at age 32, after multiple complications, i had a total hysterectomy and oophorectomy {removal of both ovaries} and here is my story!
let’s start with the forewarning that this post will contain basic human anatomy and women’s reproductive terms so if you’re uncomfortable with said vocabulary, go ahead and click away now.
the history
to make this as short and sweet as possible, my complications start well before i was born with the sweetest mama with the most terrible reproductive genes. she had severe endometriosis, fibroids, irregular bleeding, ovarian cysts and finally a total hysterectomy at the age of 42. it was bound to happen and while my sister was spared of these genes, i was the lucky one to follow in my mama’s footsteps.
i had a dermoid cyst the size of a baseball on my right ovary in middle school, which was a benign tumor comprised of hair, teeth, bones, etc that grow from embryonic cells…gross. it was removed by a laparotomy {basically a c-section cut..not into the uterus, but to remove the cyst on the ovary} and i was able to keep both ovaries. after that surgery, i was placed on birth control pills/devices that i stayed on until zach and i were married and trying to conceive with little to no complications other than some painful ovarian cysts {which are normal} that eventually would go away.
our journey to conception was rather difficult {you can read about our infertility journey to the twins, infertility journey to our third, and our final babe} but my last pregnancy was the kicker. with a suspected accreta and a premature delivery due to preterm labor it was a disaster, yet we were blessed with the most beautiful and perfect baby girl. during my c-section at delivery, my doctor told me it would not be safe for a baby or me to get pregnant again {for so many reasons} so we decided to go through with a tubal ligation and had my fallopian tubes removed. it didn’t end there, though and i wound up with severe bleeding and a D + C nearly two weeks post partum due to retained product of conception…basically left over ‘stuff’ from pregnancy.
after all that, i was doing great for awhile! i was breastfeeding maisley and finally started my cycles again october-ish as i was finishing breastfeeding and things were very normal…until they weren’t.
a total hysterectomy – the why
january 2, 2020 came and i started my period about 7 days late…bled HEAVILY {like going through a super tampon every 1-2 hours} for 5 days, normal for 2 and stopped. BUT then a week later, i started a whole new cycle, same pattern. and then a week later, it happened again. only this time it didn’t stop. i called and met with my ob, who god bless this man, was less than thrilled to be hearing all of this. he knows my history and knows my body and felt terrible i was in this situation.
after going through all of my options, it really came down to an ablation or a total hysterectomy. after further discussion, he strongly felt {and i agreed} that an ablation would simply be a temporary bandaid and we would wind up right back where we were for yet another procedure, and y’all, i was just done. after talking it over with zach and my mom, i called that afternoon to schedule my total hysterectomy…march 26, a full month out.
in the mean time, i started on progesterone because i was actively bleeding heavily and he was concerned because i was having symptoms of anemia and he didn’t want me bleeding for a full month.
within 6 days, my bleeding had stopped but i had a significant heavy pain on my right side that i was sure was an ovarian cyst and by monday morning i called and insisted for something to happen. tuesday morning i went in for an ultrasound and confirmed i had nearly a 2.5 inch cyst on my right ovary…ouch… that we didn’t want to burst. i wasn’t functioning and when my ob called to tell me we were moving surgery up to that week, i cried in relief. i started percocet that day to get me through to surgery and made plans for the kiddos.
my total hysterectomy – surgery
friday came..surgery day! y’all i was r.e.a.dy. my poor body has been through the ringer. 7 incisions on this belly and countless other ‘procedures’, testing… from infertility to cysts to d+c’s, c-sections… it’s been through a lot.
i’ve had a lot of symptoms… intense headaches, a ton of pain, bleeding, etc. so when i walked into pre-op, nauseous with a ridiculous headache, to say i was relieved was an understatement. they were totally ready to go and got me hooked up {after 2 veins bursting..ouch} with some anti-nausea meds, tons of fluids because i was so dehydrated, and ready for pre-op.
my family doesn’t do anything without each other…and a few friends fit into that category as well… so we all hung out and talked with the various doctors and crew who would be in the OR.
i always get really sick with anesthesia so we use propofol anesthesia, with a patch behind my ear and IV anti-nausea meds and it works like a charm! they wheeled me into the OR, i scooted my booty onto the operating table while chit chatting to my favorite docs and then a sweet soul in scrubs asked me to tell her what i love about my kids and i drifted off to sleep thinking about the little pieces of my heart walking around on this earth.
the plan was to remove:
both ovaries
uterus
cervix
the top portion of my vagina
they would make 3 small incisions, one on the left hip-is area, one on the right and one in my belly button.
…for the sake of this not being the longest post on the planet, i’m going to wrap this up tomorrow, so stay tuned!