Recovery Progress Reports for hysterectomy date Sept 1, 2011

Hi Everyone,
I am 6 weeks post op and have my good days and my bad. On the days I feel good I push myself and pay for it the next. This recovery experience has been different than the "typical process" from what I have read. I was cleared at 3 weeks post op to lift my 7 month old(who is about 20lbs), and from there I just started doing more and more. I have 3 children 3 years of age and younger and I really couldn't "milk it" and give my body the rest it deserves. Just as after every time I gave birth I was up and running doing the necessary things. After my 7 month old son was born the day after I was discharged I was doing laundry and cleaning my house. I had a LEEP after my 6 week post partum pap smear found severely abnormal cells, and I was actually hoping that I would experience some pain so that I could come home and rest and have my hubby take care of me and do everything for me lol I should have been happy when I didn't experience any however I was disappointed. Not to say that my hubby doesn't help because he does more than most husbands I come across in couple friendships. I am extremely thankful for him! It's just we lead a busy lifestyle with 3 young kids and its non-stop! I wanted an excuse to just take a break. After my surgery my hubby worked from home the first two weeks to help me and he did everything for me which actually made me feel guilty because some of the things I felt I could do like make my own lunch... but he just told me to rest... which was nice. He even kept up on housework which you can only imagine is extremely hard with 3 young kids... but he did it... FOR ME

Anyway, I started getting back into my old routines at about 3 weeks post op. I was stir crazy from being in my house for those 3 weeks so we went to Wal-mart and it hurt so bad being on my feet for so long. Even last weekend we went to the mall to get me some new bras(since mine were trashed from nursing 3 babies) and I also saw an eye doctor and got some new glasses( my 3 year old broke my glasses when he was a baby and its something I have been neglecting) and towards the end of the day I started to have lower back pain. I also made the mistake of giving in to the heat of passion(I thought I was 6 weeks post op at the time but I was only 5 weeks), I told my hubby to just go in shallow but he accidently went deep so we stopped which brought me to tears. I spotted and had pain afterward. The doctor said we could resume relations at about 6-8 weeks, after that experience we both agreed that it would be best to wait the full 8 weeks. I'm terrified that I might have damaged my vaginal cuff, but the spotting and pain stopped so I hope everything is fine.

Overall, I feel fine. I have the occasional hot flash and I experience headaches which I hope having a current prescription and new eye glasses will help with. My libido has not decreased and I don't have vaginal dryness(I actually feel wetter than usual) The doctor gave me a list of supplements I could take to speed up recovery, L-Arginine is one on the list. I looked up L-Arginine and not only does it help incisions heal faster but it aides in increasing libido which I think is the reason for the strong desire and the early slip up we had. I also take a really great multi-vitamin called Alive, I take B vitamins and fish oil (which are great for positive mood and energy), I take L-arginine, and I opted out of using the Climara patch and decided to take something natural. So I take Phytoestrogen ( which I purchaced at a whole food store the main ingredient is mexi-yam) I also eat and drink soy and use ground flaxseed in my smoothies, oatmeal, pancakes, yogurt etc (flax has 75x the amount of most plants containing phytoestrogens, and soy has phytoestrogen in it as well) I have a cup of green tea every morning, and take calcium chews with vitamin D + K. My family eats really healthy, we eat all natural organic foods that are without artificial flavors, colors, preservatives etc. When I was young the only people I saw take vitamins were my grandparents so I associated vitamins with "old people" lol no offense. But I take vitamins and give vitamins to my kids and we are happy and healthy because of our diet and active lifestyle.

