"Hysteroscopy Under General Anaesthetic"

I was referred for an Outpatient Hysteroscopy after a somewhat concerning ultrasound.

Thankfully, I did a bit of research beforehand and found that despite hospital paperwork saying it would feel like period pains, most women do actually find it horrendously uncomfortable and painful. Knowing I have awful periods already, I knew going in that I would not be allowing myself to have this without adequate pain relief.

The nurses were lovely and the consultant explained what would happen, however there was no mention of pain relief. It was at this time that I requested a General Anesthetic for the procedure and it was instantly agreed by the consultant, without question, which I am hugely thankful for.

Roll on a week and a half and I’m waiting to go into theatre. Again, the nurses were fantastic and do their best to put you at ease, however I was still very anxious. I was given a sedative prior to the main anaesthetic and it helped so much in making the whole thing better.

I woke up what seemed like two minutes later and this is where I feel the care went downhill, sadly. 

I had told the anaesthetist prior to going in, that I suffer with horrendous sickness after anaesthetic and he assured me I would be given an anti-sickness medication to stop this.

Unfortunately, I was still very unwell after and couldn’t even keep water down for a couple of hours. Despite this, I was advised by a nurse that I needed to eat so that I could be discharged, as I’d already been there for ages.

I was also in awful pain from the procedure and asked for painkillers and I was brought Codeine. I explained that this usually makes me feel very nauseous and so I would prefer something else as I was already feeling very sick. I was told that I’d already had paracetamol, so couldn’t have anything else - surely Ibuprofen would have been readily available in a hospital setting? And so I was left to ride out the pain until it eased slightly.

Up until I woke up, the care was brilliant, but the aftercare was a let down. Despite this, I am very happy I was able to have a General, I know I absolutely would not have been able to do it as an Outpatient appointment and so please do push for this if this is what you want!