Surgery a week away

barbiete

I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer on April 15th, 2010 when I went in to surgery to have a hernia repaired. I am 63 yrs old and had just retired from a job I held for 30 years. I have had 3 chemo treatments and now my hysterectomy is scheduled for July 20th. I tolerated the chemo very well and after 2 treatments my CA-125 had gone from 353 to 78. I am praying that it will go well. I am grateful for the discussion boards as I can see many others going through what I am going through. I just want everyone to know how helpful it has been and continues to be. I am curious what the recovery has been like after the hysterectomy? Also any advice you have to offer would be welcome.

leesag

Hi Barbiete
I'm so sorry that you are joining us, but you will find a lot of support, information and even some good times here. You can read my story in my bio, essentially, I was diagnosed in January, stage 3c and had my hysterectomy in February. My surgery was uneventful, virtually no surprises and no complications. I was in the hospital for four days total. (I think they may have let me leave a day early due to the blizzards here in Baltimore).

Some advice:
I way overpacked for hospital! Supersize undies (see below) and a robe. Some baby wipes or pre moistened face cloths for freshening up are really all you need. You may want to take your own pillow. The plastic pillows at the hospital made me nuts.

In hospital--get up and get walking as soon as they say you can. This will get your innards moving and the sooner you pass gas, the sooner you can eat and go home! The first few times I had to get up were the worst, but each time it got easier until it got to the point where my husband was actually ready to sit down before me!

I had a vertical incision from about 2 inches above my belly button down to ..well, an inch above there. My doctor used stitches in my belly button and about a gazillion staples to close up everything else, but I still ended up without much of a belly button. They gave me a wrap thingy to suck everything in, but I couldn't stand it, so I never wore it. I just was very careful when I stood and really didn't lift or push anything with any weight until after my doctor okayed it (no vaccuming!)

One very important piece of advice: Buy underwear a size or two to large! I actually came home with a catheter because I had a bit removed from my bladder so I found that really big boy short panties were the most comfortable. I lived in those and large night shirts eventually graduating to sweat pants for most of my recovery!

Once you get home you'll be sore. It's easy not to overdo things in the first two weeks. However, as you start feeling better, it's also easy to forget that your insides have just experienced major surgery and will be a long time healing after the outside feels relatively normal. My husband actually weighed everything I tried to pick up to make sure it was under five pounds! One of the first things I asked the doctor when I was being discharged, was about sennekot because I was worried about bowel movements. Make sure that you ask your doctor, because it's just comforting to know that there is something you can do to make that first bm easier!

My husband also fed me lots of protein to help the healing process. After the first week, I started walking just halfway up the street and back at first. (it's a very short street btw, about 5 minutes at first, then slowly increasing as the weeks went on).


If you have any specific concerns, feel free to ask! I hope this helps!

Leesa

mckeej04

Surgery a week away
My surgery was May 26, 2010 to confirm the ovarian cancer. I believe the surgery is necessary since Ovarian Cancer is so agressive and because the doctors can determine the staging which will also contribute to the treatment of the cancer. I was in the hospital for 6 days and it was tough but after 7 weeks I am feeling very good. I start my chemo/avastin tomorrow in a clinical trial. I do hope to report good news to all on this site. Prayers also help me every moment of the day. Best to you for your surgery.