[RAVE] 28F, got my NovaSure endometrial ablation yesterday, wasn't that bad!

I had this done for medical reasons and it is an attempt to avoid a full hysterectomy, but was glad my new gyno respected me when I said I wasn't having children and she was willing to do something real for me because I had a serious problem instead of just trying pill after pill that didn't help and made me feel bad... previous gyno a few years ago wouldn't do anything fertility-compromising and told me to "suck it up", didn't treat me like an adult capable of making my own decisions.

Here is a little bit about my experience, for those who are curious/interested in the NovaSure endometrial ablation procedure since I was looking online and people seemed to have varying levels of sedation and very different experiences.

I live in Canada so it was free, but I understand from my gyno that it cost my province an estimated $17,000 when all was said and done.

I reported to the hospital and discovered that our Women's Hospital is on hardcore lockdown... the clerks were through glass walls and you had to pick up a phone to speak with them, all real "hospital" areas were behind locked secure doors and you had to get buzzed in. I was quite dismayed when my boyfriend wasn't allowed to go in with me, but it sounds like some "incidents" have gone down in the past, plus there are patients who have been victims of violence and they perform all kinds of procedures there. Sounds like things have gotten heated with emotions running high so there was a very strict policy that no one came in with you.

I proceeded to lock up my things, get changed and take a pregnancy test and it was all quite impersonal and business-like, after I had been tagged and processed myself and a few other ladies waiting in our gowns to be called were kind of nervously joking about feeling a bit like cattle at that point. When they took my blood pressure it was through the roof from pure stress.

Luckily, once they called my name and I got into the pre-op area it was like the opposite! Everyone was extremely over-the-top friendly and kind. I think every single person who was in the OR with me came over to introduce themselves before the procedure. My gyno came in and said "Christmas came early for you today". There were a few mentions that I wouldn't be getting pregnant now despite not having any children but no one said anything judgemental, everyone seemed to understand my health was more important to me.

The staff did their best to make me very comfortable, they even did a local freeze of my hand before they set up the IV so I didn't even have to feel it going in at all. The anaesthesiologist listened to my concerns about not wanting to be aware of what was going on because I'm a huge chicken and I read online about people feeling their uterus getting fried and that was nooootttt going to go over well for me. She was true to her word that even though it was conscious IV sedation, I wouldn't remember and I didn't experience a thing past putting my feet up until they were wheeling me into recovery. When I woke up and asked if it was over I grabbed her hand and thanked her profusely for not letting me remember, the thought of that had really scared me.

Recovery didn't take very long, I actually felt pretty good afterwards like I'd had a good nap. It didn't really hurt at all when I woke up and I wasn't shaky on my feet when they had me walk across the room to make sure I could leave. I got a prescription for T3s and by the time I was in the car it was starting to hurt more as everything I got in the OR wore off, by the time I was at home with prescription filled taking the T3s it hurt about as much as the worst cramps I've ever had. The T3s took the edge off so it was like a painful period. It was certainly far from comfortable for a few hours and I needed to curl up and lie down but it wasn't something I couldn't handle, and by the time I was taking my second round of T3s in the late afternoon the pain had already decreased dramatically. I took them again at night just to be safe, but I woke up this morning several hours after when re-dose time would have been and felt actually only more minor discomfort so I switched to regular old extra strength Tylenol. I can't be jumping around and I wouldn't want to do a bunch of moving/bending and cook or do dishes or anything, but I feel completely fine with no pain sitting around and lying around.

I was initially terrified about how much it might hurt and had really psyched myself out (shouldn't have googled peoples' experiences, what was I thinking?), but it really did not hurt as much as I thought, the hospital staff were very caring, my health problems should be addressed for good AND I'm really, really not having children now. Many people seem to get their tubes tied at the same time as getting pregnant is dangerous after an endometrial ablation, but because all of my pain and problems stemmed from the lining of my uterus (adenomyosis) I was given an IUD instead with the thought that it would prevent pregnancy plus also prevent the lining from re-growing, as if the lining grows back my problems will come back.