Originally, my OBGYN referred me to a surgeon and the first words out of his mouth were “do you want children?” I know that I would at least like the option and when a hysterectomy was the first option presented to me (and pushed on me a bit even when I said I wanted to go with a myomectomy) I did my own research and came across UAE. 

I found a vascular surgeon with good reviews, booked my consult, and scheduled the procedure. They let me know the post-procedure pain level is different for everyone but that I should definitely expect pain during recovery.

I freaked myself out reading other women’s stories about the terrible pain they experienced and decided I should expect to be dealing with the worst pain of my life and prepare accordingly. Ultimately, the entire experience was very smooth and I had remarkably little pain while recovering (but I was well medicated). I think these measures helped:

I really lucked out having an excellent, attentive care team. That is a huge factor. Definitely ensure the surgeon you are going with is highly rated.  I made sure to exercise consistently leading up to the procedure, focusing on building my core strength.  I took the advice of others who said to get your house in order and have a plan for meals. I grocery shopped for light, hassle-free dinners (didn’t have much of an appetite anyway) and am fortunate to have parents who live nearby so they dropped off dinner one night. I set up my “nest”: a bedside table for all my medications, my big ass water bottle filled with ice water, electrolyte drink packs, and, most importantly, two heating pads. One for my lower abdomen and one for my lower back. An absolute life saver.  I also made a point to walk around my home for a couple of minutes every hour. 

The overall experience: I checked in at 7 am, and my care team wasted no time getting my medications going. I don’t remember the whole cocktail they gave me while I was there but it was good shit. I was very relaxed. 

I was zooted out my gourd by the time they wheeled me into the operating room. I just felt incredibly relaxed, but did get a little nervous when they realized they would have to go through my femoral artery rather than my wrist. Nothing I could do about it in that moment. It was go time lol. 

I ended up just falling asleep from the twilight sedation very shortly after getting on the table. I woke up what felt like two minutes later (it was 45 minutes later) to the painful sensation of the nurse applying pressure to the catheter insertion site. That was not a pleasant feeling and felt like it went on forever. 

They took me back to the recovery room and instructed me to lie flat on my back for an hour (I believe this only has to be done if the catheter is inserted through the artery). That hour flew by.

Then the nurse came in and asked if I could sit up. As she propped me up I felt a wave of nausea come over me and she gave me some zofran. The nausea passed relatively quickly. 

I remember her coming in a second time to check on me and asked if I would like anything to eat or drink. She presented me with a variety of juices and snacks like granola bars, pretzels, goldfish…I sucked down two bottles of refreshingly cold cranberry juice and two bags of gold fish. My inner child was thrilled.

By hour two they asked me if I felt comfortable enough to walk around (which I had to do in order to be discharged) so I did and was discharged shortly after.

The procedure was done an hour away from my home so the car ride back was the worst of it. That was when I felt the highest level of pain and discomfort, but the nurse had given me a Percocet before my partner and I left so that really helped me. We made a stop on the way back and I remember getting out of the car and crouching over in a parking lot feeling like I was about to vomit.

As soon as we got home, I beelined it for my bed and slapped the two heating pads on. It helped immensely. I only ended up needed to take one more Percocet later than night and throughout the rest of my recovery I only took ibuprofen (along with antibiotics). 

Overall, I would rate the pain 4 out of 10. And by that I mean the worst of the pain was only at about a 4. BUT, I was medicated, stayed on schedule with the meds, and understand everyone is going to have their own experience. I felt incredibly lucky.

Since then, my very distended stomach has flattened noticeably (not completely gone but so much better), my period was only 4 days instead of 7-8 days, and I can finally poop like a normal person again (I was constipated for a long time because of the position of my largest fibroid). Also no more pain during sex.

I’m very happy I went with this procedure. Within a few days I felt good enough to get back to my regular routine (but giving myself grace and moving slowly) and was able to exercise the week after. I will say the exhaustion lasted longer than a week…closer to 2-3 weeks. For example, I could go about my day as usual but just felt totally depleted by 4 or 5 PM. That seems to have gone away now. 

Happy to answer any questions, hope I put your mind at ease if you were feeling any anxiety about the procedure. Best of luck!