Finally home post-op? HRT ?

Well my surgery was a huge success.  My dr. said my remaining ovary was a complete mess of endometriomas and other guck!  She said it was one of the worse ovaries she has ever seen!  She discovered that my utereus was fixed due to adhesions and my C-section scars were covered with endometreoisis.  The surgery took over 3.5 hours b/c of all of the endo removal.  I am super happy to report that I feel 1000% better as far as my pain in my abdoman goes.  No more low grade burining feeling and the swelling is all gone too :-)   I think I lost about 5 lbs just from the swelling going away.  I have only a slight bit of pain from my surgery.  Having 2 c-sections over 20 years ago was MUCH worse recovery pain.  

Now for the yucky part = I had to spend 2 days in the hospital because I got really sick from the anethesia and had a hard time keeping anything down.  I had lots of anti-nausea meds and they finally got my tummy to calm down and I ate some dinner.  Then late Saturday afternoon a nurse came in and threw a hormone patch onto my back because my dr. decided to give me a jump start on hormone meds to fend off any issues.  I was a little annoyed because I had discussed with my dr. to do bio-dential hormones and to not start anything right after surgery.  So I am not sue what happened and why I got a Climera patch when I did not want one.  I was so out of it that I just went with it and did not argue, because my dr. was not on call.  Then my nightmare began = about 2 hrs. after having the patch on I got a nagging headache  and the pain was in my neck.  I put an ice bag on my head and neck and took a pain pill and passed out.  I woke up through out the night and always had the headache when I drifted in and out of sleep.  This morning when they got me up I almost passed out from the headache pain.  I thought it might be a sinus headache but it would not go away.  I started throwing up again and my head felt like it was going to explode.  It was then that I finally rememebered that when I was preg. I had migranes (migraines) from the hormones and I knew this was a killer migrane (migraine) and not sinus related!  I talked to the nurse and she went DUH? I bet you are having a reaction to the hormone patch.  She called the dr. and also checked for side effects and BINGO Headache and Nausea were the 1st 2 symptoms.  The dr. ordered her to take the patch off and wash the stuff off of my skin.  It took about 2 hours for the hormones to leave my body and my headache and nasuea finally went awy.  THANK GOD!!!  It was dreadful....  I am now at home and resting peacefully, and I have no pain at all.  I am only taking Ibuprofin and Excedrin Migrane (migraine) is on hand just in case :-)  

I really think that my hormones have been messed up for a long time due to the ovary being such a mess, so maybe I won't need a lot of replacements in the future. Time will tell, but I am so happpy I had the total hysterectomy and I look forward to living pain free in the future.  I will now jump over to the menopuase part of these forums and start bonding over there too!!!  Thanks ladies for all of your advice.  Oh ya, I wanted to say that the advice about putting an ice bag on the tummy was key!!!!  It really helped beyond measure...
        

[Mary 53]

Hi Lynne,

So nice to read your update... well, you know what I mean. So glad you are home safe and sound. Cherie will be glad to read that you're home.

Don't leave us! Nothing against the Menopause forum, but since you had a hysterectomy even though you have one remaining ovary, your menopause symptoms (or perimenopause) may be different from symptoms (meaning severity at least) that women who've gone through natural menopause will be different. That is my opinion at least. The uterus releases hormones and now that is gone... also just with regards to sexual experience, things may be different, but that does not mean things will be worse (Cherie and I have both addressed this in the past, so I know there are some posts on it. But we don't mind the subject!).

OK... Cherie, I guess I have officially designated myself your Hysterectomy side-kick... I get here when I can, but I will say that Cherie has the patience of a saint and is a great forum leader. I have just had more experience (oh, joy:) with this surgical menopause thing, so sometimes I have a different take on a subject matter.

I had a horrific headache after my lap that was done just prior to my hysterectomy (malignant cells were found in a drained cyst during the lap). I think it was my body's reaction to the changes in the hormones. Interesting that you started to feel better after the patch was withdrawn. For what it's worth, Climara is a bioidentical. It is made from Soy whereas Vivelle is made from Yams (or is it the other way around???). I also wonder what dose you were started on. I would not negate the bioidentical estradiol patches completely... if you decide to try again soon, you may need to start at a lower or maybe even higher dose or you may need to try the other patch. Just some thoughts.

I wanted to mention that I put some information on my profile page regarding surgical adhesions. Take a look. You don't want those things growing back. I offer info on a special massage technique to break up the formation of the adhesions. I wonder in retrospect if I broke up not only the adhesions but endo adhesions that may have been forming along with the surgical adhesions. I have not had problems with this for years and years now.

