Today my sister Donna had surgery - a hysterectomy. Having had one myself, I know exactly what she is in for! I am very tough, but I have to tell you that my hysterectomy threw me for a loop. I did tons of reading beforehand about what to expect, how long the recovery was, the dos and donts, etc.  I had NO idea that it was (1) going to hurt so much for so long (2) how isolated I would feel after the surgery.  The pain is something that is indescribable. If you've had a child, then you have a semi-idea of how bad the pain is, but you haven't even scratched the surface.  The pain is so intense and is all over your body.  It literally hurt to breath.   After I was released from the hospital, I stayed in a recliner because it hurt too much to try to get out of the bed.  Now, its understandable that you will hurt after the surgery. After all, they take every organ that you have on top of your cervix out of your body and put them on your stomach.  Pretty nasty to think about, huh?  What got me was the constant, on going, lengthy pain that lasted forever it seemed. It took almost a year for me to feel like I could move or bend my body at any angle without feeling like I was pulling something.  I've heard different hysterectomy stories - some good, some horrible - I think mine leaned towards horrible!  At 7 weeks after surgery, I had a blood pocket that formed and then ruptured - I had to opened back up and start the whole recovery all over again - it was a nightmare.  Add into that, I had 4 children under age 10 at the time - yep, life in my home was lovely!  Don't you wish you were there?!

Having said all of this, I feel like a million bucks now - 6 years after the procedure.  My only residual problem is that I developed Osteoporosis and have to take medication for it - in addition, I've tried numerous times and every OTC remedy for the hot flashes and I still go back to the hormones.  My flashes never stop and its impossible to function - so, I suck it up and take the medicine.  Hence, I'm a much more pleasant person every day!

After my older sister tells me that she had to have the exact surgery - total hysterectomy (that means EVERYTHING comes out - cervix, uterus, ovaries, tubes) and also a bladder sling, she wanted me to fill her in on the surgery.  I did not hold back!  I like honesty and so does she, so I laid it on the line.  Needless to say this didn't make her happy, but she was glad to have the REAL information.  Now, it can't possibly be as bad as she imagines - see how that works??

Anyway, the surgery was this morning and she at this time, in recovery.  All went well, no big surprises and she should be walking around by tonight - RIGHT!  Oh yeah, they DO make you get up and walk that evening and its horrible.  As much as I would like to be there for her, I'm glad I'm not!  My mom is going to take care of everything this week and I'm going next Wednesday.   Hopefully she will be doing pretty well by that point.  I'll pamper her awhile and make her some good food - that is the least I can do.

If you have any questions about the surgery, feel free to shoot me a question.  WARNING - I'm brutally honest!!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

No related posts.