I have been beginning to do 30 minutes of Yoga everyday to start my day with purpose. I can't wait to be cleared to do sit-ups, my tummy is not quite what it used to be with just having 3 kids in the past 4 years and the new surgery incision addition to my bikini line. But I have been using Bio Oil to on my stretch marks which has been really showing improvement... I am waiting to use it on my incision because it is only supposed to be used on closed wounds so I want to make sure it is completely healed before I start. I read that if you massage the incision it will give less scarring so I use palmers coco butter stretch mark lotion and massage the incision. I have been to my family practitioner to check out my overall health. I have knee problems from running, and I have back problems from a rear end collision all of which can be more painful than the recovery process from my surgery. So I am getting x-rays on my knees. Also, I had a bone density test when I was younger (age 21) and it showed that I was in Osteopenia range (due to mal-nutrition, my parents were drug addicts and cared more about drugs and less about proper nutrition) so I am happy to announce that changing my diet and eating healthy has made an effect on my bones and I am now in the normal range Yay!
Speaking of my health, well this is my major concern. I am only 27 and initially when I found out that I had cancerous cells and the margins were not clear after the LEEP and my doctor suggested the hysterectomy was the best course of action, I thought okay I have 3 kids just take everything. The doctor ended up taking my ovaries because of endometriosis. Which I didn't really research the effects of no estrogen could have on my body. All I knew was the "C"(cancer) word was involved and I was scared. I thought about all of the positives like no periods, not having to worry about pmdd, not having to deal with birth control (which I couldn't take because they effected me emotionally so we could only use condoms which we disliked) etc Now, I feel robbed almost. I think mainly because the final pathology of all my parts found no cancer, which makes me sad because this all could have been avoided. We wanted to have a fourth child and now there is no way. Also, I am so young to have my estrogen be so low because all these supplements are no where near giving me the same amount that my body was producing. Typically, menopause is associated with "hot flashes" well this is the least of my concern, I am worried for my bone and brain health. Dementia and Alzheimer disease runs in my family... and with the bone density being what it was 6 years ago just shows me I really need to watch out for osteoporosis.
I have to just totally shift my thinking to positive things. The hysterectomy seemed to be God's will. I qualified for insurance through the state unfortunately my doctor didn't take this insurance. The insurance that they told me to try and get I didn't qualify for, so while on hold pleaing my case to get approved I wrote out a prayer to God and 3 hours 'of being on hold' later I was approved. Since I had insurance and had complained about all the symptoms of endometriosis i.e. pelvic pain, painful intercourse, painful menses, depression, pmdd etc my doctor said take advantage of the insurance and do a laparoscopy first which confirmed the endometriosis diagnosis. My mother had a hysterectomy at age 45 because she had adenomyosis which is a form of endo. So it runs in my family, plus she is a red head and apparently red heads are stricken more with endometriosis. She was able to keep her ovaries however I was not since they were so bad. I just have to pray and hope that everything I am doing is more than enough. I trust in God that he is going to bring me out of this trial a stronger and more radiant version of myself. I am really hoping that it relieved my endometriosis symptoms particularly the one causing painful intercourse... I will be thrilled to have this alleviated. It's just hard because I catch myself in the negative thinking of "what if's" and have regret... but bottom-line is this is what happened and nothing can can be done to change it now so I must embrace it and see it as an opportunity to help others and give God the Glory. Happy recovery to all my fellow sisters. I hope my story was helpful in some way

You are an amazing woman! You are so strong and positive.
I am 6 weeks post op. I had a supra cervical and I feel so whiny to complain after all that you have been through and accomplished. I overdid it, my doctor did not give me weight restrictions beyond saying, "don't overdo it". So naturally whenever I felt better I would do all the house chores, carry laundry, did a lot of bending...even though it hurt. I don't have children...just my 3 dogs and 2 cats (that's where some of the bending came in). My husband was helpful for the first few days but as soon as I seemed okay...meaning I could get up and take care of the pets then it was time to take care of him too. Now I'm back at work 4 days a week going up and down stairs, standing, sitting and walking. My thighs down to my feet (my groin I guess) started to feel a bit numb...my new fun symptom. I went off hormones to get them checked and asked for a CBC to make sure everything else was operating okay, I get the results back in the next few days. After work I am so tired I can hardly function. The fact that you have to take care of your children, your husband and yourself is amazing after all you have gone through.
You are a strong, amazing and inspiring woman

Safari Kitten,
Thank you so much for the compliments! I just looked up what a supra cervical was, so did you have it vaginally or abdomenally? I couldn't keep my cervix because of the cancerous cells but I don't think I will miss it because it hurt when my hubby would hit it during intercourse. I have that same symptom, around my incision I feel numbness. Recently, I have been having unbearable "hot flashes" immediately followed by the chills, I was having them every 5 minutes. The headaches I was describing in my oringinal post turned into severe migraines and my arms/hands become tingling and numb. My husband and I both agreed that the Phytoestrogen that we purchased at the whole food store was not supplying me an adequate amount of estrogen so I decided to go back on the Climara patch. My husband researched it and found that it is a bio-indentical hormone replacement therapy that is FDA approved. The whole "HRT" thing scares me because of all the risks. I guess I feel better that it is derived from estrogens in plants found in nature rather than that of estrogen chemically produced from that of horse urine(Premarine which stands for pregnant mares urine) Initially, I had used the patch for 2 weeks and it kept falling off so my doctor prescribed Premarine and when I went to fill it the pharmacist basically told me to not take it. Reading up on it, it's all a little daunting. It makes me sad and anxious but the fact is I have to take some form of estrogen I am too young to not. So stressing won't help me. Does a CBC test the hormone levels in your blood? Maybe I should ask my doctor to do that?
Don't say that you feel whiny to complain, everyone's body is different thus everyone's recovery is as well. I have been through a lot, but we all have our own story to share! All are different and unique. Any woman who undergoes this type of surgery is strong and courageous! Make sure you do things for you and give your body the rest it deserves. Some days you will be fine, others not so much and on those days take it easy. The house will be there the next day, it isn't going anywhere Before my surgery I was stressing to get the house cleaned and in order so there wouldn't be much to do after I came home from the hospital... but I eventually realized it wasn't what was important and stopped and didn't do a thing except for play with my kids i.e. reading to them, taking them to the park, coloring, etc because why forfeit the joys of today for the cares of tomorrow. The house will be there, however I may have not been had there been a complication during surgery. Anyway, my point is I tend to be one that takes on too much, I try to be super mom/wife but I care for everyone else and put myself last or sometimes forget about me altogether. We need to stop doing this because if we don't take care of us then we will get weary and not be able to properly care for our loved ones. So definitely listen to your body's cues! Stay strong!