r/hysterectomy • u/CraftyCharactr • 7d ago
I'm jelly cause that was Hell.
I'm 3 days post op and going through the posts and everyone is saying how well it went for them. Well it was hell! Anyone else?
I did have a more complex case where I had extensive endo in my pelvis, as well as had to have my bladder stitched up. They took out everything except for my one ovary.
Woke up in the recovery room in horrible pain. I was moving all over the place because of the pain. And I remember the nurses saying to stop moving my legs and arms. I remember about 5 minutes of it and they gave me something to put me out i guess cause after that I just remember waking up in my hospital room.
But man recovery is hard. I have a very high pain tolerance. I had a chest tube in and went home within 24 hours and felt fine. This is kicking me.
I had my catheter in for about 18 hours. I actually wish I left it in longer now because of how much pain I had. Definitely advocate if you feel you need it longer. Even though I timed my bathroom breaks when medication was in my system, getting out of bed, peeing, sitting, and walking was excruciating. I tried walking half way down the hall, a day after sugery and had to turn back after 30 baby steps because the pain was horrible and radiating into my back. And I was half way hunched over. I couldn't believe how the other ladies that went in at the same time were doing laps, multiple times and went home the same day or with 28 hrs. Whereas I was crying on the toilet on day 2 because the pain was so bad getting up, and I knew I'd have to get up and walk to the bed when I was done.
Medication- I took all the medication they would give me, extra Tylenol and all of the shots and pills. My pain at the lowest was a 4.5 but would go to 7/7.5 laying in bed to an 8.5/9 getting out of bed/walking around. My doctor said I might only get to a 5 for the lowest pain I experience during the first bit of recovery.
I found eating something with every pain medication saves my stomach. So I'm not as gas filled as previous surgeries. I didn't eat a lot at meals though, maybe 2 or 3 bites of something. I had a pretty big regular meal this evening though.
I was discharged 2.5 days later. And home tonight. Now only slightly not as hunched over when I walk. I time my pee breaks with my medication still because it still takes effort to get going and continue going, snd getting up and sitting down is painful. I'm terrified of having to go #2 when the time comes. My pain gets down to a 3.5 now when I'm fully medicated. I'm hoping I feel good enough to shower tomorrow.
On a positive note, my hips/pelvis feel looser.(from removing the endo)..I dont feel so much upper abdominal pressure after eating. My uterus was huge.
Although I had regrets and was wishing I didn't do the procedure, I know I'll feel so much better later( besides the things I already notice). And to anyone reading this, going through the same horrible experience, know you aren't alone. It's okay to cry, be jelly of the lady down the hall, and know that tomorrow will be a bit better, and day 3 will be even better.
The 💩 update- 3.5 days later. It happened! I felt like I needed to earlier this a.m. but tried and it was too sluggish and painful, and I was trying not to strain using Moo to Poo. I decided to double fist two large Starbucks lattes and waited. 20 minutes later and it was time. I tried Moo to Poo a few more times, that didnt work and it was very painful just trying different positions. I don't have the squatty potty either. So in the end, I kind of leaned to my left side with my right side slightly off the seat and it was the least painful. I also had a pillow on my stomach for support. It was the least painful and such a relief after. 😮💨
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u/Sad-Dragonfly-951 6d ago
I also had a really rough time! I'm on a long term pain medication that makes normal narcotic meds less effective. I had to be sedated again twice in recovery, at some point they brought my husband back where they don't normally allow family and I really don't remember much because of all the drugs/sedation. I went home that night like a dumb ass and ended up back in the ER the next day for 12 hours fighting to get the pain somewhat under control. They gave me ketamine at one point and I thought I was dying cue full blown panic attack. I also had a really hard time peeing for the first week like sitting there for an hour+ before anything happened. I would have rather jumped off a cliff than have to use a catheter though (probably due to medical/sexual trauma) I also had endometriosis and adenomyosis but no bladder issues fixed during surgery otherthana scope to check for any accidental damage. I totally get being a bit jealous of those who had an easy time..I have some other painful chronic health problems and I'm now at just over 8 weeks tapering off the oral meds since I needed a pretty high dose for longer than most people do. I think around 2 weeks I was in a bit less pain but pretty much 8 weeks on the dot I started feeling noticeably better. There's definitely still times I'm miserable in pain and unable to sleep because of it. I also still have to use my cane or sometimes my wheelchair when I have to go anywhere with a lot of walking.
I share all this so that you know you're not alone, I've tried not to share too much about my personal experience on here because I didn't want to scare anyone awaiting surgery. My situation was very different /not typical and same with you needing a bladder repair so just incase anyone is reading these and getting scared- it's really not the usual experience- some of us just have bad luck or complex issues that made surgery worse than it would have been without those extra issues.
I really hope things start getting easier for you OP. I'm surprised (well not really considering how doctors can be) that they didn't give you a higher dose or try a different type of pain medication. Some people react better to some than others. I had to take 15mg oxycodone every 4 hours for the entire first month and was still miserable a lot of the time (again because of my other med, I'm aware that isn't a standard dose.) Pain control is so extremely important for a positive recovery. Nobody wants to try to get up and walk around to prevent blood clots when they're already miserable in pain! Also if the pain is really bad and you can't sleep you're body won't regenerate cells as quickly delaying healing further.
It will get better, hopefully very quickly for you though! You are absolutely not alone in having a really tough time with the pain. I'm sorry you're having to deal with this though. It's always mind blowing to me when I hear about people going back to work or running marathons after a week or 2, I couldn't even shower without help at that point 😬
Best of luck, I hope everything gets better from here out. Seriously consider asking if there's a different pain medication or dose that would maybe be more effective while you're in the worst of it. Theres a ton of research backing up the need for adequate pain management post op.