My surgery was scheduled for Weds. November 14th at 10am so I had to be at the hospital at 8am. Once I arrived we went to the waiting area. The volunteer let my husband and daughter know that they would periodically give them updates when I go back into surgery. Vaginal hysterectomy surgery generally takes about an hour, but mine may take longer due to the size of my uterus.
I gave my husband and daughter a kiss goodbye. I first was asked to verify my information and was given my hospital band. I then was taken to the surgery pre-op area. She took my weight and gave me a gown to change into, slipper socks and a cap. I changed into everything and laid on the bed. The nurse came in and put compression air bags on both my legs. She went over questions and started an IV. She also needed to take blood, so she decided to use the iv needle to do so. It was pretty uncomfortable, because it was in my hand. The anesthesiologist came in and let me know that he will be putting a mediation into my iv to relax me and that once i get into the OR he will give me general anesthesia. After they did all the pre-op procedures on me they let my husband and daughter come back to stay with me until it was my time for surgery. My doctor/surgeon came in and went over what to expect. He reminded me that he will do his best to perform the vaginal hysterectomy, but the OR is ready if he has to change to abdominal. The time has come and my husband and daughter kissed me goodbye and I was wheeled to the OR. I remember being wheeled into the OR, but nothing after that. Next thing I know I woke up in the recovery room.
RECOVERY ROOM
Once I woke up I was still groggy. I was told that the surgery went well and that he was able to do it vaginally. I was in stage 1 recovery for an hour before my husband and daughter could come back.
I was told my surgery lasted 3 hours due to the size of my uterus and fibroids. A normal uterus is around 90 grams mine was over 400 grams. I had 2 fibroids the size of oranges inside my uterus and the large one on top of my uterus was solid hard and had to be broken in to pieces to get out. Plus multiple small fibroids. He said I had a mess in there. He said most women who have half of what I had would be complaining and miserable. He said I must have a high tolerance and not a very big complainer to go around for so long with all that inside of me. I cant wait to be fully recovered and see the difference in how my lower abdominal area feels especially when I run!
My husband and daughter came back to see me. The nurse continued to take my vital signs and my doctor/surgeon came to see me. At that time I started to realize that I could not feel the top of my foot. My husband rubbed the bottom but I couldn't feel the top. Shortly later the numbness moved to the bottom of my foot and started up my leg. I could not feel my foot at all. I couldn't lift it up or rotate my ankle. Everyone was surprised and couldn't figure out why. My doctor decided to admit me and they scheduled a neurologist to come see me in the morning.
HOSPITAL ROOM
I was wheeled into a hospital room once they had one available. I was really starting to feel the pain because the meds were wearing off, but they had to wait for the doctors approval before getting me any. Because I originally was supposed to go home the same day. At this time I am crying because I cant feel my foot or part of my leg and I cant have meds until who knows when. I called my sister who is a nurse and she was upset of how things were going. Luckily the shift change happened and I got an amazing nurse and tech that was much more helpful. I hadn't peed since around 7am and at this time it was well into the evening. They needed me to try to pee or they would have to use a catheter which I didn't want. They wheeled a bed side toilet next to me to try. Which of course I couldn't go because I had someone sharing a room with me and she had family in there and the nurse was standing there and it just was not happening. Every time I would get up to try (with help) I would start dry heaving and that was painful. I was finally given my meds. It was nearing 9pm and my family was told they would have to leave. I wanted my husband to stay but they said he couldn't in a shared room. The nurse checked to see if they had a private room available and luckily they did. My daughter and son left and I was taken to my new room. They provided a pull out chair bed for my husband.
