9 days post hysterectomy: Physical Activity?

Hi ladies! I had a hysterectomy on March 13, they went in vaginally and took everything but my ovaries. I had the mesh bladder sling at the same time, which they did through two incisions at the pubic bone. Satan uterus must have been making me feel really sick because even in recovery, I feel 10 times better than I have over the past 6 months.

I struggle with depression and exercise really helps me manage it. I want to go back to the gym. I did walk for half hour and weight trained shoulders for 20 minutes the other day and felt fine. I'm not on pain meds so it's not like I have anything masking the pain. My doc keeps telling me 6 weeks but I feel so well and was already used to training with heavy weight 5 days a week so training light weight feels ok to me. Any insight?

Hello,

I am glad to hear your recovery is going well. Please remember though you feel great there is still a lot of healing going on inside. I watched a few YouTube videos of my procedure and thought wow! Leading up to my surgery my life was greatly impacted by my angry uterus. I followed my Dr.'s orders as I did not want to cause any set backs.( I was told to lift nothing heavier than 10 pounds) I concentrated on doing a lot of walking as my body allowed. I had some great playlists on my iPod. At my six week checkup everything was healed inside and I was good to go. The next few weeks will hopefully go by quickly and once your Dr. gives the go ahead you to can carry on. In the meantime happy healthful healing

Have you checked with your doctor about weight restrictions, and how long you'll have them? Most ladies here had some type of restriction, for anywhere from 2-6 weeks. Definitely check with your doctor about how much you can lift for now. As Ealasaid mentioned, there's a lot of internal healing going on, and if you lift more than you should, you could possibly cause some damage without being aware of it right away.

I know recovery may *seem* like a long time but we only get one chance to heal right. Follow whatever your doctor's restrictions are so that you can be 100% healthy for the long haul.

I agree with what's been said. Please check with your doctor as to when you can start physical activity. There are usually limits on bending, pushing, pulling. You also have to consider that you had additional work done. I understand that you are feeling good, but try to give your inside healing a chance to catch up with the outside feeling.

If your doctor says it's okay, then I would still ease my way into things, but if s/he says not yet, just in there. Time will go by before you know it. You only get one chance to heal right the first time. Be careful.

Thank you ladies! Staying down is hard, I am glad I found this group. Hopefully that'll help the time fly by!

I live with chronic depression as well. In addition to medication, I use exercise and time outdoors to manage it. During recovery, I walked, walked, walked. When I wasn't walking, I was often sitting outside to read, sew and play with my cats. I actually found my recovery to be a relaxing and pleasant time!

I kept to flat ground when walking for the first two weeks, then started tackling steep hills. By the time I saw my doctor at four weeks I was going for 1-2 hour hikes on wooded trails.

*However*, my doc said no more than 10 lbs for the first four weeks. At four weeks, he increased my lift limit to 30 lbs for the next two weeks. He said wait until six weeks for lifting more than 30 lbs or using my exercise machine and then start off cautiously and work up gradually.

Where you have a bladder sling, I'd especially advise being careful.

I'm only 5 days post op & already having some issues. My dr said absolutely no more than 10 lbs for the 1st 4 weeks. I wish I could walk like you ladies. I'm still holding my stomach just to go to the bathroom. Sounds like your recovery is going well! 😊