Why the heck can't I vacuum at 4 weeks post hysterectomy?

Hi!
Okay so I am a little confused here! I am 4 weeks and 3 days post op. I had a TVH with everything removed and a Tvt bladder sling. Hubby made an appt with the exterminator to come in today and do his yearly inspection, and since DH is working all kinds of crazy hours, the house has become somewhat of a mess. Having a golden retriever who sheds does not help! So I heard about all these things I am not supposed to do but some of them I have been doing all along and just didn't know I wasn't allowed to.. I have been sweeping, dusting, rearranging my son's closet, sitting at a computer desk for long periods of time, bending over constantly to pick things off the floor, loading and unloading the dishwasher and pushing the shopping cart at the store. I am dying to vacuum and mop! I have a central vac system which is just a long lightweight hose and tile floors so how strenuous can it be and if I just damp mop the worse spots, will it hurt me? I guess my main questions are how soon before I can do these things and would they really hurt me at this point as long as I don't overdo it and rest afterward? Does anybody know the guidelines for when I can resume doing these things? Also, since I had a vaginal hysterectomy, would this affect my recovery time since it is less invasive and I do not have any abdominal stiches?
Thanks in advance for any answers or suggestions you all might have.

Vicki

A couple of things to keep in mind:

1) You don't have any *external* abdominal stitches. You *do* have internal stitches where things had to be cut to release your uterus, and these need to be given time to heal.

2) In addition to your hysterectomy, you had a bladder sling installed. That's got a recovery time all its own. Also, it suggests that you were already having some degree of prolapse, which means you need to be a bit careful as to that recurring.

That said, you have two mains sources of restrictions: your doctor and your body. Don't do anything that your doctor specifically said not to do, even if you think your body could handle it. Also, don't do anything that your body is strongly resistant to doing, even if your doctor didn't mention it.

For example, my doctor told me not to bend. My body made it quite clear that it didn't *want* to bend. But it was happy with stooping, so I stooped down to pick up the cats' food and water bowls and to scoop their litter box. Later on I read other sisters recommending against both bending and stooping, but the fact is that stooping didn't do me a bit of harm.

I *did* sit upright at my desktop computer for long periods of time because that's how I access the Internet (including this site!). I got up frequently to use the washroom, make more tea, use the washroom again, take breaks for short walks outdoors, etc. And when my abs started to burn from holding me upright for long periods, I curled up on my side to read or nap.

For me, recovery was mostly a matter of using common sense and listening to *both* my body and my doctor.

I can't advise on the vacuum as I don't own one. But my sister came to stay for few days during my fifth week and she's OCD, so I swept the apartment with a broom before she got here and that was fine.

Thank you for your advice SurprisedInNB! My doctor only told me a few things

1...nothing in the vagina at all like tampons or douches
2 No sex of any kind including oral
3 no lifting anything over a gallon of milk
4 no swimming
5 no driving for a week
6 No blowing of nose. ( huh?)
7 no vacuuming

There was nothing on there that said I couldn't sweep so I was wondering what it is about vacuuming and sweeping that isn't allowed. Is it the motion that is the problem with sweeping, the bending down to pick up debris or a combo of both? With vacuuming, again, is it the same reasons as the sweeping or is it the fact that most vacuums are heavy? I just wish I knew the reasons for banning these things. I have been to a few websites to find the reasons for these restrictions and also the length of time you are supposed to not do them. The other day, I blew up an entire raft by mouth for our pool. I knew I couldn't go swimming but I blew it up for others. It wasn't until I was done that I realized that probably was not the best idea. I had pains all night in my abdomen until I went to bed but when I woke up the next morning I was fine and have had no pains ever since. I hope I didn't do any damage but how would I even know if I did or not? The hysterctomy gave me no problems at all but the bladder sling was another story. I finally feel about 75 percent there so on many days, I forget I had surgery and therein lies the problem.

You could always call your doctor's office and ask if it's okay to vacuum now that you are one month post op. Hopefully you will get the okay.

