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Dec. 12th, 2005 08:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickIn the previous post, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cousin_sue asked how I was feeling, tummy-wise, following my hysterectomy on Friday. As I suspect that hearing me talk candidly about the delights of abdominal surgery is probably not everyone's cup of tea, here's your fair warning. That's what I'm going to talk about.
The pain isn't horrible if I move gently in planned, smooth motions. If I move suddenly or twist my torso, I know about it. I'm currently taking generic toradol, which is an NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, like tylenol or advil, only heavier-duty, a little harder on the kidneys, and not suggested for more than five days of continuous use. I am one of those rare people what actually reads the fucking information sheets.) and does some good on the pain front. They've also given me generic percocet, which I tried out last night. While it kills pain dead, I don't care for the way it makes me feel, so do not plan on taking any more of that.
With abdominal surgery of any kind (including, say, caesarian section, gallbladder surgery, or hysterectomy) you get gas which has to leave the usual way, by farting. Until this happens, it's rather uncomfortable. The only reason I can see for this happening is that the air gets in there when they're doing their surgery thing and, after they close up the incision, the air percolates into the intestine. I can't figure any other way for that to happen. Apparently, with a hysterectomy, the gas and associated swelling takes a while (a timeframe measured in weeks) to go away. I've still got that going on some and it's minorly annoying because I don't look any skinnier than I did before this. Matter of fact, I look fatter. I wouldn't write home about the gas and swelling at this point and it was only really annoying the day after surgery. I do have to get up and move every hour or so (walking around my house) because if I sit still, my damn gut distends again and that's uncomfortable. Fortunately, I have a walky phone and can hobble around my house and be on the phone at the same time. How much swelling? Not tons. My regular undwear still fit, throughout. I don't think real jeans would fit (haven't tried them) but am lounging around in sweat pants and loose fitting pajama bottoms.
Laughing hurts. So does coughing. I can't cough for shit. I can lie down, get up, sit down, and rise without undue discomfort or significant planning -- part of this is technique because different muscles are sore on me than used to be, before. Apparently I auto-adjust to move in ways that do not hurt. I can also bend over and pick up (lightweight) stuff and put one stick of wood at a time into the woodstove. Mobility ain't bad -- I can walk without pain at about half speed and I expect that will get better with practice and time. I have not had any problems at all with balance or dizzyness. For computering, I sit like I normally do, cross legged in a tailor seat on the couch. I do not have any problem doing that or getting out of the position.
The incision, which is called a bikini-line incision, is right along the pubic hairline. The doc did not shave an acre of real estate. He didn't shave anything, which wasn't what I had been led to expect, but apparently the tide on shaving parts for surgery has turned and many doctors figure it's a waste of time. I'm all for less shaving, so yay. The incision is six and a half inches long (I measured it with a cloth tape measure -- rest assured that I am not pulling numbers out of my ass, here. There is no exaggeration for comedic effect.) and currently being held shut with little pieces of tape on the top layer. (My cousin Betsy says there are real stiches in the underneath layers and she's a Nurse Practicioner so she probably knows this stuff.) It was stapled with metal staples after the surgery but they took those out on Sunday -- pulled out every other one, applied tape to the missing spaces, then pulled out the remaining ones and put tape strips there. This appears to be working fine -- I haven't noticed any spreading of the incision. It's not red or infected or anything like that, just slightly warmer than the surrounding skin, which is due to increased blood flow and healing and shit. It's tender if I poke at it because, d'oh, it's not healed yet.
If left alone, the incision does not particularly hurt until about the end of the six-hour stretch that the drugs last. I can tell when it's time for the drugs to run out because the incision hurts a bit. This is more twinge-y pain than any kind of agony. (I have yet to experience the absolute agony that people keep telling me is associated with hysterectomies.)
Rather gross thing that nobody mentioned anywhere on any informative website: the girl bits below the incision line (this would be everything you can see on those splash-of-pink centerfold pictures in porn) swell up somewhat because the huge honking incision screws up the circulation and lymph system and they don't drain well until that stuff all gets back to working order. The volume of swelling is not ungodly but it's significant and unlike any, er, recreational engorgement because it's uniform across all the tissue and not specific to the, er, fun parts. I'm not amused but this does appear to be improving in time and perhaps the reason it never got a mention elsewhere was that all the OTHER women were too busy with the ABSOLUTE AGONY portion of the program to be annoyed by swollen girly bits.
While I would not sign up for this as a fun way to spend a month or so, it's nowhere near the ABSOLUTE AGONY that many informative websites make it out to be. It's uncomfortable and somewhat inconvenient and not a thrill-a-minute. In my book, that does not add up to ABSOLUTE AGONY.
I do not know how well the remaining bits function for, er, entertainment purposes. I'm not allowed to exercise that option until six weeks from now. Anyone who has a burning desire to know about that is welcome to remind me at that date.
cousin_sue asked how I was feeling, tummy-wise, following my hysterectomy on Friday. As I suspect that hearing me talk candidly about the delights of abdominal surgery is probably not everyone's cup of tea, here's your fair warning. That's what I'm going to talk about.The pain isn't horrible if I move gently in planned, smooth motions. If I move suddenly or twist my torso, I know about it. I'm currently taking generic toradol, which is an NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, like tylenol or advil, only heavier-duty, a little harder on the kidneys, and not suggested for more than five days of continuous use. I am one of those rare people what actually reads the fucking information sheets.) and does some good on the pain front. They've also given me generic percocet, which I tried out last night. While it kills pain dead, I don't care for the way it makes me feel, so do not plan on taking any more of that.