Take care... glad your ordeal is over.

Mary

[Cherie762]

Hi , there so good to hear from you sounds like your doing fab. Glad the ice helped, I always used to think heat for pain but ice is often way better. Wow sorry they slapped a hrt patch on you like that and on the back is a bit odd, usually its on the belly below navel level above pubic line.

You may not need the hormones , within about the next two weeks you will find out.Black Cosh is an herbal that helps many women with hot flashes etc..

Take really good care of your self Lynne, please dont over do it rest, sleep, eat easy to digest foods and if your taking pain pills take the stool softners with them being constipated soon post op is not fun.

I had some simlar things as you my ovary was :engulfed" in scar tissue and aheared to colon..my uterus had to be peeled off bladder,,,thats one great thing is I no longer have to get up several times per night to use the bathroom.

You sound in good spirits, Im so happy all went well...so enjoy your couch potatoe time..even if your pain is low,,your still healing and that takes time.
cherie

[LynneKay]

I want to clear up one item of possible confusion.  I had one ovary removed 2 years ago for endo cysts and this time I had the last ovary removed along with my uterus.  I am having zero hot flashes and do not feel any "different" hormonally than b4 surgery.  I will wait and see what developes.  I go to my dr. in 2 weeks and I will discuss bio-dentical stuff with her then.  I am SUPER sensitive to medication so I was not surprised that I had a reaction to the patch.  I really love my dr. and i know she has my best interest at heart, but it was the weekend and the nurse who slapped the patch on my upper back sort of had no clue what she was doing :-)   I know it was the patch that made me sick b/c I felt so much better a few hours after it was removed!

I slept great last night in my own bed, but woke up with lower back spasams.  I have read that this can be normal due to how they manipulate your body on the operating table.  If it does not get better I will go see my friendly chiropractor who is a saint!!!

I won't leave this forum, but I am going to check out the menopause site too.  I will check out Mary's stuff on adhesions too.  This was news to me, that I even had adhesions this bad.  I am so happy everything is gone and I hope to stay adhesion and endo free in the future!  

I am laying low, planning my day around my naps :-)  Watching lots of movies, reading books and chatting with friends.  Looking forward to my first bowel movement LOL!!!  I have only takien 3 pain pills since the surgery, and have only been on Ibuprofuin since yesterday, so hopefully things will get moving today.  I even drank a large nasty glass of prune juice last night b4 bed, so today should be the day Woo Hoo!!!!      

[Mary 53]

Hi. I was thinking of you on the way home from work (yes.. I have a long commute, but also I have been a Medhelp member for so long that it does feel like a second home from time to time!)...anyway was thinking about my comment to you regarding checking out the Menopause forum and I hope I didn't scare you!

I did want you to know that my comment was more tongue-in-cheek than anything. When I first came to Medhelp, the only place I frequented was the the Ovarian Cancer forum, but that was until they expanded the forums offered here. I gravitated to the Ovarian Cyst forum and the Hysterectomy forum.

The only reason I don't visit the Menopause forum often is because I have not figured out a way to get out the information I have in a reasonable amount of space (or typing time) and since there are so many variables on that site such as age of menopause onset, number of children, environmental issues, the effects of lifestyle, attitudes of the doctors treating the symtoms (symptoms), fear for lack of understanding hormonal issues due to the big scare in 2002 when two synthetic hormones were used in a logitudinal test that was abruptly stopped, and misunderstandings about the bioidentical hormones plus the controversial use of progesterone, etc.. I have found myself in the past spending hours each night responding to posts (not for some time now, however) and so since my menopause was surgically induced I thought I would spend what time I had over here.

But, the menopause forum needs women like you; expressive, atriculate, and welcoming. It is a quieter forum and I hope that changes soon. It is a newer forum and has taken time to get off the ground.

Thanks for clarifying your ovary situation. I wondered about that, figuring you'd had both out at this point or you wouldn't have been quite so concerned about HRT.

Also just wanted to clarify something... I used to use my Vivelle patch on my "rear" side but would occasionally switch to the front below the navel thinking I would get better results. A friend of mine said that (I think she got this from the Vivelle website) the best spot for the patch is the rear area below the waist...okay, on the backside cheek..switching sides when changing the patch. She had a graph from the website and it showed how much better the estradiol is absorbed when it is placed there. I seem to have better results myself when I use it there. I honestly couldn't live without my Vivelle!

