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Pre and Post op

8 days pre-op

Talked to Dr. Bowers about HRT options after surgery since I'm not going to be going on T right away. She's all for the Natural HRT rather than the Pregnant Horse Urine that's most commonly prescribed. Got Endometriosis staging information (Stage IV). Found out surgery location and if my partner can stay with me in the hospital.
I'll be at Swedish Medical Center in a private recovery room.

7 days pre-op

Got e-mails from my Naturopath friend about vitamin regimen before surgery and after. She included a list of things I probably currently eat/drink/ingest that will nullify the results of the remedies. The list is extensive. I'm basically going to be eating fruit and drinking water.

1 day pre-op

Had a pre-op appointment this morning. Told my doctor my final decision is to have it all out, including the second ovary. I actually felt okay as we left her office, although there was some confusion about surgery time and location and such... granted she just changed practices. I had some blood drawn so they can match me for a transfusion if things get really bad. I got the standard no eating/drinking after 12am Tuesday night.
-Got my period on Friday and couldn't take any pain relievers until I called the pharmacy. Tylenol is the only recommended pain reliever because it won't thin the blood. It's actually done a fair job of keeping cramps at bay too. Just an FYI

day of surgery

Woke up at 5:15am. I was supposed to check in to the hospital at 5:30.
Paige and I met my mom at the hospital. I checked in and got called back. I met with the admitting nurse. She asked a bunch of questions about medical history and gave me the gown, socks and robe to change into. I also got a ten-page packet about the surgery and about 2 minutes to read it.
A friend of mine that works at the hospital took us to the pre-op staging areal. I met with the Anesthesiologist, the attending nurse, the hospitals Chaplin and another admitting nurse. I got an IV in and waited for my doctor to show up. She was late, no surprise though.
I hated the attending nurse. She wheeled me back to the OR and I was glad to be under before I got a chance to dislike her even more.
The surgery went well, I spent about an hour and a half in surgery and two hours in the recovery room.
When I started coming around I was in my hospital room with my Mom and Paige. I realized my front lower abdomen was covered in sterile bandages and I really couldn't feel anything from my belly button to my legs. I also began to be aware that I had a pad between my legs and I was having a gushing sensation. At first I equated this to having my period (which I had when I went in for surgery). When I realized this was not the case I let Paige and my Mom know something might be wrong. The nurses on the floor came in and checked me out and called my doctor to report the abnormal bleeding. I wasn't on the OBGYN recovery floor so it kind of set the tone for a small state of emergency. The doctor arrived and diagnosed the bleeding as semi-normal and then put in some sterile packing tape to stop the bleeding. This was probably the most painful part of the whole ordeal.
I had a couple of visitors during the evening but was only able to manage about five minutes of consciousness at a time.
I didn't eat or drink anything for the first 24 hours (I was on IV fluids though), nor did I have to get up to go to the bathroom thanks to having a catheter.
Before bed the nurse came in and helped me learn how to get out of bed and made me get up and stand for a minute. You have to be walking as soon as possible to help prevent blood clots. I didn't think it was going to wear me out but I was ready to sleep the moment I got back into the bed.
I was pretty uncomfortable all day and didn't find that the pain meds were helping much. The only thing the morphine drip was doing was putting me to sleep. Sometime during the night I woke up feeling really sick. I only puked once but once was enough. Paige was allowed to sleep in the room with me and was even given a bed.

>day after surgery
I really didn't get to sleep soundly the night before and I was anxious to get the packing out. I got my IV out around eight and was allowed to eat. I was also taken off the morphine and put on percocet pills. The percocet worked much better and didn't put me to sleep.
About ten a nurse came in and helped me get out of bed and sit in the chair next to the bed. I sat for about four minutes and was totally exhausted. The nurse wanted me to walk to the door of the room and then back to the bed. By the time I got back to bed I was shaking.
Later that day I got the catheter and the packing out and haven't had any bleeding since.
In the afternoon I walked the entire floor, visited with my Dad, ate lunch (mmm solid foods), walked the floor again and made it to the bathroom numerous times. I had a lot of help from Paige during all of this though so I don't mean to make it sound like I was fine the next day.
The surgical bandage came off that afternoon and I got to see what I was grateful I couldn't feel and that was the incision and about nine staples holding it together.
The nurses started giving me stool softeners with the percocet and pushing me to drink all the water I could. Oh yeah, peeing! I was told that peeing would feel different after surgery, and it did. It was kind of like stage fright except I really had to will my muscles to relax so I could pee. And then there's the poop thing too... this is kinda gross but it happens. When you have any kind of abdominal surgery your bowels totally take a hit and stop working for a while. The result is constipation - but with an abdominal surgery you really find that you don't have the same muscle control you had before. Basically I was told to have a really high fiber, lots of juice, maybe some Metamucil, diet for the week before surgery. It made a difference too. While I still had to take stool softeners in the hospital from what I hear they don't really help all that much.
I slept much better on the percocet and with the exception of the four-hour vital checks I slept the whole night through.

second day after surgery

In the morning I ordered breakfast and got permission to change into my own pajamas. I walked the floor a couple times, watched some T.V., made a couple phone calls and generally was bored.
My doctor stopped by to looked at my incision and poke around a bit. She gave me some home care instructions and said all was well. The nurse came in and took the staples out and started briefing me on the requirements of being released. I had to prove my bowels were functioning to leave. I won't go into what had to happen for me to be discharged but I guess it could have been worse.
I took a shower and got dressed and then crashed out on the bed.
Paige packed up all our stuff and my Mom came and got me. Paige, the dogs and I stayed at my Moms for a few days so I could recover. I made it up and down the stairs and to the bathroom, but really I spent most of my time on the couch. This was the last day I really needed a nap that I can recall.

since then
I had surgery on Wednesday. I left the hospital on Friday. I stayed at my Mom's until Monday and then went home. When I got home I spent maybe 3 days mostly in bed and then I was up and around and out of the house. I did wait a little over two weeks before I tried moving furniture around though. I've had a really easy recovery thus far (knocking on wood). I have taken it easy but I done all the things on the list of things they tell you not to do in the first 6 weeks. I was off the percocet and on oral hormones in seven days. It has been increasingly easier to pee, although it is still uncomfortable first thing in the morning. I haven't hit any post surgical menopause symptoms yet and surgery is starting to feel like a distant memory.
I use cream (calendula) and tape on my scar now and it's really thin.
Since surgery I haven't had any regrets or feelings of loss really. I have noticed that I am moodier on the hormones but I'm hoping to get them changed soon.

I can't really think of anything else to add at this point.
If there's anything I didn't talk about that you think would be good you can write me.

two months later

Been having a lot of hot flashes and mood swings in the last few weeks. I have an appointment to see my doctor and get my hormones changed. I'm currently taking 1mg Estradiol tablet daily. I just don't think it's enough for my body. I'm feeling really tired and sluggish and like my brain just won't as fast as I want it to.

four months later


At four months I've made a full recovery. I'm back to walking my dogs on a daily basis (they like that). I've planted a garden, moved, been riding my bike, in fact I don't think there's anything I still feel restricted from doing.
I've had my hormones changed and am now on EstraTest which is a testosterone/estrogen mix. It seems to be working fairly well, however I'm starting to have some hot flashes again.
Occasionally I have some lower abdomen cramping, and my bladder still feels like it's adjusting to all the new space. My scar is getting smaller and less noticable but damn does it ever itch. I wonder if people think I'm constantly grabbing myself? I've also got almost full sensation back which I think might account for some of the itching.