On November 28, 2024 I FINALLY had my hysterectomy surgery at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. It has been nearly a week since that surgery and I want to share that experience with you, in the off-chance that you may be getting ready for your own hysterectomy and these tips help.
You can read all about the hysterectomy prep work I did prior to my surgery and I also have a long list of articles chronicling everything that took place prior to actually getting everything taken out!
If you want to read my Journey to Health series click here!
Hysterectomy Surgery Day
This is my fourth surgery at St. Mike’s and the last one was in 2022 where pandemic practices were still in play. This time around the experience was definitely a lot calmer, mainly because I knew what to expect having gone through something similar for the cyst removal. That said, the nerves and jitters were still there. The random tears as you enter the hospital were also there. Luckily Chris was able to join me for most of the waking process, so that was very helpful (something that wasn’t allowed in 2022).
The day before the surgery I called the number that was given and was informed that my surgery would take place at 8 a.m. and that I was to register at the hospital for 6 a.m. I also was told to stop eating by midnight and to wash myself with the antibacterial soap the night before and the morning of surgery. They forgot to remind me about that pregnancy test I was supposed to take (they usually do this test at the pre-opp appointment but new legislation no longer allows hospitals to do this test apparently). Not to worry, one of the nurses conducted the test on the day of surgery.
The morning of the surgery was a quick one to be honest. Based on my previous experience I expected my surgery time to get delayed due to emergency surgeries etc. None of that happened. In fact, Chris was able to go back home and work all morning because we live so close to the hospital and there really was nothing for him to do while I was under anesthesia. After check-in, we were given a standard hospital cubicle area for me to change into the hospital gowns and Chris was able to stay with me here while I was given pills (I know one was to colour my pee so that the surgeons could easily see the bladder and keep it safe) and saline. Since I had forgotten to take that pregnancy test, we did one here along with having my blood pressure monitored. It was too early for those candesartan pills so I didn’t take any regular meds prior to surgery. I also had nurses prep my hands for the IV and that was the most painful part to be honest. It’s not easy finding my veins!
All my stuff ( I had packed an overnight bag and had my winter coat) was put in a bag and I was informed that it would be waiting for me in my private room after surgery (I said I would pay for the private room instead of being in the shared facilities covered by OHIP). Even though I don’t use my sleep apnea machine, I was told to bring it with me because it’s helpful after surgery – this is true, I did find it useful for the first night! That was also taken by them.
All this happened rather quickly and I needed to sneak in my morning bowel movement too so before I knew it, I was being told that it was surgery time! A quick goodbye hug and Chris was gone as I walked with the nurses toward the OR. I clearly remember walking in and going “oh it looks just like in Grey’s Anatomy”. Yeah. I did that. I also asked for pictures and was told they’ll do their best (spoiler alert – there was one taken but it never made its way to me). After a few quick hellos to all the female staff in the operating room, I was told to breathe and that it’s just oxygen. Well.. that was a lie. I felt my mouth go numb and I was off to la la land. I thought I’d see my Doctor prior to going under but that was not in the plan as things were moving rather quickly that morning!
Timeline
6 a.m. – we joined a large group of people for registration
6:30 a.m. – I have my bracelet, Chris was given his call sheet and we were moved to a private area
7:45 a.m. – a bunch of tests were administered, we met with various nurses, the anesthesiologist, had pills and saline etc
7:55 a.m. – I walk with two doctors towards the surgery room
8:00 a.m. – I’m asleep surgery begins
Noonish – I gain consciousness in post surgery recovery area (Chris received a call at 11:30 a.m. informing of a successful surgery)
3:00 p.m. – I am moved to a private room in the birthing ward. Friends/family are allowed to visit
5:00 p.m. – allowed to eat
I stayed overnight and was released the next day by 4 p.m.
