Hysterectomy - what do I need?

[financialhelpneeded]

I have to have full open surgery soon (hysterectomy) and will be in for a few days. It's a bit more involved than a laparoscopic op I think and I have been told I need to take 2 months off after. I would be really interested in hearing from anyone who has had this specific op, as opposed to the keyhole/laparoscopic one - is it really going to be 2 months before I can do anything? I am freelance and will be pulled in with 2 weeks' notice which is creating havoc.

Also, I am dreading being in hospital so I am trying to buy some nice things to make me feel a bit more human.

I know it sounds weird but I am worrying about not being able to shower for a day. Can anyone recommend some nice body wipes? I also have very sensitive skin so some face wipes recommendations would also be welcome.

Ooh there was a thread on this just the other day let me see if I can find it.

I had open surgery for my hysterectomy a year ago. The recovery wasn't too bad, similar to my c-sections if you've had one. When I came round, I was on a fentanyl pump so I could control the pain relief. I was on that for a day. Once off that I was just on paracetamol, and they got me up and about. I went home 3 days after the operation, and I would say it took about 2 weeks to feel pretty good, but it did take a full 6 weeks to feel 100%. I also couldn't run for 3 months. I wouldn't worry too much about not being able to shower as straight after the operation you won't be thinking about that I wouldn't imagine as you'll be unable move much and you'll be knackered from the pain relief. Then, the next day, once you're up, they will give you things to clean up with, basin, soap, towel, etc. Try and make sure you're eating well before the operation lots fibre to ensure you keeping your bowels regular as I think that's going for a poo afterwards was the hardest part! Also, peppermint tea, as you may get trapped wind. Nice comfy high waisted knickers and loose high waisted pj's. Headphones so you can watch netflix or whatever! Good luck!

Thanks for the advice, that is really helpful. I really, really hate the idea of not being clean- I don't think I have ever gone a day without taking at least one shower.

How do you go to the loo in the first day? Do you have to use a bedpan? I have horrors about that. I've had more minor gynae surgery before and just could not work out how to use one.

I had a catheter for a while. I had to wheel the bag up and down the ward when they got me up walking. They took that out after about a day and a half I think then I was able to go to the toilet myself. No bedpan needed!

Are you on Facebook? The Hysterectomy Sisters UK group is a godsend before and after surgery

I'm 1 week post op from the same surgery, and some of the stuff that really helped me in hospital:
Long charger (and peg to clip it to the sheets)
Love hearts sweets/peppermint oil capsules (help with trapped wind)
Snacks
Entertainment (inc headphones)
Lip balm
Water bottle (you'll have a jug but I found a sippy water bottle much easier)
Mini fan
Eye mask
Pillow for the car ride home (I don't think I could have done it without a big pillow between me and the seatbelt!)
Chewing gum (start chewing after you come round, and gave one every hour or so - really helps wake your bowels up!)

I was told I'd be in for 3 nights but my recovery so far (touch wood) has been great and I was up, showered, shuffling down the hall (after they disconnected my drain, catheter and drip) the next morning and left hospital about 18 hours after the op

You may need to wear compression stockings for a few weeks after and inject yourself with blood thinners (this seems really inconsistent though)

I was in immense pain before the op (severe adenomyosis) so I've been off pain relief since 3 days post op and am in a lot less pain than I was before it, but if you do too much you know about it with a heaviness in your pelvis, swelly belly and fatigue. Too much in this context includes standing/sitting upright too long/going up and down stairs/showering/lifting a heavy (big) mug!

Everyone's recovery is different, mine is going great and I'm back up to 2000 steps a day but someone I'm chatting to who had it done the same day as me can barely shuffle to the loo and is in bed the rest of the time.

You need to give yourself sufficient time to heal and listen to your body, because people only consider the outside wound but that's the easy bit, it's the 200-300 internal stitches inside and the ligaments which have been cut/reattached etc that take the time to heal.

Depending on your job you may be able to do bits and pieces before 8 weeks, but it seems to be months before people are genuinely back to 'normal' and are no longer suffering from swelly belly in the evenings etc

Good luck!

Thank you so much for the messages. Really super helpful and so many issues I hadn't considered. Sorry for asking such a basic question, but how does a catheter work? Do you wee like normal and it goes into a bag? Or does it take the wee out of you before you need to pass it? I feel embarrassed not knowing this but I would really like to find out. I have horrors about wetting the bed by accident.

