Post hysterectomy

[AdvicePleas]

Hi all,
if anyone has had similar experience or medical that can advise…

had a total lap hysterectomy 2 weeks ago for endo and continuous adenomyosis
pain. Prior to the surgery , I had bowel urge incontinence.

Post surgery,dr mentioned they cut adhesions around the bladder - possibly from previous c section.
immediately after surgery I had some urine retention despite having Catheter inside- my bladder wasn’t emptying properly and my bladder felt full. A urine scanner detected this and it was resolved on the day.

However, the following days, my bladder feels like I am not fully emptying when I go and then I need to make frequent visits to the loo. Inside My stomach or the area around my bladder feel sore after I have been especially if I’ve left it a little longer.
There seems to be a niggling pain which gets worse on my lower abdomen.

I went and got checked if it was a uti - which it wasn’t . But the aftercare means you don’t see a specialist so it’s hard to get the right info

I still have bowel urge incontinence but all my bowel movements since have been painful. Just the stomach inside
feels painful inside -I am not constipated
and after wards I feel like my stomache is very sore inside .

this is getting me down .
Most of what I have read online, people
have said they had relatively no pain after week 2 of a laparoscopy hysterectomy.
I am still bleeding when I use the loo- it’s bright pink and wipes on the tissue .

Is this pain/ bladde/ bowel
issues normal and will resolve - has Anyone
else experiences this?
thank

I've recently had a hysterectomy although it was not as complicated as yours. I can't comment on the bowel urge incontinence and my bladder was fine with the catheter but two weeks post op I was certainly in discomfort which was worse after I did too much - especially walking too far or going up and down stairs too much. I found it hard to know if my bladder was empty and would rock backwards and forwards like I did when I was pregnant to make sure that I was empty.

I am now 6 weeks and 5 days post op. My wounds have healed but I still have some discomfort inside where the wounds are if that makes sense? I had no bleeding until three weeks post op and I am still spotting now.

If I am desperate for a wee my bladder can be painful and afterwards I feel sore. Not bad enough to take medication but enough to be aware of it.

It was several months for me before I stopped getting bowel pain. So much that they did an extra MRI to make sure nothing untoward.

Thank you for both for taking the time to respond. @IthinkIsawahairbrushbackthere I have been rocking back and forth, waiting for ages etc
did you get a debrief from the surgeon?

I guess I’m 2 weeks post hysterectomy so have to give it time.
@OhFFS! would you mind describing your symtoms?

I had a hysterectomy four years ago, and still feel like my bladder feels a little bit different. When I wake up in the morning and it's full its slightly painful, a tense pain. This is relieved when I pee.
I also find that my bladder empties more slowly.

Sorry, forgot to say that this has all been investigated. I've had ultrasound and CT scans of my abdomen and all looks OK. My consultant has just said that everything moves about slightly without the uterus to anchor everything in place, and my bladder is just moving about differently.

I saw someone from the team that afternoon and didn't expect to see the consultant but it turned out he hadn't filled in the paperwork or written up a prescription for me so he had to come up to the ward the next day so that I could go home. He said the op had been tricky but successful and that was all.

I haven't had a post op check yet - it was scheduled for last week but it was cancelled. Now I have an appointment in two weeks time but I have to change it as it is the day before my daughter's wedding.

I had total ab hysterectomy in 2009

like you, I wasn’t emptying my bladder properly and it is still pretty desensitised - I really have to think “do I need the loo?”

what I found helpful was to pee, then flush and take a few steps round the house, go back and pee again.

re bowel movements - I’ve found gently pressing on the bit between your vulva and rectum while pushing helps. It’s like everything inside settles down into different positions!

I had no bleeding after my op at all.

I was on an NHS online chat group for hysterectomy patients and found it really helpful, cos it went by month groups, so you could chat to women at the same stage of recovery. Can’t remember what it was called though.

Hysterectomies are rarely discussed and far too often they are dismissed as relative.y trivial. It’s like they are the last taboo. I was very anxious before mine, not helped by fact ExH had walked out on me, and asked the GP for Valium for 2 nights before the op so I could get some sleep. She told me I was overreacting because “it was a very common operation”. I told her it wasn’t common for me and it was major surgery! I got my tablets eventually but was made to feel so silly.

Sorry, that was long!

I just feel there isn’t much support for women going through this.

I don't have the pain you describe but had a robotic laparoscopic hysterectomy 4 months ago and was sent home with a catheter which immediately gave me a uti.

This was sorted with antibiotics but I am like you, left from the procedure with the issue of my bladder not emptying completely. Unlike you though I have no pain. My urologist tells me because my flow is fine, he would have been happy to ignore the issue.. but can't as it's giving me a continuous bladder infection.

thank you for everyone responding.

I am 2 week post surgery and asked for a debrief from my surgeon and have been given an appointment for end of August!
three months after my surgery!

I agree with the lack of support,
the night I had my surgery - one of the nurses who I asked to help me sit up - said how will you do this tomorow if you can’t do it now?!!!
i
@TrashyPanda that sounds like such a hard time and I hope you’re in a better place.

i have been walking around and coming back.
what shocks me is how when I asked at the hospital , the nurses and drs looked confused .

My friends and family have been kind but no one i know in real life has had a hysterectomy,
I’ve had to trawl through the internet to know what’s normal especially cos no one warned me of any bowel or bladder changes .

Being a woman really does feel like a poisoned chalice!

I'm about 6.5 wks post op and the bladder 'irritation' has probably been the worst bit of recovery. (Aside from the horrendous sore throat after being under six hours) I've been advised by GP after going to see if it was a UTI that the bladder is very sensitive and this is common after having a catheter in and it took around 4 weeks for it to settle down.
My skin was also really sensitive over the bladder area and some lose of nerve sensation but that has now settled too.

Re the bowel, my uterus was actually adhered to the bowel with endo and I had a colorectal surgeon and gynae surgeon carry out the op. I've not had any bowel pain since at all really. In fact I woke up and was amazed I was in less pain pre op (aside from the throat!) I also had my appendix removed due to the endo adhesions.

I didn't have any bleeding at all until around 11 days post op, I'm still spotting a bit now.

There's an amazing FB group called 'Hysterectomy Sisters UK' which answered every question I had before and after my TAH BS last Dec.
Sorry I can't advise as such, but mentioning that group is all I could come up with.
X

I’m really lucky - never had a UTI in my life. In hospital, after the catheter was removed, the nurse told me it was very common to have a loss of bladder sensation. She was the one who advised having a wee walk to help double voiding (as she called it) so it sounds like it’s a recognised thing. Hope you get some success.

one thing that helped me was having a Bath with salt and lavender oil in it. It certainly won’t do you any harm to try that and it might help you too.

i think a lot of women feel quite isolated after a hysterectomy bcos it isn’t really spoken about.