Why I’m Writing This: So hopefully you won’t be as scared of the procedure as I was.
My Stats: 50 years old, have always had 10 day periods, developed small fibroids and was spotting most days between my periods. Had my Novasure procedure done at an outpatient surgical center under general anesthesia.
Day 1
4:45 AM – This is perhaps the worst part, having to be up this early and not being able to have coffee. (Nothing to eat or drink after Midnight the night before.)
5:30 AM – No earrings, no rings, no wedding ring, no watches, no bracelets, no body jewelry. It all stays home.
6:00 AM – Intake paperwork. I get asked at least 10 times if I’ve had anything to eat or drink. I get asked at least 5 times about allergies. They are very through.
6:30 AM – I take off all my clothes and change into a paper gown and socks with grippers. They put compression booties on my lower legs – those will prevent any blood pooling in my legs.
6:45 AM - The surgical nurse visits me in my pre-op room. She double checks all my paperwork, double checks that I know what I’m having done, and double checks that I haven’t had anything to eat or drink.
7:00 AM – The anesthesiologist visits me in my pre-op room. She is super and asks me again if I’ve had anything to eat or drink and what I’m there for.
7:15 AM – My gynecologist visits me in my pre-op room to see if I have any last minute questions.
7:20 AM – I kiss my Hubby and walk into the operating room.
7:25 AM – They have me hop up on the table, lay me down, wrap me in blankets, put on the monitors, inflate the compression booties, and the anesthesiologist gets to work finding a vein in my hand. I don’t have good veins, so she has to switch hands, but nails it easily on the second hand. “Stick, sting, and a little burn.” She starts up some conversation about what I do. (There are 2 schools of anesthesiologists, the count-backwards-from-10 kind and the tell-me-about-what-you-do kind.) I chat a bit and then say, “The edges are starting to get a little fuzzy.” Her saying, “That’s just what we want!” is the last thing I remember.
9:30 AM – I wake up in the recovery room, and the nurses are surprised that I sit right up. My throat is really dry, but before I could say anything they already brought me a cup of water and a straw. Then they brought some juice and graham crackers.
9:35 AM – Hubby joins me in the recovery room. The recovery nurse sees I’m doing great and asks if I want to rest or go on to the next step. I’m ready to go, so she brings my clothes and a huge maxi pad and Hubby helps me dress. I go and sit in the recovery room waiting area while Hubby brings the car around.
10:00 AM – I’m home. I feel pretty groggy and a little crampy. I take 2 Tylenol and make some coffee. Ahhhh, coffee!
10:30 AM – Still a little groggy, but I get *really* hungry! I’m supposed to eat light, but I have a bowl of leftover pasta, some snacks, some more snacks.
11:30 AM – I’m feeling less crampy, but a bit bloated. Still very hungry, I get Hubby to drive me out for fast food burgers. I realize during the drive that although I feel less groggy, there is no way in heck I could have driven.
11:45 AM – Lunch, yum! After lunch I lose all the grogginess completely. I realize, duh, I was so hungry because I had drugs and basically had “the munchies.” LOL!
3:00 PM – Feeling good. No cramping, bloating feeling is going away, feel very alert. Just some minor watery spotting so far.
Day 2
11:30 AM - Almost no spotting overnight. Feel just a bit out of sorts. Nothing specific, other than a really scratchy throat. Shower feels great! (No showers for 24 hours after, no baths for 48 hours after.) I definitely am bloated – my weight is up 4 pounds, my shoes barely fit, and I’m spilling over my bra.
7:30 PM – A very uneventful day. Very minor watery spotting during the day. I do have to pee a lot today, though.
Day 3
2:00 PM – An easy night. No spotting at all. I start to wonder why I’m sleeping in a maxi pad made for a horse. (No tampons for 2 weeks after.) My weight is back down 3 pounds. Having a little minor cramping today, took 2 Tylenol.
5:00 PM – Finally bleeding a little. This actually made me feel better because I was wondering when it would start. Very thin and watery, though.
Day 4-Day 12
As the week went on more and more watery spotting each day – like you took a spoon of water and put a drop of blood in it for color. Still, not more than a pantyliner every 3-4 hours. Occasional, “Ewww, that feels wet!” moments. Some slight, slight cramp and some low backache. Hubby is getting a little “antsy.” (No intercourse for 2 weeks after.)
Day 13
Had my follow-up exam. Everything was normal. Biopsies were as expected. My gynecologist cleared me for using tampons, hot tubs, and intercourse. (Yay!) Still getting watery spotting, though. I’ve gone from annoying spotting a few days a month, to annoying spotting every day. My doctor said to give her a call if it hasn’t stopped in a week.
Day 21
Still spotting. Not much but enough to leave a thin yellow mark on a pantyliner. Tomorrow I call the doctor again.
6 weeks later
The spotting finally has stopped. I’m “unusual” that I’ve spotted so long. It was annoying, but not painful or harmful.
2 months later
Yes! I’m one of the lucky ones. No more periods. The official stat is that 40% will not have periods after, but my Gyn said that in her experience it’s more like 75%. I haven’t gotten up the courage to throw out all my tampons yet, but soon. : ) Now the bills are coming in. All total it will be about $1000 after insurance, but I’m still glad I did it.
Well, this was long, but I really hope it helped you! (And if someone can tell me how to get a line break, that would help!)
My Stats: 50 years old, have always had 10 day periods, developed small fibroids and was spotting most days between my periods. Had my Novasure procedure done at an outpatient surgical center under general anesthesia.
