Pre Open Myomectomy
In the weeks after my diagnosis, I went through a myriad of emotions. Did I wait too late? Is everything going to be alright. The staff at Prisma Health were wonderful, but my nerves were shot. I spoke a lot about my experiences with my therapist, my mom, my friends, myself. I even drove up to Charlotte for the day the week before my surgery. I cried in the car driving up there and back. I needed that time to myself.
The Day of My Open Myomectomy
The day of my surgery, I was so stressed that y blood pressure shot up so high. I had to wait to do my surgery so it could go down. When they went in, they were able to find 8 fibroids. I was told it was originally thought that I had 6 fibroids. They were the size of oranges and grapefruits. One was even the size of my head! No wonder I was struggling. Your girl was down bad. All in all they performed an open myomectomy with a C-section cut. I also got two blood transfusions.
After leaving the recovery room, I went to my own hospital room. I had a Morphine drip and a catheter the first day. They told me that I wasn’t going to have those the next day and would be getting up to walk and get myself together. By 6 am, I was catheter and morphine free. By midday I had had breakfast and lunch and had already walked twice. The nurses at the hospital were so kind. They helped wash me up and get me dressed every day.
Mom stayed with me the whole time, while family and friends came to visit me. I have medical anxiety, but I staying at that hospital was the first time I felt relaxed in a medical facility. I didn’t stay as long as I thought I would in the hospital. While I was in the hospital, I had three goals in order for me to get out of there. I needed to walk, go to the bathroom on my own, and start passing all of the gas that was locked in there. I met all of my goals, so they gave me a binder to hold my stomach in and sent me home. Always get a binder. I bought a second one on Amazon.
Post Open Myomectomy
Coming home was so interesting. I was in so much pain, and I kept trying to find a good position to sleep in because I could not sleep laying down. Finally I had to buy a surgical pillow set from Amazon at the suggestion of my cousin. While sleeping is still uncomfortable, the surgical pillow set helped immensely. Getting in and out of the bed was horrible. It took me a long time to get comfortable getting in and out of the bed at home. I was shocked to find it easier to get in and out of the hospital bed. It did have railings which helped a lot.
This surgery stressed me out so much. From the iron infusions to the actual surgery, my blood pressure was so high. I ended up on hypertension meds. Luckily my blood pressure has been going down. When I went to the hospital for surgery, my blood pressure shot up to 209 over something crazy. I shouldn’t have stressed over surgery because my surgeon and the hospital staff were very competent, but I couldn’t help it. The anxiety was real.
Recovery
My fibroids were fused to some of my muscles, so they had to cut through my muscles in my core as well as cut into my core to do my C-Section. This has made healing a long process. While I am doing much better today, I still feel the pull and tug of my core healing. I am regrowing muscles and have scars. I have been using collagen from Trader Joe’s pre and post surgery to help with my healing. Thanks Kashia for suggesting that!
I also can’t lift things up past a certain weight. I definitely feel it if I do too much. I also had a hard time standing after I came home. It wasn’t until after my first post-op appointment that I was able to make myself breakfast. I still walked after every meal, but sometimes I had to hold my stomach. Trying to lay back was difficult and so was moving my legs when I sat or laid down. It took a few weeks for me to get better at walking and bending over.
Now at 7 weeks out, I can sleep elevated on my sides, and bend over a few times each day. Since my final post op appointment, I have been cleared to drive, and I don’t have to come back until next year for my check up. While I still haven’t driven yet, I will be soon. I have a long way to go. It is going to take months for my core to fully heal. My scar looks great, but I can still feel what is going on underneath. Also I haven’t been cleared to exercise for another 6 weeks. I am being patient while I continue to be on the mend. Before I go, let me drop my Amazon store link with all the things that have helped me during my surgery. They may help you too. Yes I am an affiliate, so I do make money from the list. It helps me to pay for hosting and other business expenses. I am a one woman show here.
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