surgery-3 weeks away

I am new to all this. I don't have a "seasoned" woman in my life to turn to. My mom passed away at age 40. I asked a lot of questions when I was at the doctors, but I still feel very uninformed.

I am having a vaginal hysterectomy, least that's what was said. I have a mass of cysts in my uterus. More than 5, too many. I have been experiencing pain and bleeding often while I'm not on my period. I have read a lot of posts and haven't seen anyone in this position. Seems like everyone elses is more complicated then mine.

One of my concerns is being able to return to my job. I DO know I will take time to recover, but I wonder if I'll be able to do my job at all. One of my job requirements is being able to lift 70 lbs.

Hi Lisa. I'm having a vaginal hyst too, seems like the least painful way to go from what I hear so far. I'm not familiar with cysts in the uterus - are you sure it wasn't fibroids or polyps?
With a vaginal hyst, I think you'd be able to return to that kind of work since your muscles weren't cut, as long as you take the amount of time to fully heal (6-8 weeks)...I don't think it would be possible to do that with an abdominal hyst. I'm not a doctor though, you really need to ask!
Also, have they told you what they plan to do if they are not able to remove your uterus vaginally? In my case, the doctor is going to switch to an LAVH, but most doctors seem to go to a TAH. WIth the LAVH, it will still be vaginal, but the doctor will cut the uterus into pieces to get it out (I know, icky!). Find out! If you want the backup plan to be an LAVH, you need to let them know because they have to reserve a laparascopic OR in advance.

good luck to you!

You should definitely talk to your Dr. about this. No matter what kind of Hyst. you are having they still do the same thing inside that needs to heal. You can have HUNDREDS, YES HUNDREDS of internal stitches that need to heal. Alot of these stitches are still healing even after the 6-8 weeks of healing time. You have to remember even though you do not have a scar on the outside there is still alot of healing going on in the inside.

Lisa, I had fibroids that caused a similar bleeding situation. I had a myomectomy (removal of those fibroids) about 5 years ago. It helped for a while, then it started to get heavy again. This year they found a few fibroids including one that was over 12 cm (6 inches)! Hence, the hyst.

Because I have not been through a birth, I couldn't have the vaginal surgery. I had the abdominal. It's quite something to recover from, but as others have said, any method of removal still leaves stitches and tissues that need to heal afterwards. You definitely won't be able to lift anything right away!

Be sure to be very clear with your doctor about when you can return to lifting 70 lbs at work. He or she is the only one that can really work with you to determine this! For my job, I don't lift anything, but I do travel weekly, so I have to schlep around airports and lift my suitcase into the overhead bin. I'm not sure I'll even be able to do that after 6 weeks - so my doctor might return me to work with restrictions.

Just make sure you take all the time given to rest and recover. If you rush it, you can end up getting hurt and needing even more time!

Good luck!

I can't imagine lifting 70 pounds at all! Although when I was younger (25 years ago), I could (barely) get a bag of cement into a shopping cart.

Be very, very careful. From what I understand, women who have a vaginal hysterectomy feel so much better, so much sooner that they don't realize there is still a lot of internal healing to do. They are the ones who are most likely to overdo when they are released to go back to work.

Definitely talk to your doctor. Be sure to let him know how much lifting you are required to do at work. My guess is that he'll release you to go back to work on light duty. But it is VERY important to let your doctor know so that he can adjust your return to work orders to fit with your surgery and your job.

I've not had my hysterectomy yet, but from what I've read, it takes about a year to completely heal inside and out.