My mum needs a hysterectomy, she is 59, have questions & any experiences/advice appreciated

[crokky]

My mum needs to have a hysterectomy because she has prolapse. She has had lots of children and long labours so this is probably the reason.

Can anyone tell me about the recovery from this operation please?

Also she has already had the menopause - are her ovaries still releasing hormones ie will it make her feel different if they are removed as well?

Thanks for any responses

my mum had a hysterectomy about 5 or 6 years ago due to a large ovarian cyst, the op in itself although major is very straight forward and i think the recovery time is 6 weeks, obviousley once the ovaries are out she might feel a bit strange but she can take (if she doesnt already) HRT which should help balence things out a bit.

my mum had a hysterectomy when she was 33 due to really bad periods & PMT lol
But she recovered in no time, she wasn't allowed to lift anything heavy for 6 weeks but fine, and shes totally fine now, although possibly going through change of life now!

My mum had a hysterectomy at 53 a few years ago, she said getting over it was exactly the same as a CSection, no lifting for a few weeks and careful with bending etc. My sister moved in with her for a couple of weeks but wasn't really needed.

On a plus note she said it is the best thing she ever had done and feels 100% better afterwards, no more menopause sysmptons as she was just getting into it, and she even went to Oz backpacking 3 months after the op!

Ditto other posters. My dm had one a couple of years ago for the same reason as yours crokky.
Surgery went well, was quoted a 6 week recovery period as per general abdominal surgery etc. After being at home for a week she started to feel 'odd' - found it hard to keep warm, had funny itchy areas of skin, not really hungry. Initially we put it down to post op fatigue etc, but I made her let me take her temperature to see if it was raised (thinking infection) but that was normal. I did make her promise to see her GP after the weekend if she was the same. This was Fri night. However Sun am she woke to a flood in her bed as the infection at the wound burst. Antibiotics soon sorted her out, but I was kicking myself for not trusting my instincts the she needed checking sooner.
Generally thought that was just a blip, and she has recovered very well. I can't remember if they removed her ovaries too. Is that normal? My dm is post-menopausal too. Have they specified that your dm's ovaries will be removed?

Thanks for all your responses. The prolapse is affecting her a lot at the moment so she is not able to lift anything or walk even to the end of the street anyway - hopefully she can have this operation soon.

bamzooki - they have not said about DM's ovaries but I was reading some old threads on MN about it and one lady had been told that the ovaries would be "lost" (??) without the uterus.

Ovaries would be lost ... noooo! My mum had a hysterectomy at about ... gosh ... 37/8. She seemed so old at the time but she was only a couple of years older than I am now ! She only had the uterus removed and her ovaries continued to function. She consequently went through the menopause in her 50s as she would normally have done. If she'd had her ovaries removed, she would have needed HRT or gone through the menopause at that time.

She couldn't drive and needed help with general stuff for a few weeks then no further problems. Actually that's not true, think she had to have some excess scar tissue removed but that's it. Think that must be a family trait as I had the same thing after birth of DD1 where stitches were.

Hope she gets the op soon x

I've had my hysterectomy 3 months ago-at the age of 31.This was due to horrendous periods and a moderate prolapse-your mum's sounds pretty awful to live with,so finger's crossed she gets the op asap.

I'm obviously younger than most that have this op,so unsure if I recovered quicker because of that.I will say that its huge emotional and physical strain to go through,I guess any major op is.I was in hospital for 4 days,the op itself lasted about 1.5 hours with 2 hours in the recovery room and then back to the ward attached with morphine pump and liquid IV's for 24hrs after.I think day 3 was the worse for me..tearful,uncomfortable and feeling like you've been hit with a truck.

I'm sure they will take your mum's ovaries as she already been through the menopause,I have mine still as even without your uterus they will continue to release hormones(eggs) until I go through the menopause which can be earlier than usual.
There's a excellent informative site by the hysterectomy assc, along with a forum.

Wish your mum a speedy recovery when she finally gets her op

Hi crokky, an ex-gynae nurse here. I don't think she'll notice much difference hormone wise, if she's already had the menopause. Is she having a vaginal incision or an abdominal one? Both obviously are major ops, but I think the abdominal incision slightly more so. Both will take 6 weeks ish to recover from.
How long will she have to wait? To help with good anaesthetic recovery, I think most anaesthetists would want her to stop smoking if she's a smoker, and consider weight loss (nothing drastic though) if weight is an issue.
Good luck to your mum, I'm sure it will go smoothly. And good luck to you, if its you who'll be doing her shopping and hoovering afterwards!

Thanks for your responses.

to theheadgirl - I think she will be having the abdominal incision. fortunately she doesn't smoke and re her weight - she is a typical sort of pear shape and the weight she has on her body came with the menopause and is mainly on thighs/bum. She has tried to shift it (although it is not 'major' but the doc has told her that because it was menopause weight, it is super hard to lose) Her stomach is just stretched majorly as she had twins and after the menopause she said all the elasticity in her skin went!
we'll be having internet shopping deliveries lol - I am pg and have hyperemesis so we are both a bit broken at them moment!!

goingfriggincrazy, thanks for the website

Just skimmed the other posts so apologies if anyone has already said this, but wind can be a big problem in the days following the op! Any abdominal surgery can introduce a lot of gas, and my mum really appreciated some (very gentle) back massages following her hysterectomy as the wind made her so uncomfortable. Might be worth offering (if you have the strenght - much sympathy for the hyperemesis).

Oh, all the best to both of you crokky - what a pair!
GGG - good point, I remember the trumping ladies on my gynae ward, all hanging on to their stitches whilst laughing at the undignified noises they made! Peppermint tea helps a little, and as you say, massage.