My Myomectomy Experience

A Little Background

When you're young, you are carefree, worry free and just adventurous. I was having a perfectly normal life at the age of 29 when I had excessive bleeding or abnormal bleeding in May 2016. Turns out that myoma got bigger and it was really the culprit of my bleeding. I had blood transfusion then and my partner was kind enough to donate blood for me. I was advised to take OCP pills and it worked for 2 months.

In August 2016, I had prolonged bleeding once again and I found out that my myoma got bigger again 4.49 x 4.48 x 4.22 cm. This time my bleeding was just scary. I had big blood clots the size of my palm and it was just coming out non-stop.

Anyway, I visited my OB and she advised me to undergo hysteroscopy. I researched about it and found out that it was a minimally-invasive procedure. I was positive about this procedure however, I found out that it costs around 100k procedure alone. Fortunately, I have a health card insurance from the company I'm working for. Unfortunately, having a 100k procedure would max out my card balance. I sought for a second opinion from a colleague's OB. I was so happy that my OB was very kind, caring and easy to talk to. I can practically talk to her about anything and she really takes her time to explain to me everything that I need and want to know. She's Dra. Meliza Lampitoc by the way.

Anyway, she advised me to undergo myomectomy instead (given my budget). It's a major surgery and it would require me 2 months to totally recuperate from the procedure. Due to my continuous bleeding she advised me to undergo that procedure right away.

I willingly obeyed (since I want it to be over and done right away) and I was confined on Sept. 28 in preparation for my operation the next day. After having my procedure approved by my health card insurance provider, I went to De Los Santos Medical Center in Quezon City for my operation.

I was given fleet enema by a male nurse to my horror and shame and it quickly took affect in less that 5 minutes. Anyway, I tried to get as much sleep as I could but I just couldn't. I kept on praying that everything will go well. My mom was there to accompany me since my partner had to take care of our son who was not allowed in the hospital for health and safety reasons. I was scheduled to operated at 8 AM the next day so I had to do fasting from 12 MN onwards.

Operation Day

I woke up at 4:30 A.M. and the male nurse gave me fleet enema once again. He said that this is necessary to ensure that I'm "clean".  After its effect, I took a cold bath (there was no hot and cold shower) because I knew it would take a long time for me to be able to take a bath once more. lol I changed into my hospital gown and I removed all jewelries. I was also advised to remove my underwear. I prayed the rosary and prayed that my operation will go well.

The nurses came to my room around 6 A.M. They gave me a "pampakalma" I don't know what it was really but they injected it to my right arm which quickly gave a solid, massive and numbing feeling on my arm. I was then wheeled to the OR. My mom gave me a kiss and then I was alone with the nurses. At that time, I was feeling a bit whoozy. The nurse told me not to fight the urge to sleep since this is the effect of the sedative that they gave me.

Then I was in the big operating room and the nurses prepared me for the operation. They checked if I had no nail polish and they shaved everything down there. I remember my anesthesiologist coming and introducing himself to me. I couldn't answer back as I was getting really sleepy. I just remember him telling me "Papatulugin muna kita ha?" and that's it. That was all I remember. I fell right to sleep after that.

I woke up and realized that I was already in the recovery room. I thought that my procedure haven't started yet so I asked the nurse. "Miss tapos na ba?" and she replied, "Yes ma'am tapos na po nasa recovery room na po kayo." and then I fell back to sleep. My mom told me that I was brought back to my room around 1 P.M. She even showed me a photo of the myoma that my OB was able to remove from my uterus. I was just so groggy and really sleepy. I was not allowed to drink or eat anything. My mom gave me wet cotton balls on my mouth just so it won't dry up. I feel asleep the whole day and woke up the next day feeling really really thirsty. My mom told me that while I was groggy, I told her that I wanted to drink a really really cold Coke. A catheter was attached to me so I was really not allowed to stand.

My Way to Recovery

Anyway, I felt well rested the next day although I still had minimal bleeding. I was then allowed to be on soft diet (gelatin, soups, pineapple juice etc.) I forced myself to move and change positions while lying down. After a few hours my catheter and my IV was removed. I then felt a sudden urge to do number two. It was actually a good sign that operation went well. After I reported that to my OB, I was then allowed to eat regular meals. But I didn't have much of an appetite. I wanted to take it slow.

After a few days, I can walk and stand assisted. I walked and walked in the hospital so I can have my blood flowing. For days after, I was discharged from the hospital and my mom took me home to the province so I can recuperate better. Mind you, in my province, the air is so fresh that I can take deep long breaths and wear a jacket because of the cold weather.

My OB advised me to visit her after 10 days so she can check on my stitch. I am very thankful for the love and prayers that everyone has given me. I really felt that I was not alone in the OR and I felt really confident that I will be able to get through it. It was like a million angels were with me at that moment and I really felt that people were praying for my safety. May God bless all of you!

I will continue to write about my recovery on this blog. How about you? Were you able to experience something related to this? Share your story. I can't wait to get to know all of you.