I am 33 years old living in India, Mumbai. Somewhere In the month June/ July 2013 I started experiencing sharp shooting pain in my lower abdomen if I sit for too long, especially while travelling back from work and sharp pain if my left breast in the lower right quadrant. I had gain some weight over the months and I didn't feel healthy. So, I decided to undergo a complete women health checkup in August . It was through the pelvic sonography that I learnt I had developed a fibroid in size 4.7 x 4.2 cms in the posterior wall of my retroverted uterus and was pressing against my rectum causing constipated feeling. Wow! Fibroid, retroverted uterus, all this going on inside me, got to do something I said to myself. The gynaecologist I consulted suggested that I undergo surgery but I wasn’t sure if that’s the only way to go about. So I decided to try homeopathy as I was promised that the fibroid could be broken down completely, which I did for about 2 months and then discontinued as I wasn’t really seeing/feeling visible positive changes.
I got myself hospitalized on 19th Feb evening at Lilavati (Mumbai, India). As my surgery was planned for next day at 8 AM, I couldn’t eat or drink after midnight. I was put on a liquid diet such as clear water soup and sabudana(tapioca) water and IV line. Now this was the hardest part, no food for me . The surgery didn’t freak me out as much as the absence of real food.
In the morning I had to look pretty for the doctors/ surgeons, so the nurses took care of the hygiene part. Then I was pushed along with my bed to the OT room while I kept wondering why aren’t they making me walk. Anyways, after the lill' drama of being wheeled into the Operation theatre, the anesthesiologist came in to talk to me and he asked me my name my profession as he was trying to relax me and then he said “you are now going to feel drowsy cause you have been drugged through IV”.
Minutes later, I woke up with a tap on my cheek, someone saying it’s all over and the procedure was successful while I was trying really hard to open my eyes. I could feel that they were wheeling me back to my ward and that’s all I remember. When I came back to my complete sense I realized that I was put on catherization and back on IV.
My doctor came in and told me everything went really well. The fibroid was very huge.
I was in some pain after the surgery, but all I had to do was let the nurse know and they gave me painkillers in my IV. I took my first small walk on the same day of the surgery somewhere in the evening. I slept a lot in the next 24hrs.On 2nd day post surgery they took me off the IV and catherization and put me on solid diet that recommended by the in-house dieticians. I started to become more mobile and took my first small walk on the second day. By 4th day I had to try to pass some stool so that the doctors could decide if they can discharge me as that’s the way they can tell if your bowel movements are getting back on track. But no sign of it even on the 5th day and they let me go with advise on post operative care and medication.
Since then, I have been on the road to recovery and each day is a little better than the next. I have been advised not to do things like bend over and pick heavy weights and to avoid spicy sour food. I decided to change my lifestyle by eating hi-fibre food, eating at same time and at regular intervals. Since I have a bad memory I also decided to keep a food journal for myself to help me keep a track of what I eat, my moods, medication and other details etc. so in case if I develop any discomfort or allergies during my recovery I could tell why and make the necessary alterations. I also found out a week later post my surgery when I had to go back for a follow up check-up that the fibroid wasn’t cancerous. The histopathology report showed that the fibroid was 8.5 x 8 x 2.5 cms in size weighing 259 grams. While the average weight of the uterus is only 70 grams. No wonder I was feeling a bit lighter.Phew!
It’s been 2 weeks now and I have got my strength back. I got my periods 2 day earlier and this time with very little menstrual discomfort but I am still struggling with my bowel movements. I was severely constipated yesterday with crazy pain due to dry stool plugging my rectum. I popped 2 pills of some herbal ayurvedic laxative and it took me over an hour to free myself from that crazy pain. Now I am back on Cremafinn a stool softener (my hero) which I took during initial days post surgery and then was put on Lactulose a laxative which I wasn’t too happy about.
Today was better as I took Psyllium Husk before I went off to bed last night and a dose of Cremafinn. I also applied Pilex ointment (ayurvedic) in the rectum before and after passing out motion.
I still have to watch what I do for about another month but I just try to not push myself.
If anyone out there is reading this and wants to know more about what I went through or has any questions at all, please feel free to contact me. I would really like to be able to help someone else out who may be considering this procedure.
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Hello Being Positive, Thank you for sharing your experience! I'm very glad for you that all went well, and hope you are in the pink of health now, more than one year after your laparoscopic myomectomy. I am also considering this procedure to remove my subserosal leiomyoma from my retroverted uterus - the fibroid measures 6.5 x 6.1 x 6.1 cm. I would like to know, since your fibroid was rather large, did the doctor remove it by cutting it up into smaller pieces first? or was a morcellator of some kind used? I have heard about the risk of spreading cancerous cells (although highly unlikely chance of 1-2%) if pathology finds cancer. Or was your fibroid removed in one piece?
October 22, 2015 - 1:38pmThank you in advance for your reply.
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Thank you for sharing! I have one large fibroid 4.7 x 6.0 x 6.0 and thanks to your story, I will ask my ob/gyn if a myomectomy is an option for me.
May 20, 2014 - 9:09amThis Comment
Hello being positive,
I would like to welcome you to the EmpowHER community and thank you for sharing your health story with us.
Thankfully, you did not wait any longer and had the surgery when you did.
I wish you a continued complete recovery. It is very kind of you to offer your experience to any woman who may be considering this procedure.
Best regards,
March 7, 2014 - 11:06amMaryann
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