It’s been a while since I posted properly and I wanted to tell you about what happened on surgery day and how I’m doing over a month later.
This was my 11th surgery so you would think I'm a pro at this now.
This hysterectomy came as a painful end to my fertility journey. It had to be done because I couldn't cope with the mental and physical pain any longer.
Private or NHS?
I decided to go private because my consultant's NHS waiting list was 22 months(!).
You can find out how long the wait is at your NHS hospital here.
Private hospitals offer various finance options e.g. spreading the cost over several months interest free.
Pre-Operative assessment
My pre-op was the week before my surgery and involved taking my blood pressure and weight, along with an ECG.
A few days before my surgery, I was asked to go to the hospital again so that they could take some blood to determine my blood type, just in case I needed a transfusion.
Thankfully, I didn't need to do a bowel prep before this surgery. I have had to do this previously though and know how hard it is.
I was given a Patient Passport with some really useful guidance. I did create a packing list on one of my previous posts.
Eating and drinking before surgery
I was instructed to have my last intake of food by 2AM (the day of surgery), if I was up at that time! My last fluid intake needed to be by 6AM.
Surgery day
I had been dreading this day. I had to be at the hospital by 7AM and it's about an hour from my house.
A porter showed me and my husband to my room, and a nurse came in to take my blood pressure, temperature and give me my gown, scratchy underwear, and socks (to prevent DVT) to wear.
My consultant came in for me to sign a consent form, along with the anaesthetist. My consultant and I discussed removing my ovaries. The impact of removing them would mean that I would go straight into menopause. I would need to start HRT (progesterone tablets and patches) after surgery. I told the anaesthetist about the nausea I normally have when I come round from the anaesthetic. He advised that they would give me some anti nausea medication. This has worked on and off for me in previous surgeries.
My consultant advised me that he expected the surgery to be around 2.5 hours.
The catering team also came in to take lunch, dinner and breakfast orders.
I was allowed a small amount of fluid measured out by the nurse before surgery.
Eventually, the theatre nurses came in to collect me (I was terrified at this point).
You are taken into a pre-theatre room where you take off your dressing gown and slippers, before getting on to the bed.
A cannula (a small tube with a needle) is inserted and taped to your hand for the anaesthetist to administer medication. You are hooked up to a blood pressure/heart rate monitor. A nurse then placed an oxygen mask over my face and I went off to sleep almost straight away.
You will have automated compression socks attached to you while you're asleep. These pump up and down to prevent DVT.
You may also have a catheter fitted until you're mobile enough to go to the toilet.
After surgery
I was taken back to my room on the bed, and my husband was waiting there.
A nurse came in and looked after me because I became a bit upset and kept saying I wanted to go home. The nurse helped me into a chair (I was still very wobbly) as I felt a bit claustrophobic in the bed, and I managed to sip some water.
My husband said I had been in theatre for 5 hours. My consultant came in and said the procedure was a lot more complex than expected, and a bowel consultant was needed. I had 5 incisions in my stomach. The complexity of the surgery didn't really resonate with me until I fully woke up from the anaesthetic.
The anaesthetist also came in and explained that my resting heart rate had been very high and they had struggled to bring it down after the surgery. He suggested speaking to my GP to start with before going to a Cardiologist.
And then the nausea started...
I started to feel a bit sick and was thankful they had left some of those vomit bowls in my room.
After my husband went home, I started to feel sick again. I told the nurse and she went to get some anti nausea medication. By the time she came back I was still throwing up and she had to get some more of those bowls! The anti nausea medication was administered to me through my drip.
I couldn't stomach anything that evening and was only able to sip water.
Overnight
Because of my high heart rate, the nurse had to come in every hour to check my blood pressure and also to give me some more meds to help get my heart rate down, and for pain relief.
I didn't get much sleep because of the compression socks pumping up and down!
At least my heart rate eventually went down.
The next morning
I woke up in pain and extremely tired but was thankful my nausea had passed and I was able to eat breakfast.
The nurse came in to give me my pain relief. This included oramorph (liquid morphine).
My consultant came to check on me and reiterated again how complex the surgery was. There was extensive endometriosis and adenomyosis everywhere, along with a parasitic fibroid attached to my bowel. He said I could stay another night in the hospital if I needed to but I decided to go home because I felt more comfortable in my own bed.
The catheter was removed, and the nurse helped me get to the bathroom. They needed to measure my urine and then scan my bladder to check if any urine was left behind.
Two physios also came to get me started with some gentle walking.
After lunch, and after the pharmacist gave me my meds to take home, the nurse came in to remove the cannula from my hand.
I was then discharged and my husband collected me. Still a bit wobbly, I managed to walk a bit and waited for my husband to get the car.
Gas pain
When gas is used during surgery to inflate your stomach, it eventually disperses to other areas of your body and causes severe shoulder pain.
Being able to walk a bit and drinking loads of warm drinks such as peppermint tea really helps with this. A heat pad or hot water bottle might also help with this.
Back at home
I struggled with severe gas pain for the first few days and found that a heat pad helped this time. I struggled to go to the toilet due to my bladder pain, along with the dreaded first bowel movement.
I managed to walk slowly but found that I was tired really easily. I also found that my appetite had reduced considerably.
Prior to the surgery, I had batch cooked several meals, portioned them up and put them in the freezer for my husband to take out when needed. This was really helpful. I will create a post about this at some point.
A week after the surgery, my incisions started to itch. My consultant's nurse called me to see how I was doing and said I could remove the bandages, especially where they were itching. She also advised that if I start to bleed that's completely normal following this type of procedure. I started to have light bleeding a few days later and this went on for a few weeks.
I carefully removed my bandages and my stomach still looks very sore and bruised now!
Menopause and HRT
I had made the decision to have both of my ovaries removed (an Oophorectomy). This would mean that my body would go straight into menopause. The ovaries normally produce the hormones that regulate the menstrual cycle, and so removing them would signal my body to enter menopause.
Therefore, along with taking prescribed painkillers and antibiotics, I was also trying to get used to taking progesterone tablets every day, and sticking on HRT patches every 3 days. The patches were really annoying at first as they kept coming off! I'm used to them now though. Taking HRT should also prevent my endometriosis from returning so quickly.
Post Op
My post operative appointment was almost 3 weeks after my surgery.
My consultant asked me how my pain was. Because of my bladder pain, my consultant wanted me to have a urine test to check for infection. Thankfully this came back clear. I have been booked in for an ultrasound though to make sure the pain isn't anything sinister.
Endometriosis stages
Endometriosis stages range from 1 - 4 (with 4 being the worst). I had stage 4. My consultant also explained that they use a points system e.g. if you have more than 21 points, this is stage 4. I had 82 points.
And now...
It's been 5 weeks since the surgery. The first few weeks were harder than I expected, especially in terms of the pain. I'm still struggling with my bladder but I also get more pain on the side where the parasitic fibroid was removed, along with lower back pain. At least the bleeding has now subsided.
Very slowly I am starting to do more things though and I'm hoping things will improve. I've been told that there is a less than 2% chance of the endometriosis coming back as I'm now on HRT, so that's good. I'm due to see my consultant in his NHS clinic in November to check that the HRT dosage is still ok.
As always, thank you so much for everyone's support. It's been a really difficult journey and I'm still navigating being childless after everything we went through.
Laura x
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