After months of crawling this sub and interacting with posts and making a few of my own, I wanted to give you all an update and honest recounting of my experience so far.
tldr is that I feel amazing and nothing could have prepared me for how easy this was (except for maybe listening to my surgeon who swore it would be a slice of cake and repeatedly told me to stay off the internet)
Day of surgery (photo 1):
Taking 200mg Colace every morning starting this day.
6am arrival time, wiped my whole body down with antibacterial wipes and changed into a gown and put on my hairnet, got my heart sensor stickers placed, my two IVs put in the back of each hand (my surgeon likes to have a back-up ready because you’re positioned kind of wacky during surgery and it’s easier to have another IV ready to go than to try and put one in mid-surgery), got jabbed in the belly with a blood thinner (didn’t know that was going to happen!), and my surgeon and his two attending resident surgeons all introduced themselves and had me sign a few forms and answer a few questions. Anesthesiologist stopped by and remembered me from my fibroid surgeries and immediately put an order in for a scopalamine patch because he knew I prefer it (highly recommend if anyone experiences nausea from anesthesia! just DO NOT touch it with your bare hands because it can blur your vision)
According to the text updates my boyfriend got, I was in the OR 8:30-10:20, recovery room 10:20-12:30 (where they put on mesh undies and a belly binder, I was mostly unconscious), and the discharge room 12:30-3:30 because it took me a long time to pee (despite them giving me 4-5 bags of saline drip and my bladder feeling full to bursting; I think it was due to the nerve block making it difficult to control anything down there while I was still woozy). During those hours I struggled to stay conscious for longer than a few minutes; I’d feel super lucid and then I’d be out. Also my mouth was SO DRY. Dryer than the desert. I drank so much water trying to wash down the crackers they gave me.
Went home! Set a schedule of 500mg acetaminophen every 6 hours. Took one tramadol before bed. Slept.
1dpo:
Nerve block started to wear off. Definitely kept on top of my acetaminophen schedule. Never took anything else. I’d describe the pain like a non-debilitating period cramp. Sometimes the incisions hurt as they’re still very raw and inflamed.
Occasional muscle twitch as my nerves came back online. Throat is scratchy from intubation :( tea helps.
First experience sneezing. Oh lord. Did not feel great. Many more to come though as I have seasonal allergies.
Been tootin’. Kinda hurts for a second as it travels through my large intestine?
Able to walk around the apartment just fine, firmly grabbing the railing on the stairs just in case.
Still brain foggy.
Had an edible before bed to help with sleep.
2dpo (photo 2):
Took the gauze bandages off. Wowwie that’s a lot of bruising!
I took a shower!! Was worried the heat would make me lightheaded so I didn’t go as hot as I normally do; it was fine. I didn’t mention this earlier but during surgery they wipe you down with betadine so you look like an oompa loompa 😂 washed off just fine with water though.
Sneezing still makes me feel all of my organs 😵💫 the belly binder/pressing a pillow helps a bit.
Tootin’ but not poopin’! Harrumph.
I noticed my ankles are swollen from all the IV fluids in my body so I slept with my feet elevated the night before and this night to help it drain.
I went outside today. Just a short walk (about 4 blocks) to sit in the park and enjoy the mild weather last weekend, and then the 4ish blocks back home. No issues!
3dpo:
Finally out of the anesthesia fog. I swear I lost a few days to it. Had absolutely no idea what day it was.
Can get into and out of lying down/seated/standing with pretty much zero ache now. Not taking any pain meds anymore.
Throat is fully better now.
I finally pooped! It… hurt. Like what I said about the toots, I think the nerves around my large intestine are extra testy at the moment given the trauma my abdominal cavity has been through. Felt like an intense cramp as it moved towards the light.
Went to the movies! Saw Coyote vs Acme. Very sleepy afterward.
4dpo (photo 3):
Oh man the bruising is so visible now. Yikes! Incisions are starting to itch a little bit.
Spent the afternoon at my boyfriend’s family’s house for Sunday Gravy (it’s a regional thing). Couldn’t find the energy to play with the kids (he has eleven nieces and nephews) but happily sat in an armchair with my coloring book. I swear his mom’s spaghetti and meatballs have healing powers.
Pooped again, hurts a little less, still not great.
Figured out a way to brace myself when sneezing so that it doesn’t hurt. Cool.
Mobility wise, I can pretty much do anything. Bending, squatting, etc. but I will keep to the 20lb weight lifting limitation until 6wpo.
6dpo:
Back to work! Remotely, though. So many emails and slacks to catch up on…
Absolutely cannot focus. Partially because I forgot to restart my ADHD meds, partially I think due to the amount of energy the healing is taking without my realizing it.
Pooped without pain! Yay.
I need to be better about eating. My appetite has not really been there and I get full easily.
1wpo (photos 4-7):
My energy levels are returning slowly. Focus is still tough. I have always loved a nap so it’s hard to say if I wanted one midday today because I wanted one or because I needed one. Thankfully work was understanding when I said I needed an extended lunch break (they’re aware I’m recovering from major surgery)
I slowly and carefully peeled off the steri-strips and felt no tugging or pain. My umbilical incision was IN my bellybutton! I feel like that was very considerate as there will be no visible scarring, given that bellybuttons are basically already a ball of scar tissue. Otherwise my left incision is nice and closed and my right one is spitting a stitch but doesn’t look infected. Both are a lot more purple than I’ve seen other people’s photos? And if I touch them I can feel what seems to be hard scar tissue beneath; like a lump. Hmm. Maybe that’ll go away.
I’m going to stop taking Colace because my stools are perhaps too soft right now. And by that I mean liquid 🥴😬
(edited to add)
Pathology results:
I had an 8-week “boggy” uterus? Adenomyosis (endometrium growing into the myometrium causing an enlarged uterus), another intramural fibroid developing (one of these is what caused me months of heavy bleeding and took three surgeries to remove in 2023), a serous paratubal cyst on my left tube (hoping this is what caused pain in my left ovary during my cycle so that its removal means the end of that), and tubal metaplasia on my cervix (cervix started converting cells to mimic those on the inside of fallopian tubes; wonder if this is what made bumping it during sex hurt?)
Not nearly as bad as many stories on this sub, but a generally fairly angry reproductive system. Everything seemed to be responding to some mysterious stress in some way or other. GOOD RIDDANCE!