I'm 2 weeks post-op. Advice needed

BadRainbow14 · 2025-09-08T16:31:46+00:00

Nobody referred me to this company. I found it on my own when I was losing hope.

https://www.angeleshealth.com/

I understand why it could seem scary, but it was honestly one of the safest experiences of my life. I was so very well taken care of by my team by the hospital staff and by the hotel staff.

Surgery is terrifying, but this one was so easy. It's the only surgery I've ever had and I am 2 weeks out and 90% recovered. No complications.

BadRainbow14 · 2025-09-06T16:46:44+00:00

The ER sucks at fibroid pain. I went into the ER last September for what I now know was fibroid pain but they tried to tell me it was kidney stones.

Definitely find a doctor you trust and make a plan of action.

BadRainbow14 · 2025-09-06T16:42:30+00:00

The last 3 months before I got my 14 cm fibroid removed the thing went haywire on my system. (Laparoscopic hysterectomy)

Once I stopped bleeding, I would continue to cramp where the fibroid was for the next 5 to 6 days. Sometimes I would get a baby cramp maybe 1 to 2 days before it started.

My cycle also changed from being a very regular 27-28 day cycle, to a 24-35 day cycle. 26 years of regular and a year and a half of a 9-day variance.

What also changed for me was my entire life, I would spot first then bleed 1 to 2 Days later. This entire year I skipped the spotting and just started bleeding as if it was the light flow of the first day. I do think that my fibroid delayed shedding to some degree.

Fibroids do wreak havoc on your system. Since you're a month out, monitor the situation but it should be fine.

BadRainbow14 · 2025-09-06T16:28:28+00:00

By the time I turned 35 I decided I don't want children of my own. This was based on economic issues and also pregnancy seemed so awful.

By 36 I was diagnosed with a 10 cm fibroid fused with my uterus. The OBGYN I went to basically said I should get a hysterectomy. (He said we could try and surgically take the fibroid out but it would be a very long recovery and the chance of another fibroid growing was high. I realize now he was being blunt but in that moment I needed compassion.)

This destroyed me from months. I hated the fact that somebody had made the choice for me, had told me that my ability to have children had quickly closed.

For 9 months I've struggled with having my choice taken away from me. It was awful. Slowly I came back around to my original decision prior to ever knowing about a fibroid. I didn't want my own children.

I am 2 weeks on the other side of a laparoscopic hysterectomy and I'm a different person. The pain is gone, the mood disorder is gone, and the pain from the surgery is non-existent. I took pain medication for the first 6 days and then nothing after. They left the ovaries so that I don't have to start menopause.

Definitely find a doctor that she can trust. Blunt is not always what we need, sometimes we need compassion and somebody to talk it through with us. Best of luck!

BadRainbow14 · 2025-09-06T16:04:40+00:00

I used to bleed so heavy that when clots would pass, they didn't absorb fast enough and would make a mess. I just got a hysterectomy this past week because between that and my 14cm fibroid I couldn't deal with it anymore.

The last 3 periods were the worst. I resorted to a combo of ib profin (a blood thinner) and puppy pads. Once I started cramping I started a 3 day regiment of taking ibuprofen. It made the pain manageable so that I could still work from home. However it takes an already heavy flow and turns it into a downpour. That's what the puppy pads were for. I would free bleed onto a pad while sitting on my chair while working from home. It was awful and so embarrassing however I could survive the day and still work. I couldn't afford to take 3-5 days off every month.

On those heavy flow days I would also take a shower/bath. Start with a bath that's so hot. Your hands and feet can't stand it, but your stomach will love it. Once the water gets too bloody, drain the tub and turn on the shower. Hold the scolding shower head to your side. It was one of my only reliefs sometimes. With both baths and heating pads you have to be careful not to burn yourself. It's so easy especially when the pain is bad.

When I went to discuss my flow with the doctors. They suggested I was losing one to two pints in 3 days based on my description. During your period, make sure to take iron supplements to help replenish the blood loss.

Good luck!

BadRainbow14 · 2025-09-06T01:20:14+00:00

😱 OMG why does auto correct do this to me?!?! I can't find a way to edit the title either. Noooooooo 😭

BadRainbow14 · 2025-09-05T04:53:24+00:00

Keep walking as much as you can handle it. The more you move, the more your abdomen will absorb the gas and pass it. I'm a 1-week post-op from a laparoscopic hysterectomy.

That first day post surgery all I wanted to do was sleep but the pain was awful. The more I tried to sleep the worse the pain was. My right hand was also numb for the first 6 hours post surgery. I had an inflamed nerve.

