to those who had hysterectomy, myomectomy and the likes...

[ANTSS2001]

what did you do to prepare for your surgery... my cut off date is on Dec. 4,2007 and this waiting game is really killing me... I still have been taking all my vitamins to keep up with my HGB levels... but other than that I am at lost... any advice is very much welcome...

TIA

 

[wic0721]

Hey Ants,

PM me if you'd like, and I'll answer whatever questions you have. I can tell you that my hysterectomy 4 years ago, and my mom's hysterectomy last year were completely different! Where as I was down for the count for a couple weeks, my mom was up and running the almost the next day! She was 76 yo at the time too! I have a scar running from hip bone to hip bone....she's got this little, tinnee tiny scar near her belly button!

You'll be fine Ants, December will be here in no time! Oh wait a minute....no, I don't want December coming that quickly...because that would mean Christmas is right around the corner!

 

[bubba]

I was supposed to have a myomectomy in May, ended up having an oopharectomy (sp?) because the fibroid the dr thought she had visualized on ultrasound ended up being my tumour filled ovary that was the size of a large cantaloupe. I know the surgeries are different, but I thought I'd add my 2 cents. First off, make sure you are as healthy and hydrated prior to the surgery as possible. After the surgery, start walking as soon as you are able. Abdominal/pelvic surgery can play havoc with your bowels and things get sluggish, if you know what I mean ! I had my surgery on May 21st and I was to walk in the 60 km Weekend to End Breast Cancer at the beginning of September. I had put so much effort into training, I wanted to lose as little conditioning as possible when I was in hospital. As soon as my DR told me I could get out of bed, I walked around the ward. Literally, I would walk in a loop for an hour, have a couple hours in bed, then repeat all day. It really helped get the bowel moving, and I felt so much better being up and moving than I would have laying in bed all day. Also gave me the chance to chat with nurses and other patients as opposed to being stuck in my room all day. The only issue was whenever a dr or visitor came to see me, they either had to follow the loop to find me, or stand at my room door to grab me on the way past !

 

[dee47]

I don't know your exact situation, so this may not be applicable, but has your doctor talked to you about embolization? I was facing at least a myomectomy, had the embolization instead (7 years ago, it was pretty new at the time), and it was amazing. I've had no problems since. PM me if you need more info.

 

[ANTSS2001]

Hey Ants,

PM me if you'd like, and I'll answer whatever questions you have. I can tell you that my hysterectomy 4 years ago, and my mom's hysterectomy last year were completely different! Where as I was down for the count for a couple weeks, my mom was up and running the almost the next day! She was 76 yo at the time too! I have a scar running from hip bone to hip bone....she's got this little, tinnee tiny scar near her belly button!

You'll be fine Ants, December will be here in no time! Oh wait a minute....no, I don't want December coming that quickly...because that would mean Christmas is right around the corner!

thanks Kathy... I guess this is like my pre trip report for the hospital

I was supposed to have a myomectomy in May, ended up having an oopharectomy (sp?) because the fibroid the dr thought she had visualized on ultrasound ended up being my tumour filled ovary that was the size of a large cantaloupe. I know the surgeries are different, but I thought I'd add my 2 cents. First off, make sure you are as healthy and hydrated prior to the surgery as possible. After the surgery, start walking as soon as you are able. Abdominal/pelvic surgery can play havoc with your bowels and things get sluggish, if you know what I mean ! I had my surgery on May 21st and I was to walk in the 60 km Weekend to End Breast Cancer at the beginning of September. I had put so much effort into training, I wanted to lose as little conditioning as possible when I was in hospital. As soon as my DR told me I could get out of bed, I walked around the ward. Literally, I would walk in a loop for an hour, have a couple hours in bed, then repeat all day. It really helped get the bowel moving, and I felt so much better being up and moving than I would have laying in bed all day. Also gave me the chance to chat with nurses and other patients as opposed to being stuck in my room all day. The only issue was whenever a dr or visitor came to see me, they either had to follow the loop to find me, or stand at my room door to grab me on the way past !

Ok I have to do a research on that, I have not come across that procedure yet... thanks!!!

