3 weeks post Lap hysterectomy, burning navel

Hey all....

I cannot believe it has been 3 weeks today! I feel great. I went shopping for the first time alone today, and pushing the trolley(just the small basket trolley) caused my belly button and inside of that to burn and now my whole abdomen is sore. Is that normal? I did a small bit of gardening yesterday, nothing much mostly cleaning out leaves from the veggie garden and was fine, just exhausted at the end of the day. Is this a normal occurence.

Yes, it's normal to have feedback from your body when you start resuming daily activities... or doing too much too soon. It usually is a sign to pull back. At 3 weeks, your insides are still healing and our core rebels when we ask too much of it. As well as lifting restrictions still in place for most of us, it's suggested not to do any pushing-pulling activities including vacuuming, sweeping, mopping, raking, shoveling.

It helps to understand healing. We tend to think of it as scar tissue getting stronger over time, but that's not the case at all. During healing, earlier tissue dissolves and newer scar tissue takes its place. When the earlier stuff dissolves is when we're likely to feel twinges and zingers, and we're more susceptible to hurting ourselves internally then, too. The swelling is the beloved swelly belly, the gathering of fluids around inflammation. Lucky us, with many internal incisions in our abdominal cavity, guess where the fluids gather . Again, pretty normal as we start resuming activities, and it also tends to hit when we do too much.

Two articles for you which explain a lot: Hysterectomy Restrictions and Swelly Belly.

Remember than when our doctors release us at 4-8 weeks (generally), they have no further surgical follow up with us. Full healing takes 4-6 months or longer. I still get swollen and mild cramps upon doing something intense, and I'm 5+ months out.

Continue to take rest breaks, listen to your body when it says "Not yet" and ramp up slowly when your doctor releases you.