Hello fellow women.
I’m having a bit of a time of it and I’d be interested in any experiences which give me an idea of how long a road I’m in for to get well.
I had a total hysterectomy 2 weeks ago today. Relatively uncomplicated though I had to stay in a couple of nights until my BP stabilised. Last Wednesday, at home, I developed a huge fever, pain, and was very unwell so went along to A&E at the same hospital where I’d had my op. I’d only gone home 48 hours earlier.
I’d developed a very large vaginal vault haematoma which had become infected. I was immediately put on aggressive IV antibiotic treatment, and spent 7 days as an inpatient. 31 IV rounds later I was put on to oral antibiotics, and despite the fact the haematoma hadn’t started to shrink, the fever had gone and all my obs were normal for 36 hours so I was allowed to come home and continue the antibiotics. One of my gynaes did a tiny procedure to allow the haematoma to drain vaginally a couple of days before I came home.
It’s now draining magnificently, so the ongoing worry about whether any infection might be hiding deep in the haematoma has gone.
However, I have never felt so debilitated in my life. I cannot do anything but get up and down for the loo and either be in bed or on the sofa, sleeping for a huge proportion of the day. My skin feels too loose, my mouth and stomach are affected by one of the oral antibiotics and I cannot barely eat though I’ve forced myself to. I am concerned that this whole horrific experience is going to extend my recovery by weeks.
Does anyone have any anecdata they can offer to give me an idea of what I might expect?
This is all slightly complicated by the fact my haemoglobin is now low and so I am moderately anaemic, too.