To think I will be ok 4 weeks after a Hysterectomy??

[Allthefoodandwine]

Hello!

Was due to have an abdominal total Hysterectomy, including ovaries tomorrow.
Caught Covid, so it has had to be delayed.
New date 29th November.

We are hosting Christmas for 12, including family over from Australia.
DH is a great cook, but, cannot cope with more than one thing on the hob and one thing in the oven at a time.
The normal rule in our house, is he in on drinks/canapé/hosting duties, and leaves me to the oven & hob.

This works well.

However, this year, I will have had a Hysterectomy 3.5 weeks before Christmas Day.

Yes I have read all of the various guidelines with what you can, and cannot do - they are confusing.
I am not planning on lifting the turkey, or heavy pans etc....

But from those who have had a Hysterectomy, what will I be able to do?

Just trying to get my head around it all!

Thanks!

I had full hysterectomy after my c section and had incision right around my belly button along with the normal csection incision across. I was surprised how well I recovered, I just paced myself. Wasn’t lifting anything heavy or running any marathons but kept active doing things around house. I felt more pain when I was inactive and doctor told me when I left hospital to keep active without over doing it.

I would maybe host but get everyone to chip in to help as I’m sure they will understand you’ve just had major surgery. So some extra hands are needed to help prepare food etc

Exactly - I had keyhole & recovered well but the tiredness is overwhelming. My surgeon said it is still major surgery & rest is required. This sounds too much to me.

Unfortunately, there's no way to predict how quickly you'll recover. We are all different.

I flew to Alsace for the Christmas markets exactly 4 weeks after mine, and I was absolutely fine....had to take things a little more slowly than usual, stop more often for a glass of gluhwein (not a hardship)....but it didn't get in the way of the holiday. But mine was done via keyhole, I was physically in good shape, and I've always been a fast healer.

But the first two weeks post-op were a write-off, and I felt weak as a kitten. Regardless of how the surgery is performed externally there's a lot of internal chopping-about. Abdominal surgery adds a muscle-wall repair into the mix. Also, you can't rule out complications/infections, which will stall the recovery.

By all means host, but make sure you have plenty of assistance standing by if required. Not just DH, but your visitors too - if they're family I'm sure they won't mid mucking in if the gravy needs stirring.

I had keyhole and also had adenomyosis, but obv your uterus is not my uterus!
I was back at work 2 weeks later as a teacher, although was v slow, didn't lift anything and was bloody knackered by home time.
I had a C-section with DD and managed Christmas lunch 3 weeks later, but obv no lifting anything and lots of directing from my place on the sofa.

It's the tiredness for at least a month. You are very likely to just need to sleep a lot.

Assuming that everyone is able to help and you are happy to tell them that you are not going to do a thing. Then would be OK.

However, you have to be happy with doing nothing. And I mean nothing more than sitting and eating. And accept that you will need a sleep in the middle of the day.

Don't do it. You can't lift and aren't even supposed to hoover for 6 weeks.

just get Christmas from M&S. It is your cooking the family will come for, not a gourmet experience.

Wasn't the advice I w\as given 32 years ago.

My surgeon said not to lift anything heavy but otherwise to try to do normal things and to go for a walk every day. He said the reason so many women have problems and/or take a long time to get over a hysterectomy is because they take it too easy. Sitting around doing nothing is not good.

Of course it does also depend on age and general health. I was 34, had a surgical hysterectomy leaving one ovary.

Only in hospital 2 nights. The morning after the op got up, showered and walked along the hospital corridor (as the surgeon said I should).

Went home and apart from not lifting a heavy kettle (a kettle with a mug full of water in was fine), hoovering or changing the bed I just carried on pretty much as normal.

Three weeks later me and DH went to the British GP. Camping for 4 days and walk around the track.

Five weeks later back at work. It was in an office but I had and hour and half commute each way

And yes to the tiredness.

It was 2 weeks before I could get through the day without a nap!

Keyhole last year and the advice was definitely don't lift anything for six weeks. Don't stay in bed completely and try and do gentle movements, but definitely rest.

Everyone is different. I wasn't any more tired than normal. Certainly did not need to nap

You’ll struggle a lot. The external cut is only part of the surgery. You’ll have hundreds of internal stitches. It took me over 4 months to get any kind of strength and over 5 to have any sort of solid recovery. I do have chronic fatigue and was very very ill from the adenomyosis beforehand. Which way is the cut going to be op? Lateral (ie c section) or midline? Mine was an 8” midline.

www.cookfood.net/menu/christmas/christmas-day/christmas-lunch-bundles

This for us out of a similar fix! Just follow the directions on the pack. Even the most culinarily challenged husband can cope, and you can sit with feet up.

You don’t know how you’ll react to general anaesthetic. I had a lot in my 30s sometimes fine sometimes groggy for ages after and needing naps.
Even if you don’t cook you’ll probably do more than should and feel awful after. Why hinder your recovery for a none essential?

Not worth the stress. Book a restaurant

Order everything from Cook!
Very expensive option, but it will help you optimise your recovery and your time with your guests. We Idid this one year instead of presents after I'd had surgery and somehow all my siblings managed to be in the same country at once.

Similar-ish- I had dd by cs under ga in mid October several years ago. I couldn't stand up straight until Christmas Eve.

Excellent advice. Or just spend the day quietly at home with your husband. If you do decide to go ahead with hosting a large party, make it very clear that you are not going to raise a finger. It's someone else's turn.

Host if you like.

But you'll be doing so from the couch. No cooking. No prep. No shopping (except online).

Please please let all guests know that you will be recovering from major surgery and reliant on help.

Ask for and accept money to help you buy in preprepared foodstuff.

I was off work for three months with mine. After about 4 weeks I was just about ok. Couldn’t walk very far, certainly couldn’t have cooked a Christmas dinner for 12.
Don’t be a martyr is a serious surgery.

Also depends on why you are having the surgery.

If you have been suffering with pain because of your condition then recovery is likely to take longer because your body is already depleted.

The short answer is No

The longer answer is no you really won't be up to fully preparing a Christmas lunch for 12 people - directing proceedings yes. You will need to be upfront with people and get their full commitment to getting on with the work. Alternatively - get another family to host. If it's just lunch - you may well get away with it, with willing help but if you're hosting family from Aus, and they are actually staying with you, it's a massive ask of your body at a time when you're meant to be taking it reeeaaaalllly easy.

Don't forget the impact having your ovaries removed too, especially if you are pre-menopausal. You might well sail through but you might not.

Absolutely not possible and you risk a prolapse if you try this.

SIL needed the whole time off after hers.
What about looking around for restaurants/hotels/catering nearby that would deliver?

Absolutely not. My DS had one in her early 40s and it took her 2 months to recover physically, she says it was 6 months before she felt really strong again.

This. You might have complications, on top of it being major surgery. If ever there was a time for a restaurant or hotel Xmas dinner, it is this!

Even with everyone bringing a bag of grub from M&S and pitching in with setup and clearup, there's the stress of making sure the house is clean & tidy and has space for 12. I just CANNOT see how that won't set back your recovery.