My Hysterectomy Story-Part 1

On Monday, December 5, 2022, I had a hysterectomy.

Periods through the years:

Now for a little back story...Early in my teen years, I would get some very painful periods and they were pretty irregular (coming maybe every 3ish months) until after I had my first child. After having Alex, they were totally normal and regular. This was the case until after I gave birth to Micah (2013). My first period after giving birth to Micah was horrible (2014)! At first I thought it was just my body kicking back in to having menstrual cycles again, but they didn't improve. In fact, they just kept getting worse. Eventually, I could just plan on being near a toilet and not doing much for days 2 and 3 of my cycle every month and sometimes other days too. The pain became intolerable at times and the bleeding was a lot. Sometimes I almost felt like I was hemorrhaging. Then, I started having bleeding between periods too. Finally, I decided it was time for me to try to figure out what was going on and find a solution.

Fibroid:

When we moved to SC, I decided it was time to figure out some things with my health that I had been putting off. My crazy periods was one of them. So in the summer of 2020, I went to the gynecologist and discovered I had a fibroid in my endometrium. My doctor fully thought that by removing the fibroid, I would see a big difference in both the bleeding and the pain of my periods. She recommended a myomectomy.

Myomectomy:

A myomectomy is an outpatient surgical procedure that removes the fibroid. It is all done through the vagina. They do use anesthesia and the surgery takes about 20-30 minutes. I had that done in October 2020. It was an easy procedure and a very quick recovery. I was feeling great after only a couple of days and back to normal soon after. I did bleed for a few weeks afterwards, but other than that, it was pretty easy and not much pain. When I had my first normal period after the surgery, the pain was MUCH improved. In fact, I couldn't believe how minimal the pain was compared to before. However, the bleeding was still a lot! I would still bleed really heavy and it was causing my iron to be low. I also couldn't safely leave the house if I was on day 2 or 3 EVEN with using the menstrual cup and a large backup pad. My sister, Melanie, had previously had similar problems to me. She had a myomectomy and ablation at the same time the year before and it had been very successful. It had almost completely stopped her periods and most of the pain. That's what I wanted, but my doctor did not want to do them together. She said, "Let's start with the myomectomy and see how that goes, then if you still want the ablation we can do that". 

Ablation:

About one year after getting the myomectomy, I could see that I wasn't going to get the desired result. While the pain was much better, the bleeding was still so much. So I went back into my doctor to talk about the ablation. An ablation burns the lining of your uterus (which normally sheds every month during your period). After it's burned, it scars over and women usually only bleed minimally, if at all, after this procedure. Success rate for endometrial ablation is 70-80%, so I decided to do it. According to my doctor, I was a good candidate. The doctor suggested just doing it in the office with minimal pain killers. She said that she felt I was "stoic and had a high pain tolerance". I too felt that I could do it, so I went for it. I went alone. I didn't even think to ask someone to come with me. This was November 2021.

The ablation was very intense and painful, but it didn't last long. It was about 90 seconds once she started burning and she counted down. There were a couple of nurses that came in and held my hand. It hurt a lot but the countdown really helped me tolerate it. After the procedure, it still hurt but was tolerable and I drove myself home. When I got home, I laid down on the bed to rest thinking that I would just keep feeling better. 

I had planned to go to Micah's championship game for soccer where Eric and Jarem were coaching. They left early and I was going to come right before the game. The pain seemed to start getting worse, but I took ibuprofen and thought I would be fine. But it kept getting worse. I tried to drive myself (it wasn't far), but the pain got so intense while I was driving that I wasn't sure if I would pass out or throw up. After stopping a couple of times and taking deep breaths to try to get more oxygen to my head so I wouldn't pass out, I finally made it back home and to my bed! It took 800 mg of ibuprofen and an oxycodone to manage the pain. But I was finally able to sleep. 

I felt bad that I missed the game, but they lost anyway. I felt pretty good that next day and had minimal pain. I bled for about a month afterwards. I was so hopeful for my periods to be gone or almost gone, but once again I was still having heavy bleeding. It may have been a little lighter than before, but not much. My doctor said to give it some time, so I did. 

The Last Straw:

Over time, it seemed like my periods were getting a little lighter, but the pain seemed to be getting more. Since the myomectomy, I no longer had to take pain medicine during my periods. But now, I was starting to need ibuprofen again. It wasn't as bad as before (when I had the fibroid) though. I figured if the bleeding was a little less, but the pain was more, I could power through until menopause. 

This went on until the dreaded night on our anniversary (August 12, 2022). This was about 9 months after the ablation. I was having my period and had been cramping all day but taking some ibuprofen to control the pain. We were going to go out for dinner, but I wasn't feeling like it so Eric picked up takeout and a cake and we watched a movie. As we were watching the movie, the pain kept getting worse. 

Finally, I just couldn't stand it anymore, so I went in our bedroom to lay down. From there, it kept getting worse and worse until it was completely intolerable. I had taken 800 mg of ibuprofen and it didn't seem to be touching the pain. My uterus was contracting over and over again and it felt like labor. It was so intense. Eric finally found a leftover oxycodone from my myomectomy and gave it to me. He was kind and tried to comfort me as I endured the most incredibly intense pain ever. Finally the oxy kicked in and I was able to sleep. The pain lasted on and off for about a week but eventually turned to my back and caused intense shots of pain anytime I moved. Eric said that when the uterus is angry, it can irritate your back and cause spasms and that's what happened. The other weird thing was, I was barely bleeding at all.

My doctor was out of town so I went to a different doctor. She was helpful and said that she thought it was a failed ablation. They did an ultrasound to confirm and there WAS trapped blood in the uterus. What can happen is some of the uteral lining starts to grow back and then the blood gets trapped under the new growth of lining. The uterus contracts to get the blood out, but it's trapped and it can't get out, so the uterus continues to contract over and over again, like labor. When this happens, there are only two options: hormones to stop periods or hysterectomy. 

