Holly’s Hysterectomy Story

Type of Hysterectomy: Radical Hysterectomy
Age at Hysterectomy: 31
Location:  Edgewood, KY

I had been bleeding after intercourse sometimes heavily for about six months. I had not been to the OB in about five years, since I had given birth to my twin girls. After my exam and test results came back I was told I had cervical cancer. After meeting with an OBGYN Oncologist recommended by my regular OB he performed a biopsy to determine the extent of the cervical cancer. I had a very rare form that appeared to be very aggressive. My Oncologist suggested I needed a radical Hysterectomy. This includes cervix, uterus. Fallopian tubes, lymph nodes, both ovaries and the top part of the vagina. Since the type of cancer was so aggressive I was scheduled for surgery three days after receiving the biopsy results. In total it was 2 1/2 weeks from my initial visit with my OB to my surgery date so I didn’t have a lot of time to adjust to this news. I just wanted to get the cancer out as quickly as possible.

The surgery took almost six hours and I remember nothing about that day. I was on a morphine drip until the second morning so even day two was a lot of sleeping. I was in the hospital a total of five days and was in a lot of pain. I was finally released but had to go home with the catheter still in since I could not urinate on my own due to all the trauma I endured during surgery. I left the hospital with a catheter, 32 stables up my stomach and a whole lot of pain.

The catheter did not come out until a week after I was released from the hospital. I also had to give myself a shot once a day of Lovenox to help prevent blood clots. The first couple weeks at home I did nothing but lay around on the couch. But I started feeling better sooner than I had expected. I was more sore than in pain, like I did a million sit ups. I am currently 7 weeks and 1 day post op and I feel almost normal again. I started hormones five days ago and I can return to work in a week. I still have a spot internally that is not fully healed so I am still on a weight restriction of five pounds and still can’t be submerged in water.

My Heath has improved since the surgery still taking things day by day. The pathology reports show they were able to get out all the cancer so I won’t need any further treatment like chemo. I will be on a close watch by oncologist for the next five years. Here’s to hoping that I stay on the right path and the cancer doesn’t return.

Fortunately I already had three children and had no plans to have more. For me having the hysterectomy was not an option. I was very devastated at first but now that is over I’m very happy that I am healthy.