If you are sensitive or easily embarrassed then this post is probably not for you.
Since my surgery I have noticed that there seems to be an awkwardness around gynaecological cancers that doesn't present itself even with breast or testicular cancer, I have no idea why this is, the awkwardness varies from apologising fo TMI, to having all sorts of pet names for the vagina then there's that strange thing where people mouth inaudible things rather than use any of the following, vagina, clitorus and vulva, well I will make no apologies nor will I refer to part of my anotomy as a foo foo, fefe, of fucking trixibelle.
Right now that's off my chest lets turn to the Hysterectomy, it was an easy decision for me to agree to the surgery, I was probably very close to hitting the menopause and my family is complete, so emotionally I had nothing to process or consider.
It's now 6 months since I had a radical hysterectomy with lymph node removal, for those who don't know, this means I had my uterus, overies, fallopian tubes, cervix and part of my vagina removed, despite a fair amount of scar tissue from previous cesarean sections, my surgeon was able to do all that via five tiny incisions.
Hospital, the day of my surgery was long, this was due not only to the surgery, but also to the procedure I had prior the sentinel node dissection, I had four syringes of radioactive dye injected in to my cervix, ouch, no anesthtic for that part, I'm sure it had all be explained to me prior, but I hadn't really grasped this fact, for some reason I thought I was getting an injection in my arm, that is until they wheeled me in to a room with a chair and stirrups! The added bonus was my surgeon was training someone in this procedure so I had four people all taking a good look at my cervix, no pressure, glad I'd waxed.... Then you wait an hour before you are wheeled of for an X-ray which rotates around the bed, all very strange. You walk yourself to theatre and I was greated by a lovely team of anaesthetists who popped an epidural in before sending me off to sleep. It was long surgery, I went down to theatre at around midday and I was in recovery just after six pm.
I was able to get myself up the next day, but in typical wedgegirl style I over did it and had to be put back to bed, I really wanted to be well enough to go home the next day, part of this was to ensure I no longer needed a catheter, so I made sure I drank three litres of water and yaay, the next day catheter out and home.
Thanks to my lovely friend who visited me, bringing me my favourite lunch meaning I was spared hospital food. My stay in hospital was positive, all the staff were excellent and I was seen by the professor and his team on all three days.
Pain, this was managed with morphine as I came round from surgery I'd had an epidural as well as a general anaesthetic so I think this helped, I was off the morphine by 10pm that night and used ibuprofen and paracetamol for the next four days, the journey home in the car was uncomfortable I may have sworn a few times.
Recovery, I dressed my own wounds and they healed amazingly quickly, 6 months on and three of them are barely visible, I found sleeping for the first few days a challenge as I'm a side sleeper, but managed better with a few pillows. I did not like injecting myself with blood thinners for 28 days. I had virtually no bleeding a small amount of spotting at around 3 weeks post surgery for a couple of days, none since. I was back to work after 28 days, fortunately I commute by coach, not sure the train/tube would have been very comfortable, and I have a desk job with very supportive colleagues.
Sex, ok stop reading if this is going to cause you any embarrassment. You can not place anything in your vagina for six weeks after surgery due the risk of infection, 5 weeks after surgery I started chemotherapy, so sex was off the agenda, I'm fortunate that my husband is caring, considerate and thoughtful and my desire or lack of it has not created any difficulties for us, but we have always enjoyed a healthy sex life, so I was keen to get back on the horse (he'll like that analogy
) I can confirm I was extremely apprehensive, I'd managed to insert two fingers with no discomfort and could immediately identify that not only is my vagina smaller, but it's structure felt different, so with a little bit of humour and a lot of trust we have attempted intercourse, not the most romantic or passionate of encounters, but an important milestone in my recovery, whilst I have sufficient natural lubrication for vaginal health, there's not enough to account for friction, so we are going to need some help with this, I'm also going to probably need to consider a dilator to increase the size as I'm rather smaller now.
Menopause, no significant symptoms.
I hope this blog will give others the courage to speak openly with out fear of embarrassment.
