Hysterectomy recovery

[ThisAutumnTown]

Hi all!

I’m due to have a full hysterectomy on Tuesday.
I was hoping to hear from other women who’ve had the same on what recovery looked like for them in the first few weeks.
How long until you were up and about as normal?
How bad was the post op pain etc?
Did you gain much weight?

I’m 35, have had 2 children and am overweight but making healthy changes.

Any stories/advice is much appreciated 😊

I’ve just been approved for a hysterectomy so I’m following with interest and sending you all good wishes! There are several ways of doing a hysterectomy, with the recovery time varying according to the method, so if you can say whether you’re having keyhole (vaginal), open (abdominal) or robotic vaginal removal, that might get you the most useful answers. Good luck!

Thank you so much!
Hopefully you won’t have to wait too long for yours 🤞 I’ve been waiting for nearly 2 years and got a call on Thursday telling me it’s this Tuesday. Only 5 days to prepare 🙈
I’m having keyhole surgery vaginally so will hopefully be much quicker recovery than an open surgery would.

I had a full hysterectomy, fortunately with a horizontal scar. I was petrified prior to, however I was home within 24 hours, walking slowly round the estate (housing not country) within days and driving within the 2 weeks. I followed all advice to the letter, and was back to normal activities in 2 weeks I'd say, it was 7 years ago now. Best of luck ladies

I had an abdominal total hysterectomy and BSO about 10 years ago.

Recovery was approx:

• 24hrs Up from hospital bed and first wee/shower. In a lot of pain, on morphone
• 48hrs able to walk about but the process of sitting/standing/lying very difficult and painful. Discharged.
• Next 3 - 4 days, general pain subsiding but sitting/standing/lying still slow and painful. Able to potter round the house a bit. Overwhelming tiredness, difficulty getting comfortable at night.
• 1 week - went outside for the first time. All pain now subsiding. Still bleeding lightly from vagina
• Next 5 weeks - general trajectory of being more mobile, less in pain, able to walk more and more. Pattern of having 1 day with energy, next day v. tired.
• 7 weeks after operation. All bleeding stopped, external wound healed though sensitive, back to work on phased return (office job) - v. tired after being at work at first
• 4 weeks later - back to work fully, feeling 'normal' though still a little more tired than formerly.
• 6 months after op, feeling fully normal.

I would stress that everyone's recovery is different and it's really important to listen to what your body is telling you, err on the side of caution and do less not more, especially in the early stages of recovery.

The operation was a great decision for me and transformed my life for the better.

Hope this is useful and wishing you (both pps) the best.

Forgot to add, no, I didn't gain weight. I lost some weight at first due to reduced appetite but that quickly normalised.

Thank you both for sharing your experiences!
Really interesting to see how vastly they differ.

I had a vertical incision. I was in hospital for 4 days. I woke up after the op with a morphine pump in place so the first 24 hours was hazy! After it was removed I was given paracetamol and also a voltarol suppository at night. I can honestly say I had no pain. The incision felt a bit tight but not sore. The drain was taken out on the 3rd day. The worst thing in hospital was the post op wind, it sounded like an orchestra with all the post op ladies parp parp pumping all night long. Take some Colpermin peppermint tablets in with you, that really helps get the bowels moving. When I got home I was able to potter about, make a drink etc. No housework, lifting or driving for 6 weeks. I had my clips out after 10 days and my scar was nicely healing. I was discharged after 6 weeks but took 3 months off work. I could have gone back after 6 weeks but I had a good sickness record at work so decided to make the most of it. Honestly, I got over the hysterectomy very quickly. I was expecting all kinds of problems but I was fine. Good luck with yours.

I’ve just ordered peppermint tablets on your recommendation! Thanks so much!
I know peppermint tea is meant to help but never considered I could get it in capsule form.

I’m feeling quite relieved to hear everything turned out ok for everyone on here so far. I’ve had surgeries before but I’m a lot heavier than I was so do fear that there’ll be complications due to that.
I’m keeping everything crossed that it goes smoothly! 🤞

If you are overweight and can lose any weight before the operation, it's worth trying. One of the hardest things about mobility is that at first you can't use your core muscles easily to go from lying to sitting to standing, because the strain it puts on your internal wounds is very painful - you're reliant on taking the strain on your arms and upper back, so the less weight you have to lift, the better. It's not by any means a must-do, you will soon be over that painful stage, but it's a small thing that would help if it's at all a possibility.