I went back to my regular doctor the next week and we talked about the two options. I decided on a hysterectomy and she gave me birth control pills to hopefully stop my periods until the surgery. In September, I still had a bad period, but the estrogen helped. Then in October and November I didn't have a period, just intermittent spotting. We scheduled the hysterectomy for December 5, which was the first available date.

Watch for Hysterectomy Story part 2 for the rest of the story.

Pandemic Life & Family Pictures 2020

2020 has been a different year for everyone. From quarantines to wearing masks everywhere and so much more, it has been a year we will never forget. 

For us, we were fortunate enough to have all our kids come home and we got to all be together for 4 months!! I honestly did not think all of us would ever live under one roof again, so it was an unexpected blessing. The three oldest kids were at college in Utah when the pandemic hit. They were told to go home and all their classes went online. So, they packed up and drove cross-country from Utah to South Carolina. They had two cars, so the two girls drove together and Alex drove alone. All three of them made it home safely without any complications (thankfully). The girls both left boyfriends at college, so it took some time to figure out if and how long distance relationships would work.

School also went online for Jarem and Micah. They had all zoom classes or home school. Eric's work schedule lightened considerably and he was at home for the entire month of April and a lot of May and June too. He worked at home some days and other days he didn't work at all. We all had a lot of time together. Fortunately, he still received his salary, so we were comfortable financially.

The older 3 finished their college semester at the end of April. Alex graduated with a degree in Political Science and had a job waiting at Echelon Insights in Washington DC. He started his job working from home in May. The girls started job hunting once their semester was complete. Jesikah found a job at Chick-Fil-A. She has always LOVED Chick-Fil-A and wanted to work there. As it turned out, it was a very intense, fast-paced environment, but she eventually got used to it and thrived. She worked 40 hour weeks, so it was a lot. Tessa found a job at Starbucks in Harris Teeter near 6 Mile Road. She enjoyed that, but was a little bored at times. Business was pretty slow and she was the only one working a lot of the time. Jarem found a job at Smoothie King near the bridge where lots of his other church friends were also working. He loved it. When they needed more older workers at Smoothie King, Tessa also started working there part time. It worked out great. They would schedule her and Jarem for the same shifts and she could drive him to and from work!

During those 4 months, (especially during the first 6 weeks) we enjoyed nightly family dinners and lots of other delicious food, like ice cream and soda! We enjoyed lots of game nights including badminton, pickle ball, ultimate frisbee, and lots of board and card games. We also had lots of movie nights. We watched all the Marvel movies in chronological order. We watched Star Wars, Bourne series and much more. The kids rewatched the whole Avatar series that they watched as kids together. Micah learned to ride his bike AND swim during the pandemic. He and I went on lots of bike rides since we were the only two with bikes. :) We also went to the neighborhood pool often with Micah and occasionally with the other kids. The older kids sometimes went for Sonic runs at night. We had weekly church at home and nightly scripture study discussions. Alex planned and lead our nightly scripture study and did a great job making it a safe environment to share thoughts and feelings and learn together. I think we all really enjoyed those.

Having the older kids come home was a huge blessing for Jarem. He loved getting to interact with his older siblings and play games and do things together. He had lots of good times with them and I'm sure they each gave him lots of good advice at different times. He had missed the interaction with them after Tessa went to college. He tried to guilt-trip me for waiting 4 years to have him after Tessa. I told him it was only 3 years and 10 months!! :) It was great for Micah to also have that time with his older siblings. Those are the times he will remember with the older three living at home with us. 

We got these family pictures taken in Downtown Charleston in early July 2020. Alex was getting ready to move to Washington DC, so I wanted to get pictures while we were all still together. Alex moved in July, Jesikah went back to college at the end of August and Tessa stayed with us until she left on her mission in December.

By September, things were feeling a lot more normal. The boys went back to in-person school with masks and other precautions. Eric was back to work most of the time and I was trying to figure out my next goals in life.

Tessa's Farewell and Early Christmas

Pictures after church one week before she left

This was Tessa's last week at church. She gave her farewell talk in church. We got a family picture to remember this day. The sun was shining and it was warm. 

After her farewell on Sunday, we all dressed in our Christmas pajamas and we did a special early Christmas for Tessa. Everyone gave her their gifts to her and she opened them. Then she gave her gifts to everyone else. It was bittersweet knowing she would be leaving the next day.  From the family she got a bluetooth speaker from Alex, lots of toiletries such as dry shampoo, deodorant, notecards, and some clothes from Eric and I. She got soft pajamas from Jesikah. Jarem gave her warm socks and a Monopoly Deal card game to get her through her quarantines. Micah gave her Twistable color pencils, gloves, and a warm fleece headband.

Micah opening Tessa's gift: a bike bell

Jarem got 4 scents of cologne! :)

Jesikah was very excited about a mini waffle maker from Tessa

Alex got a robe from Tessa, which he loved! Haha!

Eric got dark chocolate peanut M&M's

I got a candle, but no picture (since I was taking them)

After that, we finished our "open when" letters. We each made two so she got a total of 14! We wrapped it in a package so she would be surprised on Christmas. :)  We also sent her with a couple of other gifts to open on Christmas Day. That night, we had one last family game night. We had a nice dinner and played Telestrations. It was a lovely day and we were sad when it was done.

The next morning the boys said their goodbyes before going to school and work. Jes, Eric, and I took her to the airport.

So many hard hugs! It was sad to see her walk away not to see her for 18 months, but she was excited to get started on her next chapter. She will be an amazing missionary. She is ready!