7 days to go until D day, hysterectomy

[Tboag]

Any Good tips or advice for a speedy recovery,

[confusedandworried]

Hi, I'm 3.5mths post surgery from total hysterectomy (ie uterus & cervix) and excision surgery.

I would definitely advise do not bend over or reach up to grab things within the 1st 6 weeks. I did both of these things about a week after my surgery and straight away I felt a pulling with the discomfort lasting quite some time 😞. So let the housework, shaving legs (that's what did it for me 😳) etc slide a bit or get help as its just not worth it. I'd say invest in a litter picker! I am not known as a clumsy person or someone who drops things all the time but for some reason aftery surgery I seemed to drop everything and felt guilty having to keep asking my hubby to pick things up for me! He was absolutely fine about it and it became a bit of a joke with every time I yelled "bugger" he'd ask what I'd dropped now! Now I can bend over properly I don't seem to drop anything once again - Sod's law!

Also I suffered quite badly with sluggish bowels afterwards. I read on various forums that this seemed to be quite common yet my GP nor surgeon never mentioned this. Try not to let it build up/back up 😜as this just adds to the discomfort.

Build your stamina up slowly each day. I was used to long walks thanks to an energetic dog pre-surgery even with the pain and other issues I had (the dog still needs walking regardless!). I was surprised how doing so little tired me so quickly after surgery. I built the walking up 5 mins / week and to begin with I was out of breath, exhausted and felt like I needed a nap even after such small amounts of exercise. I am my own worst enemy and push myself so found myself feeling quite low about how little I could do. My lovely hubby kept reminding me that I'd had 2 major surgeries in one sitting and all my energy was going into healing. So be kind to yourself and rest when you need to.

A physio may come to see you regarding pelvic floor exercises before being discharged from hospital. I did try doing the exercises 1 week after surgery (I had some compilations which meant a longer stay in hospital and a lot of pain that couldn't be controlled so didn't attempt them sooner) but it really aggravated my pain so decided to wait until I felt I had healed a bit more internally. I felt better able to do these at around the 5 week mark but they do recommend doing them as soon as possible. Do what feels right for you.

If you haven't got one invest in a V shaped pillow to help you sit up in bed and get confortable. We even boughte an over bed table (just a cheap one) so I could eat my meals in bed when necessary. If you're anything like me you won't want a tray on your tummy so the table helps get the food a bit nearer!

Can't think of anything else at the moment but if you have any questions feel free to ask.

I wish you all the best, Jo x

[Tboag in reply to confusedandworried]

Aw thank you so much, I'm pretty used to doing nothing atm, ive been in loads of pain for 10 months and sometimes can't get out much for weeks at the time, so ive just got to be careful as I'm hoping I will feel better than I do now quite quickly, ive got one of those trays and a bell, lol, that I bought last op to have excision surgery of ENdo, this is to cure my adenomyosis.

I'm nervous now but excited too

Xxx

[confusedandworried in reply to Tboag]

Snap, my hyst was for Adeno as well.

Pre surgery I had problems every day including nausea, sciatic pain down the back of both thighs, headaches, the feeling of carrying around a bowling ball in my tummy and the need to urinate very frequently. I don't know which symptoms were due to the Adeno and which were due to the endo as I unfortunately the conditions have similar symptoms. However I'm happy to say all of these now are either gone or are considerably better so it was worth it.

I hope you too feel better soon.

Best wishes, Jo x

[Sylv_99 in reply to confusedandworried]

Hi, just was wondering how soon it was after when you felt like the hysterectomy had improved your symptoms. I'm 5 weeks post op and had it for adenomyosis and I'm still in pain. I'm assuming there is still recovery pain but I'm so worried it hasn't changed anything!

thanks xxx

[confusedandworried in reply to Sylv_99]

Hi, I'm sorry to hear you are still in pain.

How did the surgeon perform your hysterectomy (eg was it a laparoscopic vaginal hysterectomy) as this can effect recovery times?

Also did you have endo removed at the same time? If so do you live in the UK & was the surgery done by a BSGE accredited endo centre? The reason why I ask is that if you had endo as well and this was not thoroughly excised (ie cut out) at the same time by a skilled endo surgeon then, given endo and Adeno symptoms can be similar, this may account for your continued symptoms.

What symptoms do you have now?

Depending on what symptoms you have it could still be healing, it could be a post op infection, it could be sluggish bowels causing pain etc. My own recovery was a bit of a roller coaster thanks to experiencing all 3 of those issues.

When are you due back for a follow up with your consultant?

Best wishes, Jo x

[Sylv_99 in reply to confusedandworried]

Thanks for replying!

It was done laparoscopically and they left my ovaries in. They did plan to remove any endo but there wasn't any which I wasn't surprised about because I had a lap done not that long ago and they didn't find any then. Although it isn't a BSGE centre, I completely trust my consultant and he is very well known for his work and research on endo.

I'm just still in pain, lower back and pelvic area. I'm hoping I'm just still healing and that it might take a while, I'm probably worrying because it was such a huge decision and such a risk! xxx

[Sylv_99 in reply to Sylv_99]

Oh and I'm seeing the nurse in 3 weeks and the consultant in September. xxx

[confusedandworried in reply to Sylv_99]

If you're confident your consultant wouldn't have missed any endo in the many nooks and crannies tha exist within us complicated women then it may be that you are still just healing as 5 weeks is still very early days. Potentially it could be referred pain as neural pathways change when someone has experienced daily pain for 6 months plus. If this is the case you may need to see a pain management specialist although I still think it's too early to be exploring this avenue as yet. There are 2 other potential candidates that I can think of as well. 1) the pain is unrelated to either endo or Adeno and needs further exploration of it continues say after 3 months (at the earliest). 2) did you have got cervix and uterus removed? The reason why I ask is that some surgeons only remove the uterus then there's the risk that the Adeno spread to the cervix and therefore symptoms may continue.

I hope you're feeling better soon.

Best wishes, Jo

[Sylv_99 in reply to confusedandworried]

Thank you so much, that's so helpful! I did have my cervix removed. I'll give myself some more time then, I was just worried that I should feel much better by now! xxx

[Mummy1982]

Wow.

Can't believe that it's nearly here hun. I hope that it all goes well for you and that you are going to be pain free after your operation.

Let me know how it all goes hun.xx

[Sylv_99]

Hello,

I had my hysterectomy 5 weeks ago and my tips would be:

Take dulcoease for helping your bowels along (my nurse recommended this)

Try to get washed and dressed every day, even if it is into a clean pair of pjs because it will make you feel so much better

V shaped pillow

Go for a walk each day and build up the speed and distance slowly

Lots of naps!

Peppermint tea to help break down the gas

Don't expect the recovery to be entirely linear, it is very up and down. I've had days where I feel like I've gone backwards massively.

Accept help! For everything and anything! I've found this really hard and have tried picking things up and doing jobs and then got a telling off!!!

Good luck and message me if you want to know anything or ask anything.

Sylvia xxx

[Miracle77]

Knew your date was near although wasn't sure then. Hope op goes well & you are a million times better x

[Tboag]

Thanks girls, I'm really getting nervous now but excited to, I can't help worry that my pain is caused by ENdo that hasn't been dealt with properly, although I havnt gone through a bsge centre my sergeon is a specialist in laparoscopy snd Endo, so I'm hoping he got it all out last time, and it's now the adenomyosis.

Fingers crossed