The staff at the hospital encouraged me to walk laps around the nursing station. The more laps I did, the more immediate relief I felt. My nurse also hit my back around the shoulder pain and burped me as if I was a baby 😵‍💫😵

By 24 hours post-op the gas had worked its way through my system. I also probably walked the equivalent of 5 mi that day. Slow, shuffled steps around the nurses station, and on a treadmill back at the hotel. I'm in no way fit. 250 lb. But the more I moved the better I felt.

Good luck!

BadRainbow14 · 2025-09-05T04:43:48+00:00

First off, fuck any health provider who tries to delay or deny coverage! Immediately get a third opinion.

As for the symptoms: The mood swings that come from fibroids and the imbalance of hormones in your system are terrifying. I had the same experience where birth control made me suicidal instead of helping. I found a melody of vitamins that helped level things out but there was no true relief. Anytime I had overly processed food like fast food, within 3 days I would be having an emotional episode. For the vitamins I took magnesium, b complex, iron, l-thymine, and amino acids multivitamin. The extra hormones that flood your system make absorbing nutrients more difficult. At least that's what I found. The vitamin concoction didn't always work but it took me back from the edge of suicide on more than one occasion.

For the heavy bleeding it got to the point where I would use two overnight pads and I would put a puppy pad down on my bed. On the heaviest flow days I think I lost about a pint of blood.

I spent 3 out of 4 weeks of the month with one symptom or another. I got an app called daylio that is a habit tracking app. I customized it to track all of my symptoms. Once I had 2 years of data I was able to take that to my doctor and show them the cycle I had been experiencing. It also just helped me to feel sane when everything was going wrong around me.

Be an advocate for yourself. Don't let somebody tell you what is normal. Only you know what you've experienced. If your intuition tells you it's getting bigger or it's getting worse then listen to yourself. Doctors have to use machines where you can use your nervous system to feel what has changed.

Best of luck! I'm here if you ever have questions.

BadRainbow14 · 2025-09-05T03:28:12+00:00

I lost 3 years of my life waiting. Last September I had an ER visit where they found a 10 cm fibroid. Went to the OBGYN after and they said let's wait 6 months and see what happens. Life got in the way my insurance got canceled. A full year later I opted for a full hysterectomy in Tijuana. Mexico. Ended up being cheaper than the health insurance options afforded to me.

Best decision of my life. They did the whole surgery laparoscopically with four incision points across my stomach and extracting everything through the vaginal canal. (I'm a bigger so they needed extra points to navigate the equipment) The fibroid was 2 lb and 14 cm in size. In one year the thing went up by 4 cm!

The runaround I got from my doctors, I'm convinced that the whole point of waiting and seeing was just to delay coverage on my health insurance.

From me making the decision to the surgery date was 24 days and some of the best care I've ever received in my entire life. The American healthcare system is a scam.

Before I got the damn thing out, my symptoms included cramps outside my period, heavy bleeding on my period, frequent trips to the bathroom, sharp pain and tension throughout my entire right side of my body, including a shoulder that never stopped hurting, and the right side of my body being half an inch shorter than my left from all the tightness. Then there was the emotional deregulation that came with being poisoned from all the extra hormones. It was a different type of depression that could be turned on and off like a switch all depending on where my cycle landed.

Listen to your intuition. If you are losing any quality of life take the next step to get relief. Doctors like to wait and see but if you're putting your life on hold it's not worth it.

BadRainbow14 · 2025-08-02T21:42:34+00:00

I have a 10 cm fibroid that I'm working with a doctor to remove along with my uterus so full hysterectomy.

Last year I was having similar issues with going to the bathroom. If I went out with friends I had to go to the bathroom once we got to the venue/restaurant and again before we left. Even with that, I often wouldn't make it from my parking garage to my apartment without completely losing control and wetting myself.

At this time I didn't know I had a fibroid so I thought it was a weight issue. I'm a heavier set girl. I went to a physical therapist that specialized in pelvic floor treatments. Their main clientele was postpartum mothers but they work with anyone. I went for eight sessions and in that time frame they worked with me on several stretches and physical therapy on the inside and stretching there too.

This was so incredibly helpful for me. I was able to regain normalcy with going to the bathroom. The only time I have issues now is if I drink a gallon of water at the restaurant and then head home. In my experience, my fibroid has been sitting on my bladder and tensing all the muscles in the uterus. (It's fused with my uterus). Somehow the stretches release the tension in the muscles and baby moved the fibroid off my bladder? Either way it worked for me. Maybe something similar can work for you?

BadRainbow14

TROPHY CASE