6 week hysterectomy check up; still having pain

Went for my 6 week check up today. She said everything looked great. Glad to hear tht. Started wrk Monday so 4 days ago. I wrk in bank easy job except up n down. Very sore on left side starting at inscscion n across almost to where my thigh meets my leg feels like someone is taking match to my insides. . Just aches at end of day. Had to resort back to pain pills at night before bed. During day feel likes tugging like I'm pulling n trying to stretch something on inside. Dr cldnt really gve me a better explanation than insides are bruised n healing n lots of scar tissue, she also said they had to practically saw my uterus off bladder . She stated they moved it around a lot also. Ok so maybe she cld tell me I just I don't know confused.... She states it could tke 6 months before I don't feel any pain n then if I over do it might still feel sore up to a year. What???? I am Very upset wth tht n myself kinda....why is it going to tke tht long...sometimes I feel I am over dramatic n think there is always something wrong with me..... But I swear this time I'm not. I hurt after 6 weeks n cld last 6 months???? I'm Very Frustrated.....I'm trying not to be
a whiner....I don't like being restricted from doing stuff like cutting grass ect but I just can't do it or I am In pain. Grrrrrr.......
Just had to vent .. Thank you.

and yeah, what your doctor is telling you is correct about what's happened inside and healing time. Many women find that when they go back to work, they feel the fatigue more for a while, but they also notice more pains. You've had major surgery, way more than gall bladder, with multiple internal incisions to sever ligaments, nerves and blood vessels while having organs removed.

It helps to understand exactly how healing works: as patients with no medical background, we tend to think of it as scar tissue getting stronger over time. Far from it! What's really happening is that earlier scar tissue gets replaced by fresher, newer scar tissue. The earlier scar tissue dissolves, and that's when we're likely to feel twinges, zaps and zingers - some women feel a bit crampy or have tugs (this was me), others feel shooting or stabbing pains. I kept my prescription ibuprofen on hand for weeks after I stopped taking it regularly... just in case.

We all read "recovery" times of 4-8 weeks, depending on what kind of surgery we had. That's a bit of a misnomer in my opinion. Our doctors will release us in 4-8 weeks when there's no more follow up to our surgeries, but healing continues for 3,4, 6 months or more. I'm a little over 5 months. I've resumed all of my normal activities (increased gradually, as instructed), and am bumping up the intensity. Last week, I did a short but intense abs circuit in my weekly fitness class. I'd already done abs routines, and this was less than 5 minutes. A few hours later, my belly swelled up and I experienced mild cramping where my uterus was. At 5 months! I also recall bleaching the front porch and 8 weeks, hoisting boxes at 12 weeks, and simply shoving a 24 pack of soda on a high shelf at 3-1/2 months - all were instances my body said "You shouldn't have done that!"

The point is, the after effects of this surgery stay with us for a while. What happens with most of us with normal recoveries is that we'll be going along fine, and do something that we'd not done since before surgery, and we'll feel it - and we know to not strain ourselves the next day. It's okay!

Continue to rest when needed, and take cues from your body when you've done more so that you can rest. Embrace it, as frustrating as it is sometimes, and it'll be a lot easier to deal with. You're not alone, and it DOES get better!