting over stomach bug). 110 lbs right now, have to continue to walk on treadmill and try to do some weights. The one thing that seems to be consistent is to try to get up and get moving as soon as my body lets me, but not over do it and get plenty of rest. Balance, I guess.

bebe -

It sounds like you have the absolute right mindset. You can't control everything, you can prepare as best you can and than deal with things as they occur.

For you or anyone that would like to see the daVinci you can check the events listing on the right or even check with your hospital. Many hospitals have "test drive" events. Where they have the daVinci in the lab or conference rooms and you can see it, run it, learn about it and ask questions. I was at a Woman's Health event that my hospital ran and the daVinci was there. This was after my surgery but it was still great to see.

Based on the site here I knew to ask about how many surgeries, conversion rates and what kind of training the surgeon had. I asked these same kinds of questions of my gyn of many years who wasn't going to do the daVinci it was just what I wanted to know.

and wishes for an uneventful surgery and a wonderful recovery.

G.

I've had 2 c-cestions, endo and abligation, and hemorriod surgery last year. I was like you scared of the aftermath, but the meds they gave me have controlled the pain. Im just 2 weeks in so I haven't figured out about the hormone deal yet, i am sure it will hit me soon. I thought I was having hot flashes right after surgery but it must have been the meds after they were cut down most of that has passed. You just have to take time to recooperate, and take care of yourself. I had a TLH on the 20th of May, all in all not as bad as I had expected, but I was expecting the worse. Good luck and let us know how it goes.