Humor has it, I thought of you all weekend but was tooo busy to write to you. We had a huge yard sale which is pretty great considering my surgery was not that long ago. Glad you are on the road to recovery, and I hope and pray your test come back negative. I threw up too, anesthesia does it every time. WOW, you have a lot of stiches!!! I have stitches underneath the final layer of stitches, weird but that is how my DR did it. I would have had 3 lines also but the cot out all the cancer and brought all the skin together and sewed up one line on the perineum. The ice feels so good on the swelling. Hope to hear you are feeling better in a few weeks. I feel back to normal besides tenderness on the site where the stitches were, once they were removed the healing sped up and things felt so much better. Hugs to you and so glad we all have each other

Well... things went downhill but I'm back on the climb to recovery. All but four stitches pulled out. I did not handle that situation well and was on the phone with the on-call Dr. after seeing the rather large, and alarming, hole. I was informed nothing could be done. That was discouraging. When I was inspecting the damage, I was shocked again by three things: I wasn't prepared for the bruising, just wow; He didn't take the entire left labia as he said prior to surgery, instead he took the bottom half; What remained of the left labia majora was so swollen my husband and I dubbed it "The lemon". It looked like someone attached a hose and filled it up to the point of popping. Ick. Not to mention the now gaping wound goes all the way to my anus. I was terrified of having a bowel movement.

The swelling finally went down these past few days. And oh how I loved those ice packs.

The pain was manageable prior to the stitches pulling out, afterwards I was miserable which lasted for a week. I've been in a routine of recline, ice for half an hour, bathroom break with sitz bath - rinse and repeat. Once the swelling started to subside I began to get up more often and slowly my broad legged stance while walking returned to normal. Very thankful for that, my husband called me Yosemite Sam.

Between the lemon and weeble wobble walk, I was over it. The emotional toll of what my body was going through started to overwhelm me. Sometimes it felt as if life would never be the same. What pulled me back was remembering the women here. It takes time to recovery, I just have to be patient.

He got clear margins and the biopsies came back clear. That was well timed news for me. The chances of going through this again are greatly reduced.

mdgal, I'm so happy to hear you are feeling so well! My heart aches for anyone who has to endure this but it's women like you who made it easier. I'm so blessed to have the support and understanding. Continued healing wishes sent your way

Glad to hear your update! I am finally feeling back to normal.... I also tore out all but a couple of my stitches...makes the recovery much longer :( means you must heal from the inside out.... My drainage is all but stopped and I am still wearing the panty liners which I hate! Keep reminding your self.... 8 weeks and it should be over.
The emotional roller coaster after seeing "it" has yet to leave for me...I don't want to look down there anymore. Sex is scary the first time too....we waited 8 or 9 weeks and it was still painful and caused bleeding....he needs some food lotion cause it will be a while before I am willing to try that again! My poor husband ha
Keep us up dated ! Hugs and prayers!

Whew, Humor, I'm glad you're making it through more comfortably after your set-back. That sounds really scary, with your stitches pulling out and all. Sounds like you are doing everything right to take down the swelling and promote healing. This is when having really good general health and a support system make a difference. It's hard to be patient with the healing. I had this surgery in 2010 and further surgery in August, and it seems there's no rushing the recovery, taking 6-8 weeks. I'm a wimp and don't look there with a mirror very often! I'm so happy for your clear margins and biopsies. Good Luck for continued healing and comfort.

Rlexus, that is fantastic news! It gives me hope that life will resume. Five more weeks, I can do this :x I plan on going back to work today if the oncologist gives me the ok. I have my appointment in an hour, fingers crossed, but legs definitely not! lol

I haven't looked down there since the great inspection. My husband said the bruising has almost gone away, just a little discoloration now. He's far more brave than I but then again, airing out doesn't leave much to the imagination.

Motion sickness after laying there for two weeks was pretty rough, so I kept increasing how much I was up every day and made a few walks through the house. Once the swelling went down it was easier to move around.

There needs to be more information on recovery for such a debilitating surgery. I was sent home after surgery with instructions for a vulvar biopsy and directions on how to get the vulvectomy care instructions from online. There is sparse information online to help prepare someone for what to expect. Most of it has to be pieced together from discussion boards.

I'm thankful I found this one, the information shared here was immensely helpful and the women are an invaluable part of the recovery process for me. Thank you all, I'm emotionally surviving this because of you

I couldn't agree more! I searched and searched for any information and found next to nothing! I am so glad you found this site before surgery.... Wish I had, it would have been such a big help.
Sad to say my itching is back and in a new spot....is it my paranoia.... Debating calling or waiting for my appointment in August?! Been trying to ignore it and hope it stops :(

What a journey, eh? I had a lot of trouble with stitches as well. I had to keep going back to get more pulled out after they told me they were gone. Not!

This is one tough bunch of cool ladies!

Hey Humor how are you doing? Been thinking and praying for you. Hope you are healing and getting around more!

Thank you for the thoughts and prayers

Weird, it didn't add the rest of my reply :( I hope all is well with you Rlexus, did you call about the itching? Things have improved tremendously with me. I can sit without the boppy! It's still uncomfortable because of a ridge left by the four stitches. I'm hoping the skin softens up over time.

No I have never t called:( life at work has been crazy and we are leaving for a 7 day cruise next weekend. I will when we return. So glad you are doing so much better. I have been able to stop wearing the pads (thank god) I didn't think that day would ever get here!
I hope and pray all our posts help even one person in the future.
Hugs and prayers to you! I will check in when I get back in June!

I found that sitting in warm Epsom salt bath helped mine more than anything

Humor how are you? I hope you are fully recovered by now!? Life has been a little crazy with vaction...new grandson born and the 2 youngest kids both bought homes....empty nesters in another week. Not sure how I feel about it just yet

I had a partial simple vulvectomy one week ago today. The swelling was something I expected but not as much as it was. Ice packs for the first couple of days was essential is speeding up the process. Couldn't even think about looking down there until yesterday. Looks like several stitches and bleeding was minimum as well as the pain. Was surprised that I didn't have pain at all for the first 4 days but now that the stitches are dissolving, there is some pain from soreness. Thankfully didn't have any infection but sitting is a challenge both in the tub and everywhere. I was advised to have a warm bath twice a day and this is actually been very helpful to cleanse the affected area. Lots of brushing on my butt cheeks but this has gone away as well. My husband has been the greatest support for me as he has been right beside me from the beginning. Waiting on the pathology report but the oncologist told us that he believes that the results will be all clear.

i had a partial vulvectomy on aug 8. they found i had vin stage 3. i had soreness below the vagina for the last couple years but chocked it up to menopausal dryness or something. i should have not waited to have it treated. the first week i didnt have too much pain. just couldnt sit. this second week has been more painful. i still have drainage and am still wearing pads. i have some sort of rash around the anal area. i think it is like diaper rash due to the moisture. i tried desitin but it didnt clear it up. it gets quite itchy at times. i see the dr in 3 days so she will be able to tell me what its from. i too have been too scared to look at it. the dr called a week after surgery to say that some areas had become cancerous. but there were negative margins around it. not sure what that means but i am totally freaked out now. she wants to take some more off in the future. i will get more detailed information at appt. has anyone else had the rash develop or have any advice for me. also i need to go back to work. i went a couple days ago but then had to take a few more days off. i cant afford to miss any more days. i sit for my job. any advice on that? it's nice to see that there are others that have gone thru this. its not a common known cancer. i had never heard of it and since i had a hysterectomy years ago had no idea other cancers were possible in that area. had i known that i would never have gone so long without findout what was going on down there!