fibroid and cough-free at last !!!

[Guest guest]

Wed. Feb. 25 i arrive at hospital at 5:00am, chewing on frozen teething ring

boyfriend thought would help with thirst problem..... it did !

I was coughing alot, and thought the SCARY looking anesthesiologist would send

me home. .... instead he told me corny jokes, and the last think i remember is

being stuck, and being told me to kiss my parents goodbye.

Surgery was 2 hours, bikini cut, didn't cut my abdominal muscle, gave me a

local at the incision site, ... woke up 4 hours later... they removed a 9.5 cm

fibroid from the muscle wall.....not much blood loss !!!! (actual size 8cm,

... they are smaller upon removal ?), plus one smaller one. They also removed a

benign ovarian cyst. Doc. told me my surgery was very smooth, and

uncomplicated but still took 2 hours. I was so happy with the news, I didn't

care about the pain. After all, my dear step-cousin/best friend, Claire, who

recently died of cancer taught me how to do all of this. And if she could do it

, I knew I could. I pressed the morphine button often, and there was a machine

on my leg muscles, giving me compression..... I sucked into the breathing

machine,. and I had NO cough !. I think the IV antibiotics cured it. That

night Nurses left broth/jello on tray and forgot to give it to me......i didn't

care. They forced me to sit and stand up .. A few hours later they forced me

to take a short walk, nearly killed me. Next morning woke up with severe pain

in gallbladder area, turned out to be gas. Day 2 had broth, juices, liquids,

........but could not pass gas. Walked several times . boyfriend and others

came to visit, but I slept alot. ... feeling very happy and grateful. Nurses

worried I couldn't suck into that machine since the gas didn't allow me to take

deep breaths.

Doc. happy with my incision. Took out catheter, but COULD NOT urinate on my own

!!!! PANICKED... several hours later they had to re-catheterize me !! Day 3

woke up, they removed catheter, and unhooked me from the machines.........!!!..

started me on 2 Vicodin plus Motrin every 4 hours. ..... but I still could not

urinate, AND THEN I remembered a polarity yoga position called the SQUAT, which

solved the problem. !! I went into the shower, and squatted down on the shower

floor, holding the bars above me. This is the only way I could urinate til I

got home. (Friday) boyfriend came back at 2:00 and left at 9:00. We laughed

the whole time, rested, and walked....nurses couldn't believe how well I was

walking.. Laughing didn't hurt me too much, but one time I coughed and it

nearly killed me.

Doc. didn't let me go home til Sat. since I was not having bowel movements yet.

Came home and slept alot. In pain if I didn't take the Vicodin but it made me

feel so weird that today (Sunday) I made the transition to Motrin with no more

Vicodin ! While I was in the hospital , I noticed LOTS of very weird dreams

and images. from the narcotic drugs.. ..such as: People I love turning into

animals, air conditioning noises sounding like MUSIC, etc !! I took prunes,

and my bowels are moving.!!! I am wearing the water aerobics thing I described

sometimes, which covers my abdominals, which helps protect my incision from all

the cats. Tomorrow I go back to have staples out. My challenge is to not do to

much, since getting around and going up stairs is no problem. but i am tired

and have to sleep. He told me I could drive at 2 weeks from surgery, have sex

at 3 weeks from surgery, since I was doing so well, but to take things very slow

and easy and to rest and sleep as much as possible the first 3-4 weeks. I made

the mistake of telling my 48 year old boyfriend (I'm 48 too) that doc. said I

could probably carry a baby to term with my uterus now post-myo.. My boyfriend

already told me he would prefer to use a surrogate rather than put me through

that.

The problem is that i am in love with my boyfriend, but not sure i want a baby

!!! That's not a topic for this board.

We'll see how the next period is.....hoping it won't be as heavy.

THANKS for all your help, I really felt your support pre-surgery and it meant so

much.

Hope you all are doing well, and I will post again as soon as I am able. Have

lots of help with things in my house, thank God.

Blessings,