Sophia...thinking Of You During Your Prep...

[DancingLight]

Sophia,

Are you a Golden Goose? Have you made yourself a comfy bed in the bathroom (or IN the bathtub!?) I hope you are managing as best as possible so far with the prep, but am sure you are exhausted and weak from it.

I don't even know if you will be checking your email (did you bring your comp. with you into the bathroom? )

But, I wanted to send you good thoughts...I know you have struggled so long with horrible bleeding and menstrual problems...and I know this surgery was a hard decision to make.

I hope so much that it will all go smoothly and you will finally have some relief.

Please, when you are able, check in with us and let us know how you are doing.

Many good thoughts your way...

Emily

[Sophia3]

Emily,

You are so thoughtful to remember me today! Just gettiing ready to do the liquid laxative drink.

Ok...I have not even taken the magnesium citrate yet but did taste it and almost vomited.

They have this ONE SIZE FITS ALL deal for bowel cleansing..whether 120 lbs or 300.

I was supposed to take some gruesome stool softener at 10AM, FOUR PILLS! Well, even on a liquid diet, I was afraid my stomach might not empty quickly. So I too one Dulcolax at 1AM. Well it had a mild effect before coffee and STRONG effect after!!

On only 1/4 of the dose!

Just all this drinking is making me nauseated....so I am only going to do a childrens dose of the mag citrate. Instead of 10 oz (HOLY COW!) I am doing 3-4 ounces. The deal is to get the cleansing done, let the gut rest, and hydrate tonight big time with chicken broth (apple juice --SWEET even diluted but I will try it) and Gatorade, etc. The cut off time drinking is 1AM.

I have to be at the hospital at 9:15 with surgery around 11:00. Well, I shall be up late drinking as much as my body allows me and will take DDAVP.

Wish me luck. As long as I can hold in the fluids tonight, I will be fine.

But to be this darned dose sensitive does not really surprise me.

All they would give me at the hospital is liquid IV..here I can use other stuff to hydrate.

Also the hospital when they called today said "You couldn't give us a urine speciment". I said I WAS NEVER ASKED!! So they want me to produce one in the AM. I said good luck after not drinking all night.

And then I just remembered, after lying down to rest after the blood draw, I even asked to use the bathroom before leaving. So she missed the note for urine specimen.

Well, I better to make my hot sock AND put a hot water bottle in the bathroom.

[wareagle]

You beat me Em...I was going to post the same thing!!

Sophia,

My thoughts and prayers are with you!! Sounds like you're having lots of "fun" with the prep already . I hope that things will go smoothly today and that by time tomorrow rolls around you will be nice and cleaned out.

I know that surgery is never an easy choice but I hope that this will bring you some MUCH needed relief...we'll all be sending good thoughts your way tomorrow.

[goldicedance]

Sophia, Know that I am thinking positive thoughts for a complete and quick recovery! With you all the way! Lois

[Dizzy Dame]

Good luck Sophia! We're all thinking of you

[futurehope]

May your recovery be swift and easy!

[jenwclark]

Sending good thoughts for tonight and tomorrow.

[Sophia3]

Thanks for the kind words and wishes.

It's 10pm and this laxative effect will not stop...or should I say liquid effect. As soon as I get one good glas of fluids in, out it goes.

Needless to say I SKIPPED the enema for tonight. Hope to do the one for the morning. I will be up until 1 AM TRYING to get fluids in me..and be at the hospital at 9:00 ...surgery for about 11:00.

Man, this stuff had a delayed effect after the second dose ( I was supposed to take 10 oz mag citrate but only did 4) Afer90 minutes or so, took a second dose and it did not kick into high gear until 6:30.

So this is a bummer...but I had no idea what to expect. Most website said it kicked in within 30-90 minutes.

Obviously the slow stomach emptying affected this....so.

I wish I could have some crackers or pretzels but shall perservere!

