Not all are good stories – Susan’s Story

I was told that if I had a Hysterectomy my health would improve and I would never look back, well I had it on the 20th January, had problems in recovery and spent 4 1/2 hours there.

I was told at 7am the next morning that I needed to vacate my bed as it was needed and to be sent home. Home I went, all ok to start but by Sunday night I was in agony. A Doctor attended me and told me if I was in pain again to call him this was 1am; at 6am on the Monday morning the pain was so bad an ambulance was called for.

They took me to A&E where I was for 6 hours before being transferred back to the Maternity Hospital.

I was in agony and placed in a room to either sit on a chair or lay on an examination bed, neither which were comfortable. I was finally given a bed, and sent for an ultra sound this appeared nornmal.  The nurse came onto the ward with peppermint tea and told me to drink because all I had was chronic wind…

I was sick, temperature, dehydrated and in worse pain than giving birth. the next day I was sent for a CT scan and it appeared that my bowel had been perforated and peritonitis had set in.

Another operation that night, a stay in intensive care and high dependancy before 7 days on the ward. thinking the worse was over I was mistaken when the catheter was removed I had a popping feeling and gushing of urine. It now appears I have a fistula, 2cms big to be precise. All I got from the hospital was i had consented for the operation…. yes I had, but when I was told there may be bowel or bladder problems I automatically assumed it was bruising, not something that could take my life.

I have now had 4 operations and having my 5th operation next week to repair the VVF so hopefully after 10 weeks of a catheter this can be removed in 3 weeks….

It has literally destroyed my life, my self confidence and I know in my heart that if I was told the worse case scenerio I would not have consented and carried on living with the pain and discomfort of the fibriod and mild endometriosis….

Apparently I am special, Ithink its the hospital way of making light of the situation as it happens to 1-600 and I happened to be the 1….

Getting over the hysterectomy has been a piece of cake, it’s just all the risks I am now dealing with, I wish with all my heart the surgeon was frank and honest with me.

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Now available on our online store and all other online book store’s. In My Own Words: Women’s Experience of Hysterectomy is full of many other real-life stories from women the world over.

Other people’s stories help women feel less isolated. They show that they aren’t going mad, missing the point or stupid.