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Fibroid 
Dear Eve and GC
Fibroids (Eveline How)
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Hi, Q has provided some useful tips on post-op care. I'll just add some experience from my mom's op:
PAIN She had an abdominal hysterectomy, for her fibroid was extremely large. Immediately after the op, when I asked her whether she still had pain, she said "of course," but it looked like the pain was bearable. (Having had my teeth taken out in an operation, I think the pain will be constant, but bearable and possible to get used to.) As long as she moved slowly and avoided disturbing the abdominal muscles (she had a cough), she was alright. MOBILITY The next day after the op, after she was off the GA, she was able to get up the bed and move to the loo. However, she needed some assistance in getting on and off the bed (didn't know how to). 1-2 days later, she was already walking around the ward exercising. POST-OP CARE Instructions were given to her that she should not do strenous work such as carrying heavy things, bending, etc. However, as far as light housework is concerned, she was able to do them. When we reached home after discharging, I went straight to sleep while she started cooking! If I remember correctly she continued to cook dinner for my husband & I weekly. But very simple dishes like rice and stir-fried vegetables. I did the marketing for her every Saturday morning. She asked me to buy "yu2 sheng1" (the kind of fish you kill by bashing its head) initially but subsequently, for some reason, she switched to "ngor hrr" (wu3 yu2 "afternoon fish"? threadfin?). It was very expensive, about $40 kg a kilo. She'd steam the "ngor hrr" every day and eat. She ate this for about a month or so, until she felt it was no longer necessary. Tips: I think, if you have to do your own cooking, you might want to stock up necessary foods such as rice, bee hoon and noodles/pasta, milk powder, Milo, biscuits, cereals and dried foods, canned food etc from which you could whip up a quick meal easily. Then you do not have to worry so much about marketing; you only need to buy the fresh stuff such as fruits and veggies to include in your diet. (Also, stores such as Cold Storage or E-mart does home delivery too.) Or, you could cook some food in advance and freeze them, to use during maybe the first 2 weeks of your recuperation at home, when you think you might not be up for cooking. All you need to do is to defrost and pop the food into the oven or microwave. Food which can be frozen include pizzas, wanton, pasta, and basically those stuff you see in NTUC. Some veggies and fruits can be frozen too, but there's some technique I think (must blanche green veggies before freezing, etc) So you can pre-cut your veggies, freeze in serving portions, and take out what you need when you need them. You can, of course, stock up with frozen food from the supermarket as well. What is important is to find ways get yourself fed adequately while you may still be weak from the op. --- I think the house was in quite a mess for a few months because my mom didn't clean the house (no mopping at least) and my brother wasn't too good at housework! (I had already moved out.) Tip: Clean your house as much as you can before going for the op. Perhaps invest in that Kao wipe thing which I heard is very good for cleaning floors. Then you don't have to do the double work of sweeping and mopping the floor (and carrying heavy buckets of water around!) --- As for bathing, I found some plasters from Guardian which she could use to cover her wound when she was bathing. They were expensive (more than $1 each) but if they could minimise her discomfort, why not. I think Q's plastic bag idea could work too. After about 1 - 1.5 months she was alright. But she was very cautious so she told herself to "go slow." All in all, I felt she had less restrictions than when she went for a cataract op a few months later! After that op, she couldn't even cook! And I had to wash her hair every week so that water wouldn't enter her eyes! HYSTERECTOMY There is something I mentioned earlier which sounded rather misleading. I said that if you opted for hysterectomy (i.e. removal of the womb +++), there's a need for HRT. Actually, that depends on "how much" you opt to remove during the operation. There's the womb, the ovaries and fallopian tubes, and the cervix (any more?) I read that one could even remove only part of the womb! (Dunno true or not.) Reason is if you have too many things removed, you might feel a bit "strange." I think there's also something about incontinence as well. Anyway, what I read was, if you remove the ovaries, then you would need to start HRT, because a large amount of estrogen we females have in the body comes from the ovaries. Otherwise you might have menopause effects such as hot/cold flashes, and the risk of getting osteoporosis is higher. On the other hand, HRT also has risks (which is why I mentioned the "natural" way earlier), so it is important to be informed no matter what your decision may be. The National Library has many books on dealing with menopause (which a hysterectomy involving the ovaries would bring on), which I found very useful when I needed to tell my mom what her op would be about. I hope the information has been useful, and please ask if you have more questions. And if you decide to go for the op, please do let us know when and where so that we can pay you a visit to keep you company, and render some assistance to you.
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