Upcoming abdominal hysterectomy 6/3: Would like to hear others experience with vertical incision

After years of living with enormous fibroids, I'm finally scheduled for hysterectomy on June 3rd. With the size of my fibroids, a vertical incision is the only way to get them out. I've never had any type of surgery and I am SO nervous. I would love to hear from others who've dealt with vertical incisions and what I can expect.

Thank you in advance for any advice or insight to ease my nerves!

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Originally Posted by Lilac77 After years of living with enormous fibroids, I'm finally scheduled for hysterectomy on June 3rd. With the size of my fibroids, a vertical incision is the only way to get them out. I've never had any type of surgery and I am SO nervous. I would love to hear from others who've dealt with vertical incisions and what I can expect. Thank you in advance for any advice or insight to ease my nerves!

Hi

I was nervous as well but don't fret too much you will be fine . I got all worked up and it was all over so fast. You go to sleep and wake up it's over . I had a vertical as well and I'm happy about it because it's almost invisible now and I had surgery may 12. A friend on mine had laproscopic and she has a few scars in her upper ab from the keyholes and a few below. I rather had the one incision from my navel down and it allow the surgeon more visability to see every thing and just my luck good for me because when they opened my up my appendix had been leaking and it had to go as well. I was up walking the next day and had no gas pains at all. Best wishes to you and remember you will be on the other side telling us how happy you are with a better quality to life

God bless you

I had a 6" vertical incision almost 1 year ago (a TAH on 6/10/205). Ultimately everything turned out very well for me, I had a pretty good recovery all things considered. I had about 20 staples that were removed after 10 days and found an belly binder indespensible (you may want to ask your hospital to provide you one at the time of your surgery). The binder helped me for months post-op to keep the area protected and snug on days I was active or tired. One year later, the incision has healed nicely and is fading. After about 4 months I used a silicone scar patch for a few weeks plus a rich Shea-butter and olive oil moisturizer on the scar and it helped it to fade quite a bit. Truthfully because your abdominal muscles are cut for the surgery, it does take some time to repair and build up ab strength again but I have no regrets. I suggest you get some 'granny panties' for your first few weeks of recovery because I didn't like anything touching the incision but wanted a garment that covered the entire area. I also lived in loose pants (no zippers or buttons) and dresses for the summer. You may experience swelly belly which is very normal so having something comfy to wear is key.
You will do great! My fibroids were very large and located high (one was almost under my rib cage) so I had no choice but to have a vertical incision but I did very well and know that you will too.
Best of luck and

I had a TAH Aug 2015, with a 7" vertical incision. My fibroid was too large to do otherwise. For the most part my recovery has gone very well. I use Palmer's Therapy oil after showering. My scar has not completely faded yet, but each month it looks better and better. The hospital gave me several pairs of the surgical panties; I washed & wore them for a couple weeks, then went to a larger size soft panties. Yoga pants & leggings were a God send for the incision and swelly belly. They would give on days when your swelly belly was larger than others. I would suggest elastic waist shorts, capris, slacks and loose fitting dresses. These should keep you comfy for the summer.

Hi Lilac77 to HysterSisters!

I had a 6-inch vertical incision with my TAH BSO. My surgery was for a very large complex ovarian cyst (12x9x11 cm) and multiple uterine fibroids. I had a cancer concern as well. All was tested in the OR and all was benign.

Recovery took time for me. I did not use any granny panties, and just used my normal french-cut briefs. I had swelly belly that would get worse if I pushed too hard. I spent about 12 weeks in sweat pants (elastic waist band) and old shorts. I could then only wear some of my more looser fitting clothes. It took about 6 months before I could wear whatever I wanted. I had help around the house with cooking, cleaning, dishes, laundry, shopping and driving for the first few weeks. I let go of my flower gardens for the year and did not clean the house for 8 weeks.

I went back to work to a moderate stress desk job after 3 weeks, but could only work part time for another 4 weeks. I slowly worked into my life after that. It took a long time to regain my stamina. I am a power walker, and it took about 9 months before I was walking at my pre-surgery speed and distance.

Keep in mind everyone is different, and every recovery is different. It is not a contest nor is it a race. It is more a marathon than a sprint. One thing that is certain, is that we are here for you and will be by your side.

Here is a article that discusses If Your Hysterectomy is Your First Surgery | Parts 1, 2 and 3

Thank you ladies so much for sharing your experiences! It's nice to feel not so alone in all of this.

It may be hard to remember and it's different for everyone but how much pain is to be expected after vertical incision?

I am about 2 1/2 years out from a vertical SAH. I had a suspicious large cyst on my ovary and fibroids like crazy that were stuck to my small bowel and my appendix and had given me a uterus the size of a five month pregnancy. Due to the small bowel issue, my incision actually started about an inch above my navel and went all the way down to between my hipbones. Personally, I had a pretty easy recovery as these things go. My surgery was in the morning and I was up and walking around the hospital that night. I didn't feel the need for a binder. I went back to work to a very physically demanding job at six weeks (when I got the all clear from my gyn onc).

