Twelve Hours Without Answers

At the time, I had no idea that certain risk factors could significantly raise the risk of bladder injury during a hysterectomy.

Severe adhesions.

Pelvic floor reconstruction or prolapse surgery.

A history of previous cesarean sections or other uterine surgeries.

In fact, patients with prior C-sections have nearly three times the risk of bladder complications.

I had those risk factors.

Later, my doctor told my husband that I had so many adhesions that “it looked like a bomb went off inside me.”

She explained that there was an extensive amount of scar tissue and that it made reaching my uterus extremely difficult. They had a really hard time working through it.

With the amount of scar tissue present, the surgery should have been stopped and converted to an open procedure instead of continuing laparoscopically.

My doctor even told my husband that herself.

But they didn’t stop.

They continued.

While all of this was happening, my husband sat in the waiting room.

One hour passed.

Then another.

Then another.

No updates.

No explanations.

He sat there for twelve hours.

After the sixth hour, worried and confused, he finally went to the front desk and asked the staff what was going on.

Only then did he learn that what was meant to be a four hour procedure was still unfolding.

My husband isn’t medically inclined, and in that moment he was overwhelmed and trying to understand what had happened. He asked if he could record the conversation with the doctor so he could share it with me once the anesthesia wore off.

So he did.

It’s one of those moments that makes you wonder if everything could have been avoided if they had simply stopped and switched approaches.

I try not to dwell on it.

Getting worked up over things I can’t change only steals peace from the present.

But I still have the recordings.

And I still can’t bring myself to listen to them.

Later, my doctor explained that the original puncture in my bladder was extremely small.

So small, in fact, that she had to place a clamp on it just to mark the spot.

Urology was called in to consult.

When the urologist arrived, my uterus was still intact. He had to wait for my doctor to complete the hysterectomy before he could fully assess and repair the bladder injury.

During that time, urine continued leaking into my pelvic cavity.

My urologist later told me that by the time my uterus was removed, my pelvic cavity was full of urine.

What had started as a tiny puncture had now become something much worse.

The small wound had turned into a complete tear.