Guest guest Posted August 6, 2003 Report Share Posted August 6, 2003 G, You ROCK!!! Congratulations - and sincere, deep wishes for a speedy and complete recovery!! Janet > Hello wonderful women! > > I am writing you from my hospital bed at Lankenau Hospital in Philly, > 24 hours post-myo. Everything went VERY smoothly and Dr. Glassner is > awesome! I felt so relieved after meeting him in person Monday, > hubby felt very good about him as well. On Monday we talked > discussed the surgery, his nurse did a transvaginal ultrasound, did > some standard paperwork (interesting note, Glassner's operation > information/permission sheet does NOT include permission to do a > hysterectomy). He reassured me that I absolutely would come out of > surgery with my uterus. I also asked if anyone would be > doing " practice " pelvic exams on me while I was under and he > reassured me that that would not happen. I saw a newspaper article > on this awhile ago how medical students frequently will do practice > pelvic exams while women are under anesthesia and not tell you, since > whatever you sign gives some kind of blanket permission to this kind > of thing. I would consider being practiced on, but not without > knowing and certainly not while I'm unconscious. Anyway......... > > Pre-op staff was great, had one semi-dud nurse yesterday 2nd shift > (my IV ran out and I heard her telling the nurse tech " I don't even > know what she's supposed to get " , well duh, check my chart!), but my > night nurse was great. I'm on the self administered pain pump and > haven't needed it since 6pm last night, although it is giving me a > low steady dose. Walked the hall this morning and that went > smoothly, although a little achey by the end. Can't wait until I > fart! Have been burping a fair bit, so at least it's moving. Took 3 > Gas-X yesterday, and the nurse gave me a dose of milk of magnesia > last night. > > Let's see what else - did get shaved I think about to my labia, have > received 2 IV doses of antibiotics (not sure if this is standard for > Dr. Glassner or because he ended up entering my uterine cavity), also > have been giving the anti-inflammatory Tordal (sp?) which a nurse > told me helps to prevent adhesions (I'm assuming because it decreases > inflammation). Only had liquids yesterday (beef and chicken broth, > and some raspberry sorbet), will get real food today and then can > come off the pain pump and do alleve and/or percocet. Didn't get out > of bed at all yesterday (again, not sure if this is standard, or > because of my " extra " special uterus which I'll tell more about in a > minute). Had these velcro leg cuffs that went from below my knee to > above my ankle (they put on in the pre-op) and they would alternately > fill up with air every 1-2 minutes - just got those taken off this > morning. Had a Foley catheter in until this morning as well - very > comfortable, didn't bother me at all while it was in, and felt a > little weird coming out but not painful at all. > > Also got pictures - Glassner was very cool about this. Took a before > shot, a picture of my 3 fibroids (about lemon/orange size - all very > similar in size), a picture of 1 polyp, and an after shot of my > uterus. Some of you may remember (or not) that in addition to the > fibroids I also had a mullerian anomaly - translated to mean that > when my uterus was forming it didn't quite finish the job. As a > result, from the inside my uterus looks like 2 bunny ears divided by > a large piece of pie running from the top to the point ending just > short of my cervix. Without actually looking at the uterus (inside > and out) a final diagnosis can't be made as to whether it was > bicornuate (the piece of pie dividing my uterus is my uterine wall > dipping in from the top), or a septum (a sheet of tissue hanging down > from the top of the uterus), OR a combination of the two. > > It was hard to tell what was what because my largest fibroid was > sitting right at the top of my uterus so it was difficult to say > whether the weight of the fibroid was creating the weird shape or if > it truly was a design flaw. So, things were mostly up in the air > about it until Glassner actually got in and scoped out the scene > without the fibroid in place. Turns out it really was bicornuate, > and since he had to enter the uterine cavity to remove at least one > of the fibroids, my two uterine halves are now one " beautiful uterine > cavity " and I am fibroid and polyp free - yippeeee!!! > > I felt so good about Dr. Glassner - he was wonderfully compassionate > and sympathetic to my " unique " uterine situation and also kept a > sense of humor about it, which was right up my alley. Suggested that > we play the lottery since the chance of having a mullerian anomaly is > like 2%, and the chance of having my size of fibroids at my age was > also pretty low, let alone BOTH! He did a wonderful job of > instilling confidence in me about my choices and his skill level. I > just really liked him. Another plus, his office staff calls him by > his first name - was nice not to have the doctor pretentiousness, all > the pre-op staff raved about him. I ended up going into the OR > without any valium, nurse was amazed at how normal my BP was, chatted > with everyone while I got on the OR table, and then off to lala land > I went. Thought my throat would feel like it had had a tube down it, > but not at all. A little hoarse and dry, but that's about it. Did > appreciate having chapstick and throat lozenges afterwards. > Fortunately, absolutely no nausea afterwards. Quite a bit groggy, > but other than that still functional. > > The resident came by to check on my yesterday and this morning. She > says I should get a chance to see Dr. Glassner tonight, and if today > goes smoothly I should be out after I see him. Will hang out at the > hotel tonight if that's the case and then depending on how I handle > riding in the car, will do the trip back home tomorrow. May break it > up into 2 days depending on how I do. Would like to visit Hershey, > PA for a little pit-stop :-). > > So ladies, that's my story. And I truly, truly am so completely and > utterly grateful to all of you who have shared your stories and your > experiences - good and bad. I felt so prepared by your information > and my experience truly went as good as I had hoped for, for which I > am VERY grateful. > > Thank you for your well-wishes, good vibes and prayers. Thank you > Carla for creating this amazing resource. I would've been lost > without it. > > And with that said - hopefully my breakfast will be here soon :-)! > Please excuse any morphine induced incoherencies and feel free to ask > questions. I'll keep you posted on my recovery. > > G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 7, 2003 Report Share Posted August 7, 2003 G Well done! I'm glad to hear it went well. Thank you for posting the account of how it went. I'm in on 12th. Az Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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