Hysterectomy.

[Beanfield]

Hurrah and Hallelujah. My uterus has been given an eviction notice!

30 years of being a complete bitch. Let me down twice (miscarriage and ectopic). Did what it should do twice (2 grown up DDs). Never officially diagnosed with anything but suggestions have been PCOS and endometriosis. 30 solid years of hideous periods. 30 years of being fobbed off by assorted GPs who told me it was normal to faint, vomit, incapacitate and take over my life for one out of every three or four weeks.
It’s got to the point where my cycles are just 18-20 days long, I bleed huge amounts for 5 days (emptying cup every 2 hours), overflowing, clots. Light bleeding on and off for a further 4 days. Bleeding on and off randomly mid-cycle. Puking and dizzy. Period diarrhoea, excruciating, labour style pain. Another 3 days of pain while i ovulate plus bleeding then too.
Tried everything. Mirena - I bled for 8 months then it fell out. Painfully. Pill - unhinged. Drugs - I’m allergic to the good ones and the others don’t work so well. Herbs, flowers, tea, homeopathy, diet - all bollox.

Finally saw a Dr who actually listened and agreed to whip the bugger out. Not sure how yet as apparently it's ‘bulky’ (like the rest of me) so need a scan to see how big it is. Also waiting on smear results and endometrial biopsy (which hurt like a bastard and is still hurting 4 days later).

@fudgesmummy - how are you feeling today?

I'm saving up Fleabag for my convalescence!

Hi @CointreauVersial
I’m doing ok thank you.
More tired than I thought I would be, even doing the tiniest little thing leaves me absolutely exhausted and I’m still ridiculously emotional about everything.
What’s left of my poor insides are more uncomfortable than painful now and I’m managing to eat so I don’t feel so sick and hungry.
The surgeon warned me that my stomach wouldn’t look pretty after the surgery and she certainly wasn’t kidding, I am now a rather strange shape minus my 50lb ovarian cyst!

@fudgesmummy - a 50lb cyst?!! That's 3.5 STONE! No wonder you feel so out-of-sorts. That's a lot of cyst to be squashed inside you.

I reckon my tumour is about the size of a large marble - it certainly hasn't made itself known apart from causing some bleeding.

Before and after 😮

Jeepers, fudgesmummy! Oh, you are going to feel SO much better once you've recovered from the op. Your poor insides must have been squashed to death.

I'm off to the hospital later for the pre-op checks/bloods. Op now confirmed for next Thursday.

Bloody hell Fudgemummy

Cointreau that is good news.

cointreau hope the pre op went well?
fudge glad you are able to eat a little now. You will probably find your stomach will take a while to find it's new shape as there will still be some swelling to go down.
post hope everything is well with you? Hope the situation you had has settled down.

Yes, thanks, pre-op went well. Eleventy billion forms to fill out! Have to be there at 7am on Thursday - DH not impressed by the early start.

Jeez fudgesmummythat 's bloody dramatic! You poor thing. Hello ladies all. Glad that some of you are recovering well and sorry for those with shock cancer diagnoses. Such a bolt from the blue.
Good luck to all who haven't had their surgery yet.
I'm exactly two weeks post op.
First few days not bad, so I stupidly ovetdid it.
Dong8do that!!
but I've become an emotional wreck the last 4 days, and I barely ever cry so it's been really horrid. They upped the dose of my oestrogen patch on Friday and did bloods and urine tests as I was starting to feel very unwell. Worse pain and I suspected a UTI brewing.
Anyway, weekend was dire. Floods of tears, horrible discharge which I actually wonder could be bloodied urine. So back to the GP today.
I'm on my own with the dogs for first time but youngest DS has really stepped up and will also take me to GP.
The emotions have been worse than the physical symptoms. I did not expect this.
I'm on long-term meds for depression and anxiety ,gave been for ages, so I thought I'd have, I dunno, a buffer.
Not so. Died so hard yesterday I had my OH in tears which made me feel terrible. .I think it's simply surgical menopause and hopefully the oestrogen patches will starr8ti work soon.
Very best wishes to all.

*CRIED not died. Fuck! Sorry for that particular typo!

cointreau it's much better to be done early. Your husband may not appreciate the early start but it will save you a morning of waiting! Will be thinking of you on Thurs.

Mumma it's still early days post op for you. I guess with the hrt it's going to be about finding a balance that suits you. A uti can also bring you down mentally so get that checked ASAP.

Maybe your antidepressants need a review as well as your body and mind have had a big shock.

Sounds like your OH and DS make a good time. Good luck with the dogs today. I find my dog is good company.

Have to say though I'm also finding surgical menopause incredibly hard, insomnia, night sweats and emotions all over the place.
The lack of sleep is not too bad whilst I'm off work but definitely not going to be sustainable when I go back. I do have zopicone but don't want to be taking it every night. The lack of sleep is, I think playing a part in my see sawing emotions.

I've got an appt Thurs with gynae, histology with oncology and a GP appt next week. Let's hope they can sort me out!

Post how are you doing?

