Hysterectomy Advice

[Kazza2311]

Booked in for a totally hysterectomy on the 11th November, looking for advice, what to expect.... my surgeon is carrying out the procedure through my abdomin thank you

[KA410]

I had an abdominal hysterectomy four weeks ago. I was in hospital for five days following it. It obviously is sore and difficult moving around at first but the pain relief worked well. I initially went home to my parents house so they could take care of me (and my children who were there already since I'd been in hospital). After a week I came home to my own house but my mum was in and out all the time to help me with stuff. The first two weeks I did very little and was quite sore and exhausted. Since then I have gradually been doing a little more each day. I am now managing to walk the kids to school etc. although I do still get very tired. The last two days I have not been needing any painkillers. Before that I had only been taking paracetamol since about two weeks post op. I do still have to be very aware of how I am moving, getting up and down and bending etc.. My body quickly lets me know if I am doing too much.

All in all it has not been as bad as I imagined. I'm sure everyone is different depending on age, general health, and home circumstances. I am 36 and have two children (5 and 7) but I am fortunate to have my mum and dad and sister all very closeby. There is a page on here "the hysterectomy association" which is great for hearing other people's experiences.

I hope all goes well for you.

Kirsty x

[Kazza2311 in reply to KA410]

Hi Kirsty thank you for this positive post it's picked me up no end I have two kids aswell I'm 39 and kids are 7 & 10 and I also have mum and very good friends close, going to pull on school mums to help out till I can face the 10 minute walk to school what sort of pain relief do they give you? Did you have to have injections to thin your blood while you were in? Was an indwelling catheter fitted? Thank you and hope you feel better each day

Karen xx

[KA410 in reply to Kazza2311]

My surgery was first thing on the Thursday morning and I had an indwelling catheter which was taken out on the Friday morning so about 24 hours.

I had clexane injections to prevent blood clots for the five days while I was in hospital and I have compression stockings which I have to wear for six weeks.

For the first 24 hours for pain relief I had a morphine pump attached iv so I just pressed the button anytime I was sore and it gave me more morphine. It worked really well. After that it was cocodamol 30/500 and diclofenac tablets. They also gave me oramorph overnight the second night because I was still sore.

I started Tibolone HRT on the Saturday and have not experienced any menopausal symptoms.

I'm sure all these things will vary depending what hospital you are in but they are likely to be similar.

x

[Kazza2311 in reply to KA410]

Thank you Kirsty my surgeon said I would have morphine on a pump thank goodness! I feel loads better now after hearing people's experiences I should imagine some positive mental attitude goes a long way so I'm taking some of that on the day

Karen x

[JeanOsborne]

Are you having excision along side the hysterectomy?

I had a TAH and BSO in March . The first couple of weeks I was ok but seemed to go down hill after. Think I was doing to much.

My advice is make sure you get plenty of rest, as it takes more out of you than you realise.

[Kazza2311 in reply to JeanOsborne]

I don't know re the excision the surgeon is checking when she operates, the main reason for me is adenomyosis and the agony this causes me every day I've been on the menopause induced injection and HRT and have felt no pain other than slight pelvic pain but the injection is causing my bones to ache and the surgeon only recommends 4 month usage which I have had, I've experience menopausal symptoms over the past 4 month so I feel quite prepared for the onset...

[JeanOsborne in reply to Kazza2311]

Hi I had the hot flushes whilst on zoladex prior to op, but after they became so severe they would knock me out.

Hopefully you'll be ok re menopause but just be aware things may be different afterwards.

Hope everything goes well for you.

[Marcia71]

Hi

I had TAH and BSO in Feb 2015. Actually surgery went well. But as others have said do make sure you rest as you'll be very tired first few weeks and don't lift anything heavy for at least 6 weeks - that includes a Hoover 😀

The Hysterectomy Association have a brilliant website that really helped me through it all with advice and people to talk to. Definitely worth a look.

[Shelly92]

Kazza2311

First off is your dr claiming you will be out of pain ?

Is he claiming that removing problematic organs will set you free of all pain of ending?

Ok if yes

He's stupid or a liar

They sboukd not claim that there great removal of all your organs is going to magically make you feel great .

One dr told my friend

Yes let's just remove all organs.

( she did not have cancer or endo and she was 32 )

If we remove all your organs he said" Just think ( husband was in the room at this consult )

You guys can have sex anytime now with no worries if those periods and you will be happy and painfree so let's just go ahead and remove all including ovaries"

I tried to talk to both of them I tried hard .

I told my friend if your ovaries are healthy why take them out ?

At least tell him to keep those in "

Can't recall why the surgery was suggested but seems like it was a stupid call from a stupid

Dr because the reasons and whatever was wrong could have been addressed in a few ways ,

The husband of said friend ' sat there and while I was trying to explain why she should keep her ovaries at her age , he jumps in and says " well the dr thinks since she is having surgery might as well take everything out while we are in there "

I told them

" do you understand that she will go into instant menopsuse before she even leaves the hospital ?

And if she starts HRT this young it could greatly imcrease her chances of getting Breast cancer down the road especially since her own mother had breast cancer . ?"

The husband as usual knew it all .

Grrrrrrrrrr

So she went into instant menopause , which is worse than natural menopsuse occurring naturally gradually.

So she had it all out

At age 32 she then had to have yearly mammograms, which I won't he start talking right now about that's all kinds of wrong,

She is 61 so for 30 years she has subjected her breasts to radiation and pressure .

One of the things that can cause cancer in the first place , and she was on hormones for over 20 years before a dr finally told her that that was to long and they needed to start weaning her off the dangerous hormones she had been taking for so long ,

I'm sorry but these stupid doctors and their lack of empsthy when dealing with female patients really really makes me angry .

So angry I could get up on the dr table and start screaming , in fact I have been know to do that myself ,

Of course doctors do not like me as im not a very good complying patient .

Anyhow I'm sorry ill stop my tangent

What I want to say to you is

ASk ASK ASK then ASK again

Do not care about the time you are taking of dr

Do not worry he will get annoyed

Do not let him try to leave the room until all questions are asked .

If he tries either get up and stand in front of the door or follow him out asking your questions in the hallway

Doctors really hate that

Because you are showing that you are involved in decisions about your health and that you do not think he is God .

So find out

Ask him

How will I feel right after

How long before I am pain free

What happens if after all this I'm in pain

( this is generally replied with

" we will deal with that at the time one thing at a time "

First of all there is no WE

It's you

And when they want to deal with it later it is to late because the damage has been done.

I know that sometimes it is very necessary to have all organs removed to stay alive

But more often than not it's not neccesssry

And there are other options then can be tried

After other options have been exhausted then talk about removal

Even ablation of the uterine lining can often be all that is needed

I know a lot who have had this done and do very well.

Having said that

I get that one can get sick and tired of the pain and just want to lay down their weapons and stop fighting it,

I do get that believe me .

But make sure it's your choice

Make sure you are not feeling talked into something

Make sure that the action the dr takes will not just trade one problem for another .

Sorry for rambling on

It's a topic that I'm passionate about .

Ask

Research then ask again