Take care and drop by now and then to tell us how things are going!

Mary

[LynneKay]

Thanks for your openess.  I checked out the stuff about adhesions and was stunned to learn about them.  I had never heard of them until the dr. said my abdomen was full of them and she sweated like crazy removing all of them!  I did a ton of research on them today and I was a prime candidate to get them because of having 2 c-sections...  

I workout a lot because of my job and I have many different types of exercise balls to try out when I heal and can go after any future adhesions.  I am very open to alternative therapies and what your info says makes a ton of sense to me.  As a matter of fact my chiropractor uses special tools to break down scar tissue in a damaged area of my neck and foot and it really helps a lot, so I totallyu understood what you are explaining in rolling with downward pressure on the ball.  THANKS for passing this important info on to me, I will use it in the future.  

SO far today I a not having any issues without hormones.  I am in a wait and see mode for now.  I know I will need some hormoneal support in the future but for now I am just resting comfortably finally pain free :-)

Lynne  

[Laney8463]

Hey Lynne,
So glad to hear your surgery was a success. One word to the wise though. For anyone with endo, post hysterectomy with removal of ovaries, be careful with the hormones. Don't get me wrong, I am a HUGE believer in bioidentical hormone replacement and use it myself. I did get into some trouble though post op as I was such a mess with menopuase symptoms that I started estrogen 2 weeks post op. I really needed it and don't regret it for a second. The problem was that even though I was feeling much better, the estrogen was feeding the endo that was left over and I was back in full blown pain after about 6 weeks. My endo was actully developing tumors in my abdomen again and I therefore had to cut way back on my dose of estrogen. I see a menopuase specialist that my surgeon recommended and she was able to concoct a dose of estrogen (low amt) progesterone and testosterone (high amts) that would be able to basically extinguish the endo that had grown back so quickly.
I had my surgery 6 months ago and we are slowing working to get the right dose of hormones. It's a science that takes time but Im sure I will get there. My gyn/onc wanted me to wait 6 months to start the hormones but with my symptoms I was unable to wait.
Please dont be afraid of the hormones, they are so beneficial to our bodies. You may need to start on a lower dose due to the destruction of your ovary from the endo.
At any rate, keep an open mind and listen to the wonderful ladies on this forum. They are such a wealth of info.  I have learned so much here and if I can help in any way, just ask.
Good Luck and take it slow. Recovery is as important as your surgery.
Laney

[LynneKay]

I am starting to wonder if I was even making any hormones before my hysterectomy b/c 2 years ago when all of this started my GYN did blood work that showed I was in Menopause and I was only getting periods every once in awhile.  They removed my left ovary due to large cysts and discovered the endo at that time too.  After the lap. to remove my cysts and left ovary I only had 2 heavy periods after that and then no periods at all for the last 8 months.  Over the past 2 years I have went through hot flashes,sleep issues, and low libdo w/ dryness, and foggy thinking.  Most of that has cleared up over the past few months, so maybe I might dodge the hormonal bullet b/c I have already went through these issues already.  I know I will probably need some future support, but for now I am just enjoying feeling whole again.  My dr. did mention that she would have to be carefule with estrogen b/c of my Endo but she said she would work closely with me to get the correct balance and shut down any future endo growths.  Time will tell, I am open to different therapies and I do not want to have any more bad reactions to hormones!!!

Thanks for your advice...    

[Mary 53]

Thanks Lynne, for letting me know you found the information on Adhesions... glad it was so helpful! I am grateful for eternity to the gal who taught me how to do that Bodyrolling!

You know, the more I think about it, the more I wonder if I was able to break up not only surgical adhesions but I wonder if Endo was starting to come back, too. I guess I will never know exactly what I broke up down there since, as I mentioned in my journal article, I am clean as a whistle now and have been for some time.

But, I had endometriosis, too, and here I was in so much pain a few months after my surgery. No one mentioned the possibility of endo coming back...and the Oncologist slapped that Vivelle patch on my butt the day after my surgery.

So, I was wondering if the bodyrolling would be helpful for everyone concerned about not only adhesions but endo returning, too.

I have a friend who borrows my little squishy medicine ball to body-roll in order to keep her pain at bay and she had her hsyterectomy due to endo. They wanted her to wait six months for estradiol but she was a mess and started to use the patch... but she body-rolls as soon as the pain shows up. She has had a lot of relief.

I don't know... just throwing out ideas here. You all got me to thinking.

Off to bed.

Take care everyone.

Mary