AIO- had surgery and they inserted a tampon
I had a minor gynecologocal surgery (lapriscopic surgery to remove cysts on my reproductive organs) today and happened to be on my period. The nurse at check in gave me hospital period underwear while I was waiting in my gown.
When I got into the operating room a different nurse let me know I would need to take them off as they would need access to that area. I made a joke about loosing all dignity in the operating room and moved on.
Post surgery in the recovery room another nurse slipped a pad underneath me. A few hours later when I went to the washroom for thr first time I was surprised that the pad was clean and when I wiped there was no blood. Then I noticed a tampon string and was surprised.
I pulled it out and moved on.
When I got home I used a baby wipe to freshen up and noticed some brown so I'm also wondering if I had a bowel movement.
AIO about being weirded out they didnt tell me about the tampon and not being fully cleaned up? I didn't say anything but am wondering if i should at the follow up with my dr.
Edit-Additional notes- I have not used tampons for a long time. Also, the nurse reviewing information with me afterwards told me not to insert anything vaginally for at least 1 week. She also placed a pad underneath me for my period. I think it's safe to assume she didn't know about the tampon. After reading comments, I'm wondering if they did insert a medical instrument there and I got scratched, hence the tampon. What does not make sense is that 1. Tampons don't seem to be a common choice 2. No one told me 3. Why didn't they take it out?
Also! Lucky me, I live in a country where there is free Healthcare so there was no itemized bill at the end!
Reddit consensus: NOT OVERREACTING (NOR) (100% confidence)
Top comment: “NOR. I work in surgery and we have never placed a tampon in someone. Ever! It’s actually the opposite we have patients take them out. We do not want patients to have a tampon in during surgery. If it gets a little messy, no big deal we will clean you up and put a pad under you.”
Notable comment: “NOR. The OR usually uses pads. It is possible a tampon was used for a specific reason depending on your surgery specifics. The brown wipe could definitely be from the betadine used. If it was stool it's something that could have also happened in recovery after you were cleaned up etc. So while certainly surprising, there can be medical reasons for all of this. But it was a big miss to not make you aware there was a tampon in. Also possible a tampon was a better choice in the OR and whoever got you cleaned up and transferred was supposed to have pulled it and put in a pad.
It's not emergant but let your doctor know. Also ask for the surgery report which should have all the details on it”
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Originally shared by Relative_Sail9285 on r/AmIOverreacting on June 20th, 2026 at 2:38 AM UTC. Credit to u/Fine_Yesterday_6600 and u/wifeofpsy for the quoted comments.
