Just a quickie to say "Happy 1st Anniversary" to my hysterectomy.

Last Friday was one year since I had my girlie bits removed and to be honest I haven't missed them for a second. Sure the hot flushes are not fun and it's taken me pretty much all year to get them somewhat under control (currently with the help of Remifemin) but I don't miss the periods and all the associated crapola and I certainly don't miss the pap smears.

So on Tuesday I had my final post op visit with the gyno. Everything is fine, inside and out. All healed up and ready to go. Talked about the HRT option and I've decided to give it a try. The hot flushes are a bummer, mainly because they wake me up at night and it's starting to loose the novelty factor. So tomorrow I'll be trying my first HRT patch, keeping my fingers crossed for an instant result.

As I left his office I realised that was probably my last ever visit to a gyno of any kind. I don't have bits left that are of any interest to this sort of specialist. It was an odd feeling. Certainly a level of elation at the thought of never having another pap smear and/or period. But also some small hint of sadness. A door to a certain part of my life is now closed forever. No going back, no possibilities, no regrets.

Just quickly. It's been 4 weeks since THE OP. All good here. Feeling great, energy levels back to normal, possibly better than before. Still some numbness, tingly-ness, itchy-ness around the scar and lower tummy area. But for the most part I can't feel anything [bad]. I can even lay down on my tummy fairly comfortably now.

Of course the hot flushes continue. They are starting to bug me, mainly the waking up during the night part. So it's more the disruption to my sleep that's the problem, rather than the hot flushes themselves. Will talk to the doctor about it at my 6 week check up. Not really liking the idea of taking HRT so much but have heard good things about it from friends so starting to lean towards it a little.

Looking forward to starting to exercise a bit more. Hopefully will get the green light from the doc in a couple of weeks.

Just a quick post for myself. A little note for the future. It's now three weeks since THE OP. I'm feeling really good. My energy levels are pretty much back to normal. There is still a little discomfort around the scar area but it's getting better every day. I can now sleep on both my sides and almost lay on my tummy - but it's still not really comfortable to do that so I'm avoiding it for now. The hot flushes are there and mildly annoying. They wake me up throughout the night. But I'm apparently getting used to the reduced sleep and I don't feel tired when I wake up and my energy levels are high(ish) throughout the day.

Has

anyone

seen

my

hormones?

(Thanks, for such an apt and hilarious card, Mel!)

I'm back home gentle reader after having my girlie internal bits removed and so far so good.

To rewind a little. The week leading up to the op (i.e. last week) I got myself into a bit of a flap. I had been cruising along, feeling good, or at least very calm, about the upcoming operation. Then I thought I'd do some online research and googled "hysterectomy blog". Well, didn't that open up a bit of a Pandora's Box. I read some good stuff but also some worrying and downright crazy stuff. My anxiety levels grew and grew until on Tuesday night I was a blubbering mess, wondering if I was doing the right thing and scared shitless about the aftermath. The pain, the recovery period and the big unknown of menapause were weighing very heavily on my mind. Gradually I regained a little bit of mental control and by Friday morning I was back to being cool and calm.

Once I was at the hospital early Friday afternoon the feeling was somewhat like being a ball in a pinball machine. I was admitted and then bounced from one nurse to the next, each asking my name, date of birth and procedure. There wasn't much time to get worried by that point. Before I knew it I was in the theatre and watching the machine which goes "PING". One thing I do love about operations is the way aneasthetic works, like the OFF button. Fantastic! A second later I'm groggily waking up, as always experiencing that tiny bud of awe and happines that I had survived and was alive.

I have to comment on the level of nursing care at the Sans (Seventh Day Advenist Hospital at Wahroonga). It is superb. On Friday night as they settled me into my room the lovely nurses were so gentle and compassionate, making sure I was comfortable. [I could never be a nurse, my gut instinct is to tell sick people to "snap out of it".]

I was attached to a pain relief button which I could press whenever I had pain. I was looking forward to using this little gadget but to be honest I only pressed the button a couple of times late on Friday night, after that I simply didn't need it. Waking up on Saturday morning I realised I wasn't in very much pain at all and by lunchtime Saturday I had been un-attached from the pain button and the drip and the catheter. I was truly amazed at that point at how well I was feeling.

By Sunday the boredom was setting in. I was feeling much better than I had been expecting and there I was, trapped in a hospital room with a tv and a stack of magazines and books. I read two books in two days and went through all my magazines. Monday I realised how dire my situation was... day time tv is really not fit for human consumption. The worst part was I was watching all these cooking shows and then facing hospital food at meal time.

Any old how, it's now Thursday morning and I've been home since yesterday morning. I am feeling quite good. There is certainly a little bit of pain/discomfort around my lower tummy area. When I laugh or caugh there is the strange sensation that all my guts are going to fall out (had the same feeling when I had my appendix out 20 years ago). Overall though I am feeling good. My energy levels are good. I could be sleeping better but that's only because I am a side sleeper and currently that's not a comfortable option. Sleeping on my back, which is the only possibility at the moment, just isn't my preferred position so I wake often during the night. However, since I'm doing so little actual physical activity I am not tired.

I am planning on returning to work a week early, i.e. next week. At least for a few hours a couple of days next week. I'm very happy about that as I have been very worried about slipping far behind on my work load. But I'll still be taking it easy for the next couple of weeks.

At this point I feel that I have paid a relatively low pain price for the benefits I have gained: no more periods EVER - woohoo!!!; no more pap smears and no chance of either ovarian or cervical cancer. No more ovarian cysts and/or fibroids.

Hysterectomies RULE!