[Sunfish]

you have been, are & will be in my thoughts & prayers. i do hope this brings some relief your way. and i don't envy the prep...i've done two different preps (for colonoscopies) in the past several years and they were NOT fun at all...

all the best,

melissa

[Sophia3]

thanks Melissa..I thought I lucked out not getting the Golytely or Nulytely junk you have to drink so much of and it taste like soapy rotten milk (or so I have read)

I should've probably gone with just the first half dose of this stuff..but needless to say, wanted to be cleaned out properly and had no idea what to do. Also the tates was so gaggy sweet, I would do it with Sprite next time. The surgeon did suggest the lemon lime and said it was like salty Mountain dew..but I got a generic and it was just lime gross. But still better than drinking a gallon of the other types of prep or HORSE SIZED PILLS.

You have done this TWICE! Oy vey.

Thanks for the kind words, melissa. You are such a trooper with your own battles yet always supporting others here.

All the thoughts here are appreciated, folks.

[Jersey Girl]

Good luck today Sophia. I have been thinking about you and hope that all goes well later. Martha

[morgan617]

With ya friend......this is not for the faint of heart...so to speak...hope all goes quick and well and smoothly....and you are perkin up before you know it! morgan

[DancingLight]

SOPHIA?????

I see you are online????? Are my eyes tricking me???

Does this mean you are home safe and sound in your own bed???

Oh, I hope so!!!! I hope you are able to recup well and quickly....(No pulling my GB stunt, k?)

Hugs,

Emily

[Guest sonotech]

Emily,

Maybe she is home already.....she was last logged in at 2:06pm today! Hope things went well. I am assuming that since you are home already that you are doing ok!

[Dawg Tired]

Oh, I hope you are home and doing okay - or if not-so-okay maybe at least able to sleep throught the bad feeling you get from the anesthesia!

It will take a while but, for me, just to be rid of the constant bleeding was a great thing!

[dizzygirl]

sophia im alittle late here.. but i hope that all went well.. and tht you are recovering ok..

take care

[Sophia3]

I am home but felt too tired to post earlier.

The surgery was a piece of cake the surgeon said but for one thing. He asked "What the h*** kind of bowel prep did you do??"

I said what he told me. He said "In hundreds, and hundreds of surgerys, I never saw a bowel so bloated up and gassy. I had to keep moving it out of my way."

THIS was my complaint the night of the prep before surgery it created pressure. I asked him if my auotnomic problems could've added to that and he looked clueless and said "Maybe."

but how EMBARRASSING. So now, I can not expell air at all.

Took FOREVEr to get the bladder to start and only had a catheter 3 hrs..and i know the bowel can get lazier...but last night, i thought the urine would NEVER star flowing and I had strong urgency. Took 15 minutes, several Valsalva like maneuvers to get out 3-4 tablespoons of urine. SHEESH. The nurses made me pee in a hat in the toilet to keep track of liquid going in and out. About 1 Am, I still struggled and the nurse came in with a tiny machine to read my bladder (with a sonogram device sort of) It said I had 89 ml urine still in bladder. So I drank more and fell asleep for 2 hrs.

At 4 AM I passed 200 or 300 ml of urine..still work but a lot easier. YAY...Nurse said this was very good sign and it's gotten easier today...no more valsava like maneuvers to make me light headed but sheesh.

Now to work on bowel problem. been pacing around the house, took some charcoal tabs and stool softener and hot rice sock on abdomen.

Years ago, with the old style surgery, you could not go home after a hysterectomy untl you went to the bathroom or at least passed gas.

Who knew what was so important...well, I DID but I had no idea it was so incomfortable until tonight..much like the urine thing was last night.

I am going to email my autonomic doc tomorrow as I STILL say the ANS messed up the perestalsis motion and caused the gassieness.

So that's my infamous update. The nurse said "We always knew you were full of hot air." Ha ha.

Thanks for the words of support and you guys are astute...dectectives Emily and Sonotech...like Columbo seeing when the pt was on line.

Can't get anything past folks these days can we.

Well, I shall celebrate the british term breaking wind when it happens. I hope I don't have to resort to an enema.

Again, thanks for thinking of me and sorry for the too much information.