I don't know your exact situation, so this may not be applicable, but has your doctor talked to you about embolization? I was facing at least a myomectomy, had the embolization instead (7 years ago, it was pretty new at the time), and it was amazing. I've had no problems since. PM me if you need more info.

UFE, Ablation and the rest... I am not a candidate anymore .. the fibroid is at a prime location and myomectomy is the way... unless.. something else come up when they open it...

 

[wic0721]

thanks Kathy... I guess this is like my pre trip report for the hospital



Ok I have to do a research on that, I have not come across that procedure yet... thanks!!!



UFE, Ablation and the rest... I am not a candidate anymore .. the fibroid is at a prime location and myomectomy is the way... unless.. something else come up when they open it...

It almost sounds like you're in the same position I was in Ants, the doctors made me drink this horrible stuff the afternoon prior to my surgery, to totally clean out my bowels...it was BAD! I also could not eat the day before my surgery. The day of my surgery I couldn't drink either. Since cancer was a possibility, I had a 5 hour surgery, they took everything they "removed" from and sent it to the lab to be biopsied, left me open on table during this. What other posted mentioned about having bowel problems immediately following surgery is 100% correct, they are cutting into, moving and removing a bunch of important things down there. I wasn't allowed to eat for 3 days after my surgery either....let me tell you, I was down right cranky by the time I left the hospital! If I would have seen one more tray of clear broth, jello and vanilla ice cream...I would have tossed it at someone..if I could have lifted it! Get yourself some stool softener pills prior to surgery! Nair your legs before surgery too...if you can't stand hairy legs, because you won't be able to bend over to shave them for a while afterwards! My husband butchered my legs, it wasn't pretty! He went out and bought Nair after that for me! You're not going to be allowed to lift anything heavier than 5 lbs for at least 1-2 weeks after surgery, and I wasn't allowed to climb stairs for 2 weeks either. I also wasn't allowed to drive for 4 weeks! It was nice being chauffered around for a while...then I got really bored with it! I started to feel like me again about 2-3 weeks after surgery though!

Did I ever mention to you that I moved into a new house the weekend of my surgery, we moved on Saturday and I had surgery Monday morning! During my recovery I had to look at un-packed boxes that I couldn't touch....it drove me nuts, my husband caught me on more than one ocassion pulling an item or two out of a box..oh was he mad! Oh yeah, I also went Christmas shopping about 4 weeks after surgery and ended up with an infection at my incision, doctor yelled at me on that one too! So get all your Christmas shopping done before surgery if possible!

 

[ANTSS2001]

It almost sounds like you're in the same position I was in Ants, the doctors made me drink this horrible stuff the afternoon prior to my surgery, to totally clean out my bowels...it was BAD! I also could not eat the day before my surgery. The day of my surgery I couldn't drink either. Since cancer was a possibility, I had a 5 hour surgery, they took everything they "removed" from and sent it to the lab to be biopsied, left me open on table during this. What other posted mentioned about having bowel problems immediately following surgery is 100% correct, they are cutting into, moving and removing a bunch of important things down there. I wasn't allowed to eat for 3 days after my surgery either....let me tell you, I was down right cranky by the time I left the hospital! If I would have seen one more tray of clear broth, jello and vanilla ice cream...I would have tossed it at someone..if I could have lifted it! Get yourself some stool softener pills prior to surgery! Nair your legs before surgery too...if you can't stand hairy legs, because you won't be able to bend over to shave them for a while afterwards! My husband butchered my legs, it wasn't pretty! He went out and bought Nair after that for me! You're not going to be allowed to lift anything heavier than 5 lbs for at least 1-2 weeks after surgery, and I wasn't allowed to climb stairs for 2 weeks either. I also wasn't allowed to drive for 4 weeks! It was nice being chauffered around for a while...then I got really bored with it! I started to feel like me again about 2-3 weeks after surgery though!

Did I ever mention to you that I moved into a new house the weekend of my surgery, we moved on Saturday and I had surgery Monday morning! During my recovery I had to look at un-packed boxes that I couldn't touch....it drove me nuts, my husband caught me on more than one ocassion pulling an item or two out of a box..oh was he mad! Oh yeah, I also went Christmas shopping about 4 weeks after surgery and ended up with an infection at my incision, doctor yelled at me on that one too! So get all your Christmas shopping done before surgery if possible!

