Having major surgery Nov 3 - please send thoughts of healing @ 12:30 PM EST!
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You’ve reminded me of the ‘test’ I had to pass before they let me go home…(other than the bowel opening thing, which I fibbed about…)
I had to show that I could walk up a flight of stairs in the hospital and back down again. Wasn’t an issue at all but I do remember being a bit nonplussed by the requirement 🤷♀️0 -
@kshama2001 - any update?!? How are you doing?0
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I had the largest bowel movement of my life yesterday. What a relief! It had been 5 days and I am usually an at least once per day person.
They'd been giving me Miralax in the hospital. When I got home I switched to vitamin C. I take this to bowel tolerance, which for me is normally 3 grams. I took an extra gram yesterday. I have a scale that goes to 1/10 of grams that I use for this. Too much can have...unpleasant...results.4 -
My discharge meds were screwed up again and again and again. I encourage anyone getting surgery to have discussions about discharge meds in writing and considerably before the second you are discharged, which is when I got my paperwork.
For example, well, I will wait until I can sit in a chair comfortably for long periods of time before giving examples, as there are a lot of them.
Ok, I will do the pain meds, the most important one, as venting about this may be helpful
My incision was 13 inches long. After the epidural came out, I was taking 10mg of oxycodone. Because I am with the VA and was being discharged on the weekend, I asked to be sent home with a few days worth of meds. They agreed to do this the day before discharge and the morning of. However, they mistakenly thought the pharmacy would deliver my meds to my room, and didn't realize the pharmacy doesn't do that until after 12 PM, when the pharmacy closes on Sunday. They also hadn't put it in as expedited so it would be ready before noon - I got a robocall at 1:30 PM saying it was ready (at a facility that was closed until Monday.)
So we decided they would send the scripts to CVS, where I would have to pay out of pocket, as I am with the VA and do not have other health insurance. Fortunately, this wasn't a lot. BUT when I picked it up I learned the script was for half the Oxy I'd received in the hospital, and was only for 20 hours worth. I recommend people ask to see details of pain meds well ahead of discharge.
My VA Community Care coordinator had given me the fax number for the multiple days scripts. She called me yesterday AM and said it had been received BUT scripts for Schedule II drugs need to be hard copies and cannot be faxed. Now, you would think she'd know I'd be getting a Schedule II drug as she was coordinating all this...She is able to write scripts and so wrote it herself as a one time thing.
Somewhere along the line I learned the so-called multiple days script for oxycodone was only for 2.5 days, when I had been told I'd be on the opioid for two weeks. I can't just call the hospital if I am still in pain at the end of 2.5 days - the script has to be hand delivered to the VA and the hospital is 90 minutes away OUTSIDE RUSH HOUR and the VA pharmacy is 45 minutes away and not on the route back from the hospital. And I cannot drive for two weeks so my boyfriend would have to do this.
My surgeon's nurse is working on this. I'm not sure exactly what she is going to do. It may not have been decided plus I am on pain meds. I think what we are going to do is send a script to CVS, which does take them electronically, I will pay out of pocket and attempt to get reimbursed, which is by no means a sure thing, as VA members can only use community pharmacies in an emergency.
I stretched out the oxy timing almost two extra hours two days ago. (Accidentally, due to a nap.) It did indeed wear completely off and the pain went up to a 9, the highest it's been. Since then I've been setting alarms for it. However, just now I successfully stretched it out 1 hour.
That's it for the pain meds drama. Going to post now before I lose what I've written.8 -
Sounds like an awful lot of drama, sorry you had to manage all that. I find bad communication to be the norm rather than the exception with any healthcare thing, unfortunately. Good vent,
I hope you don't have to take oxy for two weeks and that most of them get thrown out.
::SoftTeddyBearForYou::
and
:flowerforyou:4 -
Thanks CM!
The issue with the non pain meds: my boyfriend called me after he'd gone to the pharmacy and said that there were 6 prescriptions, not the two we'd expected. I wished he'd called me before he picked them all up, but oh well.
I had plenty of Tylenol and ibuprofen and told the nurse I didn't need any, but got bottles of these despite that.
I manage constipation by taking vitamin C to bowel tolerance, so did not need or want the two different laxatives I got.2 -
Whew! So glad you are progressing well, but what a headache.
Disjointed. That is how my MD stepdad describes healthcare today. It's like no one talks to anyone in their own office, to their own staff, much less others within their own hospital system. It is a lot to overcome for people who are not at their best (isn't that pretty much anyone who is hospitalized?). Even with effective patient advocates, care is still disjointed, and stupidly so. And also wasteful (as in BF picking up Rx you didn't want). Thank you for sharing your insights. It's a *kitten* up system. Best wishes for continued healing ahead!3 -
@kshama2001, have you had pain during all of your health challenges mentioned? The reason I ask is that I struggled from the time I was a young teenager with excessive bleeding during menstrual cycles and went on through the years having all kinds of tests done. The pain I had in my thirties and leading into my forties was so bad, I finally had a partial hysterectomy in 2003. However, (at least up to 2003, and prior to my surgery, my specialists said the condition could be adenomyosis but it cannot be confirmed until they remove the uterus. Now I don't know if you've ever heard of adenomyosis but it had never come up in all my years of dealing with this. The uterus becomes engorged with blood increasing it's size and therefore cannot contract when you're having pain so there's no relief. Please keep this in mind as another possibility. Sending love, light and prayers. Take good care!