I am really struggling to imagine what recovery is like. Being able to do 2000 steps so early is absolutely incredible, uterus, and you sound so brave and resilient..And yet it sounds like lifting even basic things is still hard? I feel like I just have no idea what to expect. Will join that Facebook group and read up!

Definitely do, it has helped me so much and no question is too silly to ask! It's a supportive bunch

They will place the catheter into your urethra while you are under anaesthetic, and it will drain your bladder for you. You don't feel the urine coming out, and you don't have to do anything

Being able to do 2000 steps so early is absolutely incredible, uterus, and you sound so brave and resilient..And yet it sounds like lifting even basic things is still hard? I feel like I just have no idea what to expect

Definitely no lifting, reaching, pushing or pulling for a number of weeks (until you are more fully healed inside)

I am seeing a pelvic physio and they won't see me until after 6 weeks, so that gives an indication of how long they think it is before you begin to be healed enough.

This might give you a better idea what to expect

I had a surgical hysterectomy when I was 34 (I am 69 now). Two woman I worked with had one at roughly the same time (they were 38 and 45) and we all had different experiences.

I never had a catheter. I had my op in the afternoon and the next morning I got up and showered and walked, slowly, along the corridor. I never needed any pain relief (I do have a high pain threshold). I spent 2 nights in hospital.

My Consultant told me not to do anything like changing the bed, hoovering etc but also not to just sit or lie around too much. He said to go for a walk every day. His opinion was that recovery often takes much longer because woman are told to do literally nothing for weeks.

Two weekends after my op me and DH went to the British GP and camped for 4 days and walked a fair amount.

I went back to work 6 weeks after the op

Wow, thank you guys so much. Lots to ponder here. I'm at a pretty low ebb physically right now, and I am guessing how well you are going into the op has a bearing on your recovery? So I think I might be one of the ones who takes a bit longer - I couldn't leave the house at all for four months at the start of the year because of excessively heavy bleeding. So I lost a lot of fitness.

Useful to know how a catheter works, thank you! 😀 I honestly don't have a clue.

I had a full open hysterectomy in June last year, after almost 30 years of severe endometriosis, and two years of daily heavy bleeding.

I was absolutely dreading it - the physical effects of the op, the emotional aftermath, the mood swings I thought would come from adjusting my HRT dosage. But honestly, I wish I’d done it 20 years ago.

I was in a lot of pain and losing a lot of blood beforehand, but within 48 hours of the op I felt better than I’d done for 10 years. I had 24 hours of morphine, and then a few days of codeine, and then paracetamol. No painkillers within 10d.

I was in hospital for 6 days, back to working from home within 3 weeks, and back to very gentle exercise after 6 weeks. I went on holiday alone after 6 weeks and was fine. (I turned 48 a month after the op and was very unfit because I was so anaemic and I’m so much pain.)

There is pain from the incisions, but because you know what the pain is caused by, and because you know that you’re healing, I found it easier to adjust to than the pain of heavy periods, endo, cysts etc. I knew the post-op pain would lessen. Every day it got a bit easier.

I found the extreme tiredness after the op to be more debilitating than the pain. (It wears off, but do be prepared to sleep a LOT!)

There have been so many positives that the post-op stuff has really been outweighed by the benefits. Catheter for 24h, stitches, scars etc all seemed like a small - and temporary- price to pay for all the plus points.

in terms of what to take to hospital- I took a (hand-held) fan and water spray. (Hormonal changes mean hot flushes for a lot of people, and my ward had no windows that opened.)

Face wipes and wet wipes were good. Dry shampoo. Earplugs and eye mask. Make a list of snacks you like and ask visitors to bring you food - we weren’t given any fruit and it was fruit and yoghurt and ice cream that I wanted, not big cooked meals. I took in some nice body lotion and hand cream just to make a change from the smell of wet wipes and antiseptic! Take in some cheap flip flops or sliders rather than your
fave slippers - mine felt really grubby after almost a week of hospital bathrooms and corridors.

Echo what a pp said - try to go for a walk every day. It will really help your recovery.

