Over doing it too soon

Hi all. I am new to this so here it goes. I just hit 2 weeks today. I had a VPH? I still have my overies. I started work yesturday (I am the office Mngr. of my DH and my company). Anyway, I went in for a few hours and was exhausted by the time I got home. My DH has been great as has my son who is 15. All of a sudden I hit my 2 weeks and the two of them are expecting me to do stuff. I made steaks in the broiler, set the table, and rinsed and loaded the dishwasher. i know it is up to me to tell them I still need help but I feel bad. I know that is my problem. i just thought they would still help out. Well after doing the dishes, my lower back started hurting real bad and I worked up quite the sweat and I am having some minor cramps and that funny feeling in my tummy. I think I did too much. And why am i crying so much? My DH is awsome but I think he thinks I am healed and ready to go. Do you guys think I am doing too much at 2 weeks?

Thanks.

I would kinda slow down a bit, I had a TVH and didn't do that much until 5 weeks out. It can really set you back if you hurt something in there. I would hate to see you back in the castle. You really need the time off to heal better. Maybe you should have your hubby read the for men section and he could understand better what you went through and give you somemore help for awhile. I would at least ask my Doc what they think, they will probably tell you to take it easy and not do the things you have been. These are just my opinions and what I did with my recovery, everyone is different and heals different so I would just get my Doctors opinion and go from there.
Take care and take it easy.

um, have you considered just not doing anything? the more you do the more they will expect you to do. take advantage of those tears and work it!

did your doc give you a list of restricted activities? if not, go to the checkpoints section of this site and see what you can do and not do at this stage in your recovery. or, you can take my doc's advice: "if it hurts, stop!".

is there any way you could work part time or stay home another week or two? just because you didn't have an abdominal incision does not mean you will heal a whole lot faster. the inside stuff is what takes so long to heal.

sisters on this site have said over and over: "you only have one chance to heal". it's true!

please take care of yourself and take it easy. you will feel a whole lot better further down the road.

good luck!

I do work part time. I work MWF's. I know I over did it tonight. I totaly hurt my lower back am having pretty bad pains in my tummy. I am so stupid. I am going to tell my husband I need more time and more help. Thanks for your replies.

Too much for 2 weeks.
I've always come home from surgery the same day, resumed normal activities within a short time, healed well, etc etc. I'm not one to "milk it" at all and get right back into doing things.

This time .... very different. Before surgery, I told everyone in my house that it would be 3 weeks before I did ANYTHING.
I got infection Day 7 which prolonged my recovery. I still can't lift anything over 12lbs until March.
I don't vacuum, shovel or clean snow off my car.
It was probably the full 3 weeks before I did too much of anything including driving.

Hey Naturegal, you need to be extremely careful about not doing too much. I am an extremely active person and I thought I could just get back into things since I started feeling better so fast. Then I got the email from this website for the 3-4 week post-op. I would suggest that you, your DH and your DS read that asap. You can click on the Post Op tab at the top of this page and then click on the 3-4 week post-op tab on the right of the next page. Some people have over 100 internal stiches that generally take weeks to heal and if any of this rip it can lead to major complications.

The general recovery time for a Hys is 4-6 weeks at the minimum. Mine was a TVH with absolutely no complications. I am at week 5 and can still tell when I have done too much. Please be careful and don't do anything unless your doctor has released you to do so.

Naturegal,
If you're still hurting tomorrow, call your doctor. You may have done some damage. My advice is to sit your behind down and keep it there for at least another week. Also, please let your husband read the checkpoint info. He doesn't know about this stuff, so he just needs to be educated. I hope you feel better tomorrow!
Kimba

Wow, Naturegal, I agree with these other posts. Show your DH the information about recovery precautions, etc. As a practical consideration, it will be better for your family and your business if you take it easy now, so that you will heal faster, and be back to work sooner. Even without the big abdominal incision you have lots of stitches inside. If you stress your stitches, you will just slow down the healing process, and maybe even wind up back in the castle! Based on other posts here, repairs take even longer to heal than the original surgery!

You need to be spending some significant time horizontal every day, I would guess for at least two more weeks, maybe more. If you have a computer and a phone, see if DH can set you up to work from your bed for awhile. I can understand the pressure of being needed at work, but you absolutely must balance that with the important job of healing your body. With a DH and a 15-yr-old DS, you should be doing no "housework"! If your guys are domestically challenged, you can direct them from your bed or recliner, and coach them on sorting laundry, (you can add the detergent and push the correct buttons for them), mopping floors, vacuuming, etc. The point here is that with two men in the house, and no small children, you should be doing NO lifting, pushing, dragging. Even after you are really beginning to feel better, you should still have them do the heavy stuff, for a couple of months.

You are probably crying because you are exhausted and need to rest, and also out of whack hormonally. I think that sometimes ovaries are in shock after surgery - I don't have mine anymore, so I'm not a good one to advise on that - read some of the other posts by sisters who still have one or both ovary. Rest lots, walk around a llittle bit every day, and educate your DH & DS so they can help you better.

Rest now, so you will be soon!

You've gotten some great input here. What a tremendous group of (((sisters))).

Recovery isn't a race to see who gets done first. Each person has their own specific pace, based on the procedure, what happens during that procedure, and how your body reacts to the procedure. Think about it -- why do some headaches hardly bother you and others put you to bed for hours? It's not because you're a wimp when you have the second sort of headache -- it's because each headache is different. Same thing with surgery and recovery.

You've had exactly the same surgery I had -- the only difference is there's no external incision or scar to remind you that you've had major surgery. But you still have the same number of internal stitches, and those stitches need stress-free time to heal and/or dissolve, or there will be internal damage. Notice I didn't say there "might" be -- there will be internal damage.

No one's going to come pin a medal on you for being the first person to resume vacuuming or laundry, so for now, take it easy. Let the dishes pile up -- there's always paper and plastic. Dusting? Ha! Forget it. Develop a relationship with the dust bunnies. Name them and you'll have company during your recovery time.

I'm not just trying to be funny here -- I'm being very serious. I'm sure you have discharge instructions, and I'm sure they are pretty specific on lifting and other such things. But my Mayo Clinic doctor was very clear, and she made sure DH was in the room when she said, "No laundry. No bending or reaching or twisting. No pushing grocery carts. And no vacuuming." (I only wish she had said, "Not ever" after these admonitions... and I'm still working on the presumption that I'm post-op and therefore cannot dust. So far it's working. )

The problem with housework is that it's a whole lot more physically demanding than you might think. When you vacuum, for instance, it's not just pushing the vacuum -- it's pulling it back toward you. Terrible for the abdominals. When you do laundry (or dishes, for that matter), you're twisting, bending, and reaching. It's just too much strain on those stitches.

You only have one chance to heal right the first time. Take your time, enlist your family's help (let them read the Checkpoints section of the website if they're skeptical), and pamper!!

I would also agree with everyone of these ladies, I just started week 3, I;m doing worse now than when I first got home. You know why? I cleaned my whole house, twice! You'd think I would've learned the first time. I'm paying for it now with severe back and abdominal pain. I actually put out a post earlier asking if anyone else felt this way at week 3. I would contact your doc and ask for a doc's note if that is the only way you would stop and not feel guilty about receiving help. I'm off till March regardless of how my post-op goes Friday afternoon. Use it now while u can.
Take the advice from someone who screwed up
I don;t want to see someone suffering who doesn't have to. Please get some rest. Best of luck to you.
violet