Make a good team! Phone thumbs

Hi everyone

Operation going ahead in the morning. I have to be there for 7am.
Won't know until tomorrow how they will do the op. Is that normal? All I know is that its a total hysterectomy.

I'm absolutely bricking it. Had a dodgy tummy all day due to nerves 😕

My surgeon said they would do it laparotically if possible but I had to sign a form consenting to be "opened up" if seemed necessary.
It was explained to me that sometimes (rarely) they discover factors that make taking it all out keyhole style won't work.
So I'm thinking it's normal to be told they can't be 100% sure

P.S. best of luck crazyladee I was horribly nervous too. It'll all be over soon

crasyladee I didn't know how my op would be performed either.
Good luck for tomorrow, hope all goes well.

Haven't posted for a while as I'm setting back into work- oh the joys!
Will catch up on thread later

crazyladee- good luck for today

@Crazyladee - hopefully by now it's all over - the anticipation is sometimes worse than the actual event. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

@Mummaofmytribe - hope the GP sorted you out. It must be so much harder if you have a surgical menopause to cope with - you can never underestimate how much our hormones keep us on an even keel! I'm hoping not to have too many ill effects, as I'm six years post-menopause, but apparently even at this stage my shrivelled ovaries may not be completely dormant.

Sooo.....it's tomorrow! I am just finalising stuff at work so I can be off for the new couple of weeks minimum. My poor assistant is battling a heavy cold, but came in for the handover, which is being conducted from opposite ends of a desk - I REALLY don't want a cold right now, and bugs seem to be everywhere!

I've been told to hydrate like mad tonight, and stock up on fruit and laxatives for afterwards. I must dig out my list of what to bring. Last night I had one of those anxiety dreams where I was rushing around trying to pack, couldn't find anything, then ran out of time to get to the hospital so they cancelled the op.

Me again. Can I ask post-op ladies if anyone ended up with internal infection? I've got a nasty one. Been on two antibiotics for 4 days now. Back to GO tomorrow. Ultrasound was mentioned.

spykid good to hear from you. When you have time, let us know how work is going post op.

crazyladee hope you are pain free and everything went to plan. Hopefully you will be home soon.

countreau good luck for tomorrow. Its funny the way dreams play out anxieties.

I thought I'd stress about being off work, but actually I haven't really missed it missed the people but not 'work'.

I took lactolose and have gradually reduced down to 5ml a day. Don't feel ready to give it up yet.
This time tomorrow it will all be done!

Yay! It's done.

Arrived at 7am, was checked in and had a little snooze (barely slept last night), then the op was at around 10.30. Had a little cry in front of the anaesthetist - just pent-up worry, I think - then the next thing I remember I was in recovery.

Pain really not bad - like strong-ish period pain. They managed to do it all laparoscopically, with the uterus removed through the vagina, but my "downstairs" is in no discomfort at all, and there's no packing, apparently. Three tiny dresings on my tummy. I had some codiene, which took the pain away, and snoozed until about 4.30pm, when husband appeared with flowers and trashy magazines. Also managed to force down half a panini and some salad.

Just had ouchy blood thinner injection in my stomach (which apparently I have to do MYSELF for the next 20 days ). I have inflating boots (like a blood pressure cuff) around my calves to prevent DVT, which I find really soothing! I am also still on oxygen, and have a catheter, but all this should be gone tomorrow first thing, and I'm due to go home tomorrow lunchtime. Consultant said all went smoothly, so fingers crossed my recovery is uncomplicated.

And absolutely no pain in my shoulder from the gas they pump in. It's a myth!!

Hi cointreau glad to see you are all done!
I swear they don't tell people about the injections til after to stop them freaking out.
I didn't find them too bad.

The inflating boots drive me nuts though!

Hopefully this time tomorrow you will be home with your feet up on the sofa whilst the family wait in you.

Hello everyone. I posted on here some months back and have been following ever since. It’s nearly my turn 😟 I’m booked in for total hysterectomy on 2nd December. I’ve been on Prostap injections (medical menopause) for the last few months which have made me feel horrendous and I also had spinal surgery a couple of months ago so I’m quite worried about getting through the hysterectomy from such a low starting point. I’ve literally averaged an hours sleep a night since starting the Prostap which combined with spinal recovery, a recent surgery on my finger for a huge abscess and my dog being diagnosed with cancer leaves me feeling really awful before I even begin with my hysterectomy. Having another scan on Monday when I hope to find out if my surgery will be open or laparoscopic. I’m also a single mum with no partner... two boys aged 13 & 11. Any advice please, wise ones?

Hi Yogi, that sounds hard- I hope you’ve got somebody to look after you a bit? Fingers crossed they can do laparoscopic. I’m booked in for 26th Nov and have boys 10 and 12, keep trying to train them up but not getting very far.
Cointreau that is all very encouraging to hear!
Hope your infection gets sorted soon, Mumma.
I was feeling ok until I saw the surgeon last week and he talked through the procedure and drew diagrams which all made me feel very queasy. Also not looking forward to the injections, the rest of my household are all needle-phobic too!