PRIVATE ROOM
Once I was situated into my new room I asked if I could get up and walk. Of course I couldnt just get up because I couldnt feel my foot. The nurse got a walker and helped me up. I walked very slowly and carefully. I had to looked down at my foot to make sure i didnt step down on my toes that were pointed down. I had to lift my knee up step & down carefully with each step. It was the craziest feeling walking on a foot you could not feel. I managed to do 2 laps around the floor. Once I got back to my room they did a bladder scan and my bladder was over 458 full. They usually catheter you when you are over 300. I asked if I could try going again in the bathroom. They got a walker and helped me. Of course I was not able to go each time I tried. And I dry heaved every time. The last time I dry heaved I actually peed with each force of dry heaving. But would stop peeing when I stopped dry heaving. I tried one last time to pee in the bathroom and just couldn't go. So they had to get me a catheter. The 1st nurse tried and couldn't get it in because I was so swollen, The 2nd nurse tried and she couldn't either. They got someone that usually is very good at getting them in but, she wasn't able to either. This was pure torture. At that point I was so upset, here I couldn't feel my foot and no clue why and now my bladder is getting over full and no one can catheter me. They called my doctor who told them to get a nurse from OB because they are used to catheterizing swollen areas. 2 nurses from OB came in and finally was able to get it in. I was so relieved in more ways than one and thanked them so much. I was very glad that nightmare was over. I was still on a liquid diet. They gave me Percocet for pain and IBProphen when needed. I also had Miralax with orange juice once a day to keep my bowels soft. I didnt get to finally sleep until after 1am.
MY UNFORTUNATE NUMBNESS
My doctor/surgeon could not understand why my foot was completely numb. He said that I was positioned correctly and cushioned very well. Although the surgery lasted 3 hours this has not ever happened to any of his patients before. He said it had to be a nerve compressed or something. We were hoping once the neurologist came in he could give me answers and advice on what I could do. Boy were we wrong. I myself kept pushing my foot up using my other foot and bending my toes up with my other toes to try and keep movement going. I also kept the air leg compressions on any time I was in bed. The next morning the neurologist came in. He was in a hurry, rude and not helpful at all. He told me that I may never get feeling back in my foot and if I did it could only be partial. He said I will no longer be able to climb stairs...I live in a townhouse and my bedroom is upstairs. He said I may have to wear some kind of special boot for the rest of my life. He said because of the holidays he couldn't schedule me to see him to do further testing for 2-3 weeks. When I asked him what can i do in the meantime, he said he doesn't have any answers for me. He was useless! He was awful! I just sat there shocked as he left. I told my husband here I was thinking I cant run for 6-8 weeks due to my hysterectomy recovery and now I dont know if I'll ever be able to run again. Once it really hit me I just cried and cried. Every time someone came in the room to talk to me I cried. It was awful. My anesthesiologist came in to see me saying he could not sleep, he felt horrible and he researched to see what could of happened. He said from what he researched it sounded like I had drop foot. Which in time you could get the feeling back. After talking with him I felt more hopeful and better. I asked the nurse if I could walk the floors. I did this 2 -3 times during the day. I also continued to keep stretching my foot and toes with my other foot. They scheduled me for a MRI which I do not like closed spaces. I was given Zanax to calm my already upset nerves and to help me get through the MRI. The MRI was so loud and took 30 minutes. I made sure to keep my eyes shut. Because I knew once I opened them and saw how enclosed I was I'd probably panic. Glad thats over with. Oh and best of all I finally let out gas!! LOL after surgery thats a big deal and you have to be able to in order to go home, so I was happy it finally came out. Funny it was during my MRI, good thing it didnt stink lol. The MRI results came back fine, which he did of my pelvic area..... My doctor had me stay another night since I had the catheter just put in the night before and I was so swollen. I was finally able to eat a normal diet that night. Later that night I felt a tingling feeling in the bottom of my foot and asked my husband to touch my foot. I could feel a slight touch on the bottom but nothing in my toes, top of my foot or bottom of my leg. But it was a progress. By the next morning I had a little more feeling in the bottom of my foot and was able to move my toes a little more.
