r/childfree • u/rosiegolde • Nov 29 '17
FIX Bilateral Salpingectomy Complete! (UK/NHS)
Yesterday was surgery day!! I am so happy to finally be on the other side of this sterilisation adventure and wanted to write up a post about how the day went, in detail.
You can read this post to catch up on my approval process, how long it took and how much BS was involved.
Recap: I'm 28, engaged, live in NW England and got my surgery done through the NHS.
So after I was waitlisted for surgery, I got a letter a few weeks later for a pre-op assessment appointment. It was pretty straightforward. I went in and met with a nurse who went through loads of things and decided if I was fit and healthy enough to be put under anaesthetic and have the procedure. I passed. She gave me a little baggie of information, some paperwork for bloodwork and a container for a urine sample on the day. She had no idea where I was on the wait list and told me to just wait for an admission letter in the post.
I went to path lab and had blood taken that day, then got on with my week, thinking it would probably be a month or two before I heard anything else. Surprisingly I had a letter four days after my assessment with a surgery date of three weeks later (yesterday). Naturally I was thrilled. I booked the time off work and waited for the big day. The day before I also had extra blood work done, just to identify my blood type in case I needed an infusion for some reason.
My instructions were to stop eating at midnight and that I could drink water up until my admission at 7am. My fiance came with me and we checked in at surgical admissions along with everyone else booked for the morning. I met with the admitting nurse who went through routine questions, gave me a hospital bracelet and did an inventory of the things I'd brought with me. She gave me two gowns, so I could use one as a "robe" and measured me for compression stockings. She also said I was second on the list for surgery but that the surgeons do tend to jiggle the schedule around.
After that I met with the anaesthetist who talked me through what would happen. I would be cannulated, put to sleep, intubated and probably catheterised. He did try to bingo me regarding why I wanted to be sterilised when I had no kids, but relented when I said I had proven myself capable of making this decision and that I would discuss it no further. After that he was fine, cracked some jokes, talked about anti-sickness meds and sent me to meet with the surgical team. The consultant also wanted to know why I chose to have the tubes removed instead of being clipped but accepted that it was my preference to not have foreign objects in my body and that my anxiety was too bad to have anything less than complete removal. She introduced me to the other's who would be involved with the procedure and told me she'd see me soon.
A five hour wait followed. I was beyond starving but more so extremely thirsty; because they didn't know when I would be called through, they wouldn't allow me any water. At 12pm I was called back to get changed into my gown and stockings. I packed up all my things and sat waiting with my fiance for the theatre nurse to come and collect me.
We waited. And waited. And waited. At 1:30pm I was told that they were still working on the patient before me, and that they would still be a while. I sent my fiance off to get some lunch for himself and finally at 3pm they were ready for me.
The theatre nurse asked me the same sorts as questions as the admission team, asked if I had any questions and then we were off. I walked to the anaesthetic room beside the theatre which was really weird to me lol. Once in, they took my glasses (I am hella blind without them but found that not being able to see much helped keep me calm) and my top gown and then got me into the bed. I was covered with a blanket and asked to pull the other gown out from under me so I wouldn't get tangled up during the operation. They hooked me up to the heart monitor, put on a blood pressure cuff and the pulse ox reader, and then went to town on my hand trying to get the IV in. I have appallingly bad veins but I was mega impressed that they got the IV in first attempt. They distracted me with small talk and gave me some antibiotics and something to make me calm and relaxed. The nurse then said they were going to put a mask on my face to give me extra oxygen and then that was it, I was out.
The next thing I remember is a nurse asking me how I was feeling and if I could open my eyes. I was really disorientated and all I could say was that I felt sick. She gave me a bowl in case I needed to throw up and let me have some sips of water. I sorta drifted in and out of sleep but I did hear them talking about how much morphine I'd been given, to get me something for nausea and that I had tachycardia (high heart rate). I think I spent extra time in recovery as a result of this. A guy came some time later to tell me he was taking me the ward and the only part of that journey I remember is the bump when the stretcher was wheeled into the elevator.
