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).

Hello everyone thankyou for all your replies. I will definitely be talking through all options with my consultant when I see him in a few months. He was reluctance to discuss anything in detail op wise until we had tried these injections to see how these would help.

As daunting as it all sounds being able to have less if no pain at all and being able to be mum again and join in things with my children and have a life back would be wonderful. It’s exhausting and depressing being in pain everyday!

For anyone going for an operation soon good luck and healing vibes! And anyone recovering lots of healing vibes! I hope you’re all being looked after. 😀

@CointreauVersial I hope you are recovering after your scary ordeal!

Re my weight. I should be 11 stone I’m 13. I don’t look ‘obese’ but probably am classed as over weight. I’m going via bupa don’t know if that makes any difference. Not had my bmi mentioned.

@cointreauversial

My goodness I wasn't expecting that in your update! Hope you are okay?

I'm answer to your post, to be honest paracetamol doesn't really do much for me on its own at all. Due to many years of my painful periods taking painkiller after painkiller my body has got resistant to drugs such as paracetamol and ibrupofen.
Anyway, take it easy and look after yourself. And yes, lots of rest!

Evening all.

@Ballstothisdotcom, recovery is quite a personal thing which I guess is why they tend to give guidelines. Take it very easy for at least the first two weeks and delegate as much as possible.
If you have any worries about your weight and the possible impact on the operation/recovery discuss it at the pre op appt. Hopefully they will be able to reassure you.

@Mummaofmytribe, I felt pretty rubbish around the 4 to 5 week mark, very emotional and tired.
I can't have hrt but if you feel it is something that may improve your symptoms go to the GP and get some advice and information.

@yoshimi, good luck for tomorrow, hope all goes well and you are out of hospital and back home before you know it.
I hope you don't mind me asking a personal question. How did you know you had the prolapse?
I also do weights but haven't risked any since op just incase!

@Crazyladee, definitely for the best to delay work for another week.

@CointreauVersial, that sounds so scary. What a shock for your family Have they found what they think may be the cause of the bleed? Hope you have some answers and are home soon.

cointreau hope you are ok, that sounds scary and dramatic!

catnidge I basically had a dragging feeling and couldn’t keep a tampon in place! Plus a slight bulge at times- docs diagnosed and then I went to a specialist physio as well as Pilates. But it’s still there if I overdo it 😒
Gardening and hoovering both can set it off- but I am militant about pelvic floor exercises.

Have to dash as boys’ bedtime, waves to everyone else!

@yoshimi - sending positive vibes for tomorrow.

I'm home. Family have read me the riot act, and I'm not to move from the sofa for the foreseeable future. Yes, it was very scary, but somehow I deserved it because I was doing too much. Because I'm in no pain, it is easy to forget.

The ultrasound revealed no internal bleeding, stitches at the top of the vagina all intact (thank the Lord), and the bleeding eventually completely stopped. They think it is either a haemotoma (I really don't think so, as it was fresh blood, and a LOT of it), or just a weakened blood vessel, caused by an infection or just the operation. Like a nosebleed! I have antibiotics and some more tranexamic acid in case it comes back. Which it WON'T, because I'm NOT going to overdo it again!

cointreau I've had to really struggle with not overdoing it as I'm a bit of a control freak. That must have been very shocking. What a scare. Please put yourself first and rest!!

@cointreauversial

So glad to hear you are back home and nothing scary was going on. Consider it a warning to rest and recover! When you say you were overdoing it, what exactly were you doing?

I discovered a website called hystersisters. Think it's mentioned on the first page or two of this thread. They have a tonne of information and videos. There's a section for post operation which I found useful and videos of what to expect and do in the amount of weeks post op. Basically in weeks one and two, it says to do nothing except rest (I'm looking at you, cointreau!) so, I decided to do follow their advice. The difference with me is I just haven't had the energy to do much. I don't think it's the meds as I was already popping Dihydrocodeine like smarties when it was time of the month due to my debilitating periods, so my body is used to them. I've been for a little walk to the end of my street and back (not far at all) just to get some fresh air, and the trip to the in laws and that's been it.