HOSPITAL RELEASE November 16, 2018
The next morning at 6am it was time to take out the catheter. I was so worried I would struggle to pee again. As soon as he took it out I had the urge to pee. The nurse said it could take 2 hours before I could. I asked if i could try and wa la I peed! I was so happy. If my foot wasn't numb I would have got up and done a happy dance. My doctor put in the release orders. They took out my IV and I changed into my regular clothes. They went over my discharge info and wheeled me out front where my husband was waiting. I gave the nurses a hug bye and thanked them. They were wonderful.
RECOVERY AT HOME
The ride home was uncomfortable, but luckily we only live 10 minutes away. They prescribed me a walker to take home, but my neighbor had one i could use so i didnt have to pay for one. My husband helped me in and had the living room recliner all set up for me. He was so amazing with everything. I dont know what I would have done without him. I tried sleeping downstairs but could not get comfortable. I finally said lets try to go upstairs. Very very slowly I eased up one step at a time and made it upstairs. Ha in your face neurologist! My husband situated my pillows for me. I was able to sleep on my side so i kept a pillow between my legs. Every time I moved it was pretty uncomfortable. I think it was mainly because of the gas pains which were brutal at times. My husband continued to help me walk with the walker and go downstairs so I could walk a little outside. I ate fruit in the morning hoping it would help get my bowels working. The next day I was feeling like i couldnt get the pain under control. I had only took 2 tylenol codeine since I got home. I called the doctor. He told me to not skip them. To take them every 3 hours and I could take the Ibuprofen in between. He also said I could take benadryl to help me sleep. Once I got on the schedule it helped a lot with the pain. I only took the pain meds for 3 days at home. Each day my pain was getting a little better and the feeling in my foot was coming back. By Sunday I finally was able to pass my first BM. It wasnt bad at all. I take the Miralax with orange juice every morning to keep them soft and boy did it help. My tummy hurts when I need to pass gas or my bladder is full or when its time to take a BM. But, not horribl,e just really achy and uncomfortable. By Monday I was able to walk without the walker. Still couldnt feel the top of my foot or leg but able to slowly walk on my own. I took walks everyday. Day before thanksgiving I prepared a few casseroles. It felt nice to do something normal again rather than laying around and walking. But, by the evening I felt achy and had to put ice on my belly. Same thing happened Thanksgiving day. By the end of the day I felt achy and needed to ice and rest. The day after Thanksgiving I decided to take a ride with my husband and shop a little. As much as I wanted to get back to normal, each bump in the road was uncomfortable and the shopping made me feel achy and tired. So we didnt do too much. Each day has gotten better and better.
I am now just passed my 2 week mark. I have increased my walking to a mile and a half each morning. I have not gotten tired at all walking. I actually feel I could go further, but dont want to push it. Last week I started at half a mile then a few days later a mile and Weds my 2 week mark I tried a mile and a half. I think I may try for 2 miles tomorrow as long as I feel good. I make sure to listen to my body. Usually at the end of the day especially if I cleaned the house or did a lot, I get sore and lay down and use ice packs. But, by the next morning I feel good again. The first week I barely had any spotting, then I started to get a little bit of brown discharge, this week Ive had some pink discharge. Yesterday my discharge was a little bit more than usually and a reddish brown. I used yesterday as a complete rest day in bed with ice packs just in case I over did it. This morning I woke up with no discharge and just slight spotting today. I went for my mile and a half walk this morning and felt great. My foot feels like its about 90% feeling in it. I still have the outside of my calf and top of my foot and toes slightly numb and always feeling like it wants to fall asleep. But from where I was 2 weeks ago, I'll take it!
My doctor has released me to part time work starting Monday. Then I go see him at my 4 week check up on December 11th and if all goes well then he will release me to full time. I feel like my recovery is going well. I try to always listen to my body. Any time I feel achy I lay down and put ice packs on my belly. I used the heating pad twice, but in my preference I like the ice packs better. My bowel movements have been consistent everyday and the Miralax really helps keep it soft so no pushing at all. I drink lots of water throughout the day and eat a normal diet.
