Hello all, I just wanted to let you know that surgery was successful. I am still in the hospital. My stay is intended to be 3-5 days. I suppose technically this was day one.
According to the surgeon, what they removed from me was something the size of a small turkey that had other masses attached to it. The mass was not in fact growing in the ovary. It is still not known, however, if the mass is malignant. Testing is being done and I will have that answer soon.
In the meantime, I have now officially had a hysterectomy and oophorectomy. I was cut open from above the navel down into the pelvis. I am in a great deal of pain as can be expected but the pain is being controlled with an excessive amount of medication.
The whole thing hasn’t really hit home yet. I guess it won’t hit until I see my unbandaged belly for the first time. Right now everything is just a mess of wires and tubes, pain and the weirdness of being in a hospital as an overnight patient.
I will add more to this after I wake up in the morning. Struggling to keep my eyes open right now.
next morning…
Well I had written a great deal more earlier in the morning but looks like I did not save it properly so it’s been lost. I think I was just talking about what it’s like being in the hospital. I’ve mentioned in other posts that I generally avoid anything that requires a great deal of ‘real world’ interaction with people. I live like an agoraphobic. I hesitate to call myself an actual agoraphobic but I do live like one for the most part. So this experience is weird and uncomfortable and I can’t wait for it to be over. But I recognize the necessity of it and the need for me to grow up and just deal with it. And minus one little glitch yesterday I think I’ve done a great job.
My posts don’t show up, so I’m really hoping you see this on your end. I am really excited that you have such a huge mass out of your body! I’ve had 2 cesareans and a microdiscectomy. I do know your pain. My cesarean was an emergency (the first one), so I didn’t get the nicer looking ‘bikini cut’ either. My incision went from an inch underneath the belly button down to my bikini line. Being forced to walk so soon after surgery was always the hard part for me. Terrifying actually. But it was okay once I did it. Hang in there. Also, I’ve had serious memory problems after certain surgeries, from the anesthesia. If you can keep a journal, it WILL make a difference (whether written or here online). I couldn’t believe how little I could remember about not only the week of the surgery, but the 6 months leading up to my surgery. I have people tell me often about things I don’t recall at all!!!
I wonder if your mass did what I think my fibroids have done. At first, I felt separate fibroids, some like lemons, some like oranges. But over the last year of processed food poisonings (lol, what I call it), my fibroid growth accelerated. They seemed to merge into one big monster fibroid. Note, the transvaginal ultrasound and other pictures did not show this on my first tests. This is something I feel through my belly. I look 6 or 7 months pregnant when my belly relaxes. Let us know how you feel and rest a lot. I rested for my first cesarean, but not enough (my son came home with oxygen and monitors, so I was up and down a lot). My incision began to open around the top staples near the navel. So do your best to recover properly.
Fibroids are so dense and heavy that I wouldn’t be surprised you’ve lost over 15 pounds! My friend felt so much lighter after her surgery. I expect once you’re done with the pain, you will feel such relief. And for you, no matter what you eat, your fibroids won’t grow back without the uterus there! Most women who have the myomectomy (to remove only the fibroids) grow fibroids soon again because they eat the foods that keep them in estrogen dominance. You don’t have to worry about that and can just go on with your real life with real goals! No more rocks in the belly to drag you down. Maybe you will see you have no use for this type of blog anymore (other than your experiences with hormones post surgery), and you end up blogging your actual passions. Have a good recovery!
Hi barista, thank you so much for your comment and advice on how to handle recovery. I will definitely take your experiences into account and try not to get too ambitious in my efforts at a speedy recovery.
I hope to continue to share my experience adjusting to life after fibroids. This stage is still part of the whole experience.
Thank you to you and everyone else who took the time to reach out and let me know that I wasn’t entirely alone out in the wilderness talking to myself.
I get to go home today. I can’t wait.
This has been quite an experience.
I have been following your blog and I am so happy that you found peace. Even if it was with surgery. I can relate to almost everything you’ve posted and although I am still fighting the good fight of shrinking the fibroids naturally, I am open to the idea that surgery may be the only alternative for me. Thank you for your transparency, it blessed me deeply. Please keep us updated on life after hysterectomy. All of God’s best to you…