TAH First day back at Gym two weeks after total abdominal hysterectomy

Keep in mind that there are stitches all throughout your insides at the moment, not just on the surface of your abdomen and inside the top of your vagina. Your peritoneum has been cut and stitched back together. Your abdominal muscles, while not transected, were indeed cut apart to separate them. There are ligaments that were once attached to your uterus that have been severed and reattached to the top of your vagina to keep it from everting out of your body like an old sock turned inside out. Trust me, you have LOTS more going on inside you than just a vaginal cuff and a stitched-shut stomach. Overdo it, and any of those could unravel and put you into the ER.

please be careful Sallystamm --- I know we are all different, heal differently, had different issues before -- but you did have major surgery.

I didn't have any complications after surgery and started feeling really good after the 2nd week. I would have lots of energy one day and do a lot around the house, even go shopping; but it was always followed by a day were I hurt and felt exhausted.

I went back to work after the 4 week (full 9.5 hr days). I did good at work, but would come home exhausted if I ran around the building too much.

good luck with your recovery - and please - listen, listen, to your body.

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Originally Posted by ColoSue I think one thing we need to remember is that we all had very different issues going into the surgery that wore many women down before their bodies had to step up and recover from major surgery. I was luck going in, that the main thing I was dealing with was constant bleeding, so I felt healthy and strong beforehand. I feel certain that the fact I was not dealing with debilitating pain 25 days a month like so many gave me an edge in recovering more quickly. There is no one-size-fits-all for any of this!!!! Hang in there!

Well said ColoSue! I went in with only have very heavy periods and bad cramps but no fibroids, polyps, cysts anything. Just a family curse on my dad's side of the family and having a slow bleeding time (natural red head). I've started back on my Tread Climber, slowly and with my doctors ok, for only 20 minutes at a time. But like you said, this isn't a one size fits all surgery, everyone on this forum has had a different story for why they had their surgery. And we all heal at a different pace.

A lot really does depend on what kind of shape you were in before surgery, how worn down you were by pain/bleeding/etc and what you're used to asking of your body.

I had no pain or heavy bleeding before surgery - my surgery was for cancer - and I've always done a lot of walking. By the end of two weeks I could walk at my usual stride and speed on flat ground. I walked almost a mile to a local clinic to get my staples removed on Day 13.

Having gotten that far, my third week after surgery I started adding steep hills to my repertoire. This was a great success. I was able to walk a mile to the supermarket and restock on perishables as long as I kept the loads under 10 lbs each time.

I also *attempted* to get into position for a plank. This was *not* a success. My body told me immediately to stop that foolishness! I didn't try that again until seven weeks after surgery.

I found listening to my body to be a good guide to avoiding trouble with the various stitches and staples and healing abdominal muscles. (I had a TAH.)