Ok now this would be a problem... I leave on the second floor... does that mean I am stuck in my little condo for 2 weeks

 

[wic0721]

Ok now this would be a problem... I leave on the second floor... does that mean I am stuck in my little condo for 2 weeks

You should probably check with your doctor ahead of time, and ask what kind of restrictions, if any, you're going to have once you're released from the hospital. But like I said, every surgery is different....my mom's recovery was totally opposite from what mine was! Same hospital, different surgeon though!

 

[ANTSS2001]

You should probably check with your doctor ahead of time, and ask what kind of restrictions, if any, you're going to have once you're released from the hospital. But like I said, every surgery is different....my mom's recovery was totally opposite from what mine was! Same hospital, different surgeon though!

I have an appointment (phone appointment) with him on Nov. 1st.. am formulating all my question and hopefully I have enough time to prepare for it... a month should be enough I hope

 

[MeggerasMa]

I just had to respond to your post. There is a terrific site dealing with lots of hysterectomy and female gyn issues. www.hystersisters.com is the site name, but I don't know if I'm allowed to post that. While it is not a professional medical site, it is a woman to woman discussion place that I found to be extremely helpful in the days after my surgery. I wish I would have known about the place before-hand. Here is wishing you good health!

 

[yecats]

I had a full hysterectomy 2 years ago. I had endo and a tumor and was very sick prior to the surgery. I also had a lumpectomy at the same time. Everything turned out fine for me. I have to agree with above poster who stated to hydrate yourself before surgery as much as you can. I had never had a serious surgery prior to the hyster and the anesthesia used really did a job on my body afterward (couldn't stop vomiting for days) and bowels didn't wake up for nearly a week afterward. After surgery I was kept in hospital longer than expected due to vomiting, fever, infection and bowels. If you ask for a stool softner a day or so after the surgery they will give it to you. I was up and out of bed the next day and the day after I was walking down the hallway (I had one small scar) as much as I could and I at this point was on the pain pill instead of the pump. Truthfully at times the scar on my breast caused me more pain than I experienced from the hyster. I also did all of my xmas shopping prior to my surgery (this also included putting up my fake xmas tree in my home as well as other decorations). As stated above, every surgery is different and many will heal quicker than others so I would do as much as you can ahead of time (xmas gifts, bday gifts, paying bills a month or two ahead of time, stocking up on groceries for family and animals). Believe it or not it did take a load off by knowing that I had done a lot of planning ahead of time and took care of all of those little things. Also, if you know that you will not have someone at home to take care of you after you return home then before your surgery try to take those things that you have stacked up on a higher shelf that you know you'll use (dishes, cooking pots, laundry detergent, towels, sheets, etc.) and put them at counter level so this way you won't have to stretch/bend yourself as much as you normally would during this sore time.

Think as positively as possible and many prayers to you for a quick recovery.

 

[ANTSS2001]

thank you all for your input... I am taking all your suggestion to heart... and the same work myself to oblivion since I am panicking... my dsis even suggested maybe I should have ticker like when I go on vaca... I dont think so!!! 31 more days !!!!

 

[pednurse]

I had a hyst 2 1/2 years ago (total vag hyst). I was lucky enough to find the hystersisters website before my surgery.....an amazing amount of information and support there! They even give you helpful ideas on what questions to ask your doc before having surgery. As far as stairs go post-op, it depends on your doc (depending on what type of hyst you have, etc). I live in a 2-story house and was able to do stairs the day I came home (although I did not do them often as it was not comfortable to do). My biggest problems post-op were not being able to lift over 5 pounds (my kids were 7 & 3 at the time!) and not being able to do housework for 6 weeks post-op (no pushing around a vacuum, bending over to pick up stuff from the floor, etc). Luckily I discovered my DS loved to vacuum! Please do hop on over to the hystersisters site and check it out. Also, feel free to PM me for any other questions you have.

 

[ANTSS2001]

Also, feel free to PM me for any other questions you have.

thank you so much... I joined the hystersister and still trying to navigate around it.....