feeling so down about upcoming surgery

Hi all. I have to have my ovaries removed the end of sept. In some ways I know this surgery is for the best. In other ways im scared out of my mind! I worry my fibro. Symptoms will worsen. I also worry that my sex drive will plummet

I know that may be a silly thing to worry about but im newly married (2 years now thia time) and our sex life has been great. I dont want to lose what little phyaical joy I do get anymore since fibro has robbed my bodybof so many otber things. I wish I could find some better resources to read that talls more about hysterectomy and fibromyalgia. Any ideas out there? Thanks. Crying tonight

Thank you. Unfortunately I cannot do hormone replacement since my cancer risk for breast cancer is too high. I think there are other things they can do I hope

Folks who already posted gave great advice..
Think positive!!

Stay here in the present. Worrying about the future is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Just live today.

Good luck with surgery!

Right now my menstrual cycle gives me such horrible flares I would actually consider elective surgery. :-/

How are you feeling today? You know, I would also talk to your doctor as there is likely a group in your area that can at least help you work out the emotions of the surgery. I haven't yet had a surgery post diagnosis so I don't have any good advice other than stay positive, nurture yourself and don't forget to ask for help!!

Xoxo

Nal, I had a laparotomy procedure about two and a half weeks ago.
The plan was to remove one ovary/falopian tube, omentum, and appendix... They ended up leaving to ovary, because the one they were going to leave was screwed up with endo and just taking the omentum and appendix.
I was so angry at the time, because the whole surgery was because my ovary had a borderline cancerous cyst... I felt they put their ideal of my wanting kids (which I don't) above my health... But every single test and biopsy came back clean. Only downside now is I have to have more surgery in a few months to make sure things stay clean.


Before the surgery I had a chat with the anesthetist about my fibro. He was FABULOUS.

He gave me the option of having a spinal block which would go in before surgery, and stay in for three days. I declined because the idea of it being in there for three days was a bit to much for me to handle, lol. But apparently it's water proof so you can shower, and you're still able to walk around the ward, so the less squeamish it might be an option.

What they ended up doing was injecting local anesthetic into two of the nerve branches in my abdomen. I had a morphine button for around 18 hours after surgery, and then a combination of slow release morphine tablets and endone tablets for the next 4 days.

The area of the incision was numb for the first 36 hours or so, and the only pain I had was when I was JUST out of recovery, and that only took three or four button pushes to fix.

The only bad pain I had was when I threw up, and because of the local anesthetic my stomach was fine, it was my shoulders that copped the brunt of it. Even that was resolved quickly because the nurses just handed me a stronger endone tablet.

I really struggled to get over the key-hole surgery I had 8weeks before the open one, I was achey and tired for about a month after it.

But my recovery from this one has been fantastic. It's only two and a half weeks and I'm off all the strong painkillers, I'm driving comfortably (including emergency stops - yes, I tested it to see if I could do them, lol) and walking around a kilometer every day. I'm tired, but not exhausted. It's no worse than how tired I normally get at the end of the school terms.

Honestly I think it all comes to good pain management. Because I didn't have much pain I was able to keep mobile, and the medication gave me a few days off the fibro pain which let me get some decent sleep. (Remembering to take an eye mask and ear plugs also helped with that!)


Good luck

Thank you once again for the replies. Its the menopause that really scares me. I cant take any hormone replacement and I still havent found out much information on menopause and fibromyalgia. Any good articles out there on it? Thanks

Nancy

Is DHEA a supplement? Ill def look into. She did tell me I can have testostosterone supplements if needed. Ill watch the hair growth too. Wish I could just get the hair to grow on my head id be good lol. Then at least my hair would be long while im having hot flashes gotta try and stay positive rt?

Nal,

Hi there, I normally hang out in the lupus or CP forum, I do have Fibro too. I think I might be able to help you a bit. I had a total hysterectomy when I was 32 due to Stage 4 endometrosis. I was put on a hormone patch the day after my surgery. However, due to my lupus I have a blood clotting problem from it and had to come off my hormones.

Yep, I went through menopause and it actually wasn't as bad as I was expecting. My Mother in law was going thru it around the time I was. She was having so much trouble with her mood, that she couldn't tolerate my Father in law at all. We're talking about a couple who now have been married 54 years next month. She went to the Doctor and got some hormones and felt fine.