With abdominal surgery of any kind (including, say, caesarian section, gallbladder surgery, or hysterectomy) you get gas which has to leave the usual way, by farting. Until this happens, it's rather uncomfortable. The only reason I can see for this happening is that the air gets in there when they're doing their surgery thing and, after they close up the incision, the air percolates into the intestine. I can't figure any other way for that to happen. Apparently, with a hysterectomy, the gas and associated swelling takes a while (a timeframe measured in weeks) to go away. I've still got that going on some and it's minorly annoying because I don't look any skinnier than I did before this. Matter of fact, I look fatter. I wouldn't write home about the gas and swelling at this point and it was only really annoying the day after surgery. I do have to get up and move every hour or so (walking around my house) because if I sit still, my damn gut distends again and that's uncomfortable. Fortunately, I have a walky phone and can hobble around my house and be on the phone at the same time. How much swelling? Not tons. My regular undwear still fit, throughout. I don't think real jeans would fit (haven't tried them) but am lounging around in sweat pants and loose fitting pajama bottoms.
Laughing hurts. So does coughing. I can't cough for shit. I can lie down, get up, sit down, and rise without undue discomfort or significant planning -- part of this is technique because different muscles are sore on me than used to be, before. Apparently I auto-adjust to move in ways that do not hurt. I can also bend over and pick up (lightweight) stuff and put one stick of wood at a time into the woodstove. Mobility ain't bad -- I can walk without pain at about half speed and I expect that will get better with practice and time. I have not had any problems at all with balance or dizzyness. For computering, I sit like I normally do, cross legged in a tailor seat on the couch. I do not have any problem doing that or getting out of the position.
The incision, which is called a bikini-line incision, is right along the pubic hairline. The doc did not shave an acre of real estate. He didn't shave anything, which wasn't what I had been led to expect, but apparently the tide on shaving parts for surgery has turned and many doctors figure it's a waste of time. I'm all for less shaving, so yay. The incision is six and a half inches long (I measured it with a cloth tape measure -- rest assured that I am not pulling numbers out of my ass, here. There is no exaggeration for comedic effect.) and currently being held shut with little pieces of tape on the top layer. (My cousin Betsy says there are real stiches in the underneath layers and she's a Nurse Practicioner so she probably knows this stuff.) It was stapled with metal staples after the surgery but they took those out on Sunday -- pulled out every other one, applied tape to the missing spaces, then pulled out the remaining ones and put tape strips there. This appears to be working fine -- I haven't noticed any spreading of the incision. It's not red or infected or anything like that, just slightly warmer than the surrounding skin, which is due to increased blood flow and healing and shit. It's tender if I poke at it because, d'oh, it's not healed yet.
If left alone, the incision does not particularly hurt until about the end of the six-hour stretch that the drugs last. I can tell when it's time for the drugs to run out because the incision hurts a bit. This is more twinge-y pain than any kind of agony. (I have yet to experience the absolute agony that people keep telling me is associated with hysterectomies.)
Rather gross thing that nobody mentioned anywhere on any informative website: the girl bits below the incision line (this would be everything you can see on those splash-of-pink centerfold pictures in porn) swell up somewhat because the huge honking incision screws up the circulation and lymph system and they don't drain well until that stuff all gets back to working order. The volume of swelling is not ungodly but it's significant and unlike any, er, recreational engorgement because it's uniform across all the tissue and not specific to the, er, fun parts. I'm not amused but this does appear to be improving in time and perhaps the reason it never got a mention elsewhere was that all the OTHER women were too busy with the ABSOLUTE AGONY portion of the program to be annoyed by swollen girly bits.
While I would not sign up for this as a fun way to spend a month or so, it's nowhere near the ABSOLUTE AGONY that many informative websites make it out to be. It's uncomfortable and somewhat inconvenient and not a thrill-a-minute. In my book, that does not add up to ABSOLUTE AGONY.
I do not know how well the remaining bits function for, er, entertainment purposes. I'm not allowed to exercise that option until six weeks from now. Anyone who has a burning desire to know about that is welcome to remind me at that date.
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Date: 2005-12-13 02:24 am (UTC)We do Walk away the pounds , which is an exercise video. It means you walk and kick and chair and sidestep in place, but it also means you make the most of limited space. it's something to consider for right now, rather than getting bored walking around your house.
Also, I heard today that they have exercise podcasts, so you might want to look into those. Walking is a nice gentle exercise that helps with the digestion ( when you're pregnant it's recommended to help with constipation). I figure that anybody reading the above won't flinch at the Constipation word...
I'm glad you're doing okay. When my sister had hers removed she did get to look at the fibroid cysts. Granted, hers were so legion that they completely covered the walls of the uterus, so much so they couldn't do a sonargram through them. But she said they looked like balls of yarn.