[DancingLight]

Wow! Sophia! I am absolutely impressed that you were able to post today. Yeah!

I am laughing at all of your details of gas, poop and pee! It is horrible to feel so bloated and constipated, but hopefully things will start moving soon. Just the fact that you are able to move around the house and such is great.

I have to admit that every time someone on this board goes in for surgery I am TERRIFIED for them. It is soooo hard for me and that is why I watch extra hard to see how someone is doing before and after surgery. It's horrible b/c I had such a nightmare and trauma and am always so afraid that will happen to someone else....so I am just soooo excited to hear that you are home and the surgery went well and you are moving around.

I know the not being able to pee and poop are a pain, but in the grand scheme of things, I'm just so grateful you are doing so well. I couldn't pee at all for at least 24 hours after surgery and had to continue to be cathed. It was miserable. The nurses were mad at me b/c I coudln't pee and woudln't cath me...but ey, that's another story.

Thanks for checking in with us! I just logged on before I hit the hay for the night, so this was a good post to see!

Emily

[Dawg Tired]

Sophia, you might try glycerine suppositories before you resort to an enema....

[jenwclark]

And after all that, you still have a sense of humor.

I'm glad the surgery went well, in spite of the unique complications. I hope your recovery goes smoothly and that you're feeling more comfortable soon.

spike

[MightyMouse]

Sophia, I hope you're feeling better and better each day.

I never mentioned it in any of my post-surgical posts, but I, too, had a heck of a time getting urine to flow after being catheterized. After my d&c a few years ago I was in recovery and would have been released hours earlier if I could have just produced a bit of urine--easier sadi than done! Teri stayed in the bathroom with me and rubbed my back for a half hour just to get a little bit going so I could finally go home. The same thing has happened after every surgery I've had where there's been general anesthesia (5 times so far...).

It's going to take your body quite some time to get back to "it's normal" self (we all know that it's not "normal" when compared to the rest of the world, but you know what I mean). Give yourself at least a month for your guts to adjust, and several months to start feeling completely better. Teri, who was pretty healthy at the time of her hysterectomy, said it was a full year for her to fully recover--she had the full open procedure with hip to hip incision.

Here's to a windy day for you! I know you'll feel better afterward.

Nina

[kmpower]

A little trick parents of colicky babies do is put in the tip (lubricated) of the enema without the hose, bag or water...just something to keep the sphincter open. Seems that the babies sometimes have spasms. The gas is ready to go but the door is too tight.

Good luck with that.

But otherwise, so glad the surgery is done and you are doing so well.

OLL

[Sophia3]

Hey all a quick update.

I tried inserting a little warm water of a plain enema..didn't do anything YIKES..tried gas X...nada. Lay on left side, nothing helped. Added a bit more warm water and at least it came back out.

Finally around 2;30 AM, I did an old yoga prayer pose...hands and knees..walk hands out until head on floor like prayer postion...rear in air....I felt major shift in the gut but the "back door" was too uptight. So I got up on the bed and lay on left side which created a major cramp shift and "small victory". That means, I tooted, Emily.

I repeated the yoga pose and it worked even better...then, it worked no more ...but enough to give tiny pressure relief. I woke up feeling less laparascopic gas pressure and less gut pressure. And all the orifices seem to be cooperating as opposed to staying "sealed."

It is so nice that my bladder is easy to empty again....Wow...the little things we take for granted.

Thanks for lettiing me post about these basic bodily functions. They really are importnant.

Nina, I feel so blessed to live in a day when the lap supracervical hyst is possible!! Of course my body still needs time to heal and all that but compared to the old way of doing things, it's amazing.

Off to watch the car rce from Arizona and the sun is trying to come out here!!

And yes, Nina, I hope the day continues to be windy.

[mom4cem]

I missed the whole boat here for wishing you good luck, but glad to see you are recovering. Speedy recovery

[Dawg Tired]

Yay for Sophia's "windy day"....

The things we end up being thankful for.... been there....

I, too, had the full open hyst due to adhesions and endometriosis.