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Original poster

Hysterectomies - advice and hand holding over here PART FOUR

206 replies

AtSea1979 · 10/07/2014 07:59

New Thread...
Over here for the hand holding

One in five women in the uk will have to have a hysterectomy at some point in their lives

Come and join us if you are waiting, pre-op, bleery eyed on the ward or recovering afterwards or just need a bit of advice.

OP posts:
JennyOnTheBlocks · 16/08/2014 10:01

Thanks for Jessy when she wakes up

marymoocow · 16/08/2014 19:17

hi allGrin quick update. 7 days into my 10 day camping trip. managing sleeping on an airbed better than i thought i would. have found day trips out very tiring thought,and at the beginning of the week struggled quite a bit. managed a whole day today at a festival, but i took a walking pole to lean on which helped loads. feeling stiff now though,and will probably pay for it tomorrow Sad . got to get myself going thought as back to work in 2 and a half weeks Shock

marymoocow · 16/08/2014 19:18

hope all went well Jessy Thanks

notapizzaeater · 16/08/2014 19:49

Sounds like a good holiday Mary, when's the house sale going through ?

Jess - hope you're ok.

I feel about 95% normal! keep getting annoyed I can't do what I want to when I mentally feel as though I can.

marymoocow · 16/08/2014 22:05

that sounds familiar pizza. how far are you now? haven't got a date yet with regards to the house sale yet. bogged down with surveys and mortgage valuations. hoping everything will move along once we get home. In my head if we're in by xmas I'll be happy Grin .

notapizzaeater · 16/08/2014 23:36

I'm 9 weeks next Monday - am driving 300 miles next Friday - should for caravan holiday. Not decided yet if I'm going in the pool, I'm fine walking about and carrying stuff but still hurts to stretch and think swimming might be pushing it. I'm desperate to get back into squash, just restarted playing it after a 15 year break as I had the op. DS is desperate for me to get back on trampoline with him, we used to go on every night for 20 mins.

izzybizzybuzzybees · 17/08/2014 08:49

Lost track of the thread after my op was postponed. Still waiting on new day but likely to be September. Glad to see so many if you are doing well on the healing side :)

marymoocow · 17/08/2014 10:38

good luck with driving all that way pizza. have a great holiday, but remember to take things easy stillSmile .

blueberry2310 · 17/08/2014 13:37

I am day 2 after surgery and seem to be recovering well. They didn't manage to do it keyhole which is a shame but never mind. Feel mentally better than I have in weeks. The wind though - oh my goodness!!!

marymoocow · 17/08/2014 18:12

welcome to the other side blueberry Smile . Take things easy, take advantage of all offers of help Thanks

JessyJames · 18/08/2014 17:37

Hello! Thanks for the flowers.
The op went well, laproscopic procedure, was back on the ward by 2.30 on Saturday afternoon. Catheter out that night and home on Sunday morning.
Feeling a bit bruised and battered but overall, pretty good. Struggled a bit with my bowels, but thanks to the senna I'm sorted! Still very windy.
Going to slowly start moving around a bit more from tomorrow.
I've been given HRT gel which I started last night, anything I should look out for as I've only been minimal information?

blueberry2310 · 20/08/2014 05:00

Thanks for the flowers. I'm so bruised around the incision. Is this normal? I had a c section and don't remember any bruising. My pain levels are very manageable though and thought id be mourning my uterus but actually feel better mentally than I have in ages. Thanks for all your help and advice. Really appreciate it.

notapizzaeater · 20/08/2014 08:04

My incision was up and down, I was swallowing arnica for the bruising and I wasn't that bad.

JessyJames · 21/08/2014 11:17

blueberry it's perfectly normal to have bruising at the wound site. It should turn many different colours before disappearing!

Felt a bit ropey yesterday, very uncomfortable in my abdomen. But seem much better today. I'll talk to the gynae nurse about it when she calls later today. Need to keep remembering that I'm only 5 days post op.

Finding very frustrating that I can't do very much. Missing driving terribly, as I need to go and buy tea bags!

Original poster
AtSea1979 · 24/08/2014 11:28

8.5 weeks post op and I think tonight is the night. DP had 'rummage' last week (I can't bring myself to, not sure why) but it felt strange, not painful, just odd.
Start new job next week, 3 full training days, I'm hoping it's going to be a sit at a desk, bored, listening to fire safety etc waffle. Rather than on feet, in role, training.

