Post-op updates!

So, I had my surgery on Thursday. Arrived at the hospital at around 8:30am and me and my parents just sat in the waiting area watching TV until I was called into the pre-op area. I was called in at about 9:30am and in the pre-op area I was given two different antibiotics to prevent infection and I was also given an anti sickness tablet to be on the safe side (I've never felt sick from general anesthetic but they give the medicine to everyone) and OxyContin to have a bit less pain upon waking up.
They also took a baseline blood test on me in case of needing a blood transfusion and they put in an IV. Had a bit of a wait before being rolled to the next room and in the next room I got to talk with my anesthesiologist for the day and waited some more. I finished a search word I had started with in the pre-op area and just as I found the last word, staff came to roll me in to surgery.
Got rolled into another room just outside the actual surgery room and in that room I had electrodes placed on my chest along with a blood pressure cuff, I got oxygen in my nose and the anesthesiologist and anesthesiology nurse prepared me for surgery by inserting the epidural catheter that would be the main part of my pain management, and another, larger IV was inserted as well to have a backup access in case the first IV failed.
I was somewhat sedated, but remember everything from the insertion of the epidural catheter, that insertion was actually the thing I was the most worried about when it comes to my surgery, as I had to be awake when that part was done so they knew it had hit the right spot. Fortunately they hit the right spot at the first attempt and I was numbed but never lost control over my legs, I could move them freely.
If I need another surgery, I'll definitely go with the epidural catheter and pump again because it helped really well and wasn't as bad as I thought it would be with the insertion- as long as being well medicated when it's done.
Chatted and joked around with the anesthesiologist and nurse while we waited for the surgery room to be cleaned and eventually I was rolled in around noon.
Got some more hot blankets on me as I was freezing so much my whole body was shaking uncontrollably, see, each room since the waiting area had just gotten colder and colder! And I was fasting, it had been really cold outside that morning and the IV fluids I was getting weren't warm either!
Got to talk a bit with the surgery staff before it was time to sleep. The oxygen was removed from my nose and got a mask instead as the sleep medicine was administered and then I was asleep seconds later.

I woke up again as they were about to move me from the operating table back to my bed, and as I was rolled out to the recovery room I accidentally spoke with the staff in fluent English before realizing that shit, I'm in Sweden! So I just explained to them that I mostly communicate in English in my daily life so it feels more natural to me than my native Swedish.
I arrived in the recovery room and the pain was really intense! We had not yet gotten the settings right on my pump, and having just woken up from a major abdominal surgery- IT HURTS! IV morphine was given several times over the next few hours and it actually took close to five hours before my pain was well managed enough to be moved upstairs to the ward, I also got to try to sit up and stand up in recovery just before I was rolled to the ward. I got upstairs shortly after 7pm, got a private room with a stunning view over the city and amazing nurses!
I got some more painkillers and took the Clexane injection of the day (yes, I take the injections myself, I have no problems with needles) and then as soon as I was on my own in the room the first thing I did was to call my parents to let them know everything had gone well and I was okay and then I wrote a Facebook update letting friends know I was okay and everything had gone well. And I replied to text messages I had got earlier in the day while not having my phone.
Eventually it was time to sleep for the night so I got some more painkillers and a bolus dose on the pump to help me through the night and I actually managed to sleep for about four hours or so before the morning nurses came to check my temperature, slept some more and then it was morning medicines and breakfast.
I got quite nauseous after breakfast, had not eaten in about 36 hours so maybe no wonder along with having had abdominal surgery the day before. I never got sick anyways and I got some anti nausea medicine IV minutes later to prevent more nausea.
Had another bolus on the pump to get me through the morning and spent most of the morning resting, drifting in and out of sleep or watch TV. I had a low fever that day which is fully normal for the day after surgery, my Hb and blood pressure was checked as well and I had a Hb in 120's which is great, and my blood pressure was 110/60 which is just slightly lower than my usual 110/70 so was doing great there as well. Epidurals may cause blood pressure to drop! My surgeon came and said everything had gone well, my surgery had been a text book case, it had taken 67 minutes, and he checked the dressing over the incision to see if everything was okay there. It was, I had not been bleeding so they did a really good job with the stitches!
Had lunch and kept watching TV and resting and felt really good considering I had been having a major surgery just the day before. Yes, I was in pain, but it was well managed and a different pain than the abdominal pain I had before the surgery.
Day went by pretty smoothly and even managed to get up and walk a few meters with the help of two nurses and all was great, until the late evening... I started having severe abdominal pains that were on the edge of uncontrollable as they'd been in recovery. After a little while I asked the nurse if it could be something going on with the Foley catheter I had so she tried to flush it- it was completely blocked! Ultrasound showed I had about half a liter of urine in my bladder, and that's not a big amount for me normally, but when it pushes on an incision it hurts like hell! Said and done, emergency catheter change was done minutes later, got another type of catheter and one size bigger than before. And for those worrying about having a Foley catheter- it doesn't hurt at all having one and it's not even uncomfortable having one changed! It's really nothing to be afraid of...
Anyways. As soon as the new one was in and urine could flow freely again, instant relief! So fortunately that pain was an easy fix! What boggles us all is how a catheter can completely clog up in less than 36 hours, those catheters are made for being used for several weeks or even months at a time. But anyways, next time I need one I'll just tell them to use the larger size at once to hopefully prevent this from happening again.
The catheter that got blocked was a size 12 and the other one a size 14. I know that from the color on the plastic ring on them- work injury from my warehouse job in a medical supply warehouse ;)