One thing that I can say as someone further out is that even though I regained the muscle strength fairly quickly, my abdominals were prone to fatigue for a long time after the surgery. They would get achy much faster when I worked out or even from my job. For the immediate aftermath of the surgery, my main issue was with the staples. They didn't hurt, but it felt weird to me and I didn't like anything touching them so I wore elastic waisted pants until they were removed. (Ten days post op). For me, the loss of the huge fibroid riddled uterus meant that I went down a full pants size right away. I never got full-on swelly belly, just a little bit of swelling after a long day, so I was actually able to go back to clothes I couldn't wear before my surgery. Everyone is different of course, but it can go either way if you have large fibroids.

How you feel post op will depend on several factors, including your age, how strong you were before, the amount of work done during the surgery, etc. Listen to your body. Don't feel that you have to follow anyone else's timeline. Follow your doctor's instructions.

Two practical things. I would recommend on the ride home from the hospital that you have a small pillow to sit on and a small pillow to put between you and the seat belt. The pillow to sit on will help absorb the bumps of the road, and if your car seats dip at all, it will make it a little easier to get out of the car. I recommend having a small pillow on hand in the beginning to hold against yourself when you laugh, cough, or sneeze. Body wipes are great for gently cleaning between the staples in the beginning. I also would put some antibacterial unscented liquid soap at the top of the incision and let it gently run down with the water from the shower, but I was super paranoid about infection.

This surgery is not exactly fun for anyone no matter what way they remove things, but many of us have made it through just fine with a vertical incision. Best wishes for your surgey.

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Originally Posted by Lilac77 Thank you ladies so much for sharing your experiences! It's nice to feel not so alone in all of this. It may be hard to remember and it's different for everyone but how much pain is to be expected after vertical incision?

I had a 6" vertical and was cut from the belly button down to the pubic bone. They took everything out including a 22 cm tumor. Yikes! I will not lie but I had a lot of pain the first few days after surgery but the narcs helped a lot. Getting out of bed was pretty hard till,you got a rhythm going. Also the ab muscles are stretched apart, so that everything can be seen and taken out. I don't believe they cut them... After the 32 staples came out, it felt so much better as they had started to pull on my skin when I moved. I probably would have healed fairly well if I didn't get that cold 9 days after..... So I had more pain from coughing.
As most people tell you, everyone heals different depending on what was done and the healing process. I didn't even think the pain before I had the surgery. I just wanted it all out. This was my first ever surgery...

Good luck on your surgery!!

I had a 7" vertical incision that started about an inch below my navel. It was closed with 38 staples. Frankenbelly! My surgery was for endometrial cancer and my gyn onc said that a vertical incision would give him the most room to look around for signs that the cancer had spread. I sure wasn't going to argue with that!

To be honest, I never experienced any real pain. I had some soreness and twingeyness, but nothing I'd call real pain. I had dilaudid the first two days after surgery while I was in the hospital. By the time I was released on the third day, I was doing fine on ibuprofen. I took 400 mg ("extra-strength") OTC ibuprofen regularly the first week, occasionally the second week.

I was pretty stoned the first day after surgery, but the nurses got me up twice that day to walk a lap around the ward and sit upright in an armchair for a short while. By the second day I was walking multiple laps around the ward and sitting upright in the armchair reading.

At home I had no trouble taking care of myself and my cats. I went for lots of short walks, sat outside reading and sewing and worked on my desktop computer. I noticed that after I'd been sitting upright for a long while, my abs would start to burn as if I'd done lots of crunches. When this happened, I'd curl up on my side to read or nap in order to give them a break.

The staples came out at 13 days, and then I had steri-strips for ten days after that. I had some restrictions lifted at four weeks, the rest at six weeks. By eight weeks my body was back to normal except for a bit of abdominal swelling in the evenings, which lasted another month.

Three years later, my incision scar has entirely faded on in some spots, visible and pinkish in others. It's about 50/50.

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Originally Posted by Lilac77 Thank you ladies so much for sharing your experiences! It's nice to feel not so alone in all of this. It may be hard to remember and it's different for everyone but how much pain is to be expected after vertical incision?

My 6 inch incision started just below my belly button and went down into my pubic hair (or where it used to be anyway as they completely shaved me there after I was asleep).

I had moderately severe pain (I have a high pain tolerance), but it was relatively controllable with a morphine pump on the first day, and then narcotics and Motrin alternating combination on day 2 through 4. After that I was on Motrin only for the next two weeks.

Pain is different for everyone. When you wake up from surgery, they will ask you how much pain you are in. You tell them and they will give you pain meds to match.