Advice / Tips on Recovery Please - How did you rest, bowel movement, labia swelling etc

Hi,

Wow an 18cm fibroid! Thought mine felt bad enough being 8cm! Wonder how much they weighed?!

We are really similar as I'm 11 days post abdominal op😉Yes the gas was awful and not expected....

My bowels were bad around day 5 with diarrhoea so I went right back to basics and only ate plain boiled rice and roast chicken, sourdough bread, eggs etc, all very boring but seemed to have helped settle things down and I've been back on my normal diet the last two days eating everything including all the yummy chocolates I've been given😀

I didn't feel comfortable trying the Esmya as the side effects didn't sound great and I knew it was only a temporary fix if it worked at all. Plus I wanted to know what the end treatment was going to be before trying them so I decided to get a second opinion privately and so glad I did. I think Esmya is possibly a good idea if you're near menopause to tie you over and haven't got large fibroids...,

I had my op done by Jenny Lo in Brighton.

I've been up and about today doing breakfast and pottering, then showered and dried my hair, did lunch and now back in bed exhausted😴I've not ventured out the house yet. Feel really breathless when I'm up walking about.....

Looking forward to getting my energy levels back.....

I think the esmya was an attempt to make me feel more comfertable while i waited. The fibroid caused me all sorts of issues from sciatica to not been able to pee on occasions. It was a complete nightmare, the sciatica cause me to fall over and break bones in my hand last october. So medication was worth a try even if it didnt work in the long run. Have you had to have any home visits or the like since you got home ?

 

Yes I think you're completely right that it may be helpful to some as an interim measure before operations.

Gosh breaking your bones from the sciatica sounds horrendous! You've had a lot to deal with....

No home visits from medical people. I did go back to hospital last Saturday though for a check over as I woke up with a swollen labia below and was worried.

I assume my doctor will schedule in a 6wk check maybe? I'm due to see my surgeon on 7th April for a follow up.

How have you been feeling? Have you been up and about or outdoors?

no home visits for me, My GP did ring me a few days after I got home and i mentioned the gas issue which she said was normal, and she booked me an appointment for next week for the nurse to have a look at my scar. so that will be my first day out .. im up each day and sit on the couch and then potter a bit and then back to the couch. Im a bit lightheaded if im up too long but i think thats just the sick bed symdrome and will pass. I dont seem to be as bruised as you and am amazed at the reduction size in my belly. The surgeon did say she'll give me the weight etc when i go to the clinic in a few weeks. Im looking forward to life without the fribroid. Im sure it will be all worth it in the end ..

 

Yeah I'm lightheaded too! I've been up sitting on the sofa but find that after a while I need to lie flat, again because of the bruising I think more than anything.

I really didn't expect to have bruising like I've had... not sure if it's because I'm so petite to begin with?

Yes it's nice to see a flat tummy. I can imagine yours must be super flat now having had an 18cm fibroid taking up

So much room! Do you feel lighter?

i feel a lot lighter but havent weighed my self yet .. as you say the brusing may be because you are so small .. but its all up hill from here .. just take it as easy as you can ..

 

Yeah, it's nice to know the fibroids are out and won't be growing anymore....

I've lost around 9lb since my op but am eating well now so it'll go back on I'm sure 😉👍

Hi Irishwales....were you told that esmya is compulsory before the op as I stopped taking mine as they made me feel so bad and my op is in around 6-8 weeks x

so you didnt take esmya before the op JVA? I am having my op done in Cornwall UK .

hi karmaway, intitally i was given the esmya as the only option but when I spoke to my GP she told me to back and tell them that i wanted to go on the waiting list for the hysterectomy. I assume that becuase i was 49 they thought id go into menopause soon. I did as the GP told me and got trasnferd to a different consultant who was horrified that they first lot thought id be ok on the esmya only. She suggest i keep taking it to try and reduce it in size while i waited for the op, I felt ok on it so had 3 cycles on it which im told in the maximum its licenced for. In what way did they make you feel bad ?

No I didn't as my surgeon didn't rate any of the drugs. The NHS gynae consultant wanted me to take them and come back in 4months to discuss treatment options and told me they didn't have any side effects! I wasn't convinced and did some research online and decided I didn't want to chance the side effects for what was a temp fix, and I wanted to be clear on my end treatment plan.

My surgeon didn't ask me to take anything prior to surgery.

I think the NHS are suggesting them to buy more time and see if they help meanwhile whilst putting people on the waiting list for ops. I know Esmya is supposed to be good fit easing heavy monthly bleeds but I didn't have that thankfully.

Ahhh ok I see! I'm was wondering if I'm putting myself at risk not taking them before the op as apparently they help with blood loss. I am the same as read up and thought bugger that! Tried them twice and ugh!! Will post side effects under Irishwales comment x

Yeah that's not great at all sending you away!! Yeah I'm meant to be taking it for 3 cycles too but I took it for 3 weeks last year and 5 days this time! They gave me really bad mood swings and generally made me feel very low and flat! I guess it's because they kill your hormones dead in their tracks! It's not a healthy thing to do! Plus they may not even work so more toxins on top of my already poorly body with massive fibroids, flooding periods etc and Graves' disease to boot! Ughhhh!!

Yeah I read that and did wonder but my surgeon didn't seem to rate any of the drugs used to help shrink fibroids. I thought well she's the expert so if it was necessary she would've told me 😉

I read that they give you mood swings, headaches, vertigo, tummy cramps etc and thought that all sounded worse than what I was already having! I know not everyone gets them but I don't fair well with anything hormonal like the pill etc so I probably would've got it all haha....

ah .. ive had the graves disease as well .. I had the radioactive theapery about 2 years ago to bring me into underactive but I ended up going back to normal. I have wondered if its all realated. i never lost any weight with the over active thyroid which they say is unusal. I didnt have heavy bleeding, but did have my coil removed last may by my consultant who recommanded it , she was doing a biopsy as well so after that i felt a lot better far less pain. I never read up on the side affects but my husband did and said he'd let me know if i need to stop them. I didnt have any issues with them but they didnt work so in hind sight i wouldnt have taken them. 

Ohhhh no way!! I have met a few people who have both!! Definitely linked although the endo's won't have it! How can it not be?? It's all hormones isn't it? Ugh! Well maybe then if they don't work there's no side effects? I'm on the lowest dose ever of carbimazole atm. In range nearly but TSH still undetectable!! I'm getting there slowly just hope the op doesn't push me back over ya know? Bet you're gladl to gave your op out the way! Sorry to hijack your post JVA haha xx

No need to apologise at all. It's good to share 😉

Thank you 😁