No problem. I was going to drop you a line after I got everything set up and ask if I could mention your nickname but you beat me to it.
Thanks for the great suggestion.

The new AM forum is up! Please leave your comments there.
How are you feeling after your Abdominal Myomectomy? (part 2)

Thanks!

This forum has become so popular that we now have a problem. I received an email message today from a visitor who is having a difficult time getting this looooong page to load. If she is having a problem, I KNOW others (including me with my >5-year-old laptop and dial-up connection) are having problems, too! So…

I plan to create a new AM recovery thread (AM part 2 based on fibroid free’s original comment). You will be able to post as much as you want (like you did here) in the new forum. I will close this one to new comments but it will still be available to read and use as a reference. Feel free to copy and paste anything you’ve written here into the new forum.

I think since Gab and Jess are back (Welcome back!!! ) this would be a good time to start a new page. This will give you the chance to walk with them through their recoveries providing your great expertise and support along the way.

When will this happen?
Pretty soon. Probably within the next hour. Sorry for the short notice. If I don’t do it now, it will slip my mind. I’ll think of it a week later when there are 1000 comments here and we have an even bigger problem.

I’ll come back and post updates. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you can all find each other. Thanks for your understanding.

Take care.

Jess, thanks for sharing some details — mine is also in the back, and intramural, so I’d ask whether it’s more difficult because of its location. Just so that DH and mother won’t get too concerned if the surgery is long.

Cheers to all those who’re recovering.

Take it easy today, the 4th day was not a good one, tomorrow will get easier, but I noticed that taking the Motrin on time helps, try not skip them yet. Drink, Drink, Drink as much water as you can…. it really helps. tomorrow i will start my walking again, i stopped cause i think i over did it yesterday.

Gab

Gabriela – told you you would make it to the fibroid free side! LOL Where is that box of tee shirt…you deserve one!!

to all the gals who are now on the other fibroid free side !!! welcome to recovery and remember to do just that. recovery and heal. Rest and take it easy. It takes a while to lose the fatigue and tiredness -weeks sometimes (in my case months) you will wear out easily…jsut go with it. You will feel better at your own pace. Trust me…almost 6 months post Op and the world is SOOOO much better without the fibroids

LR – I was under genreal anethesia for 5 hours and did not wake up nauseous or queezy or anything…no sore throat (they did give me oxygen for a day or so via nose that I could take on and off) nothing…

Val -I died when I read nurse Vlad!!! too funny..

Gab, of COURSE I understand wanting to get out of there. I just was so happy to see your name on the door next to mine…I almost took your name thing but I realized that was probably wrong. Anyway, I’m just so glad you’re okay and I’m okay too!! How are you doing today?? I’m feeling some ups and downs, physically and emotionally and I get a little discouraged during the downs…but I’m trying to stay as positive as I can.

My sugery ended up being almost 4 1/2 hours. He didn’t even try to do it laparoscopically…he did a “throrough” internal exam once I was knocked out and he realized that the position of the fibroid made laparoscopy impossible. When it was over, he went to my brother and friends and sighed and said “that was hard.” He also told them it went beautifully but that it was much more difficult than he anticipated.

It seems this 9 cm fibroid, which was attached to the very back of my cervix (near my tailbone), was completely crushing my cervix. My cervix was paper thin, he said. The fibroid came off easily, but when he took it off, he saw an entire circulatory system had developed to nourish it (GROSS…that gives me the chills). He said that whole area was bleeding a lot…and it was such a delicate area…he didn’t want to mess with arteries that were attached to my legs and other things (scary) so he called a team of obgyn oncologists to work with him. He said that work on those delicate areas all the time so he wanted their assistance. They sewed it up for over an hour and he said it was perfect when they were done with it. I lost a lot of blood so they had to give me 2 units, but they said my blood count was fine when they took blood later that day.

It was funny…tons of residents came in to see me while I was in the hospital…they all called me “the success story”…of course I was totally unaware of any of this because I was obviously out cold throughout the surgery (LM, the anesthesia is great…I did not feel nauseus at all when I woke up but I was out of it…you slip off to sleep very restfully…it was the best part of the entire experience…and like you Sabrina my voice was a little froggy for a day or so from the breathing tube, which I never knew I had at all…they did it all while I was asleep).

LR…I feel for you. I am also 35 and want to get pg soon and had that same sized subserosal fibroid…it IS time to get it out. Don’t wait until it gets bigger because it just gets more complicated (I struggled with “should I wait??”). I thought, my symptoms aren’t as bad as many women’s (because my fibroid was outside my uterus instead of insiide like most women’s, I didn’t have bad periods at all) so maybe I should wait. But now I’m SOOOOoooo glad my fibroid is out. You will be too. Be in touch with us on the board as you get closer to your surgery because the waiting for surgery time is difficult (at least it was very difficult for me).

I am thinking of all of you, those who are recovering and those who will be recovering, and I’m wishing you all well. And again I thank you for being part of this with me!!!

Jess

In fact when i came to the lobby my hubby asked me, did you look for your friend???? i am so disappointed that i did not, but i think u can understand why i wanted out….. not a bad hospital at all, in fact care was very good, but so old and dingy i WANTED TO TAKE A SHOWER!!!! MY BATHROOM WAS NOT THE BEST EITHER.

