Post Op

I had surgery last week. A total abdominal hysterectomy to be precise. Earlier this year I had a little ER trip and the doctor was like “you’re fine but um you got some real abdominal distention lets do a CT Scan” and then “oh yeah you got some fibroids go get that checked out.”

An OBGYN had some test done and she was like “honestly I don’t know how you aren’t in extreme pain all the time.” I told her I noticed a little weight gain and that my periods had gotten bad but I told my general practitioner and switched birth control but the rest I just attributed to getting older?

Anyway we were going to schedule it for the summer, and the Covid, and then the state let people have “elective” surgery again so I scheduled it.

What it is: Right so they removed uterus, tubes, cervix. Anything that would create a fibroid or maybe have cancer later in the future (no cancerous anything was found). They left ovaries cause nobody wants to be 38 and having menopause. I’m done having kids, the OBGYN only asked once and it was never brought up again, so we agreed on surgery.

How it went: whew. The ultrasound measured me at 19cm. That’s like 6 months pregnant except with no baby. A typical uterus is like 7cm? Sometimes if they catch them early, you can have a laparoscopic that’s less major and they can just remove the fibroids that way. I was way past that. You get completely knocked out so all I remember is the anesthesiologist saying “okay you’re gonna feel this margarita kick in and we’ll see you later” and then I woke up in pain as they were moving me into recovery and saying “it’s okay we’re gonna get you some meds”. And then it was nighttime.

Before surgery I did some googles and looked through reddits about what other people went through when they had their uterus removed. Some people had a sense of loss cause I mean you are literally getting a piece of your body removed. Some grappled with the idea of permanetnelty not being able to have kids, even if they never wanted them. Others were glad to get it over with. I was somewhere in the middle. I mean it was weird to permanently remove my birth control reminder from my phone for ever and ever. And the idea of never having a period again is very exciting. But also it’s a *major* surgery and I’m on pain meds and hunched over when I walk and I can’t even watch funny shows right now cause it hurts to chuckle.

If you are a person with a uterus, talk to your doctor about fibroid. Everyone seems to know it’s a thing, they seem to know that it affects Black people way more than everyone else, and it’s just like “well you know, nobody knows why. Genetics?” And it is genertcs, so talk to your family about that as well.

Kamala Harris introduced a bill to increase funding for the research on uterine fibroids.

“There is a serious lack of education about the condition, despite the fact that it is incredibly common — most women will get them by the time they’re 50 — exacerbated by the fact that Black women are less likely to have their pain and symptoms taken seriously by doctors. Many people with fibroids have no symptoms, but others experience pelvic pain, anemia, miscarriages, infertility, and heavy bleeding. These issues can significantly interfere with the sufferer’s quality of life, and can lead to more severe health issues.”

Refinery 29

BITCH WHAT?! Anyway, I had to learn and now you know so pass it on and tell everyone to ask their healthcare providers to I dunno print more pamphlets.

Anyway so I’m eating a lot of soups and accepting help from others and taking a lot of GasX (the post op gas is the worst pain). Lastly, yes my doctor took a photo of my overdeveloped uterus but I won’t post it on here. I’ll totally email you if you want to be disgusted.