Hysterectomy Diary - the day after

3^rd June 2010

I finally had my op at about 5.00. It felt like a long wait. But the anaesthetic was very quick and I was out in seconds. The anaesthetist told me he would give me a spinal painkilling injection, but that happened when I was unaware of it. At the back of my mind, I remembered thinking that I was very much against the idea of spinal injections in childbirth. There were some horror stories around for a while. But as I lay on the table, I was quite philosophical about whatever was to take place.

Some time around 6.30 p.m., I was back in my room – to be honest it’s vague, because I slept on and off then for the next 24 hours. I had painkillers at about six and ten o’clock, but after that, not till the morning, and I was a bit uncomfortable during the night. Not a dramatic pain, but a dull ache like a period, or the early stage of labour. Added to that was the fact that I was checked half hourly for blood pressure. So in the morning, I was as tired as if I hadn’t slept – and carried on sleeping in between bed bath, breakfast, lunch and a three hour visit from the OH. I managed to listen to The Archers at 7.05, then slept till 8.30 and woke up for the first time, no longer feeling tired. In fact, now at 10.45 p.m. I’m wide awake.

I’m drinking lots of water and my saline drip was removed, mid-morning, though I still have the attachment, stuck into the back of my hand. In a few days, I will have the catheter, presently stuck through a hole in my stomach, removed, after some test runs to see if I can manage on my own. Not much bleeding either, I’m glad to say.

I haven’t any appetite, and because I had an upset stomach a few days before the op, I’m not forcing anything down. My throat was sore too, and it was difficult swallowing, so I asked for soluble pain killers. One nurse couldn’t find any, but broke my tablet into four, which made it easier.

I have long socks on – the ones to prevent clots – and these are a bit warm, as, wouldn’t you know it, the weather has changed from cold to sunny and warm. I also had an injection into my tum tonight, for the same reason – to prevent clots forming.

Talking of which, the OM took our old Dyson to our local recycling centre, today. He put his old bike on board, so that he could park somewhere free and cycle to the hospital. (He arrived panting, having pushed the bike up the steep hill to the entrance.) At the junk yard, he unloaded it in order to get to the bits of Dyson. Before he knew it, the cycle was being removed and he had to rush after the man who’d taken it for trash, and retrieve it. He just managed to save it from being recycled.

Now 11.00 p.m. and I think it’s time for lights out. The curtains are very light, but fortunately, I have my flight mask.