I rang my insurance company earlier to ask the question about driving.. Not that I'm ready yet but just out of interest. They said to wait 4 weeks which is what my consultant advised. After that, if I feel confident I can perform an emergency stop comfortably, then they are happy for me to go ahead and drive. We shall see!

I'm going to see how I feel tomorrow and if I feel okay I might get DH to drop me off in town and I'll get my nails done (had them soaked off for the OP)

@Crazyladee - I think going to PC World during their Black Friday promotion wasn't the best idea. We were there for over two hours (I thought it would be a quick in-and-out - how foolish am I?), with a lot of standing about. Then I came home and hung up some laundry (normally I would get a teenager to lift the full basket, but by this point I was, of course, invincible). Nothing extreme, but clearly too much.

On the positive side, we now have a huge new TV for me to look at as I lie on the sofa.

I have just slept for ten hours - ohhh, I needed that. Have just discovered two of the sticky heart monitor circles still stuck to my chest.

We are going to need a new thread soon. But this is such a useful resource, I think.

@yoshimi, thank you for the info re prolapse.
I hope you are recovering well from your surgery and get home soon.
@CointreauVersial, glad you are relaxing and taking it easy now
It is so easy to overdo things especially of you are feeling well in yourself. If I didn't have the return to surgery I know that I would have been rushing around doing way too much too soon. We need little telly tubby style screens on our stomach so we can look inside and check our internal healing!
A new thread would be great as posting here is very helpful.

@Crazyladee, I will have a look at the hystersisters Website.
I'm now 6 weeks post op and have only driven once so far. Need to start upping it though for return to work.

Has anyone else had a surgical menopause and are unable to take hrt or herbal supplements?
I'm struggling with insomnia and night sweats. Ive bought the sleep spray which someone reccomended. Anyone have any ideas?

Hello- I’m sat up in bed at the hospital and my stomach is itching like crazy!!!
The surgery went well but it’s been a hard day- I came round at midday and have been kept in the private ward as elsewhere is so busy. Hardly saw anyone all day and only got my bag at 5.30 so nothing to do other than worry (hadn’t spoken to a doctor or nurse- just lovely healthcare assistant) and am stuck in bed with a catheter.
Anyway, they looked a bit guilty when I threw up everywhere
Hoping to get up and walk a few steps this evening as I’m meant to be on enhanced recovery programme.
Good news is pain v minimal.
Will heed warnings about taking things slowly when I’m home....

Good to hear from you, @yoshimi.
Pleased all went well. My tummy is still quite itchy 6 weeks on. Resist the urge to scratch though!
I wonder where your bag had got to?!
Will you be allowed home tomorrow?
Try to get some rest tonight. At least now you have your phone you can mumsnet

Hey, @yoshimi - glad it went well. You will probably feel a bit stiff and achy, but good to hear pain is under control. Hope you have a good night. I never had the itching thing!

Back to hospital tomorrow for follow-up with the consultant; apparently she is off on holiday soon and wanted to see me before she goes. It is possible she will have the histology results (takes two weeks, usually) so I will find out more about the cancer. I am also going to be asking LOTS of questions about the haemorrhage, as I'm terrified it is going to happen again.

Good luck for your appointment @CointreauVersial I hope you get some answers! X

So, good appointment with lovely consultant, lots of questions answered. She thinks the bleed was set off by a slight infection (so wasn't necessarily down to me doing too much too soon), but there's no reason to suspect it will happen again. I'm still spotting, but nothing major. Everything else healing nicely, although I'm now anaemic following bleed (no surprise there). She gave us the thumbs up for our long weekend in France in mid-December, a trip to the Christmas markets in Alsace with my parents/DSis/BIL which has been planned for months.

Less good was the news that the tumour was grade 1B, rather than 1A - still not terrible, but it had progressed more into the uterus wall then first thought. Soooo.....radiotherapy. Ugh. Preventative more than anything, and still a very good prognosis, but I could have done without this whole new chapter to deal with.

How's everyone else doing??

New thread! Here.

Thought this one was getting a bit near the limit.....