OP posts:
blueberry2310 · 26/08/2014 23:41

I'm now on day 11 post op and have been healing ok. The last few nights I've been having really bad night sweats. Did anyone else have this? If so, how long did it last? I'm so tired. Last night was up three times changing my night clothes and putting towels in the bed.

Hope everyone else is recovering well.

blueberry2310 · 26/08/2014 23:42

Btw - I still have my ovaries so the night sweats are not menopausal linked.

marymoocow · 27/08/2014 09:35

Hi blueberry. I kept my ovaries but had some flushes in the early days. Apparently your body shuts down for a time after the op, giving symptoms of menopause for a while, but usually restarts again. I was lucky and only experienced it for a few days before everything went back to normal. Hope it soon passes for you. 11 days is not long into your recovery, take as much rest as you need Thanks .

Original poster
AtSea1979 · 27/08/2014 22:14

Hi Blueberry glad to see you are recovering well. How are you doing Mary?

OP posts:
marymoocow · 27/08/2014 22:31

Hi Atsea. I'm now 14 weeks post-op, so well and truly on the other sideGrin . I survived 10 days camping, and 2 days at a festival last weekend, which involved a huge amount of walking. My stamina is building up slowly, I still hurt internally if I do too much, but equally get sore if I sit for too long. I'm also finding it uncomfortable to pick up heavy bags of shopping etc...but that's why I had DC surelyWink . This time next week I will be back at workConfused .Hope you and everyone else is doing well.

JessyJames · 27/08/2014 22:50

I'm now 11 days post op and I've just had a small bleed. I haven't really had much bleeding at all since the day of surgery.
Seems to have stopped but I think I'll give the gynae nurse a call tomorrow.

cravingcake · 28/08/2014 20:55

Hi, I hope its ok for me to join this thread, I have a few worries that hopefully some of you can help me with.

Long story short, I had a horrific birth with my DS almost 3 years ago (forceps, shoulder dystocia, 4th degree tear), I had my DD in January and a few months ago Dr confirmed I have a severe bladder prolapse, a minor bowel prolapse and they cant tell until I'm in surgery if my womb has prolapsed but if it has hysterectomy is what is recommended. I'm booked for surgery early November.

I need to sign consent before I go in, I'm still undecided as I don't really know what to expect if I do have the hysterectomy. I definitely do not want any more children but I am only early 30's so it feels very final to be making that decision so young.

Will I have early menopause, and if so will I be on HRT for the rest of my life? I also have 2 young and active children to be looking after, realistically what is the recovery like - I've been told to expect similar to C-section.

I'm sure more questions will come to the surface in time but if anyone could help me that would be great. Thank you.

blueberry2310 · 28/08/2014 22:12

Hi craving, what a rough time you've had.

I'm day 14 of my recovery. Like you, I'm in my 30's and didn't want to make the decision. Mine was due to medical negligence so felt awful that I had to make that decision too. I've felt better mentally since having it done as I can just draw a line under the whole episode and start to get on with life.

I still have my ovaries so won't have menopause for a while yet. With regards to recovery, I also have two young children to care for but my inlaws and friends have been fantastic. Accept any offers of help you can get as you need to rest up.

cravingcake · 29/08/2014 09:59

Thanks blueberry Regarding help afterwards we should be ok as my OH can work from home and my in-law's are very helpful and we are all thinking it will be similar to my C-section recovery where first 2 weeks were rest, next 2 weeks start doing a little bit then next 2 weeks doing a bit more but is this realistic? Obviously you are only 2 weeks in so wont know but if anyone else does that would be great.

I'm worried about the pain, I had 4th degree tear with my DS and remember the pain and discomfort from that and my surgery will be vaginal so am I realistic to expect it to be the same (but I can take better pain relief as I wont be breastfeeding).

Original poster
AtSea1979 · 29/08/2014 14:01

I had a 4th degree tear with DS (10lb 7oz) and that was far more painful than my hysterectomy, in fact it was more painful than my subsequent C section with DD. I have laproscopic vaginal hysterectomy, so recovery was quicker for me than others. But what you have put sounds realistic to me, though everyone is different.

OP posts: