Back ache and Sciatica return after TAH

[officelady]

Hi all,

I have posted before prior to my TAH and removal of ovaries as I had a huge fibroid. I'm not sure if anyone can help with this.

Prior to the op I was suffering greatly with awful back pain and sciatic nerve pain in my leg which was making me unable to walk. The fibroid was only discovered when i had scans for my back. I was then referred to a gynaecologist who said that the back issue could be aggravated by he position and size of the fibroid so full hysterectomy arranged.

For the first 2-3 weeks after the operation I had no back or leg pain at all. However the past 3 weeks the pain has returned. My back is particularly bad - even worse than just before op. I can barely band forward at all - and whilst not as bad as before I am getting some nerve pain in my leg. Is is looking like the hysterectomy has had no affect on the back issue after all.

Has anybody else experienced this at all ?

I have read cases where a hysterectomy seems to have cured back pain but doesn't appear to be the case for me. I now feel really really low and am convinced I now face a future of either constant pain or even back surgery.

I have got to go back to work, need to financially, within the next 2 weeks but really don't know how I will cope.

Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

Jo

[LouiseD1]

Hi officelady, I had a TAH 14 months ago and I remember how really really tough those weeks after the operation were. Nothing really prepares you for how big an op it is and how long it takes to fully recover from what is major surgery at the end of the day. Because it's all internal, it's so much more difficult to appreciate than if you had a visible leg in plaster or something like that. But there is a huge amount of healing and re-arranging and settling down of your insides still going on. You will probably also have been much less mobile for the last few weeks and that really won't help things like lower back pain and sciatica. I didn't suffer in the same way you did prior to my op, but I had always had nagging lower back pain. This got considerably worse in the first few months after the op - but I am sure that was because I was laid up for the majority of every day (I had wound infection to deal with too) and so any time spent sitting in a chair or bending down was very painful because my body was just so not used to doing any of those things. But my message is don't lose hope (although I did lots of times!) - it is a long process to fully heal inside and therefore you need to be kind to yourself and patient about your recovery and just take each day as it comes. It really was 12 months before I felt properly recovered and able to get back to lots of gym, swimming and all the other activities. And my back is less painful now than it has been for the last 10+ years so this second year post-op is all about building up the fitness and maybe even getting a better body than I have ever had ! But at 6 weeks post op - that would have all seemed an impossible target - so as I say, be patient and take it slowly x

[officelady in reply to LouiseD1]

Hi Louise

Thanks for taking the time to reply I really appreciate it. I feel better for having read your reply and am now hopeful that the back pain I've got now is more to do with being post op and not the return of how bad it was before

I think the thing is I am impatient and want to get back to exercise and being ''normal' again I am also not a very positive person so everything is always a drama

I need to change my outlook on things an be more positive, accept this is a result of the operation and whilst it may not go completely hopefully in a few months it will be a lot better. Also I'm probably trying to do too much too soon do will slow things down

Thanks again for giving me hope

Jo

[LouiseD1 in reply to officelady]

Glad to be a little bit of help. I remember how low I got during those first few months, and it is a struggle to accept that you are not able to do very much, but it really is worth taking the time if your body needs it. Everyone is different and whilst others may say recovery was a breeze ( and I am very happy for them 😃) for others, it takes a good long time to recover. But que sera, sera - in the long run, you will be back to your old self, and hopefully even a new improved version ! Keep going - and focus on the tiny changes and improvements x