Day two post-op came and it was time to wean off the epidural pump and have the Foley catheter out. Took a few hours before I managed to pee on my own (I don't usually go very often) but once I did go it went well and I also started getting out of bed without having nurses in the room as I was no longer having the epidural pump or a lot of other hoses to deal with. I only had the epidural catheter still as it was taken out in the early evening but it wasn't in the way as it was taped all the way and no dangly bits.
Day two was pretty rough pain wise as my body wasn't happy with the mattress in the bed, I had the Princess on the pea syndrome in it and couldn't find any relief, it was mainly my lower back and left hip being really bad pain wise. My epidural catheter was taken out in the early evening and then I was to just lay down for a while, it wasn't the easiest with such a bad back and hip but I managed it and fortunately I did not get a spinal fluid leak!
Had a hard time sleeping that night, pain in hip was really bad and I had also been having what seems to be an allergic reaction against something late in the evening. I found a blister on my skin and felt it was a bit heavy to breathe so it wasn't until very late I even dared to try to sleep after some antihistamine and feeling better. I was also freezing all night due to fog outside.

Day three post-op came and this was my last day of staying in the hospital! I rested a lot through the morning as I had slept so badly that night, I got to take a shower and packed my belongings and also walked some in the corridor before my parents came to pick me up in the mid afternoon.

It was so nice to come home to my own bed again! And to my cat! While my hospital stay was a good experience as much as hospital stays can be, there's no place like home!

Day four post-op and first whole day at home has gone really well. I still struggle a bit with getting up as I have nothing to hold onto when trying to get out of bed and I can't and am not allowed to use my stomach muscles. Pain wise I'm doing okay, I have managed on Paracetamol in daytime and take Oxycodone or Paracetamol/Hydrocodone for the night. I have however now been hit by the famous post-op fatigue so the day has been spent mostly resting and sleeping.

I'm now heading into day five post-op, it's 2:45am night to day five as I'm typing this and tonight (day five) I will take the last Clexane injection! I do really well on the Clexane so I don't mind taking it when needed. I do not bleed uncontrollably on it nor do I feel any different while taking it. The only thing I've noticed is that I scratched my arm a little through my flannel nightdress a few hours after I got home from the hospital, and I still have red bruises from that on my arm now over 24 hours later. But that's really the only way I've noticed at all that I have blood thinners in my system! I only take 40mg Clexane per day though, don't think that's a high dose, I honestly don't know other than it being a kind of heparin.

I'm sorry if I haven't been messaging individual people for a couple of days. I've really been needing to rest and there was a lot happening during my last day and a half in the hospital and then settling at home again.

I'm writing this post for my friends, and in the hopes my experience can help someone else who's facing an abdominal surgery. The surgery I had was a Total Abdominal Hysterectomy also known as TAH. I kept both my ovaries so I will not need hormone replacement therapy and I'm expected to have a normal hormone balance in my body until I reach menopause by age. I just won't bleed all the time or have the cramps that I had while still having my uterus.

It's still been a short time since my surgery, but I could feel already in the evening of my surgery day that this is the best I've done for myself! My parents have noticed a big difference in me as well, I seem more happy and energetic than before surgery. I was NOT feeling well at all on the Mirena IUD and Mini-pills that I was taking before to control my periods, and I was in so much pain all the time from the uterus and Mirena stabbing inside.
While yes, this surgery means I can never get pregnant. It was a choice I made. I have never really been wanting to have children and since my body began to deteriorate rapidly 3 years ago, that decision to not have children grew even stronger. As I am now it's not even likely I would have been able to manage a pregnancy or the aftermath of one. So for me, this hysterectomy was the absolute best I could do!

Not all women get to choose whether they want a hysterectomy or not, for some it's a must due to their medical condition, be it endometriosis or cancer or any other. My reason to have this surgery was heavy periods and a lot of pain, and not tolerating hormone treatment all that well along with it not controlling my periods well enough. But at least I had a choice to either keep toughing it out, or remove it, and I choose to remove it and remain childless.

Should I ever want children in the future, there are thousands of children in the world who needs a safe, loving home to grow up in. I don't need to risk my own health, or a child's health to be a mother if I ever wish to be one!