@SoJauntythe surgery is in the morning so I’m just going to eat small meals today and drink lots of water 😅

Mine was keyhole, and I was quite tender and guarding for a few weeks after. It took a little while to relax into my need to shuffle around quite gingerly afterwards. Things that helped were slippers you could just slide your feet into without having to hook them onto your feet, small plastic cups of water- as I couldn't untwist bottles or lift a heavy glass full or the kettle for two weeks after surgery. Pushing a shopping trolley around two months after was too early as I had no core muscles anymore. If anything falls on the floor, leave it there!

Mine was keyhole just a couple of months ago. First 24 hours I was a bit tender but after that I bounced right back. Had force myself to take it easy because I just felt so much better than I did pre op. Have had zero bleeding.

Peppermint tea will be your best friend. Try to have a cup constantly on the go until you no longer feel gassy.

I forgot to mention that I had an operation on my foot a couple of years apart from the hysterectomy and that was so much worse pain wise!

Thanks so much everyone! I’m feeling a lot less worried now 😊 I have peppermint capsules arriving today and will order peppermint tea.
I’m currently feeling calm but I the nerves will hit me in the morning.

I had a full hysterectomy 6 years ago where I was cut right down my stomach from breast bone to pelvic bone ( had a very large ovarian tumour so had to have a large incision to get it out in one piece 😬)
The first 48 hours were comfortable thanks to the morphine pump.
I found the recovery much easier than I had anticipated but I was very careful not to do anything that would cause a strain on the wound.
My family were adults so no small children to worry about, I did go back to work as a childminder after 4 weeks which was much too soon but I couldn’t afford to have longer off.
The wind pain was horrible (especially in my shoulder) and I found it helped to rub my shoulder very hard when it was particularly bad.
I was already post menopause so didn’t have any hormone type issues and didn’t lose any weight, sadly!
I had a hip replacement 2 weeks ago and I’m finding the recovery from that far harder than the hysterectomy (mainly because I can’t sit because of the pain ☹️)
Best of luck for tomorrow

It will be fine @ThisAutumnTown . Light meals sounds like a good plan; I assume you will be 'nil by mouth' from this evening anyway if surgery is the morning.

If you haven't already, put some sanitary towels in your bag if you don't want hospital issue. I had an initial 'gush' of blood with first wee and then a steady light trickle for about 4 weeks. Once that clears it is an amazing feeling to know you'll never need to wear a towel/tampon again! Even 10 years later I still feel thankful when I walk past them in a supermarket.

Take loose clothing for afterwards as you won't want anything that puts pressure on your wound.

I had a robotic keyhole hysterectomy and oophorectomy this time last year. I went down to theatre about 11am on the Friday. DH said he rang at around 3.30 and I wasnt back on the ward yet but I think I was when he arrived back at the hospital around 4pm. I think I started coming back from the anaesthetic shortly after, a bit in and out, but was able to speak and interact properly soon after and had some food.

We were planning for me to go home that night but the pharmacy was so slow in dispensing that by 10pm I just wanted to be asleep so stayed in the hospital. I was walking to the loo independently and had had a shower by then. Getting the catheta out was the most uncomfortable bit and my bladder just felt uncomfortable, wanting to keep weeing. I went home the following day. Felt OK, DH looked after me well and I was off daytime pain killers (paracetamol) on Tuesday and off altogether by Thursday, bladder settled. I had to take the morphine the pharmacy insisted on dispensing to me unopened to a high street pharmacy....

I make an effort to walk every day so I was back to it on the Saturday afternoon (day 2) but I only went a couple of hundred yards but started building from that each day. I took it easy the next week and was back to my WFH desk job on the Monday of the third week. Out socialising in week 2 and started driving with no problem (after the 6 weeks) and all else has been easy, no peppermint required, no gushing in towels etc, barely any bleeding actually. No shuffling.

I did gain a little bit of weight but as I have 20 years on you I was struggling with that anyway.

I think DH was key to my recovery as he was very careful that I didnt even lift the kettle to start with (and he wanted me to take more time from work), and i think the keyhole really reduced the healing time. The belly button incision and 1 other were slow to heal but they are all fading now.

not personal experience, but do anaesthetise for gynae regularly... it's worth remembering that recovery will depend quite a bit on the reason for the surgery and the route by which the operation's done - some PPs have described different operations to the one that it sounds like you're planning. The team looking after you should be able to give more specific advice. Needing large amounts of morphine after a straightforward lap hyst is fairly unusual all other things being equal.

