2 Questions

I've been diagnosed with uterine cancer - stage 1 and will be setting a date for my hysterectomy next week. My 2 questions are:

1. Will I be able to walk up a flight of stairs to get to my bed when I come home from the hospital?

2. What exactly is swelly belly and does it go away?

Thanks

Welcome Shadowmaker! I'm sorry to hear about your cancer diagnosis. I don't have stairs in my house, but think you will be able to walk up your stairs afterward. It will be slow going and you may want to limit how many times a day you climb them. There are other postings on the site that talk about stairs and I know other sisters will give you advice about that.

Swelly belly is the swelling you get in your abdomen after surgery. It's common and does go away, but takes a while. Basically you'll like elastic or drawstring type pants post-op. Again, other sisters will have tons of advice for clothing and panties for TAHs.

Many blessings to you during your wait! Let us know when you get a date.

At my pre-op yesterday I was told that an ice pack or frozen peas or corn, yes vegetables, would be good for the swelling.

I don't have stairs in my house, but I would think you probably won't want to do the stairs much. Can you set up a downstairs room for recovery during the day and just do the stairs at night to go to bed?

Good luck with your recovery.

Shadow,

When you feel up to it, please feel free to join us over on the Cancer Concerns board.

I too am sorry you've been diagnosed with UC and hope (very strongly urge if not) that you're now under the care of a gynecologic/oncologist who will be performing your hysterectomy. They are the experts when it comes to female cancers, have the extra training and knowledge, and know how to do everything during surgery (such as lymph node sampling and abdominal wash) in order to properly stage your cancer - which is oh so important to have when it comes time to address a treatment or follow-up plan of action.

My doctor advised that I tackle the stairs no more than once a day for the first week or so. I went slowly and one-footed them but had no problems. While you're still taking pain meds you will want to try to have someone there with you just in case you become dizzy. I camped out in my recliner during the day and only went upstairs at night.

I can't help you with the swelly belly because I don't know if I had it or not since I'm a fluffy sister with quite a bit of gut already, but I know others will be along with plenty of advice and answers about it.

Thank you so much for the quick responses. I am not only new to this web site, but new to using any forum. So I am just getting up to speed on this.

And I am sure I will participate in the Cancer concerns Board as well.

I do have a downstairs family room with a big cushy chair and ottoman that I will probably use during the day. I'm glad that you both made it upstairs for the night. I know I'd always rather sleep in my own bed. And I'd probably also like to not have to be in bed all day too.

Thanks for wonderful advice.

Hi Shadow,

I saved the one footed stair dance for once a day too. It's fine as long as you move slowly. I turned sideways and put the foot closest to the riser up on the next highest step and raised the other leg up as I went to minimize the pull on the abdomen and jolting from impact. Good luck to you. I'll keep you in my prayers.


Tracy

Click here for an article about swelly belly.

Talk with your dr about the stairs. I was told that I could use them but to go slow and easy & use them as little as possible.

S

Hi shadowmaker: I don't have stairs and didn't have all that much swelling but I do have a stage 1 uterine cancer. I did not know about my cancer until after I woke up from surgery and by then, it was gone. In fact, the gyne oncologist and my gyne portrayed this as good news--"you had cancer, now it's gone."

Depending on what they find, you may not even need any further treatment, beyond the hyst surgery, and just need monitoring for a time. I have to go to the gyne oncologist who did my surgery every 3 months for a quick check-up to make sure the cancer has not recurred. Also need to be sure to keep up to date on mammograms and colonoscopies, as these are related cancers.

Good luck to you. I hope you'll keep us posted on the surgery and also on your cancer.