u/ScreenHype

Hey everyone,

I'm just under 3 weeks out from my surgery, I had an open myomectomy to remove a 14 cm fibroid. The surgery went successful, but recovery was a bit trickier because I developed an infection and got a fever on the second night, and this was during a heat wave and the hospital didn't have aircon or fans, so there was no real way to combat the fever. I ended up spending a pretty rough four nights in the hospital, which I think impacted my initial recovery progress.

Since I've been back home, I've been recovering steadily, and I'm able to comfortably move around my home, even though I can't really go outside the house yet (I get exhausted going to the bottom of my road and back).

Thankfully the sickness has pretty much gone away now, but the pain is still very present. Obviously it's not as bad as it was in that first week, but it's still bothering me. I finished all my prescription opiates, since I was only prescribed that for the first few days after I got back home. But I still had some co-codamol from before my surgery as I was using that to manage my fibroid pain (which wasn't working, since the fibroid pain seemed to be resistant to painkillers, so I just stopped using it, hence why I have plenty left), so I've been taking that once or twice a day as needed. I also have diclofenac that they prescribed me for after my surgery, and they gave me plenty of that, so I've been taking that about once a day as well.

I just feel like at this stage in the game, I probably shouldn't still need the high strength pain medication? But I'm not sure what's normal, and I haven't been given a number to contact my surgical team or anything, and trying to get through with the hospital has always been a nightmare. I also changed doctor's surgery recently, so they don't really know my full situation like my old surgery did, so I'm not sure how much help they would be if I contacted them, and given the state of the NHS, I don't want to be taking time away from people who have serious issues.

The pain is manageable, I have a high pain threshold so I'm dealing, I'm just not sure if it's normal or not after 3 weeks, as I see some people on here saying that they have gone down to just paracetamol and ibuprofen after like a week. So I'm curious to know what other people's experiences are with the pain? For me, it's a sharp pain around my incision scar if I cough or sneeze, and then just like a dull ache or a pressure pain from time to time in my general abdominal region.

Salam, everyone. I had major open surgery last week, and am currently in the early stages of my recovery. The surgery was on my womb and abdomen, and although I can walk a little bit around my house when necessary, I can't stand for very long, and I can't bend.

As such, I'm unable to shower. I have been cleaning myself using adult wet wipes for my body, and dry shampoo for my hair. But I'll need to do ghusl in a couple of days, and I'm not sure how I'll go about it? I can't stand for long, and there are some parts of my body I can't fully reach due to my limited mobility. I also wouldn't be able to get into the bath or anything like that.

Obviously ghusl usually has a ritualised right side/ left side aspect to it, but would it be okay for me to just get my hair wet in the bathroom, and then move to the bed to wipe myself with the wet wipes as best as I can? I want to make sure I'm fulfilling my religious obligations so that my prayers will be accepted afterwards.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to be vague here because I don't want people knowing my personal business, but I'll put the gist so that you can give advice.

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A few weeks ago, I did something I deeply regret. In a moment of panic, I acted impulsively, and I did something that hurt somebody I care about (not physically, but emotionally). It was definitely bad, but it wasn't malicious or calculated, it happened in the heat of the moment. It was a really bad choice that I made out of fear.

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I felt really guilty about it, and the next day I sent them a sincere apology, and I told them I wouldn't contact them again if they didn't want me to. They then replied telling me not to contact them, but then they said some more stuff about what they thought I'd done. Thing is, they think I've done a LOT worse than I have, the things they think I've done are unforgivable.

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I've tried really hard to respect their wish for no contact, but the misunderstanding is killing me. Because I have incontrovertible proof (screenshots) that I didn't do what they think I did. And if I could just send it to them, it would clear it up. It wouldn't change the bad thing I actually did, but it would prove that I'm not the malicious person they currently think I am.

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I could cope with being hated for what I actually did. But it's killing me that they hate me for something I didn't do. Even if sending them the proof wouldn't change the fact that they hate me, at least it would be for the right reasons. But I can't send the proof without violating their boundary (since they've asked not to be contacted), and doing that would make me a bad person.

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So I'm in an awful position where to be a good person, I have to let them think I'm a really bad person. And to correct that notion would require me becoming a bad person.

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With my autism, one thing I hate more than anything is misunderstandings. I despise miscommunication tropes in TV shows and movies. And in real life, it's so important to me to be understood properly. I over-explain like crazy because I need people to know where I'm coming from. And so this situation is killing me, I can't focus on anything. I don't know what to do!

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I've tried letting it go, but all I can think about is that somebody I care about hates me for something I didn't do. It's like torture.

I had my appointment with my NHS consultant today, and it didn't go quite as well as I'd hoped. I did my MRI a few months ago which revealed I have a 14 cm fibroid. I have been having severe symptoms, including excruciating pain that hasn't been responding well to painkillers (30/500 Co-codamol), heavy, irregular periods, and frequent urination. I have had to go to the hospital for the pain on multiple occasions. I literally can't sleep through the night because I'm waking up multiple times from the pain or needing to pee. I had to quit my job because I couldn't do it anymore between the pain and the constant needing to go to the toilet, as well as the brain fog from my medication.

I was hoping that given the severity of my symptoms, I might be able to be on the urgent list for surgery, but unfortunately I was told today that the wait for my open myomectomy will be at least 6 to 9 months, even with her bumping me up the wait list. I was devastated because I honestly don't know how I'm supposed to live that much longer like this, but I can't afford to go private.

I have been prescribed mefenamic acid to help with the pain, and she also recommended gnrh injections to put me into medical menopause. She said it might help shrink the fibroid, and that I could also do HRT to help manage the side effects.

I'm torn on whether I should do it. I don't like the idea of being in menopause in my early 30s, even if it's only temporary. I run hot at the best of times and I frequently faint in summer from the heat, I can't imagine adding hot flushes onto that. I'm also really worried about decreasing my bone density as I already have an issue with my hands not working properly (some kind of strain issue that I picked up last summer, the doctors can't figure out why it's not healing). The doctors have said that the treatment for that might involve weakening my bones anyway, so I'm not sure I can take anything else that will damage my bone density.

Can anybody here who did the injections say what their experience was like with them? And whether it decreased the pain from your fibroid? Also if you were offered them and decided not to take them, what made you make that decision, and did you regret it?

Thank you!