Day 1
4:45 AM – This is perhaps the worst part, having to be up this early and not being able to have coffee. (Nothing to eat or drink after Midnight the night before.)
5:30 AM – No earrings, no rings, no wedding ring, no watches, no bracelets, no body jewelry. It all stays home.
6:00 AM – Intake paperwork. I get asked at least 10 times if I’ve had anything to eat or drink. I get asked at least 5 times about allergies. They are very through.
6:30 AM – I take off all my clothes and change into a paper gown and socks with grippers. They put compression booties on my lower legs – those will prevent any blood pooling in my legs.
6:45 AM - The surgical nurse visits me in my pre-op room. She double checks all my paperwork, double checks that I know what I’m having done, and double checks that I haven’t had anything to eat or drink.
7:00 AM – The anesthesiologist visits me in my pre-op room. She is super and asks me again if I’ve had anything to eat or drink and what I’m there for.
7:15 AM – My gynecologist visits me in my pre-op room to see if I have any last minute questions.
7:20 AM – I kiss my Hubby and walk into the operating room.
7:25 AM – They have me hop up on the table, lay me down, wrap me in blankets, put on the monitors, inflate the compression booties, and the anesthesiologist gets to work finding a vein in my hand. I don’t have good veins, so she has to switch hands, but nails it easily on the second hand. “Stick, sting, and a little burn.” She starts up some conversation about what I do. (There are 2 schools of anesthesiologists, the count-backwards-from-10 kind and the tell-me-about-what-you-do kind.) I chat a bit and then say, “The edges are starting to get a little fuzzy.” Her saying, “That’s just what we want!” is the last thing I remember.
9:30 AM – I wake up in the recovery room, and the nurses are surprised that I sit right up. My throat is really dry, but before I could say anything they already brought me a cup of water and a straw. Then they brought some juice and graham crackers.
9:35 AM – Hubby joins me in the recovery room. The recovery nurse sees I’m doing great and asks if I want to rest or go on to the next step. I’m ready to go, so she brings my clothes and a huge maxi pad and Hubby helps me dress. I go and sit in the recovery room waiting area while Hubby brings the car around.
10:00 AM – I’m home. I feel pretty groggy and a little crampy. I take 2 Tylenol and make some coffee. Ahhhh, coffee!
10:30 AM – Still a little groggy, but I get *really* hungry! I’m supposed to eat light, but I have a bowl of leftover pasta, some snacks, some more snacks.
11:30 AM – I’m feeling less crampy, but a bit bloated. Still very hungry, I get Hubby to drive me out for fast food burgers. I realize during the drive that although I feel less groggy, there is no way in heck I could have driven.
11:45 AM – Lunch, yum! After lunch I lose all the grogginess completely. I realize, duh, I was so hungry because I had drugs and basically had “the munchies.” LOL!
3:00 PM – Feeling good. No cramping, bloating feeling is going away, feel very alert. Just some minor watery spotting so far.
Day 2
11:30 AM - Almost no spotting overnight. Feel just a bit out of sorts. Nothing specific, other than a really scratchy throat. Shower feels great! (No showers for 24 hours after, no baths for 48 hours after.) I definitely am bloated – my weight is up 4 pounds, my shoes barely fit, and I’m spilling over my bra.
7:30 PM – A very uneventful day. Very minor watery spotting during the day. I do have to pee a lot today, though.
Day 3
2:00 PM – An easy night. No spotting at all. I start to wonder why I’m sleeping in a maxi pad made for a horse. (No tampons for 2 weeks after.) My weight is back down 3 pounds. Having a little minor cramping today, took 2 Tylenol.
5:00 PM – Finally bleeding a little. This actually made me feel better because I was wondering when it would start. Very thin and watery, though.
Day 4-Day 12
As the week went on more and more watery spotting each day – like you took a spoon of water and put a drop of blood in it for color. Still, not more than a pantyliner every 3-4 hours. Occasional, “Ewww, that feels wet!” moments. Some slight, slight cramp and some low backache. Hubby is getting a little “antsy.” (No intercourse for 2 weeks after.)
Day 13
Had my follow-up exam. Everything was normal. Biopsies were as expected. My gynecologist cleared me for using tampons, hot tubs, and intercourse. (Yay!) Still getting watery spotting, though. I’ve gone from annoying spotting a few days a month, to annoying spotting every day. My doctor said to give her a call if it hasn’t stopped in a week.
Day 21
Still spotting. Not much but enough to leave a thin yellow mark on a pantyliner. Tomorrow I call the doctor again.
6 weeks later
The spotting finally has stopped. I’m “unusual” that I’ve spotted so long. It was annoying, but not painful or harmful.
2 months later
Yes! I’m one of the lucky ones. No more periods. The official stat is that 40% will not have periods after, but my Gyn said that in her experience it’s more like 75%. I haven’t gotten up the courage to throw out all my tampons yet, but soon. : ) Now the bills are coming in. All total it will be about $1000 after insurance, but I’m still glad I did it.
Well, this was long, but I really hope it helped you! (And if someone can tell me how to get a line break, that would help!)
Cherry
Thank you so much for posting this. I am now four weeks postop with Novasure and have had continued bleeding/discharge/spotting the entire time. I did have an infection and took antibiotics and that is now all better. The bleeding actually started about two weeks after and hasn't stopped at all. It is mostly light to spotting but definitely enough to be annoying. I am so worried that this will be my final result, but my doc tells my I still have a chance for a good result but just need to give it more time. I am happy to find a story of someone else who bled/spotted for at least as long until it started getting better. Thank you for the hope!
Lynn