Tenille is one of my best friends in the flesh. We lived just around the corner from one another until life planted my family on the east coast. She has a beautiful family. Her oldest son, Bryon, is severely autistic, but you will never meet a sweeter child. Timmy is next, and he's a spitfire. Aly is the token baby girl and she has them all wrapped around her finger. Her husband is great, and he puts up with the two of us pretty well. I asked Tenille to share her story today, because she, more than anyone, knows what I'm going through.
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About 18 months ago, I had a laparoscopic assisted vaginal hysterectomy. No big deal, right? I mean it seems like it’s the easiest and least invasive of all the hyst options. Again, no biggie. Did I mention that I was only 26? Because I was only 26.
Before you feel too sorry for me, I was able to have 3 beautiful children before my hyst.
Why did I have one? Excellent question. I was dying.
After giving birth to my daughter in February of 2007, I felt like crap. I never had that sense of relief you get when you deliver that placenta and all is right in the world again. Naturally, I was too stubborn to admit that something was wrong. Fast forward one month to me almost bleeding to death in my bathtub.
Two D&C’s, and a few blood transfusions later, I was sent home.
Still, I never felt right. I went through every gynecological procedure known to man and we could not figure out what was wrong. The only thing that we could agree upon was that having another child would kill me. If I survived the pregnancy, the child would be born via C-section and I would have a hysterectomy shortly thereafter.
I know I was 26 and all, but it was a fairly easy decision to make. Granted, I was choosing to have no more children, but I decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth. Maybe I should mention that all my extensive testing showed that I really should never have been able to conceive, much less carry a baby to full term.
Besides, I wasn’t much of a mom popping Vicodin and laying on a heating pad all day.
Am I glad I did it? Hell yeah! I. DON'T. HAVE. A. PERIOD.
I am 28 and haven’t had a period in 19 months. As I said, I am awesome. I actually felt better the moment I woke up from surgery than I did beforehand. Have you ever woken up from surgery? It isn't pretty, so that's really saying something.
The worst part of this whole scenario was my killer addiction to Vicodin. I mean, 4 months is a while. You know how narcotics always say “no refills”? Yeah, not for me. I had them refilled all over the place.
However, I got over it, I have no period, and I have no chance of cervical or uterine cancer. I have 3 beautiful children that I am able to give my all to. I really couldn’t ask for more.
MomBabe, I love you and hope your surgery and recovery goes well. You have suffered longer and harder that I ever did. I told you…if you had bled to death in your bathtub, they would have done this a looooong time ago! Feel better. And welcome to the club!