I, however, didn't have to many issues with my mood. I did have problems with hot flashes for about 4 weeks. I did feel a bit off during that time too. I had some night sweats and was just a bit more tired than my norm. After the 4 weeks passed I seemed back to my old self. I sometimes will have a hot flash now, but I put that down more to my illnesses and my pain medications that I take.

As for my sex drive, losing my ovaries really didn't change things at all in that area. I did have some issues with feeling not like a whole woman for a bit, but that was because I had lost everything, and I couldn't have children anymore. I was worried my hubby wouldn't find me sexually attractive anymore, because I wasn't fertile. Dumb, I know, but what can I say it was what it was. Now I have zero problems with any feelings like that.

I would agree with everyone else, try not to find trouble now. Take each day as it comes and to borrow trouble. You really don't know how you will respond to the surgery and the menopause. Try to think positive about thing and remember our minds are very powerful. If you go into this feeling confident and not looking for trouble then you won't have it. If you're negative about the who thing then the experience MAY be horrible.

I did perfectly fine as far as my Fibro goes when I had my hysterectomy no flare up at all. I'll say a prayer that all goes well for you and that you come thru this with flying colors. Sorry that you currently have a cold, try to get a lot of rest so that you'll be able to go thru the surgery.

Hugs,
Barbara

Nancy, my SIL had to have her breasts and ovaries removed. It was because she came from a Jewish family and something about being high risk for some certain cancer that usually only affects Jewish woman. Perhaps there is a person of that religion that can tell us the name of what I'm thinking. Anyhow, SIL said that type of cancer has a high death rate so she is did the surgery as she was at risk. SIL is Ashke**** Jewish. Apparently, SIL said it is this gene alteration that causes those cancers of the breasts and ovaries. Can someone help me explain what I'm trying to say sense I don't know much about this?
I personally hate surgeries, everytime I go under I end up trying to kick the bucket, litterly. A few years ago was my last one. I had respitory failure, tachycardia and an asthma attack. When you should worry is when you wake up like I did: a chaplain in the room with you and your father whom is a clergy deacon in Catholic faith is in his reverend clothes. Scared the jeepers out of me when I woke up to that, wearing oxygen, saw my vitals, and was put in ICU for a few days. Now that is extremely rare to happen while you are under. I recall being bedridden for the first few days in ICU. It wasn't til I demanded a second medical opinion (they wanted to discharge me from ICU when my resting pulse was too high and I still couldn't get up without 2 nurses) that I started to get better. I was put on a medication, metropolol (sp), and it lowered my heart rate and blood pressure. Not sure if it was my vitals or fibro to cause me in bed for a few days, but like I said that is very rare. I have to be the difficult patient for everyone, and I prove the saying "healthcare employees make the worse patients". So you are in luck, NOTHING will happen to you, because I'll do it for you when I go for my yearly tumor testing while I'm on conscious sedation (I have claustrophobia) in a couple weeks. Trust me, this will be a synch. As for the menopause, hey I'd trade that for you and you have my cycles and polycystic ovary syndrome. I can tell you, on fluke (due to a medication that caused me hot flashes) that you are in for an interesting ride. The fun part is when your hot, everyone else will be cold and you can torture your hubby in the night going hot cold. I have a friend and my mother who happened to be going through menopause when I had that happen, so I was like "hmm that sounds like me" so at the next apt I asked the doctor "I think I'm losing it, because I think I have hotflashes" and he looked at me and said "yep you are, consider it a preview of what is to come in the future". My friend and I dressed for summer in winter a lot, and had weird looks from people, and we'd even go swimming. You just learn to live with it...

Nal,
I had my 6 week post op appointment last week, and I was asking him about the risks of the pill and ovarian/breast cancer. He said that he advises me to stay on it as it lowers the risks, and if I DO end up having a total hysterectomy, he'd still advise me to stay on it as it can act as a hormone replacement therapy.
He said that the pill's combination of hormones is different enough to HRT that you can take it even if you're at risk of ovarian/breast cancer.

I don't know how this would apply to your situation, but I thought you might be interested