Extremely painful heartburn after radical hysterectomy

Hi Ruth E and welcome to our group.

It’s good to read your healing well, but the heartburn is not so good! I had a different surgery, so wasn’t affected by this, but I’ll tag in Meme85 who had her surgery very recently to see if she can help.

Hopefully if you get this issue over with you’ll be able to continue having a good recovery!

Sarah xx

Hi Ruth (thanks for tagging me Sarah).

I also had a radical hysterectomy last week. For me, it was trapped wind which was my main issue following surgery. It caused pain in my chest and shoulders. Because of the NSAIDS I’ve been given (ibuprofen, diclofenic), the hospital also prescribed me omeprizole so my tummy wouldn’t get upset / have heartburn.  

Perhaps trapped wind / painkillers might be causing an issue for you.  Given it’s a bank holiday weekend, perhaps you could ask someone to pick up some Nexium tablets as these work really well for heartburn.

I hope you feel better soon xx

Hey Sarah!

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply!

I've been drinking ginger tea and some other herbal ones which seems to have helped, so fingers crossed, but any advice others can give is extremely welcome.

Take care 

Ruth xxx

Hi there

That's such helpful advice! Thank you so much. I'm having my catheter out tomorrow so will chat with the nurse but will also look to grab some Nexium tablets too.

Thank you so much for your help xxxxx

You’re welcome Ruth. I had my catheter taken out on Thursday. It was the best day ever!! Keep an eye on things after it’s removed as it’s very common to develop a UTI. I had to see an out of hours GP yesterday and was prescribed antibiotics. All the painkillers we have to take can mask a high temperature. It wasn’t until I was late taking my co codamol that I had a temp spike of 38.2. My only other symptom was pressure/pain when peeing. I’m sure you’ll be fine, but it’s something to be mindful of.

xxx

Hi Ruth

I used peppermint tea and also had peppermint capsules, just in case. When I went in for my radical hysterectomy, it wasn’t possible to proceed with it as I had too much radiation treatment damage, but I had still been opened up abdominally, so had some things to deal with afterwards. I was also prescribed Lanzoprazole.

Since I didn’t have laparoscopic surgery I didn’t suffer from the gas build up inside, which gives you the trapped wind pain, but I definitely had bowel issues, so I hope you don’t have that! Getting the catheter out will be a big relief in itself.

Sarah xx

Hi Meme85 

What a relief it is to get the catheter out, isn’t it? You’ve made good points there about the potential for infection and temperature spikes being masked by pain relief. Hopefully the antibiotics will clear things up quickly for you and things go back to normal with non painful peeing! Are you feeling good in yourself generally now?

Sarah xx

Hi Sarah,

I am feeling so much more comfortable now.. and happier! I’m terrible for wanting to ‘carry on as normal’.. thankfully my husband and kids are very quick to remind me that I need to sit down and relax. I’m trying to push it to one side, but I’m getting more nervous about my biopsy results. My mum is staying with us for 2 weeks from the 31st. I’m so excited for that, as I don’t think there is a better feeling than calling for ‘mum’ and her looking after me. She’s a nurse practitioner so I’m going to be very well cared for. She’s on the phone every day checking on my pain levels and bowel movements haha. Another tip! DulcoEase… brilliant for softening things, especially if you’re taking a codeine for pain relief. 

xxx

Oh, I’m so glad you’re feeling more comfortable, and it will be lovely to have your mum around. 

A stool softener can be a godsend! I used to sit on the loo with my feet on a little stool-a more natural position-and that was good for me too.

Sarah xx