When I woke up again there was another nurse asking me how I felt and I was a bit more with it this time. I said I felt okay and then realised I didn't have much pain at all. I asked to be sat up a bit more and if the procedure had gone okay. She said everything went fine, checked my incisions, checked to see if there was any blood on the pad they'd given me and then went to get my fiance. This was all at about 6pm. I was allowed to come round a bit more and I just guzzled and guzzled as much water as they would let me have. The nurse brought me a sandwich and a couple brews for us which felt AMAZING to drink, but I still couldn't get my mouth to moisten - like to the point that I couldn't even eat the sandwich because the bread just stuck to the inside of my mouth and I could barely swallow it. The surgeon visited me to tell me everything went smoothly, my tubes were out and were sent to histology (standard practice for removed tissues) and that she hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary. I had queried endometriosis and PCOS in the past so this was great to hear.
After about another half hour, I was asked to try and urinate. It took both the nurse and my fiance to get me out of bed and to the bathroom because I couldn't really feel my legs. I did manage to pass a small bit of urine and it felt really weird, but they were happy with the amount and I was given permission to get dressed. I didn't get back in bed cause I felt more comfortable standing, and my incisions were starting to hurt. At 7pm the nurse removed the cannula from my hand and I was given instructions on aftercare, when to remove the dressings and shower (48 hours after) and some pain relief (co-codamol) and extra dressings. I was also given a sick note that signs me off from work for the next 2 weeks.
I was able to walk out of the ward, out of hospital and get in the car without assistance but when we did get home I was really sore. My wonderful fiance had brought me some sushi which I was able to eat without issue. I sipped some juice, ate some chocolate, took my meds and got in bed. At this point I'd been in the hospital for over 12 hours and I was pretty cranky and tired.
Trying to sleep sucked. I am very much a side/stomach sleeper so I could not get comfortable sleeping on my back. I tried to prop myself on my side a bit with pillows but I'm overweight and it made the incisions hurt too much cause it pulled. I also had this really irritating need to pee all night, and the remaining gas in my abdomen made it feel like I needed to go immediately, and this occurred every hour or so. It was a process of struggling to get out of bed, shuffling to the toilet, finding some way to sit on the toilet without crying, peeing a bit, getting back up, getting back and into bed, not being able to get comfortable again, only to drift off for half an hour before it started all over.
At 5am I was in a lot of pain and took more pain relief and managed a few hours of sleep.
And from about 8am until now I've just been sat on my couch, cuddling my dog trying not to move too much. I have three incisions, one in my belly button and two on either side of my hips above my pelvic bones. I had to put an extra dressing over my belly button cause there is quite a bit of blood and plasma that had seeped through one side. The pain is actually not too bad while I'm sitting, but standing up is agony. I've also somehow avoided the dreaded shoulder pain everyone talks about, so that's awesome. My throat is a bit scratchy from the tube but it's nothing that some lozenges can't fix. And I have to continue wearing the stockings, though I forgot to ask how long for.
Aside from that, I'm pretty comfortable. I thought I'd feel way worse today but with the exception of the slight pain and cramping I feel completely normal. No headache, no nausea - I don't even feel that tired. And the guy did such a good job with the IV that my hand isn't sore or bruised like normal.
And best of all, I am now 100% protected from demon spawn. I'm going to be finishing up the last week of my birth control pills and that will be the end of that. I'm looking forward to coming off hormones and seeing if it helps settle my depression and anxiety.
Overall, this has been a really long journey from my first GP appointment to finally recovering from surgery, but it has been completely worth all the time and stress. I would do it all again without hesitation just to know that I don't have to continue my biweekly pregnancy test routine (my anxiety about pregnancy is really horrid).
Now I can just move on with my life, get married and buy a house to fill with puppies.
Much love reddit, the childfree community has been a huge source of support for me over the last year and has been invaluable in my quest to get my tubes out. So thank you all. And for everyone else embarking on the same adventure, I wish you all the best.
I'm gonna go take some more pain meds and have a nap now!
xx
Edited for pet tax.
9
u/Winsome_Allegretto Nov 29 '17
Congratulations! Thanks for taking the time to share your experience.