At 4 wks your restrictions may be a bit different. Vacuuming Is similar to lifting in its actions so that's usually the issue. I, too, had a TVH, and I had no restrictions on bending or sitting or stairs. Also at 2 weeks I was told I could slowly liberalize the lifting restriction over the next month. But your Dr may have different rules so do check in. I hate vacuuming so I was happy to skip that! Your Dr may liberalize that, but it depends on your healing and your Dr's philosophy. Ladies here had different surgeries and different Dr's, so instructions do vary (nose blowing? I wonder why?).

	Quote:
Originally Posted by Nervous56 ...The hysterctomy gave me no problems at all but the bladder sling was another story. I finally feel about 75 percent there so on many days, I forget I had surgery and therein lies the problem.

That's where the problem lies for everyone. How do you know what you can't do until you try it and end up hurting afterwards? Hence the reams and reams of advice re: things you shouldn't do!

I think that most of us don't realize how much we use our abdominal muscles for. I noticed my first week after surgery that my voice sounded thready. When I experimentally trying singing a backwards scale, I found I'd lost my lower register. At about the same time, I noticed that as I picked up speed in walking, I started to get stitches in my side.

A friend who sings finally pointed out where the source of both problems lay: my diaphragm wasn't getting as much support from my abdominal muscles as it's used to. I started doing breathing exercises at various points in the day and this helped a good deal.

Who'd'a thunk it?

I know that when I'm sweeping, especially when I'm sweeping carpets rather than smooth floors, I lean forward slightly, bear down and exert effort in pulling the broom towards me against the grain of the carpet. And yeah, if I pay attention, I can feel that I'm tensing my abdominal muscles in doing this. That's why I held off on sweeping until five weeks.

One thing I might suggest is to get into stance for vacuuming and start to go through the motions, except without an actual vacuum cleaner or hose. Where are you tensing up? Which muscles are working? Are they complaining about or even just *starting* to complain about it? Because if they're already complaining when you're not even really vacuuming, you're definitely going to have problems with the real thing.

Another thing I'd suggest is not to go on a vacuuming orgy and try to do the whole house at once. Do a small room, take a break and check in with your body to see how your body feels about it. If you feel okay, do another room.

When you're focussed on achieving a goal - "Vacuum whole house" - it's easy not to notice that your body is starting to hurt. You need to create check-in points for yourself. Maybe it takes you longer to get the job done, maybe even a few days. But that's okay.

	Quote:
Originally Posted by greyown (nose blowing? I wonder why?)

Put one hand on your belly and blow your nose, paying attention to what your belly muscles are doing. If you're like me, you're tensing those muscles to support the diaphragm in a hard exhale from the lungs.

I know! The nose blowing blew my mind! I would call him and ask him but my Dr's office is so screwed up in the fact that they are part of the hospital system so when you call them, you get a central answering service who deals with many Dr's. When you call you are prompted to push 1 for gynecology, 2 for primary physicians, 3 for the children's hospital etc... Then when you get that far, you are prompted again. 1 for appointments, 2 for billing, 3 for prescription renewal, 4 for medical questions etc... You get the picture! When I used to call him when I was soaking pads every 1/2 hour, luckily he had a nurse who would get my message and usually call me back within an hour. Now he has one who calls you back if she feels like it around 5pm even if you called at 8. Not worth the aggravation! Lucky for me, my post op is Next Friday so I guess until then I will have to just behave myself and follow orders. He better clear me though because May 2, I am having a big Ky Derby swim party combo at my house and hubby tries but he really is a lousy cleaner!

Good idea NB about doing one room at a time and see how I feel. That is what I have been doing with the sweeping and have to admit, it does get rather achy after I do that. I think I am not quite ready to graduate to the vacuum. Also after reading your response about the diaphragm and forgetting that the nose blowing thing was on my restrictions list, I am very concerned that I blew up that raft. I kept getting stabbing pains in my vagina for a few hours before I went to bed that night, but I woke up the next morning feeling fine and had my best day ever! I just hope I didn't do any damage but I guess I would know by now if I did right?

If you're not still in pain and you're not bleeding, don't worry about it. It probably wasn't the greatest idea but it doesn't sound as if you did any major damage. Just don't try it again for a couple/few weeks! :-)