I am having a laparoscopic assisted vaginal hysterectomy and would love to have stores of you here who have had this type of hysterectomy. I am so scared and full of anxiety. Am I making more of this than it will be????

Hugs
countryangel...aka scared

I had a LAVH on July 7, 2006. I have a really good doctor, and the surgery went well. It was more complicated and took longer than expected (over 3 hours) because my fibroids and my uterus were even larger than expected (size of 3.5 month pregnancy). The worst part is the anesthesia, it makes you feel so thick-headed. I actually had very little pain, only crampy kind of pain, and they gave me morphine in my IV with a little button that I could use to administer it when I needed it (they have it set so you can't overdose). I did feel nauseous from the anesthesia, but the nurse in the recovery room kept asking me if I had pain or was nauseous, and they gave me meds for the nausea right away (I think in the IV, although I was so out of it, I'm not sure). The nurses did an outstanding job trying to make me feel as well as possible under the circumstances. I don't know how long I was in recovery, but then I was moved to my room, in my hospital the surgical wing has private rooms, so that was nice. My husband and Mom & Dad were in the room as soon as they moved me from the gurney to my bed. All I wanted was for everyone to be quiet and to rest. I brought books and music CV's etc. with me, but didn't use them at all! I sure didn't feel like reading or watching TV. Couldn't concentrate on anything! They had ice chips for me and water (they wait to see how nauseated you are before they let you drink), and I could drink water right away. I was really hungry that evening so the nurse brought me some soda crackers, about 6, and I ate them all. The morphine made me feel nauseated, so I quit using it. They will give you other kinds of pain meds if you want. My husband was able to stay the night in my room, they brought in a mattress for him to sleep on. The next morning I had oatmeal for breakfast. The nurses keep checking the urinary catheter bag to make sure I was producing urine. Then that morning they took out the catheter. They showed me how to sit up by turing to the side so you don't use your abdominal muscles. And then helped me to the bathroom to "pee." They put a container in the toilet so they can measure how much urine you are producing. I had a sanitary pad stuck between my legs, I guess from after surgery, and the nurse checked it to see how much blood there was. Then I put on a pair of panties my Mom had brought for me (a size larger than normal, and "BarelyThere" I think from Penneys, they are great, really soft), and a pad that I had brought. They took out the IV, and I got up to walk with the help of Mom & Dad. The doctor came before lunch, and said I could go home after lunch. I had beef stew and strawberries for lunch, and then got dressed (elastic waisted pajama pants, and a t-shirt, and tennis shoes). Then signed the release papers, and they took me out to the car in a wheelchair, and I went home!!

Let me know if you have other questions.

Hi (((Jana)))

I just got done reading your story. Thank you so much for taking the time to write me such a thorough account of your experience. You really covered a lot.

How are you feeling now? I sure hope back to your normal self.

I do have another question. I am worried about bladder drop. Do you know if this is a high risk thing that can happen after a hyst.?

Also, I have read a bit online that your first bowel movement is painful. Is this true? and urinating?

Thanks so much and I will check back later. I am worried too cause I am over weight how this wil affect me. I am 100 lbs over weight, but have lost 30 this past year and hope to lose more post surgery when I feel less bloated and pain. I have complex hyperplasia with severe atypia.

Hugs
Countryangel

Hi Countryangel -
I'm 6-weeks post-surgery and am not yet completely back to normal. I'm still tired from the loss of blood (they were borderline giving me a transfusion, but didn't) and it takes time to build it back up. My boss has been really understanding, and I'm back at work at least part-time now. I usually go home early in the afternoon and take a nap! My brain starts to get fuzzy in the afternoon when I get tired. My tummy is puffy and tender still from the trauma of surgery, and my doctor says it may take a couple of months for that to go away. I still have a couple of stitches that you can see the ends of in my belly-button, they are supposed to dissolve away at about 6 weeks.

I don't know about bladder drop. My doctor said that your bladder gets kind of "cranky" from the surgery, and it takes a while for it to get completely back to normal. This is hard for me to tell because I had the LAVH due to large fibroids, and they were pressing on my bladder and making me feel like I had to urinate all the time. So now, I don't feel like I have to urinate all the time, but it's almost like I have to remind myself, whoops, it's lunchtime, better go to the bathroom.

I was able to urinate as soon as they took out the urinary catheter (the morning after surgery) and it was not painful. There was a slight amount of blood or a reddish tinge to the urine. At first it seemed like I was urinating very slowly, or it took a while to complete, but the nurses said that was due to swelling from the surgery, and it went away in a couple of days. As for the bowel, expect to have some gas, although I didn't have too much, and although I am very regular and always have been, I didn't have a bowel movement until 2 or 3 days after surgery. The nurse said that was normal. It wasn't really painful, but I would recommend taking Colase (not a laxative, it's a stool softener) that my Dr. recommended to make it easier. I also found that having a small pillow to hold on my stomach made it much more comfortable to sneeze, blow your nose, cough, etc. They recommend that you have one to hold on your stomach under the seat belt when you go home, and it is a good idea.

All in all, it wasn't as bad as I expected, and I have several other complicating conditions (diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, hypothyroidism, high blood pressure) and it when fine for me. You'll do fine! You're doing the most important thing, that is educating yourself about what to expect!

jana--Just a quick note. Sounds like you were EXTREMELY lucky to have such an informative and caring doctor and nursing staff. Sounds like they take special care of their patients and take the time to tell them everything to expect and how to take care of it. Thats hard to find in docs and staff anymore.!!! Shelley

Shelley - I do feel really lucky to have such a good doctor, and the hospital and nurses were great too. By the way, I found out after the surgery that my doctor is also a pastor! He's the senior pastor for a Real Life Christian Center. Amazing! That could have something to do with him being so caring.