Hysterectomy this week (18th) - complications

I’m so sorry to hear this. Have you had chance to speak to the consultant or specialist nurses?

I know they did go through all the risks with me and said there was a chance things may change during the op 

They did say all along it would be laproscopic but post op they said my uterus had been pulled through my vaginally which appenrently is laproscopic which had caused the bleed. They did mention they might need to change to open surgery but this was last minute but the thing that is confusing me is that they said post op that only  options were open or vaginally. Sorry to post this here as I know a lot of people are worried about upcoming surgery and from what I've seen this is normally a straightforward operation.

Mine was laparoscopic last week and then my uterus was pulled through my vagina. They were pretty sure this was possible as apparently my uterus was small. They said if when it came to it it wasn’t possible then they would do an open one. 

I do feel for you at this time. Are you home now? Rest up and concentrate on getting your strength back. 

please do voice concerns to the specialist nurses x

I will definitely do that. When I came to I wasnt really aware of how seriou7s it was and only think about it now. This was my first surgery. I was I was low risk for surgery and the type of surgery was low risk so it does make me apprehensive if they say I need further treatment.

Stay strong try not to let it interfere with your recovery and look after yourself. 

Sorry to hear of your problems.

FYI, I had a hysterectomy recently, which was done robotically (keyhole), but I was told in advance that because my uterus was thick and I had not had children they would make a small incision on my bikini line to remove the bits rather than try to remove them vaginally and risk tearing. 

Were you expecting to be discharged on the same day ? I did read that this is now becoming usual, but at the hospital I was at they keep you overnight for one night afterwards before discharging you, as they want to check your waterworks are still ok (I had to drink so much water the next morning in order to produce the requisite amount of pee for them to let me go - they were measuring every time I went ! )

Hello Windy10

I am so sorry to hear that you have had a rough time with your surgery. The vast majority of ladies on here have positive experiences and it is such a shame that you have had to go through this. 

How are you feeling now? it must be good to be at home now and to be able to start to recover. I hope that you are not in too much discomfort. 

I would suggest as a first step, when you feel ready, to talk to either your CNS or the consultant to get them to talk through step by step what happened and why. 

it does seem to me that other than a slightly high BMI that you haven't got any factors that would suggest an issue with surgery would be likely. It seems that they understood that your uterus was enlarged and the laxatives were to help mitigate any problem. The warning of perhaps needing to be opened up seems normal. A laparoscopic hysterectomy does normally involve removing the womb through the vagina. 

I think the thing I would be thinking of asking to be explained is why the decision to remove an enlarged womb vaginally was medically the best decision. And perhaps ask why they decided to do this as opposed to open surgery when they had spoken to you about it. It may well be that they thought that removing the womb vaginally was less of a risk that going to open surgery and a longer recovery. There may be other reasons for the decision but you are well within your rights to ask for an explanation. 

With calling your husband, I agree it was delayed and that is something to also ask about. Also I would have felt that the consultant who did your surgery should have been the one to come to talk to you where it was possible. I suppose that sometimes they may get called urgently somewhere else. 

My personal feeling is that focussing on your recovery is the most important thing to do first but I do think you do need some one to talk through what has happened. Once you have got more detail about what happened then you can start to think about whether you are ok with the decisions that were made or if you want to take it any further.

The next step  could be to contact PALS for some advice and support. This does not necessarily mean making a complaint but it could be that they could look at their practice and make changes. It could be they review what has happened and that it was something that went wrong but that no one was at fault. They are there to help resolve concerns and can also offer support. 

What is PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service)? - NHS

Hope this helps a bit. If you feel like talking it through with someone would help, then please do give the Support Line a call. 

I hope that you can get some answers from either your CNS or consultant soon but in the meantime we are here if you need us. I wish you well for your recovery. 

Jane

Hi Jane, I am confused by your answer to another poster about hysterectomy.

How can a laparoscopic hysterectomy be via the vagina? I was told that if I had that, it would be removed through the tummy. 

I don't understand, so please explain this. In any event, I am having hormone treatment at the moment due to my BMI and other medical issues but would like to understand how all works....thanks!

So sorry to hear your experience.  I'm 53 with no children and whilst was officially booked in as laparoscopic was told it would probably be abdominal and may even be vertical. In the end it was normal abdominal.

Thank you ladies for all the advise and support. I will definitely call my cns as a first step. Thanks for letting me know about pals .In. In answer to poohsticks question I was expecting to be discharged the same day but only kept me in due to the complication (but also did not end up going down for surgery until In the afternoon so may well have been next day anyway)