Did your doc do an AM??? or lap???

Now when we get better, i making a trip to the city to meet you… its a must.

I broke the rules and left exactly 48 hours after surgery….. the residents were so impressed with everything……LOL

But i have to say, yesterday was a really bad day for me, tired, and some pain/discomfort, so my suggestion, please take it easy at home, REST REST REST.

I spent all day in bed, and today i already feel better, but will take scheduled naps.

Tell us your story when u feel better, and you will.
gab

I’d have to say that the general anesthesia was the best part of the whole experience! One minute, I was waiting in Pre-op with my husband for my surgery time to arrive and they gave me “something to calm me”. The next moment, I hear a voice “your surgery is over” and wake up after an hour in recovery as from a very restful nap. It was truly amazing.

Afterwards, I had Dilaudid by PCA pump for about 24 hours, maybe a little less. I pushed the button about twice an hour, and found that I did better by tolerating a small amount of pain (2-3 on a scale of 1-10) than trying to eliminate the pain altogether. I ended up using less Dilaudid, therefore less side effects (less constipation, drowsiness, etc.) Best of luck to you.

I didn’t feel the breathing tube b/c it was placed once I was already out from the general anesthesia. My voice was a little froggy for a day or two flwg but that was the only after effect I noticed.

Gab: Fatigue comes and goes. First day home, I was up and around, out with my sister-in-law (she drove) then I absolutely crashed the next day. I over did it. I learned my lesson, stayed home, and took my time healing. As for the bleeding, it will subside. If it’s clear red, that’s good. I was bleeding in recovery and it continued another 3 or 4 days. It didn’t feel like a period, so I am assuming it was due to surgery. Two weeks later I had real period, and another on schedule in January. I kept with the iron throughout. I still take it at least 3 times a week…just to be sure.

Getting out of bed is just like Sharon described. Scoot to the edge of the bed. Pull your knees to you, roll to the side. I tucked my hands under both knees and pushed up. It worked. Funny, instinctively, I still do it sometimes.

I’m still not to cool with the zippers either. It really is a love/hate situation. Like I wrote, mid-late afternoon, my tummy tends to feel swollen. I love Fridays though! I wear athletic pants and a sweatshirt. It’s a high school thing and faculty wears casual stuff and the school colors.

Super Bowl Sunday: home with the dog. I get errands done during the pre-game hype because the streets of L.A. feel so crowd-free. Probably the only time other than the day before taxes are due.

Ciao!

Gab: I used a similar strategy as Country Girl. I intially slept on my back, kind of propped up like on the hospital bed. I would start by bending both knees. Then to turn over to the side, I would use my hands to lift my hips a bit and scoot them to the left b/c everything felt so heavy (I sleep on the other side than Country Girl…). Then I let the R leg drop down to the side & I stacked the left leg on top of R. Then I was almost all the way on my R side. Then I used a combination of R elbow and palm of L hand to start pushing up and get myself up. Then the R leg moved over the edge of the bed, and the L leg to join it. At the same time continuing to push up with the L hand/R elbow. I used my arms to do most of the work to get to an upright position.

You will probably need to play with it a bit to see what works best for you. Before my surgery, I had done a lot of practice with sitting up in ways that wouldn’t rely soley on ab muscles.

My acupuncturist suggested anchoring my R elbow on the bed palm up (like serving a plate); then put L palm on top & press palms together; then pressing R elbow into bed to move up to seated. I found that caused me to rely more on my abs, but might work for you.

The other thing I did was to do all movements on my exhale (it’s the yoga teacher in me, and recommended by a nurse/yoga instructor friend). It forced me to go slowly rather than try to get up too quickly which my incision did not like.

Sharon

I am feeling pretty good overall, with ups and downs (one minute I’m fine and walking around and the next I’m crying for no reason). I don’t have the energy to give the play-by-play right now, but my surgery ended up being more complicated than my doctor thought…but it ended up working out “beautifully” and my cervix, uterus, and ovaries are all “beautiful” (he must have said that 10 times…it was nice to hear!).

I was not allowed, or able to get up at all the first night. I had a morphine drip and also morphine on command (via a button). I was totally out of it!! The next morning I was dizzy from the morphine but my friend came to visit me and she asked if I wanted to walk around the hall. I didn’t know if I could do it, but I said yes. We walked SLOWLY around the hall and I looked at all the names on people’s doors, looking for Gab, but didn’t see her Then I got back to my door and stood there a second and looked at the door NEXT DOOR and GAB’S NAME WAS ON IT!!! I swear I almost started crying (I actually maybe did start crying). I knocked on the door and some guy answered and said “Gab had just left”…what a bummer to have missed her, but what a small world!!! I was so relieved and inspired to see that Gab had come and gone quickly and that everything had been okay with her!!

I couldn’t wait to tell you guys that we had been neighbors but didn’t knonw it.

I’ll check back in soon. I need to sleep now. I don’t have much pain at all…never really did…but I’m just wiped out.

Love to you all and thanks for the support!!!

Jess

Gab