Hi all,
I wanted to post, as I know a lot of you guys have been through the same, and it’s difficult for my friends and family to truly understand how challenging it can be post radical hysterectomy. That isn’t a criticism… they’ve all been wonderful and so supportive.
My surgery was on Thursday and took around 5 hours due to my bladder being fused to my uterus following an infection I had back in 2015.
I have kept my ovaries, which I’m pleased about. My surgeon is happy that the cancer was contained within my cervix, but I won’t know for sure for another 3 weeks. Always a waiting game!
Currently I feel like a decrepit old woman, shuffling around at home. I feel very sorry for myself and cry often. It’s almost like a sense of loss, even though I have no plans for anymore children.
I have to keep my catheter in until Thursday morning in order to give my bladder time to rest. I’m scared that I’ll be incontinent at the end of this. Also… I had no idea how painful trapped wind could be! The only thing the nurses would offer was peppermint tea. It was strange as other women on the ward suffered with exactly the same thing. I would hope something more could be done to ease the pain. The pain was bad that I was vomiting whilst trying to hold my stomach through fear of my stitches opening.
I know that this post probably comes across as melodramatic, but I wanted to share a true reflection of how I feel day 5 after my surgery. I still wouldn’t change what has happened. It needed to happen. But I guess it’s not a crime to feel sorry for yourself now and again lol.
I am very likely to seek mental health support through a cancer support group run by my hospital. I’m so happy that these services, and Macmillans exist to support people like us. Xxx
Hi Meme85
So glad to see you post and know you’ve got through your surgery! I don’t think you’re being melodramatic at all-you’ve been through a major surgery and it takes time to recover from that. It’s definitely ok to feel sorry for yourself too.
I think counselling is always a good idea when we’ve been through trauma-I wish I had been given the opportunity to have this much earlier than I did, so I hope you’ll feel you gain a lot from it like I have.
I hope you’ll not have any issues when you have your catheter out. Your bladder needs time, but hopefully things will go back to normal once the catheter is removed.
You need to just take time now to rest and recover, and I hope you’ll get good results from your pathology. Take care of yourself, and you can start to look forward now.
Sarah xx
Aww, I don’t want you to cry although I know it’s an emotional time for you. You will get there, and how you feel right now will recede into the past where it belongs. As I’ve read (more than once on this community) don’t look back, because you’re not going that way…it’s forward all the way, and with counselling giving you the extra help you need I think you’re going to be just fine.
Sarah xx
