Post Op Instructions: Vacuuming is strenuous!

Thought I would share the discharge info from the hospital. These are my thoughts on #1-4.

1. Wow 7lbs is an interesting number. How on Earth did they figure that out? Did they test women with various amounts of weight? It's kind of gross, but I was wondering what they were looking for? Blood, women crying out in pain if they lifted more than 7 pounds. I understand that lifting a lot of weight can put strain on your abdomen, but how did they figure out that 7 pounds was the max?

2. Wow, vacuuming is strenuous house cleaning! I love it! I for sure don't feel the need to test that one. The dust bunnies can have at it!

3. Bummer...LOL

4. Well, I tested this one 6 days post op. We were out of coffee...come on! Don't worry, I didn't have any pain meds in the morning so I was not under the influence! I took my son on the journey so he could lift the groceries. He did a great job! By the way, there was some pain while driving. Who knew the abs were working???



Once again Lucy is the best med of all!

She so wants to get on the bed and cuddle!

Licks and Slurps: The Best Medicine

It has been 1 week Post Op, and I feel wonderful. There are a lot of reasons why that is so. My family and friends top the list, but there is someone else that does things no human can!

My Lucy dog. The students at school always correct me when I write or talk about her, but that's what I call her. She isn't "my dog, Lucy." She is "my Lucy dog." I know I should be discussing how I feel after the hysterectomy and the days following my operation, but that's too boring and will make sure I put all those details in another post!

Lucy is like no other dog I have had. The labs I had were wonderful, loving dogs for sure, but they had energy that was tough to handle at times! Lucy is a 3 year old Basset that enjoys hanging on the couch, cuddling in your lap, sleeping on her cute round bed, and occasionally licking you on the face when you snuggle with her. This type of energy is the best to have when recovering from surgery! It is perfect. She does exactly what I do! Chill and RELAX! She is my companion when my kids leave for school and my hubby leaves for work. I talk to her, eat with her, watch T.V. with her and just pain kiss and hug her. Sometimes I do that too much, and she lets me know with some grunts and moans. How could you not? Just look at her!!!!

Her ears are velvety soft, her eyes tug at my heart and her body is.....just plain funny! little stubby legs, long torso and spotted belly! It's the perfect size to hug, cuddle, and love!! The perfect medicine for exactly what I need! I love you, LUCY! Do you know that????

Oh what a feeling!

This is my first post for my new blog! I am excited to share my experience with my fibroid, Fanny, and our relationship, which has ended a 6 days ago on Sept, 21, 2009! whoopie! That is a relationship that I am happy to see end. I met Fanny a year ago, probably July of 2008. She decided to make my uterus her home which I was unaware of until I had my yearly exam. My doc was preforming the internal massage...blah, of my uterus and ovaries. While inside, I felt a twinge of pain. It wasn't so bad, but a bit uncomfortable. She believed I had a fibroid on my uterus. I was like, "oh, hmm, yuck!" She then had me schedule a sonogram/ultrasound, never quite sure which one is correct to say.

About 2 weeks later, I went in and there she was, Fanny! She was tiny. I can't remember the dimensions, but remember thinking...oh what do I need to do about this! The technician also told me I have kidney stones. I was unaware of those, and she mentioned that was a good thing! It was a short visit compared to the ones during my pregnancies. I left knowing that my doc will call me with the results.

She did call a week later and gave me all of the specifics. Fanny is a subserosal penduculated fibroid. She may or may not make her presence know. We decided to wait it out. After A LOT of time on the internet, I thought it was a good idea. Let's see what Fanny decides to do. She could remain a small, tiny, little friend or grow to be an abnoxious, loud, annoying BITCH! Unfortunately, she decided to mature into a friend who you no longer want around and run from because she annoys the crap out of you! LOL

The year with Fanny was interesting. The first six months, I knew she was there during times of...well intimacy with my hubby! hee, hee, that makes me laugh. During my daily activities, I was unaware of her presence. She was quiet and shy. Well, the more I think about it, she would say "Hi" when I wanted to go for a bike ride or squat down.

The last six months of our relationship, Fanny was around a lot. When I would drive, sit, run, walk, play with my kids and especially...well you know, she would yell, "Hi!!! I want to join too!" She was beginning to be a real pain. During the summer months with the kids, camping and hiking, hanging and playing, I knew I needed to get another look at Fanny. She would also keep me up at night with her visits to the bathroom. It was similar to those pregnancy months when my sweet babies would nudge my bladder, except Fanny was an icky growth that had no rewarding ending! I called my doc in August and she scheduled another sonogram. The day came to come face to face with Fanny. She was big! Yuck, Blah, Ewwwwww. Way bigger that I thought. She was the size of a golf ball, tangerine, small orange. Hmm, what to do now. By the way, the internal part of the sonogram was uncomfortable for sure! Leaving the exam, I knew I had some thinking to do and many questions to ask when my doc called.

My doc sent me an email and wanted me to get a hysterectomy! I was a bit shocked. I thought that was rather drastic. She gave me that name of a surgeon/gyno. I decided to set up an appointment. By the time my appointment was scheduled, a month passed. I went in to meet my new doc. I had lots and lots of questions!

Me ..."Can't you just remove the fibroid?" Her....No, I want to keep it in tack so I don't release any cells into your abdomen. Plus you are done having kids.

Me..."What? What does that mean?" Her..I need to tell you, as I tell all my patients, there is a small risk that this fibroid can be cancerous. I want to keep it together with your uterus and not mess with it.

Me..."Can you biopsy it?" Her...Don't want to release any cells.

Me..."Can you tell me how big it is?" Her...Let's do an exam.

After the exam, which was quite painful, she believed the fibroid was the size of a softball! Fanny was eating, growing and sucking the life out of me! I was shocked and ready to move ahead with getting this out. I was a bit scared to hear of the possibility of having cancer. I knew my chances were low, but I have cancer running through my family history and thought it was a good way to end it. By the way, I had a LEEP procedure done in 2006, so having the hysterectomy would relieve any issues there too.

After talking it over with my peeps at home and the peeps at work, I scheduled my vaginal hysterectomy for Monday, Sept 21! What a relief to have this finally decided. The day to end my friendship with Fanny was set.