A few words of advice!!

I am a 39 years old and 6 days post TAH. I was glad I found this site pre-op as I felt very prepared going in to surgery. Now that I have experienced it all myself I thought I'd share a few things I learned so far!

1. The recovery is way easier then I thought it would be (at least for me). I had appendix surgery a few months ago and that recovery seemed tougher (or maybe I am just now stronger). Don't get me wrong, there are days with pain and discomfort and getting out of bed takes some extra effort but stay positive and strong and know it isn't always as tough as you hear.

2. Listen to the comments about the water. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!

3. Ice packs are your friend. From the moment I woke up in my room I was icing my incision area. I had two ice packs that I asked to be changed every three hours. When I came home I kept it up. If you are sitting, you should be icing. This has been the single thing that has helped me recover so quickly!

4. Wear the binder when you walk but when you sit and sleep be icing. I get up every three to four hours (even overnight) to take meds and change ice packs.

Went to the doctor yesterday to get my pathology report and have my staples removed. The staple removal was a cinch. The pathology report came back clear.

Uterus (with fibroid) weighed 1,407 grams. I know from this site and from my doctor this is very large and I am so happy to be in the recovery phase! It only equates to about 3 pounds but he said the overall size and shape were so large that I should notice a big difference!!

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Originally Posted by leeward I am a 39 years old and 6 days post TAH. I was glad I found this site pre-op as I felt very prepared going in to surgery. Now that I have experienced it all myself I thought I'd share a few things I learned so far! 1. The recovery is way easier then I thought it would be (at least for me). I had appendix surgery a few months ago and that recovery seemed tougher (or maybe I am just now stronger). Don't get me wrong, there are days with pain and discomfort and getting out of bed takes some extra effort but stay positive and strong and know it isn't always as tough as you hear. 2. Listen to the comments about the water. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! 3. Ice packs are your friend. From the moment I woke up in my room I was icing my incision area. I had two ice packs that I asked to be changed every three hours. When I came home I kept it up. If you are sitting, you should be icing. This has been the single thing that has helped me recover so quickly! 4. Wear the binder when you walk but when you sit and sleep be icing. I get up every three to four hours (even overnight) to take meds and change ice packs. Went to the doctor yesterday to get my pathology report and have my staples removed. The staple removal was a cinch. The pathology report came back clear. Uterus (with fibroid) weighed 1,407 grams. I know from this site and from my doctor this is very large and I am so happy to be in the recovery phase! It only equates to about 3 pounds but he said the overall size and shape were so large that I should notice a big difference!!

What are you icing..your belly..back?? I feel.like I need to ice my back..its sore and hurts from.all sitting..

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Originally Posted by Mary6381 What are you icing..your belly..back?? I feel.like I need to ice my back..its sore and hurts from.all sitting..

I iced my belly mostly but I also iced the tops of my legs (they would hurt from sleeping on my back) my back and my neck when I got headaches. Ice has been my bff the past 6 days!

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Originally Posted by leeward I iced my belly mostly but I also iced the tops of my legs (they would hurt from sleeping on my back) my back and my neck when I got headaches. Ice has been my bff the past 6 days!

Yeah I with you about all the pains..I am 3 weeks out and still having pains..Advil.not helping much..I will try to be better about the ice

Hi leeward, and thanks for your advice. I'm near the end of my second week after surgery. I was icing my stomach area for the first week like you round the clock practically. But I stopped the beginning of this week.

I do not know if you are like me with my stomach popping out from the bellybutton to the incision site. But it is not only disappointing to still have a big stomach but one that is pointed more than round and it is sore. I realize from what I've read from other women's experiences this is swelly belly the doctors never tell us about. And that it can last for months. Yesterday it was very sore that I had to ice it at nighttime. I don't have a binder and my doctor never told me about needing it. I can probably accept my stomach's shape just want the pain to go away soon though I get that there is a lot done internally with hysterectomies.

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Originally Posted by CAL1 Hi leeward, and thanks for your advice. I'm near the end of my second week after surgery. I was icing my stomach area for the first week like you round the clock practically. But I stopped the beginning of this week. I do not know if you are like me with my stomach popping out from the bellybutton to the incision site. But it is not only disappointing to still have a big stomach but one that is pointed more than round and it is sore. I realize from what I've read from other women's experiences this is swelly belly the doctors never tell us about. And that it can last for months. Yesterday it was very sore that I had to ice it at nighttime. I don't have a binder and my doctor never told me about needing it. I can probably accept my stomach's shape just want the pain to go away soon though I get that there is a lot done internally with hysterectomies.

Yes my stomach is still popping out but my uterus was so large my swelly belly is still smaller then my stomach was before surgery! My doctor said that at the three week mark there is usually a large decrease in the pain and the swelling so hopefully this is the last week you will have this much swelling and pain! Then the internal healing will keep going for a few weeks and we just have to remember to take it easy even if we start feeling better! I hope your recovery gets better quickly!

Thanks so much leeward! Hopefully next week will improve as will the following weeks.

Best to you too!

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Originally Posted by leeward I am a 39 years old and 6 days post TAH. I was glad I found this site pre-op as I felt very prepared going in to surgery. Now that I have experienced it all myself I thought I'd share a few things I learned so far! 1. The recovery is way easier then I thought it would be (at least for me). I had appendix surgery a few months ago and that recovery seemed tougher (or maybe I am just now stronger). Don't get me wrong, there are days with pain and discomfort and getting out of bed takes some extra effort but stay positive and strong and know it isn't always as tough as you hear. 2. Listen to the comments about the water. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! 3. Ice packs are your friend. From the moment I woke up in my room I was icing my incision area. I had two ice packs that I asked to be changed every three hours. When I came home I kept it up. If you are sitting, you should be icing. This has been the single thing that has helped me recover so quickly! 4. Wear the binder when you walk but when you sit and sleep be icing. I get up every three to four hours (even overnight) to take meds and change ice packs. Went to the doctor yesterday to get my pathology report and have my staples removed. The staple removal was a cinch. The pathology report came back clear. Uterus (with fibroid) weighed 1,407 grams. I know from this site and from my doctor this is very large and I am so happy to be in the recovery phase! It only equates to about 3 pounds but he said the overall size and shape were so large that I should notice a big difference!!

Hey saw you had appendix surgery ..I had mine out too during hysterectomy.. It's been more bothersome I think then other pains..did you have pains there on and off for awhile? Does it get better? Its annoying me!!��