Myomectomy or Hysterectomy > January 2005 Archives
January 7, 2005
Actually Feeling Better
I'm amazed how actually following good advice sometimes nets positive results.
I'm feeling good. Not great, but good. I'm afraid of feeling great too quickly, because then I'll revert to my old ways, so I'm really encouraged.
The swelly belly is finally disappating. I have to thank my husband for that, he carried every bit of luggage over the holidays. I've been doing a damn good job of not doing anything.
This morning I also took some photos of my incision. Yesterday marked 20 weeks since surgery.
january07a.jpg - this is a closeup. You can see the white scar forming at the center of the incision site. I tried getting a good shot of how there's a little ridge at the top, but it just doesn't show, it's only something I can feel.
For now I'm going to enjoy fitting into my old clothes and the lack of pressure on my abdomen!
Posted by Elizabeth M. at 9:52 PM | Comments (2)
January 9, 2005
HRT/Oophorectomy & Strokes
In my continuing crusade to inform women about the value of their ovaries, I saw this article in a UK newspaper online yesterday.
HRT shown to increase risk of strokes:
A study released by the University of Nottingham using a base of 40,000 women and found that women on HRT had a 29% greater risk of strokes.
This comes in the same week that I saw the results on HysterSisters.com of their annual survey, which includes a base of respondents of a little less than 6,000.
The most startling thing of course is that half of the women who'd had hysterectomies also had oophorectomies (I think that's about 2,580 of the respondents since not all had hysterectomies at the time they took the survey).79% said that they had moderate to high intensity of menopause symptoms (and let's consider all those symptoms that aren't "felt" like osteopororis and arterial damage).
42% of women who went on HRT were not satisfied with the forumlation
62% who changed formulation reported better results, but 11% still didn't have their mix right.
What disturbs me so much is that I still see ladies in their forties being told that their doctors prefer to remove their ovaries at that time to reduce their risk of ovarian cancer - or worse, because they don't need them anymore. I, of course, and doing my best to help show them the most recent information. The American College of Gynecology and Obstetrics abandoned the prophylactic removal of ovaries for women over forty-five back in the nineties.
One of the ladies on the board pointed to an excellent article (PDF file) called - Rationale for Ovarian Conservation by Donna Shoupe MD. Any woman considering any gynecological surgery should read that article. The article is five years old and seems to have made very little dent from what I've seen on the hystersisters boards. For every woman who asks for advice on the topic, I'm guessing there are five that blindly follow their doctor's counsel.
Posted by Elizabeth M. at 9:35 AM | Comments (2)
Late Cycle
I was running a bit late in December.
I expected to ovulate somewhere around December 21st. Instead, I didn't ovulate until December 30th.
Not so bad. That was perfectly normal for me back when I had a uterus. I had usually two cycles a year that were either skipped or very late.
And of course these usually coincided with large shocks to my body like cross-country travel or illness. I figure the travel back east for the funeral and then the stomach flu probably threw my system a bit. Then the travel for the holidays didn't help.
So, I'm expecting my "period" later this week. I've got the breast tenderness right now, which is comforting to know that I pegged the ovulation correctly.
Posted by Elizabeth M. at 10:00 AM
January 11, 2005
Change in Food Preferences
I don't know if this is true or not, but some women report changes in food preferences after a hysterectomy.
I still enjoy everything, but at the moment I'm noticing that I prefer milk chocolate to dark chocolate.
I can't figure why - since all my life I've been a dark chocolate nut.
It seems to be Hershey kisses that I crave at the moment. But maybe it's just the stress or work or the fact that they're everywhere from Christmas to Valentine's day or maybe I'm just going through a phase.
Posted by Elizabeth M. at 4:13 PM
January 13, 2005
Cycling
Yup, my period started last night.
I'm so not used to the idea (I'm not sure why) that I left the house this morning without putting on a panty liner. It's mostly a little blood when I wipe, but sometimes it spots my underwear. So when I got to work I tucked a little folded over toilet tissue in my panties in hopes of avoiding a stain.
In other news about recovery, my belly has been hurting quite a bit and the swelly belly returned as of Monday. It was because I took to furiously cleaning the kitchen, which for reasons I won't go into here also involved removing the screens from the window over the sink. I haven't slept well the past two nights so the swelly belly isn't getting any better. Of course it could also be a bit of period bloat too while we're at it.
Posted by Elizabeth M. at 11:06 AM
January 19, 2005
Svelt
I bought some new jeans a couple of weeks ago and I've started wearing them to work.
Let me say, I've been looking gooood lately. Finally my figure has returned to where it was about five years ago.
At the start of the new year I've tried to cut back on my boredom snacking and of course I'm amping up my activity and I'm feeling like this is my body again.
