Pause for thought, Caroline’s story

Hello, I thought I should write to you with my experience. I want to reach out to people such as me prior to their ops. Whether I would have read or thought twice then I do not know……but here goes…

I had a huge fibroid, along with several smaller ones……infact the surgical team did agree with my reference to my “alien” because it did look like an alien!!….melon sized with smaller add ons. I did have some endometriosis too. So the best option was a total hysterectomy (womb, ovaries and cervix).

I could have had other options which were pharmaceutically treated such as induced temporary menopause etc etc. I was enticed by the “quick fix” of “everything out” option.  It also cured the contraception issue.

But the operation was horrible…..I awoke in agony and it didn’t subside, even with morphine and other drugs.  I was encouraged to get moving but the pain was horrendous….I tried, but nausea got the better of me, so laying flat was better.  The next day I got rushed back into surgery, after several black out moments with the resus team in attendance, I had lost 2 litres of blood into my body.  The clotted internal blood had to be flushed out. The pain afterwards was just as severe…..your colon and internal organs do not like being touched….they rebel with pain!!

So eventually after 5 days I went home!!

Recovery was slow.  I was a fit 47 year old who went to the gym and regularly went Spinning so I was used to being active.  My head wanted to do so much but my body struggled.  Mentally everything was foggy too.

I am a self employed accountant and I tried to get back into my work as soon as I could.  Sitting still for any length of time was uncomfortable.

But after 6 weeks I got back into things.

7 months on now and I am realising the huge differences in “me”!!  My body has changed so very much. Physically my body is so much less toned….it’s saggy and fatty to touch. Muscle has just died away…..my stomach protrudes rather than be flat and toned. I feel so much more tired. My face has more lines and appears shrivelled and dry. My memory is awful and my reactive brain so much slower. I’m making mistakes with my work which has never happened before!!… I used to pride myself with my perfectionism!! I have a slower reaction time too. In summary, the leap into old age is huge!!  I am still lost in adjusting to the new me…..it’s a long and extremely hard and lonely process adapting to life after a hysterectomy.

I wish I could have spoken to “me” now before I had the operation…..and perhaps spoken to others who’d had alternative procedures to the operation!?!

You may not like what I’ve written but I felt I needed to express my experience for others to see. Anyway, let me know if you need me to write anything more.