If you've had a hysterectomy please tell me about it

[kissmelittleass]

Just that really! How were you after? How old were you? I'm 51! Is it really major surgery these days (major surgery is what my gynae called it so it scares me a bit!) what was the reason you had to have it?
Posting here for traffic thanks!

It is major surgery. This doesn't sugar coat it but is quite practical and could help you plan ahead:

www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-health/9891152/My-hysterectomy-This-op-is-tough-on-women.html

I think sometimes what actually makes recovery from surgery difficult is not having been warned what it will be like and therefore not being prepared either mentally or practically.

I had one last Thursday so I'm 9 days post op now.
It is major surgery and I think recovery times depend on how they do it and what sort of hysterectomy you have.

I had mine laparoscopically and they took it out vaginally. They took everything. Ovaries, tubes, womb, cervix. The lot. I haven't been too bad up until now. A lot better than I was expecting actually. I was in hospital for only one night. I'm still very sore but better than expected sore if that makes sense.

So I have 4 little incisions with 3 stitches in each. I can post a pic of how they looked yesterday if you like? They look clean, but bruised.

I have to give myself injections for 10days post op and I've got one injection left for tomorrow. I've got to wear those lovely white stockings for the same amount of time.

I'm up and walking, have been since the day after the op. Ok, only walking to the toilet the first couple of days, but I have been outside and gone for a little gentle stroll.

I'm 38. Now on HRT.

Is there anything specific you want to know?
I actually posted an ask me anything about it the other day, I'll find it and link it now.

I had a total hysterectomy the day before yesterday AMA www.mumsnet.com/Talk/AMA/3727599-i-had-a-total-hysterectomy-the-day-before-yesterday-ama

Oh, my reason was endometriosis and adenomyosis. Horrific pain every day.

The reason for taking my ovaries is because I have family history of ovarian cancer. The reason for taking my cervix is because I've got history of CIN3 abnormal cells. So they agreed to take the lot. Both my mum and auntie had theirs taken out in their 30s and my nan died of ovarian cancer aged 61. My nans mother died of ovarian cancer too when my nan was only 18months old. So there was significant enough history to take them.

Oh wow frankencat so much info thank you! I will read through your thread later and might have a few more questions!!
Glad to hear you are feeling better already. I thought it would be a longer hospital stay than one night , that would suit me I hate the thoughts of staying in.
The GA scares me I've had a few and due for another one in December but just minor thing biopsy of womb lining and D&C.
The discussion on a hysterectomy will be sometime in January but I'm working myself up a bit I'm a scaredy-cat!
How long were you actually out for? Is it a quick op?
It's the major op.bit and the risks the gynae mentioned that has me all upset.
Thanks for replies

@kissmelittleass it was supposed to take just over 2 hours but it took just over 4 because in her words it was "fiddly" I'm assuming that was because of the endometriosis again though.
There are risks with any op, but hysterectomy,even though it's major surgery, is a very common operation to have. For me it was weighing up those risks with the pain I was constantly in, and the constant worry about cancers which I've seen firsthand in my family.

I think the typical stay in hospital is 2 or 3 nights. I probably left slightly early but I believe that I rest better in my own bed so I really wanted to go home and I'd met the criteria for that. You have to pee 200ml after the catheter is removed, and pain relief in good order. I'm very lucky that I've got great help at home too, my husband and DSs have been brilliant. If I didn't have that help at home then I would've stayed in another night at least.

I know what you mean about being scared though. The risk really is very small. But they have to tell you just in case it were to happen and then you'd say "well why wasn't I told!? But all the staff were very calming, and reassuring with me. I was a nervous wreck and crying but they really put me at ease. Once I'd come around I couldn't believe how I'd let myself get so worked up as there really wasn't any need to be.

I had an abdominal hysterectomy and oophorectomy when I was 42. The incision was just above my pelvis (I'm told it looks like a c-section scar). I was in hospital for two nights and off work for seven weeks. Endometriosis, adenomyosis and fibroids were the reason for it.

After the first 24 hours, the pain subsided a lot and after a few days it really only hurt when I moved. I managed to go out for a meal about 8 days after discharge. The main thing about recovery was the tiredness - it was unbelievable, I felt exhausted after doing the smallest thing.

The op freed me from pain, and having no more periods has been marvellous. I bled for a few weeks after the op and then that was it - no more bleeding ever. After a year, even the scar was barely visible.

I had mine aged 54 (uterus, ovaries and cervix) as a cyst on one ovary had subdivided into 3 and grown a nodule and there was a risk of cancer (as it happened the path afterwards came up clear).
I went in on a Friday, had the operation that morning being a GA and an incision below the bikini line. Came out Monday.
I was told the surgery was classed as "major but routine". Yes, I was pretty well out of on the Saturday, came off morphine Saturday night, improvement Sunday, showered and dressed myself Monday and walked up the hospital corridor. Had to go to bed for a rest when I got home though!
It wasn't as bad as I thought although you can do very little for some weeks e.g. don't lift more than a kettle, and I found my strength would drain very suddenly. I was back to work full time after 9 weeks.
You don't go home until you've opened your bowels so definitely take all the laxatives and stool softeners you are offered!

I'm facing this next year. For severe adenomyosis fibroids and cysts in my ovaries.

Main worry is if the have to take my ovaries as I dont really want to face menopause at 36. In saying that I cant continue the way I am. Constant pain periods so heavy I can barely leave the house and the pain is so severe sometimes I cant walk.