Today, I went back to the hospital to have my 41 staples removed. The surgeon is happy with my progress. And she said the pathology report noted adenomyosis.
This can also be diagnosed via MRI and endometrial biopsy. I’ve had three of the latter and numerous of the former and I am annoyed at the VA for not picking this up. By the time I first heard of the NovaSure procedure, my uterus was way too large for this to be an option, but it certainly was back in 2005 when I first started with the VA. However, no VA provider ever informed me of this option.
On the plus side, my progress is such that we talked about tapering off the opioids.
Thanks to encouragement from you all and other sources, I have made walking a priority and will probably hit 5000 steps today. And I’m now walking faster than my cat! (We walk him on a leash.) My surgeon got a kick out of that post-surgery goal – walking faster than the cat
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With the pathology report I finally got the weight of my uterus and fibroids – 11 pounds!
I’ve been expecting water retention from the surgery and for all that weight to not show up on the scales, and it didn’t, but close.7 -
Hoping you're healing up well. I also had a surgery with a vertical abdominal incision, and it's not an easy thing. All the Best!2
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If you are feeling cold (anemia) I suggest a heating pad or better yet, an electric blanket, to keep over you whilst couch surfing Netflix/Hallmark. It helps.
oh, and you should really feel the energy kick in about the 3-mo post recovery date.1 -
That is quite a bit. You must feel "empty" in some way?kshama2001 wrote: »With the pathology report I finally got the weight of my uterus and fibroids – 11 pounds!
I’ve been expecting water retention from the surgery and for all that weight to not show up on the scales, and it didn’t, but close.1 -
kshama, it sounds like you're making progress at a good rate. I'm happy to hear it. :flowerforyou:1
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BartBVanBockstaele wrote: »
That is quite a bit. You must feel "empty" in some way?kshama2001 wrote: »With the pathology report I finally got the weight of my uterus and fibroids – 11 pounds!
I’ve been expecting water retention from the surgery and for all that weight to not show up on the scales, and it didn’t, but close.
I do feel empty above my belly button. I think I’m still swollen in my lower abdomen. High waisted pants feel looser; Lower waisted pants do not.
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allaboutthecake wrote: »If you are feeling cold (anemia) I suggest a heating pad or better yet, an electric blanket, to keep over you whilst couch surfing Netflix/Hallmark. It helps.
oh, and you should really feel the energy kick in about the 3-mo post recovery date.
My years-long issues with anemia should now be over! I do use a heating pad to help with lower back pain. But I am never cold. In fact, I just got a referral to an endocrinologist because I am always hot. (Never hot FLASHES, just extraordinarily hot.)1 -
I’ve been out of pocket for a few weeks and missed all this. So sorry you had to cope with this but so happy for the great results. Here’s to a very short recovery!!!!! 😘2
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kshama2001 wrote: »allaboutthecake wrote: »If you are feeling cold (anemia) I suggest a heating pad or better yet, an electric blanket, to keep over you whilst couch surfing Netflix/Hallmark. It helps.
oh, and you should really feel the energy kick in about the 3-mo post recovery date.
My years-long issues with anemia should now be over! I do use a heating pad to help with lower back pain. But I am never cold. In fact, I just got a referral to an endocrinologist because I am always hot. (Never hot FLASHES, just extraordinarily hot.)
I hope you update us on this because I'm curious about your results since I'm in the same boat. Although I do have hot flashes as well as overall heat intolerance.
And, yes, my anemia vanished along with my uterus.
Glad your recovery is going well!0 -
Good signs!kshama2001 wrote: »BartBVanBockstaele wrote: »
That is quite a bit. You must feel "empty" in some way?kshama2001 wrote: »With the pathology report I finally got the weight of my uterus and fibroids – 11 pounds!
I’ve been expecting water retention from the surgery and for all that weight to not show up on the scales, and it didn’t, but close.
I do feel empty above my belly button. I think I’m still swollen in my lower abdomen. High waisted pants feel looser; Lower waisted pants do not.
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Hey @kshama2001 Sorry for not spotting this earlier and sending you healing thoughts! Glad to hear about the good outcome though I felt like kicking something while reading about your prescription complications! Here's to enjoying the 11lb loss and to continued healing and improvement!2
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kshama2001 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »I was feeling pretty good while in bed, but the 10 step walk to the bathroom was more taxing than the 3 mile hike I did earlier in the week!
I am wearing my Fitbit for giggles.
That was yesterday morning. My afternoon walk to the bathroom much much better. In the evening, I did a few laps around the hallway. Unfortunately, my Fitbit only captured the first 20 steps of yesterday.
I’ve been itchy and my doctor thinks it’s due to the medication in my epidural. I stopped pressing the button last night. I’ve asked if it can be removed, and they will talk to the anesthesia team about that. If my pain is well controlled after that, and I start urinating on my own, I will go home tomorrow.
For whatever reason, I woke up this AM thinking about how itchy I'd been in the hospital and thought I'd expand on this. The epidural itching was all over and didn't respond to Benadryl or Sarna lotion. I just endured until it was over.
I also developed a rash that the doctor said was in the exact contour of the soap they'd used right before surgery. I think the Sarna helped with that, but it also had artificial fragrance, so it wasn't a great option for me.
When the doctor asked if I tended to have sensitivities, my partner and I both laughed, as the answer is definitely Yes.
She said I might also be reacting to the johnnie or linens, even though they are laundered in fragrance-free detergent. As soon as the catheter was removed, I switched to my own pajamas.2
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