Post Surgery Feelings
I woke up sometime between noon and 1 p.m. is my guess. My glasses were handed to me and I noticed that the sleep apnea machine bag was on the stretcher with me. It took another hour for me to full regain consciousness but as soon as I woke up I felt the urge to pee (but couldn’t physically). I was told it wasn’t likely because they had emptied my bladder right after surgery and it was only an hour or so since then. Well, I kept insisting and they finally brought a machine and confirmed that my bladder was indeed full and that they should put a catheter in to help empty it. I’m very cognizant about my body and how things feels – it’s how I was able to catch the cysts growing and ask for that scan to begin with! I hung out in this are until about 2:45 p.m. I could hear others around me coming out of their consciousness. I attempted to chat with my nurses to see how the surgery went but all I got was that it went well. Nothing else. Did they remove everything? Was the left ovary kept back? How big was the junk? Nada. I was told they’ll move me to a private room as soon as they have one and that my husband can come see me there.
I was pushed on the stretcher towards the maternity ward and I honestly was starting to wonder if I even had surgery. You see, I wasn’t feeling out of sorts or in pain. I started to worry that perhaps they drained the large cyst like last time and ran out of time… or something. Unfortunately the nurse in this room didn’t even know what type of surgery I had. In fact she had me get up and walk over to pee because I felt the urge again. She also had no clue where my belongings were. I attempted to pee unsuccessfully but I was able to walk – so that’s a good sign post surgery right? By 3:15 I was reunited with my items and I had the nurse dig my phone out so I could message Chris whilst they gave me meds and took my blood pressure.
Well, I was starting to get annoyed now because all Chris knew was that surgery was successful and they removed a cyst and ovary. He didn’t even know what type of surgery I was really going in for – lol! He thought it odd that I was wondering if my uterus was taken out! Obviously my blood pressure was going up at this point because no one was able to tell me anything.
Family came in to see me and the nurse said that the surgeon will be around to chat with me at some point. That point was around 5 p.m. This was when I heard the wonderful news that the surgery was very successful, the right ovary and large cyst were removed along with my uterus. She also mentioned that there was a deeply embedded 5 cm fibroid along with other smaller ones that were removed. AND… a whack load of scar tissue. My left ovary was “beautiful” . My appendix was “pristine” so they were left behind. Which was always the goal. That cyst on the left ovary? It seemed to have disappeared (just like the hernia disappeared right before my last surgery). This was a huge sigh of relief. Perhaps this is why I wasn’t feeling too off… all that junk was taken out and all I had to deal with were the small laparoscopic holes which weren’t really hurting (meds were helping of course). All the stuff was pulled out through the vagina so there were no large cuts at all.
It definitely is annoying that we had to wait that long to get the answers but I understand that doctors are busy and have other patients they need to check in on. I guess the lesson here is, ensure your emergency contact knows ALL the questions they should ask when they get that post surgery call! Also, keep your phone with your sleep apnea machine because that’s always going to be with you!
I spent the night in the hospital because they wanted to monitor things. As I mentioned, the holes in my abdomen stung but didn’t hurt too much. My wrists on the other hand were insanely painful. The IV points might have been infiltrated and things were swelling up so the nurse said she can remove it all. The pain continued for about 48 hours but now that I’m 6 days post surgery, it is much better. Even though the bruises are quite ugly.
I ate 3 full meals at the hospital and a snack… I definitely was not starving like last time (where I couldn’t eat for 36 hours).
I walked back from the hospital, as I did with the other 3 surgeries. This time around I was able to sleep in my own bed and the height didn’t affect me (I’ve had to sleep on our low couch after previous surgeries). It took about 24 hours for a bowel movement ( I was told it can take up to 4 days) and I was able to pass gas in the middle of that first night. I wasn’t able to pee on my own until the following morning so that was one thing they did monitor for me. I don’t pee more than a couple times a day usually but my pee bag was filling up every couple of hours. I reckon this was because of the saline in my system. It’s day 6 and while I can pee on my own, I don’t really feel my bladder filling up so I just go every couple hours to train my body. I know I will return to my pelvic floor therapist and we might need to do some damage control in this department, but for now, I’m very happy with how this surgery went and I’m very grateful for my team of surgeons, doctors and nurses.