My next appointment is to see if they think they can leave my ovaries. They said that leaving them can sometimes mean the pain doesnt stop completely so I'm torn.

You don't have to open your bowels any more as @StandardPoodle said. It can be normal not to open your bowels for 5 or more days after. But yes to keeping your stools soft to making it easier to pass. All they are concerned about is your urine. And that's for laparoscopic and abdominal surgery.

And agree with the tiredness. Just walking back up the stairs is really tiring.

@Maybe83 I'm 38 and had the lot taken out last Thursday. I've gone straight into HRT patches and I feel great. The way I weighed it up was I'd rather take a low dose of hormone through a patch than really strong pain killers daily. But that's a choice for you to make. I know it's only been 9 days so far for me but so far so good on that front.

Yes, I didn't have to open my bowels before I could go home. I just had to wee normally and walk about. It took a good few days before I could poo, but I'd had to do a bowel cleanse and fast before the op as the endo had fused my womb and bowel. A laxative and taking your time are recommended!

I had to drink a pre-op drink too. 4 the evening before and then 2 before 6am on the morning of the op. They weren't very nice, but not as horrible as I'd expected either. They're Nutricia Pre Op drinks. Lemon flavour. Like slightly thickened flat lemonade.

I know and that's the challenge hormone contraceptive has never really agreed with me and I swore I wouldnt take any again but I really really just want to feel better.

It's so draining and really I only have one week a month were I feel any way normal.

@Maybe83 hormone contraceptives never agreed with me either, but I think with endometriosis etc, it throws your hormones completely out of balance anyway, so any addition hormones just plays havoc with your body. It did mine. When they take your ovaries, your hormones are pretty much set to zero so the HRT balances better than what the contraception did. That's my understanding of it anyway. I could be completely wrong and just talking a load of shit.

Ah, it's changed since I had my hysterectomy (it was 7 years ago) - I stand corrected.

Frankencat..can I ask what the injections for ten days after the op are for?
Many thanks for all the info from you and everyone it helps as I was feeling a bit lost and isolated not knowing anything about the op or having anyone to talk to who have been through it. 💐
I feel silly saying this but my fear is of not waking up after the anaesthetic, anyone else feel like that?

I know what you mean. That goodbye outside the theatre doors isn't very nice but thousands of people have GE every day and as long as you are generally quite fit then the risk really is minimum.

The injections are Fragmin. They are tiny injections, only 0.2ml each and they are blood thinners for 10 days after for when you're not on your feet as much, to minimise the risk of DVT. It also helps with the bruising I think as I haven't bruised much on my tummy compared to last years op when they excised the endometriosis, did the ablation and clipped my tubes to sterilise me. I didn't have the injections after and honestly, I was in so much more pain from that op compared to this and I've had so much more done this time. Loads more bruising last year too.

I had one nearly 8 weeks ago. I had a fibroid and an enlarged uterus that was stuck it my abdominal wall and had cut my bladder capacity significantly,, had a lot of abdominal pain. Was expecting a vertical incision but had keyhole as the Prostap injection I had prior to op worked, despite having one of the 4,

Was on enhanced recover scheme which was stool softeners for 4 days plus enema night before plus 2 pre op drinks night before and one the morning of op. As I had vomited with morphine during embolisation last year I was given a spinal. This meant I had a catheter overnight and was on a drip so couldn’t mobilise until the next morning. Our hospital dies one night for keyhole and 1 to 2 nights for open incision.

Spinal was very effective, I was then able to go onto paracetamol and ibuprofen for a few days. I had 7 injections to come home with. Before I was discharged I had to wee 100mls plus 3 times then an ultrasound to check bladder was empty. The day after op o could walk to car park which was a fair distance .

I have a 1 litre jug that I onky half fill it make sure didn’t lift anything, I was told I would need support but not pampering and encouraged to start pottering very quickly. They said day 1 at home to get up and rested and downstairs but not to keep going up and down the stairs.

My pain has pretty much gone, bladder improved and loving no periods. My ovaries are still working but am 50 so not expecting them to go on that much longer.

I had one in 2013 when I was 41 due to gigantic fibroids & periods so heavy my iron levels had dropped so low they hospitalised me.

It knocked me out way more than I thought it would. I literally kept dropping off to sleep random times throughout the day for about a week afterwards. The initial pain was worse than I expected, after the morphine drip was removed I had about 24 hours of awful pain, but then it was fine, totally bearable.

Had mine in France, so maybe slightly different. The French healthcare system was amazing - a nurse came to the house every day for 2 weeks to check on me and they sent a cleaner once a week for six weeks too! Best thing I ever did, wish I'd investigated why I felt so grim years earlier and had it done. The positives far outweigh the negatives in my case.

They sent a cleaner!

Mine was for cervical cancer. I had a catheter at home for ten days and the injections. It doesn't sound as if that is routine though, according to previous posters. I also had to drink the drinks. I was in hospital for three nights I think, and have a vertical scar.
It wasn't fun but the meds, if taken properly, ensure that you aren't in pain. Its just uncomfortable and you have to build up to doing things slowly. The last things I did were to Hoover and iron. Tbh it was quite nice after the first few days, being allowed to watch tv and lounge around without feeling too guilty.

It's not as bad as the thought of it was. It's just a not very nice memory now.