Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi is gearing up — literally — for her upcoming hysterectomy amid her battle with cervical cancer.
The Jersey Shore: Family Vacation star, 38, took to TikTok on Tuesday, July 28, to share the must-have items she bought from fans’ recommendations in preparation for her surgery, which she said is happening “soon.” Included in her haul were an abdominal band for support in her midsection, constipation aids and a weighted heating pad.
In a follow-up video, Snooki shared that she also bought several loose-fitting, lightweight nightgowns, as well as oversized underwear to keep the area around her incision comfortable.
“You guys know I don’t like pain, and I want to be cozy and comfy, and I needed recommendations on how to, like, recover the best way after my hysterectomy,” she said. “If I’m missing anything, mamas, anybody who has gotten a hysterectomy with the big cut, please help. I don’t want to feel pain. If you know me, I’m a baby. I don’t like pain. I don’t like any type of uncomfortableness, and yeah, I just, I don’t like it. So obviously, I’ll have, like, some pain meds and stuff.”
Snooki also explained why she must get an open abdominal hysterectomy versus laparoscopic. (The former uses a large horizontal cut, similar to a C-section, to remove the uterus, while the latter uses small cuts and a camera, leading to an easier recovery in many patients, according to WebMD. In some cases, a hysterectomy may also involve removing the cervix, ovaries or fallopian tubes.)
“If [the surgeon] does it [laparoscopically], there’s a nine percent chance that he doesn’t get all the cancer, so he’s got to do the C-section cut to get everything out,” she explained. “So that’s what we’re dealing with, and that’s what it’s got to be. And I know the recovery is, like, way worse.”
Snooki revealed her stage I cervical cancer diagnosis in February.
“Obviously not the news that I was hoping for,” the mom of three — who shares kids Lorenzo, 13, Giovanna, 11, and Angelo, 7, with husband Jionni LaValle — said in a TikTok video at the time after noting that the cancer had been discovered through a biopsy. “But also not the worst news, just because they caught it so early.”
She added, “The oncologist said you can either do chemo, radiation or the hysterectomy. Obviously, I think the smart choice here is the hysterectomy. I’ll still keep my ovaries, which is a good sign, but the hysterectomy, got to get the cervix in, the uterus out and then possibly lymph nodes, because it can [spread there].”
In June, Snooki exclusively opened up to Us about her initial fears after she was diagnosed.
“I called my mom, crying, like, ‘Schedule my funeral, this is what I want,’ like, being so dramatic,” she shared. “I was hysterical for, like, three days, and then I was like, ‘You’re a bad bitch, you’re going to be fine, you tackle everything.’ And then I went to Short Hills and spent, like, thousands of dollars. Then, after that mental breakdown, I was like, ‘Alright, let’s get this done.’”
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