Bad blood – part two (my experience of having a hysterectomy because of cancer)

I explained in my last post what lead me to end up having a hysterectomy. Here is my experience of actually having the operation.

Time to cut

Thanks to my wonderful consultant, I managed to get on the books of one of the top five laparoscopic gynaecological surgeons in the country . My consultant’s thoughts were if I was going to have to endure this operation lets make it as easy as possible. The surgeon was a softly spoken giant of a man. He immediately made me feel at ease when I met him. He examined me and said that he would be able to the operation on me no problem (basically as long as the surgeon can find and feel your hip bones then you’re ok). My weight was not mentioned once.

I was booked in for 11 December 2014. I went privately.

I went into surgery at around 7pm – I was back up in my room by midnight. I don’t remember much about this at all – morphine is wonderful. My husband had been told all had gone to plan.

The insider knowledge

Hand on heart – although scary and not at all pleasant – having a LAVH (laparosopic assisted vaginal hysterectomy) wasn’t all that bad. I’ll break it down by the lead up, the first 24 hours, the first week, the first month and we’ll take it from there.

the lead up – before the operation you will be told not to eat or drink for a certain period of time. You will also be given a laxative to take. The laxative for me just made me feel like I was having one of my dodgy tummies. I have a sensitive stomach and sometimes its violently upset. This wasn’t so traumatic for me. However, if you are someone you doesn’t have an issue normally, it basically feels like you’ve got food poisoning without the fever or the pain. Just be close to a loo and have moist toilet tissues to hand!

the first 24 hours – the first six hours I don’t really remember post op. I remember being given morphine. I remember thinking the leg pressure thingys were someone touching me on the leg, I remember it feeling like I really needed a wee but being unable to go. You have a catheter in – for me this was the worst thing. It wasn’t painful, just really uncomfortable. You will have packing – basically a whole box of tissues will be shoved inside of you and I think this more than the catheter was making me feel like I needed a wee. You may have a drain in if you have bleed a lot during the surgery. I did – this only hurts when you try and bend. You have a big tube into your pelvis. You will be on a drip – and you will be having saline and antibiotics put through it.

I had 4 tiny incision wounds. One in my belly button, two either side and one below my belly button. They were about a centimetre across and I had 1 stitch in each one on my belly and two in my belly button. They’re pretty much healed now and not very noticeable.

About 9am I was helped out of bed and allowed to wash my face and body if I wanted to. I washed my face – I thought I was using my face wipes, turns out I was using my moist toilet paper!!

By 12pm my catheter and packing was out and my leg compressors were off – BLISS!! I was then able to get up and go to the loo by myself and move around. My drain was still in but as long as I was careful it didn’t bother me.

Every hour I felt better. I was being regularly topped up with pain relief but the strength of it was slowly being wound down. I was able to eat a little and my stomach was making lots of noise (you fart a fair bit!) and was a little uncomfortable as your intestines begin to work again.

My drain came out around 8pm – it wasn’t very pleasant but I was given morphine to cope with the pain and it was over and done with quickly. Once that was out, I had next to no pain moving around.

the first week – I left hospital at lunchtime on the Saturday – just a day and a half after my operation. I was sent home with more dressings, injections of blood thinner and painkillers. I walked out of the hospital without any help. It felt odd – like my legs and head didn’t really belong to me . I also couldn’t believe it was all over!

The first week had its ups and downs and actually the worst was the fact I had done something to my leg and that was causing me agony (I think due to the position I was in during surgery it pulled a nerve or a tendon in my thigh and its taking its sweet time in recovering!). You feel stiff and a bit battered – its uncomfortable to bend and to sit in certain positions but overall I was up and moving around. I was walking for five or so minutes everyday and I was able to use the shower and the toilet without help. The husband did have to help me dress for the first week – but that was due to feeling a bit tired and weak and not being able to bend. But I dressed myself one week after the operation no problem (the husband had to return to work).

I was able to eat what I liked, but didn’t feel like huge meals so just had small ones. I was pretty teary – but I think now that was more due to the shock than the kick started menopause. In fact I would burst into tears every time I brushed my teeth for some reason. My pet theory on that is trauma from them trying to knock me out. It took them a while and then had to sedate me to get a line in. I must remember it on some level. But that’s just me – it wont necessarily be everyone’s case.

the first month - its been over a month now. By two weeks in I was doing ok! I even managed to cook Christmas dinner (with a lot of assistance but I was head chef!!) for five of us. I haven’t had any horrible menopausal symptoms – the odd hot flush and pretty constant insomnia. But then my mum or Aunt didn’t have any really bad symptoms.

It’s still uncomfortable to sit in certain positions – but that is because where he removed my cervix and then stitched up the gap is still recovering. I had discharge until a couple of days ago . My stitches dissolved within two weeks.

I feel able to do more every day. From walking to the end of the road, to walking to the shops, to walking to the park to getting on public transport and going to the cinema. I can now bend over easily but I’m still cautious about lifting stuff. I get tired easily but again I get less tired doing things the more that time goes on. I’m gagging to get back to work, back to normal.

The big C

Cancer – a word that strikes fear into nearly everyone. At the time I was adamant that my results would come back negative. There was over a 60% chance I wouldn’t have cancer – that I would be without a reproductive system for no real reason. The husband and I concentrated on being prepared for that. I reasoned that my periods had been so bad that that in itself was reason enough. So when I got the results that cancer had been found I was pretty shocked. But what worried me the most was that I would have to endure more tests or possibly have more treatment. Luckily, I don’t. Cancer was found in a small part of my womb but no where else . It hadn’t spread to the muscle of the womb nor to my cervix or my ovaries. My perseverance and the fact I have good medical support paid off. My GP and my first consultant didn’t just brush off the fact I had prolonged bleeding being down to PCOS and my weight. They listened when I said “something isn’t right here”. I was lucky.

And finally. . .

What happened to me at my age was really rare. I have a few of the factors that lead to uterine cancer – I started my periods before I was 10, I’m white with fair freckly skin, I have a family history of heavy periods, I have a family history of female cancer. I also had PCOS. All these are factors which might lead you to have uterine cancer . But equally they might not . However, I would urge you to talk about your periods with your friends and push your GP if you feel something isn’t right. My cancer was put at stage 1a – having the hysterectomy cured me of cancer 100%. I dread to think what would have happened if I’d carried on ignoring what was happening.