Anyone up for a new hysterectomy hand holding thread?

[Northlondonma]

For those who are contemplating, have a date, had one and recovering?

I had mine keyhole with everything removed on Monday. Am 40. Would love to chat to people going through same thing.

Thanks Thyme, I have always not got on well with hormonal contraception and yes, the one advantage of having my surgery has got to be no more contraception!
I started talking high strength evening primrose about a month ago and I'm making it sure I take it every day but I've heard it can take months for it to begin to work
Enough about me, how are you feeling?

I'm fine, thanks, Cosmic. Had my first ultrasound check-up for the ovarian drama. Weird to see my bladder floating free with no uterus or ovaries.

Was thinking about recovery time. Looking back, I think there's quite a sharp upward trajectory for the first few weeks, which encourages you to think you'll go on improving at that rate. But then you plateau, and the recovery slows down. You just get a little stronger each week.

And it's no good pushing yourself. If you're worn out after an hour, there's no such thing as a second wind. But next time, you'll be able to last out just a bit longer. When do you have to go back to work?

I used to take Evening Primrose, just the basic version. Seemed to cheer me up. Hope it works for you.

May I join? Hysterectomy and more booked for mid March. Prolapse caused by a difficult forceps delivery was getting worse so I finally plucked courage to see GP. Since then its been really fast. 2 weeks to see consultant. Then pre-op checks and now date.

Now I'm scared. I don't know much about anything. They say no lifting and driving for six weeks and up to three months recovery. They also talk about not being alone for long and scary sounding stuff like the 'need to mobilise' are if I were planning some sort of troop manoeuvre.

I'm lucky in that kids are older and I now work from home in a way that I can organise time off when I need. But beyond that I have not done much thinking. Not even about what to take into hospital.

Advice and company would be welcome.

Hi, Alteredimage!

What's the 'and more'? And what sort of surgery is it? How long do they think you'll be in for?

6 weeks for driving seems a long time. It was 3/4 weeks for me - with total abdominal, vertical incision. (But concentration not great, so only short trips.)

I had only 13 days' notice, too. (But circs were different and it was a massive relief to be told I could have surgery, so I was in a v good mood.) I found it a good length of time to get my head round it and make arrangements.

I'm sure the others will be along soon. A tip I found useful was to think ahead and stock up with the heavy stuff - cooking oil, potatoes etc. They really mean it when they say 'no lifting', and hefting even a small bag of shopping on to a worktop is too much in the early days.

And lay in some DVD box sets. You'll be spending a lot of time on the sofa. I miss that now!

Don't be scared. The actual surgery and hospital stay was much better than I expected.

Hello from me too!
My hospital essentials were, mint tea (for the wind!) a long nighties/sundress (pjs hurt initially) face wipes, peppermint oil capsules (again for the wind, holland & barratt do them, start taking them now or asap!) slippers that you can just slip on and big pants! I got a 5 pack of the biggest granny pants I could find, you need them to go up over your abdomen. My are black, somehow I can deal with them because they are!

Post hospital, be kind to yourself, don't overwhelm yourself with visitors in those first few days. Make sure your bed has lots of pillows, I spent a lot of time propped up and also needed a cushion under my belly or back when lying down.
Stock up on magazines, ready meals for all the family and lots of healthy nibbles. I'm still getting graze boxes, makes the post more exciting too twice a week Keep on top of the pain, for the first few weeks I took them like clockwork (dp did a timetable!) so the pain never got bad enough to really trouble me. I'm only 5 weeks post op and I'm not taking any now and I had a tah with a large incision.

You mentioned mobilising you? I presume they mean getting you out of bed after your op? They like to get you up the next day and remove your catheter. It honestly isn't too bad, I was dosed up on pain relief and too be honest I was glad to get up and managed a small walk around my room and with dp's help had a much needed shower!

Hope all of that helps!

Sorry about the typos, I had a terrible nights sleep!

Hello Alteredimage. I too have a date for my surgery, 25th March. I have so far bought some cotton nighties, peppermint capsules and some hysterectomy knickers (they are huge, they go right up under my boobs but have extra material at the front to allow for bloating).

I keep thinking about making lots of soup for the freezer and other freezable meals so that it is easier for DH post op but unfortunately I can't seem to work up enthusiasm at the moment.

I'm thinking about putting a TV in our bedroom too so that I don't have to keep negotiating the stairs and since both my kids are off for the Easter holidays when I come out of hospital I suspect I won't get much of the TV in the lounge as DD will commandeer it for playing minecraft (she doesn't have a telly in her room, doesn't want one!) and DS will disappear into his man cave to play xbox. So hubby and I have managed without a TV in our room for 25 years but feel I need to relent and get one to while away some time for me post op.

Hope everyone else is well.

I had a hysterectomy in 2012. I agree with Dippy - best thing I ever did. The recovery is boring being stuck at home and it takes a while to get back to normal but I feel better than I have in years.

Mother, yes yes to the tv in the bedroom, I was sceptical but it's been fab! I'm still resting a lot and don't always have the attention span for reading so it's great

Hi and welcome! I am nearly 8 weeks post op and back to work in a week. I am starting to see the light at the end of a veeeery long tunnel now and am starting to see the benefits of having the operation. I was in pain for years with endo and as I am getting better I can see that my life will be so much better when fully recovered! I have taken it slowly and still get knackered after a few days of doing too much. Still I love reading and have watched lots and lots of crap tv. I have quite enjoyed this imposed rest.
The advice below is great and I would just reiterate that you need to look after yourself after the operation. I remember coming on here after 10 days or so crying that I was not back to normal. You will not feel up to doing much for a few weeks and keep this in mind. Also my hormones were all over the place (had ovaries removed) so don't freak out if you start weeping at anything. And I mean anything!!!
Good luck and keep coming here. It's kept me sane!

