Hystorectomy worries, reassure me please

[sunshine99789]

Hi,

I am due for a hystorectomy soon and I was just wondering what people's experiences were please and any advice would be more than welcome.

I have consented for both ovaries to be removed however the consultant said if its possible they will keep one to prevent the menopause.

I have endometriosis...im not sure how bad it is other than I have a chocolate cyst and I finally have answers after over 20 years.

Bit of a vain question here, but will my stomach be flatter once healed from the surgery? I am constantly bloated which really gets me down and makes me feel so self conscious.

I would love to hear peoples stories and anything I should know beforehand

Thank you

I've written on here about my hysterectomy which I had at 42. I'm now 51.

Took years to finally be referred.

It was the best thing I ever did. No regrets. I had a full hysterectomy so everything out.

I don't know about bloating, I didn't really have it before or after. I had about 6 weeks off work and then it was Xmas hols so probably about 2 months in all. Recovery takes time but I quite enjoyed it - full time teacher usually 😄

Interesting that they want to keep one ovary in.

Hi, OP - I had a hysterectomy about seven years ago, including bilateral oophorectomy - I had severe endo with multiple adhesions, ovarian cyst, fibroids and adenomyosis.

I had an abdominal procedure. The operation certainly did stop the constant bloating I was having. The scar is at the top of my pelvis, and barely visible now.

More importantly it stopped the constant pain I was in. After the first few days, the pain of recovery was far less than the pain I had been in before.

Things to know - take with you loose clothing/nightwear, sanitary towels (you will bleed for a while after the operation, not menstrual blood but blood from your interior wounds), a straw to drink from as you may struggle to bend at first, and anything else you would normally take to hospital. Take a pillow for the journey home to hold against yourself as any bumps in the road will be painful.

Do you have anyone to support you at home while you recover? You will be limited at first as to what you can do, and the tiredness is like nothing else. If you don't have anyone to cook for you, it would be worth stocking up on ready meals or batch cooking so you don't have to stand in the kitchen.

@mizu I am kind of hoping they do remove both. At least everything is all over an done with!

Apparently it's to be done by laparoscopy so fortunately not so much time to heal!
Thank you for sharing with me.

Fortunately my husband is a pretty good cook and will be my own personal butler for a while so I'm really lucky in that respect.

I was told there were some adhesions and scarring but they weren't sure how much my c section had to do with that.

Thank you for the advice :)

I had a total hysterectomy due to stage 4 endo, fibroids and adenomyosis 5 years ago. I had abdominal but kept my ovaries.

Everyone I know who had laparoscopic surgery healed really well, and so did I even with abdominal. Life is totally transformed now I’m no longer in agony and bleeding up to my tits every month.

Once I healed, my stomach was definitely flatter as my uterus was massive!

Another practical tip for the hospital is an extra long phone charger. My usual one is quite short and I couldn’t bend or twist at first.

Good luck.

Well obviously all people are different...BUT my hysterectomy was much less of a big deal than I'd imagined, and so much better than a belly full of endo. I should point out though that the one ovary I was left with turned out not to be pulling its weight, so I did go into menopause a few months later regardless. But HRT so all good. I had very little pain, was walking quickly, pottering around the kitchen cooking after a week, and back at work in 5 weeks.

For 3-4months after my tummy was bigger, not smaller. Partly post surgery swelling, partly not being allowed to exercise for a while. I needed bigger trousers to go back to work in.