Listen to your body. My gym instructor said that when you can stand up from a chair without needing to pull yourself up, that’s when your ab muscles are starting to heal. I was fitter than before the op within about 5-6 months, but I took it slowly and under her supervision.

@financialhelpneeded agree with others on here. I had the op last November after years of very heavy bleeding. I had the op lunchtime Friday. Catheter out lunchtime Saturday and walked to the loo that afternoon. Home Sunday afternoon. There was confusion with my prescription for pain meds so after the first night at home I only had paracetamol and ibuprofen left, and I was fine on those.
I strip washed at the sink 24h after the op and showered properly at home on Sunday evening.
I was getting to the loo quite happily. For me it wasn’t pain/restricted movement, it was the exhaustion - op was emergency due to haemorrhage so very low iron. And the first poo isn’t fun, take the laxatives would be my advice.
Recovery wasn’t nearly as bad as I’d feared. Like others, I felt better at two weeks than I had in years. I was still tired for a long time, I’d say it was almost three months before I was bouncing fit, but I hadn’t been bouncing fit for several years beforehand so a lot of that probably wasn’t the op.
Good luck! You’ll be grand 💜

I didn’t have much with me because it wasn’t a planned admission, and I was fine. Phone and headphones, long charger, mints and sippy water good because my mouth was very dry after the GA. I don’t think I read my book. I listened to my phone more. I had a canula in each hand so trying to juggle book too was awkward, easier to listen to a downloaded one/podcast etc.

This is so, so helpful. It is amazing to hear positive stories of healing. The pain I've been in with fibroids has been horrendous - at the start of the year I was on a very strong dose of codeine because the pressure on my spine was agony. Before that, I've had literally years of putting up with bleeding and pain and I am so utterly and completely fed up with it. It is nice to feel like there might, finally, be an end in sight. I can't even imagine what it might be like to be able to say yes to going camping with friends, or to a festival, or even just being able to do an exercise regime without having to take weeks off for bleeding so heavy that I had to be within metres of a loo.

@financialhelpneeded yes exactly that. I haven’t bled a drop since November. My old clothes fit. I go swimming. I say yes to things without checking the calendar and counting days. I’m still finding pads in every single bag and coat I haven’t used in a while, but I’m slowly getting rid of them. The freedom is wonderful! (I was huge fibroids too).

I had a full hysterectomy last summer aged 60 should have been keyhole but there were complications from a previous surgery I had , I was post menopausal so no problem with my hormones. I was back at my desk job in my workplace office within 6 weeks half days for the first week. Home on day 4 out walking for 20 mins 2 days later building up to an hours walk. I don’t drive so that wasn’t an issue, no hoovering or heavy lifting for 6 weeks. I found this companies wipes very good, big and soft they also have hair washing caps but I didn’t try those, I just got my hair cut before the surgery and kept dry shampoo handy fresh wipes.co.uk In hospital be sure to take any prescription medication with you, I popped mine in my toiletries bag they say not to take them in but they don’t always have access to what you need. Also moisturiser and hand cream and lip salve hospitals really dry you out.

I had a hysterectomy last August but keyhole.
I washed my hair before going in so that lasted about 4 days, I then got my husband to wash it over the kitchen sink, so I could stand and lean over - messy but it worked!
I had a stand up wash every day, using flannels, that I then washed in the washing machine. I didn't shower for a week, I wanted the stitches to heal without getting wet.
L'Oreal Age Perfect face wipes were my favourites
Body cream was lovely as I had time to massage it in.
A good nail kit so I could keep my hands nice.
I was walking the next day and used to set Alexa for 5 minutes to walk around the house for, then every day added a minute!
I would nod off to sleep in the afternoon.
No pain killers required, so that was good.
I was amazed how quick the recovery was, I was 57.
The surgical stockings constantly were really the worst bit of it all!
Good luck, it's so much better than you think.

I had a total abdominal hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophrectomy about 3 years ago.
I only needed paracetamol for a couple of doses after surgery. I was so used to endometriosis and adenomyosis pain that surgical pain was nothing.
I had surgery late afternoon and was out of the bed the next morning and had my catheter out. I had to have my urine measured and tested for my first 3 times and then a final scan to make sure my bladder was emptying ok.
I wore high waisted knickers and dresses rather than anything with a waist band.