Chewing gum can help get the guts going post op too so if the peppermint caps don't arrive that may be worth a try. Don't get constipated (ask about a laxative if necessary before you're heading home).

Depending on what you mean by 'a lot heavier', that can impact things (surgery/anaesthetic/recovery wise), but if the operation's this week and weight loss hasn't been achievable then there's not much to be done and they probably wouldn't have offered the operation if they thought the risks outweighed the benefits (there's a leaflet on the RCoA website called 'anaesthesia and your weight' it may be helpful to look at if they've not provided you with it already). It may be worth asking about post-op DVT prevention if they don't bring that up before the operation.

Re eating and drinking, unless they've told you to follow a specific diet today there's no need really to go nuts with the fasting - just follow the instructions they've given you. Over fasting contributes to feeling worse post-op.

It’s going to be a full hysterectomy done vaginally.
I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome so I know that my recovery will look different to others. I didn’t mention it in the OP as I thought it unlikely to find someone else with EDS having a hysterectomy story on here.
My BMI is 33. I’m very tall so I carry it ok but I do tend to hold a lot of the weight on my stomach.

Mine was keyhole, total hysterectomy. For the first week or so I was pretty wiped - although there's not much external scarring your body is busy mending the internal ones, making you very tired, and you might feel a bit stiff and sore (but I wouldn't describe it as pain really).

However, I recovered quickly after that, and was back at work and driving just over three weeks after the op. I was slightly motivated by the fact that I had a trip to the Christmas Markets in Alsace booked for four weeks after the op, and I was NOT going to miss that! I managed the flight and travel OK, but was a bit slower on my feet than usual.

There was no weight gain, in fact I lost a little, presumably due to fluid/tissue loss.

I had to inject myself daily with blood thinners for 28 days - that was probably the worst thing about my recovery. That never got any easier.

I had full hysterectomy (think it was full-uterus and cervix removed but fallopian tubes and ovaries left). It was done abdominally. They thought it would it would need to be vertically as I had a huge fibroid and my uterus was totally misshaped as a result but thankfully it was done horizontally. Vertical is worse as they’re having to cut at right angles to the underlying muscles iyswim. It was 10 years ago.

I had a catheter for the first night which was removed after the first night. I had patient controlled morphine.

they get you up and about walking to the loo, shower etc asap.

after the 2nd night I was given the option of going home without morphine. I was a bit wary but agreed. I’m a nurse (mental health) and live with my husband so I think they thought I was safe and able to know when and how to get help if needed. I was still on opiate based medication, laxatives and blood thinners to inject subcutaneously to prevent blood clots.

about 4 days later I had to have an out of hours appointment with a GP as I developed a uti, common after having a catheter and I had antibiotics.

after a couple of days I made short walks to the corner shop and gradually increased this to walks round the park. You can’t lift anything heavier than a kettle for a few weeks.

my husband was working for the NHS and he managed to get carers leave for a few days. It was a difficult time for him as his dad was ill (he died while I was still off sick) and he was torn but his family were supportive and it was fine for him to put me first until I was well enough to be left. (We were in London and his parents in Belfast).

it is a major operation so do take it slowly but otoh don’t take it too easy either! Listen to your body.

I returned to work 3 months and occupational health arranged for a phased return to work.

overall it wasn’t too bad but not a walk in the park either.

a colleague who had the same op before me recommended a website called HysterSisters, which was useful. They had a forum which was helpful and supportive. I assume it’s still there but I’ve not used it since I returned to work.

eta, jogging bottoms are your friend in the first few weeks!!!

oh and I agree you feel tired a lot, partly as the opiates are sedating but your body needs sleep to recover and as I said listen to your body.

I probably put on weight but I gain weight easily anyway.

Thanks all for your responses! They really helped ease my anxiety 😊
I had my surgery at 9am and all went well.
On my way home in half an hour xx

Wow, that’s fabulous news - and home the same day! Good on you! 💐Hope you heal really quickly and uncomplicatedly.

I’ve just heard that unless my biopsy is positive, I’ll be having mine in June, so not too far behind you. I’ll be using all the really good advice from this thread, so thank you all, including losing a bit of weight if I can as I am a podge due to my various hormonal challenges.

Thank you! ☺️

Please come back and update us when you’ve had yours. I hope it all goes well xxx

Oh, great news! I hope your travel home goes well and you get a good night's sleep.