I know there are way more of you out there!

I also think that it is extremely important that others hear the good news stories about recovery. I know that I was looking for them when I found this wonderful site pre-op in February. They helped ease my butterflies, let me know that I certainly wasn't alone in my concerns and allowed me to focus on the end goal - better health and goodbye to horrible, painful periods. I had a TAH on March 8 and consider myself to be extremely fortunate to have come through an uneventful recovery thusfar - getting better each day...except when I tried to clean my kitchen including gas cooktop and splashback at week 4. That grounded me for the following day. Nope, really shouldn't have done that....

I was in the castle for 4-5 days, had my 30 staples out on the morning that I came home and, was up and constantly shuffling around as soon as I was home - resting to watch a DVD or read when I felt tired. No question, I was very sore and it was two weeks before I could sleep on my side again, but I think that keeping on the move once I was out of my hospital bed on day two, and then at home, helped a lot. Also - constantly having a bottle of water in hand so I was continually filtering water through my body. I was able to give the last of the night time digesics away in under two weeks. I had my husband to help me and only two dogs to mother (who didn't understand why I wasn't picking them up), so I had good circumstances in which to heal. I went back to my office job just prior to week 7 and haven't had any problems yet.

I guess that I haven't posted prior to this because I really felt that there are obviously a lot of people not having such a smooth recovery and some, having very serious complications. I wanted to respect that and thought that my own good fortune wouldn't necessarily help.....until this thread and I thought about the reassurance I was looking for no so long ago. Many of the experiences shared here also helped prepare me fully for what I might have experienced and for that I felt armed with information and am thankful that so many have been so honest and supportive of each other.

Over the last couple of months, I have giggled, laughed out loud, and have felt pain for others as I've regularly checked in to see what has been posted. Truly, this community is so valuable and is to be treasured.

P.S. I also experienced that strange involuntary stretching upon waking in the morning (weeks 2/3) What is that all about??? Thought I was going to pop open for sure.

P.P.S. Hoping that one day swelly belly will go away :-)

Hi Ladies,
I had a laproscopic hyst but did have an open myomectomy a few yrs ago so I kind of know how awful the healing can be. I was still out of it physically after the myo. My myo inscision runs hip to hip and I was physically useless for about a year when it came to lifting and such.
I actually did not want the laproscopic hyst and was sure it would turn out to be a tah.
I guess I got lucky- a rarity for me. Be well ladies and tale the time you need to feel safe about your recovery.
Bridge

I think it's great to hear both the positive and negative experiences. Many women (myself included) feel a little guilty about having had such a smooth, easy, painfree recovery that we don't want to post and seem to be bragging. But when I was pre-op, it really helped me to remember that plenty of women have a smooth recovery, so we're not all destined to have complications. It's easy to get a distorted sense of how common serious complications are, since most women without complications don't tend to post. So I hope we all feel free to share our experiences, since negative or positive, they can help someone else. Thanks for starting this thread.

I agree with all the above everyone is different and heal at different rates. I found this site invaluable before I had my op. I was so frightened after having had previous surgery 12 years prior and even on day 4 I could not stand up straight! This time I was so well I was up out of bed had my morphine pump taken down and walking tall the morning after. I was so proud of myself. Everyone told me how well I looked and I was on a huge high that it was all over and I had done so well. Such an operation would not come with the list of possible complications if they couldn't happen. I personally found it very reassuring to know that as I have gone through different stages of my recovery, and had the odd set back, that these were normal and experienced by others. The comfort I found from sisters has been overwhelming. I also agree how distressing it is when you feel you must be a wimp. I couldn't sleep on my tummy for about 8 weeks but had a TAH and each operation is different and affects us all differently. I would hate for any sisters to feel they must try harder to and end up doing themselves damage because they feel they must be able to sleep on their tummy on day 2 or walk 3 miles after one week. I hope common sense prevails and lets everyone heal and work out their own limitations. x