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Uterus: yeeted
Right, so the 3-week period of last summer became 11 months of bleeding at unpredictable amounts from day to day with only a few breaks. My iron levels fell into the anemic range despite supplements. I was staining clothes and linens like a teenager and spending $$ on menstrual products. Tests turned up abnormalities (small fibroids, slightly thickened endometrium, polyps, etc., fortunately no cancer), but nothing explained the whole story, and working with a GYN to play around with birth control formulations didn’t help.
Since I’m not planning on having children and am in the geriatric category now anyway, since the alternative procedures did not make sense for me,* and having watched my mom go through intermittent menorrhagia for 10 years resolved only by a semi-urgent hysterectomy after the blood loss made her pass out and break her nose on the way down, a week and a half ago I had my uterus, cervix, and fallopian tubes removed laparoscopically. Would recommend!
*If you’re curious:
I have only five small incisions that are healing well—just itchy—and I can’t feel the stitches elsewhere. Things were quite crampy the first couple of days but the surgical team clearly prescribed the right medicines in the right amounts because I only needed opioids for the first <24 hours and have been okay on ibuprofen since then, plus a bunch of GI meds to keep things moving after the anesthesia and messing-around-in-the-abdomen and which are now being tapered.
Main features of recovery other than that have been lots of naps and diminished cognitive capacity, like I couldn’t add the dice when my mom and I played Monopoly and I lose my sentences and train of thought even more easily than usual. I’m not allowed to swim or lift more than 10 pounds until the six-week mark, but there are workarounds for most tasks and volunteers to help with the rest, and it is a small price to pay to not go in the water for the first part of summer.
My sister sent this plushie. It's a good pillow for couch naps. Friends, family, colleagues, and neighbors have been super about support.
I am excited to not deal with this problem anymore. The surgeon found some endometriosis while operating, which (a) was a surprise to me since we don't have a known family history of it but (b) explains some of the symptoms and (c) further justifies the surgery. Any underlying hormonal cause will still be there until menopause, but the bleeding consequence won’t be. And, hey, cancer risk is lower.
I took off work ’til the end of the month. My mom came for a week, my sister for almost a week, and now it’s “vacation” with daily-ish friend visits. I’m hoping my brain will permit playing around with a vid for some of the time. I have ideas for a show and a movie, neither of which I had any plans to vid until compelling songs presented themselves.
Since I’m not planning on having children and am in the geriatric category now anyway, since the alternative procedures did not make sense for me,* and having watched my mom go through intermittent menorrhagia for 10 years resolved only by a semi-urgent hysterectomy after the blood loss made her pass out and break her nose on the way down, a week and a half ago I had my uterus, cervix, and fallopian tubes removed laparoscopically. Would recommend!
*If you’re curious:
- Endometrial ablation: similar requirements and recovery time as hysterectomy, with no guarantee of permanent results, plus I may have had a contraindication
- Uterine artery embolization: would only address the fibroids and has a 20-30% failure rate, especially in younger patients
- IUD: unsuccessful insertions in my mom and sister; would need replacing every ~5 years; horror stories of discomfort; no guarantee of success; I have had bad experiences with progesterone-only treatments
- Stopping oral contraceptives: would be only a temporary experiment; would need to find another way to treat my PCOS
I have only five small incisions that are healing well—just itchy—and I can’t feel the stitches elsewhere. Things were quite crampy the first couple of days but the surgical team clearly prescribed the right medicines in the right amounts because I only needed opioids for the first <24 hours and have been okay on ibuprofen since then, plus a bunch of GI meds to keep things moving after the anesthesia and messing-around-in-the-abdomen and which are now being tapered.
Main features of recovery other than that have been lots of naps and diminished cognitive capacity, like I couldn’t add the dice when my mom and I played Monopoly and I lose my sentences and train of thought even more easily than usual. I’m not allowed to swim or lift more than 10 pounds until the six-week mark, but there are workarounds for most tasks and volunteers to help with the rest, and it is a small price to pay to not go in the water for the first part of summer.
My sister sent this plushie. It's a good pillow for couch naps. Friends, family, colleagues, and neighbors have been super about support.
I am excited to not deal with this problem anymore. The surgeon found some endometriosis while operating, which (a) was a surprise to me since we don't have a known family history of it but (b) explains some of the symptoms and (c) further justifies the surgery. Any underlying hormonal cause will still be there until menopause, but the bleeding consequence won’t be. And, hey, cancer risk is lower.
I took off work ’til the end of the month. My mom came for a week, my sister for almost a week, and now it’s “vacation” with daily-ish friend visits. I’m hoping my brain will permit playing around with a vid for some of the time. I have ideas for a show and a movie, neither of which I had any plans to vid until compelling songs presented themselves.