The incision site still itches towards the end of the day and I still have some swelling towards the end of the day, but with the small amount of weight gone, it doesn't bother me much at all.
Posted by Elizabeth M. at 8:43 PM
January 24, 2005
Weekend Challenges
My belly still swells but I've been taking less ibuprofen for it. I read a report about a study that found that long-term use of ibuprofen causes stomach and intestinal damage and I'm a little worried about that. So I've scaled back my use.
So, maybe every other day I have two in the evening.
The belly is big, but I fit into my regular clothes. In the evening after work I do often change into sweats, but mostly because I've always found them more comfortable.
This weekend my husband and I went out for a little beach bluff hiking. Deep, soft sand is a bit of a challenge and I'll admit that my belly hurt towards the evening. But I don't mind at all because it was a fabulous afternoon and I really wanted to go out to the beach.
Also, here's a little bit about sex.
First of all, I was always the kind of woman who was very wet when excited. I've never had a problem with enough lubrication in my life. And here's what's weird. In the first few months of recovery I didn't have a problem either. But slowly my personal moisture has gotten less and less.
Part of me is rather pleased with this. Let's face it, a little necking with the hubby in the kitchen or on the couch and I'd need fresh panties. That's not an issue any longer. I still get excited, but the reaction there is no longer an over-reaction.
Of course I'm worried that this means that I'm drying up completely. I don't think it's hormones, because my hormones are working in every other sense. I get all the symptoms I used to get for my cycles except for the heavy bleeding part.
Ovulation: heightened sense of smell, cervical mucous, general increase in energy and good skin tone.
PMS: cystic acne behind the ears, breakouts on the chin and neck, tender breasts, chocolate cravings.
Period: spotting/bleeding, lower back ache, stiff fingers (arthritis?).
I've been charting it all and it's just as it was before the hysterectomy so I can't imagine that it's a hormonal thing. My guess is more that it's a blood supply thing or maybe a nerve damage thing.
Mind you, I don't by any means call this a sexual dysfunction. I'm guessing this may also be a natural progression, part of getting older. Also, I was treated for a vaginal infection (bacterial and yeast) and since that coincides with my decrease in vaginal moisture, I wonder if that has anything to do with it. My orgasms are virtually identical to what they were like before surgery. I no longer have uterine contractions, and I no longer have that bulging feeling of the fibroids as the uterus contracted and pushed it all into my bladder.
Posted by Elizabeth M. at 11:01 AM
January 25, 2005
Ovulation
I'm ovulating again. I started noticing the cervical mucous last night.
However, my skin is not terribly clear right now. But that can be attributed to stress and lack of sleep. Work has not been stressful so much as just burdensome. There are only a few times a year when I feel really behind and this year a confluence of events has really conspired against me.
I've made it a policy in the past five years to not bring work home with me and not think about work when I'm at home. I have what I feel is an excellent job. I don't make a lot of money, but I think it's a fair amount. I'm middle management (no one works under me, but then again there's only one person between me and the president), and I've gone about as far as I think I can go in this position. There is nowhere to be promoted to without taking on broadened responsibilities.
I bring this all up because I go through this sort of dissatisfaction with all jobs. This is not a career position, just a job. I do not want a career. I have other things besides this job that are my life's passions.
In a couple of weeks this whole clot of work will be long forgotten and maybe I'll be able to concentrate on the things in life that are much more important to me.
Posted by Elizabeth M. at 3:55 PM
January 29, 2005
Belly Pains
I made the mistake of picking up the dog today.
It had to be done. We were at the vet and she would not go into the waiting room. I couldn't just stand there out on the street yanking on her leash. So I picked her up and carried her in.
She's not a big dog, but she sure as heck doesn't like to be carried.
So I'm paying for it a bit this afternoon.
I've made the decision not to try to do the Los Angeles Marathon, which is in a scant four weeks from tomorrow. I haven't started training at all and it would just be a huge mistake if I did.
I'm setting my sights on the next big one in the area and I'm considering doing the San Diego Rock & Roll Marathon. I have no idea if it's a good idea, traveling all that way to get really tired, but it's in June and it's good to have goals.
In other news, well, days have gone by that I haven't really thought about my hysterectomy. I think that's a good thing. I don't know if it means that I should end this diary, or just make a point to update on a weekly basis.
I'm still doing some reading, I get news updates through a google thing about ovarian cancer, fibroids and hysterectomy. There have been some interesting developments. Like one study that said that fibroids on stalks could be treated with UFE. I know that some women are told that it might not be effective, but someone's finally done a study on it.
Other news is that they're still working on blood tests to detect ovarian cancer, which is good news for all women, not just those with hysterectomies.
Posted by Elizabeth M. at 5:03 PM