Thank you Cosmic boy and thymeout. I'm a bit vague about what exactly will happen. The letter to the GP mentions vaginal hysterectomy and pelvic floor repair but was written before the 'urodynamics' a rather horrid process of pushing and prodding. The consultant did say she expected this to throw up problems and talked about mesh. I am pretty sure I failed the tests.

Is that TMI. Good though to have thoughts on packing. All I have done so far is to demand an iPad, partly as a belated Christmas present, and have Netfix loaded onto it.

Thanks for reminding me about nighties. I now remember one I got from Mothercare made from really soft material. I'll go back and see if they sell something similar.

And mothertongue, what are hysterectomy knickers. They sound like a good idea. Where do they come from? Amazon?

TV in the bedroom sounds good.
DD is supposed to be revising. I am hoping this means I can insist on her spending time at home doing past papers. Well that's the idea.

And the wind. What's that about?! I have got as far as planning to add more veg to my diet both before and after. I will add peppermint capsules to the shopping list.

Thank you also Ziglinda. I know it needs to be done and that I am lucky it will all happen before the summer. The GP had suggested I might have to wait up to a year. It is a bit like children. You potter along through pregnancy and then have an 'oh shit' moment when you realise you are only about two weeks from your due date and that birth and labour are inevitable. I want to be three months post op and skip the painful bits in between.

A df of mine had a vaginal hysterectomy, I think the mesh goes inside you in some way post surgery, others maybe more knowledgable than me though?!
I got one pair of post hysterectomy knickers from the hysterectomy association shop, they're very soft and comfy but the cheapie primark ones have been just as good! The h.association has lots of useful info and sends you lots of updates and encouraging emails if you join. To be honest it's this thread that has kept me sane, it's been invaluable

Ah, the wind, yes it does happen but too be honest mine hasn't been half as bad as I expected. I don't know whether I've been lucky or it's all the peppermint oil and mint tea I've consumed but it's been relatively mild. I also managed to avoid constipation but eating way more healthily than normal and drinking loads of water. Getting up and about definitely helps, even if it is only shuffling about for 5 minutes!

And north it's lovely to hear that you can see a light at the end of that very long tunnel, I'm so pleased for you
And get me, I went for lunch with the family, pottered around sainsburys for a bit and went to boots for a few treats. Feel like I've not slept for a week now but it was great, I almost felt normal!!

Alteredimage. You might escape the wind if it's not an abdominal op. (They pump in some air so they can see what they're doing.) But I'd recommend getting some glycerine suppositories. I think the anaesthetic slows everything down and constipation was a problem. And that's the last thing you need if your pelvic floor is feeling fragile.

I think anything involving mesh means you have to be extra-careful about lifting. Probably why they're saying 6 weeks before driving.

Don't know if anyone's mentioned this but there's an American site called
HysterSister which is a mine of information. Bound to be someone on there who's had your op.

Glad you had a nice outing, cosmic. I know what you mean about feeling almost normal. And it's nice to feel you've earned your lie-down afterwards.

Did you get your hours sorted, North? Wonder how Paris is getting on back at work.

Hello skilf! I hope your not worrying too much about your results, although I'm sure you will be. How soon is your follow up appointment? Hope you get a clear idea of what is going on very soon, I found the wait really hard, I too had an unusual smear and then an internal/external examination during which my gp informed me she could feel a very large lump, not what you want to hear! Good luck

Thanks Thyme, yes it was lovely, taking it easy today though!
My sick note runs out on Friday, cannot possibly imagine going back to work so I'm trying to get an appt with my gp (not easy!)

Hope all you lovely ladies are having restful/good weekends

I sympathise, I had a copper coil put in about 5 years ago, hated everything about it, I can totally relate to the passing out thing!
I only kept it in for about a year as I always felt as though I was trying to 'expel' it somehow. My gp later said that it would have been related to my fibroid (the reason for my hysterectomy) I can't help wondering why they didn't investigate back then, years later it had grown to nearly 15cm in diameter
Keep us posted and do try and stay away from google, easier said than done!

Hi altered. cosmic beat me to it! The knickers came from the Hysterectomy association shop. They are £11.99 a pair but I'm hoping they will be worth their weight in gold post op.

Ladies I sympathise at the passing out bit... I passed out having a contact lens fitted for the first time...I'm pretty pathetic really. I also passed out when they took blood from me when I was pregnant for the first time! I fainted, fell forward and bashed my head on the side of the doctors desk, they were then concerned I had concussed myself. They always take my bloods now with me lying on the bed! I fainted when the doctor gave me a steroid injection years ago into the nerves in my hand....i can imagine how I would have reacted to getting a coil fitted lol.

North I'm glad you are feeling better, it's been a long road and Cosmic it must have felt great to be able to do some normal stuff again.

Decided to go with a TV for the bedroom, hubby is a bit meh as my DB has offered me one of his TVs which is great but DH thought he was going to be able to get a nice new telly for the lounge and move our relatively new one upstairs and I've just ruined his cunning plan.

Lepaskilf that is very funny!

yes I'm worried too about the anaesthetic. Trying hard not to dwell on it and fighting the urge to get my affairs all in order. I work for an undertaker so it is hard to avoid the fragility of life.

If it helps, I too was petrified that I would never wake up after the anaesthetic, I actually let it all come spilling out, literally blubbing when the anaesthetist came to chat to me pre op! His mistake? Asking me if I was worried about anything He was so reassuring, so I was so glad that I had spoken to him and felt much calmer for doing so.