LSH 3 weeks ago; Doing too much?

Hi-

I had an LSH for endo, pelvic pain and bleeding on July 20th, 2006. The pathology report also revealed adenomyosis so I feel confident with my decision. Mainly I'm writing b/c I'm concerned about overdoing it.

I'm 34 years old, married with 2 children. I work part-time at a medical center supervising non-clinical staff.

I had a few minor complications. 2 days PO I had intense, stabbing LRQ pain that worsened with movement. It was so bad that the on call doc. (it was the weekend) suggested it was best to go to the ER. They performed a CT, x-ray and blood work. They only identified a collection of blood that could have been normal.

The next few days I was at my OB's office trying to figure out what was going on. They finally figured out that the pain was most likely from an internal suture surrounding a nerve and the pain would go away as the suture dissolved. The pain did go away during the 2nd week.

I also have a phlebitis, which is inflamation of the vein, from where they had the IV inserted. I'm told it could take 6 months to resolve and may result in permanent scarring of the veing. Bummer. I don't have the best veins and this was a good one.

I am concerned that I'm overdoing things. I have a 5 year old son and a 9 month old daughter. For weeks 1 and 2 of my recovery I had a combination of support from my husband and my 12 year old niece. I'm now in my 3rd week and i'm concerned i'm overdoing things.

I went back to my part-time office job on monday (2 weeks and 3 days post op) and did just fine as long as Iget up and walk around. During my non work days, I take care of my son and my daughter and I do a lot of bending and lifting to care for them. My doc. said that it's ok to lift my daughter (18 pounds) if it doesn't bother me, which it doesn't too much.

I get really tired by the afternoon and feel like i need a nap. Is this normal? I don't know what to expect. I just want to limit long term problems. At the end of the day I feel like my insides are sore.

Also, I recently had to get an RX for a persistent yeast infection. After one application I noticed light pink spotting when I wipe. Could my cervix be irritated? I'm so confused.

Thanks for any support you can offer.

Best wishes to all of you in your recovery or your surgery.

Hi tfig,

I had a TAH on the 21st July so I'm about 3 weeks post op too. We are sisters alright as I also ended up with a phlebitis, although I didn't know what it was called. The vein went really hard and was quite sore and bruised right up my wrist but I can say i has got better over the last few days.

I think I am overdoing it too as I feel I have more pain now around my incision (about 2-3cm away from it though) just under my belly button. I also tire easily and if I do a few things I need to rest the next day.

So you still need to be a princess some of the time! If you feel like a rest try to have a rest. It's only three weeks and they say it can take up to 6 months to feel normal again. Hope you start to feel better soon

Hi tgif
It sounds like you're doing a lot for just being three weeks out from your surgery. Since you still have your cervix you don't have quite as much going on healing-wise as some others who have a cuff, but you still need to be cautious because you have incisions that are healing.
Listen to your body and when you feel you need to rest please do. If you can't nap in the afternoon you at least need to lie down and let your body recover. Try not to push yourself when your body tells you it has had enough. Three weeks is still very early even for an LSH.
There are a lot of good articles in the Post op article list that will give you some more specific information on how to decide what is too much. We're all different. Pace yourself and pay attention to the signals your body is sending. When you are tired-rest, when you hurt-stop what you're doing. Those are pretty easy and usually will work to keep you from doing things you shouldn't do.
's,Rita

Dear New Princesses,
My guess is that if you need to ask "am I doing too much" you probably are doing too much. I know it is tricky to listen to our bodies... especially since they have a bad habit of deciding to talk to us AFTER we have over done it. Try and be sure to incorporate the princess rules into your lives. Those guidelines really helped me remember to rest. That should have been so obvious, but I was feeling so good. But somehow reading that I needed to walk, nap, not lift, not do laundry, etc, really helped me. Now is not the time to be superwoman... so have your DHs take the cape to the dry cleaners and put on your pajamas.

Good luck and best wishes.

Hi Tfig,

It sounds like you might be doing too much. I had a LSH also and we LSH ladies can look and feel great on the outside and we are still healing on the inside. Like the other surgery types, we only have one chance to get it right in post-op. So...if something sounds like too much, it probaby is. I overdid it a couple of times in post-op and I paid the price the next day. Ouch....!!

Also, I might question your Dr. about lifting. My LSH Dr. said nothing over 15 lbs for 6 weeks. Helps to let the stitches heal and decreases the chance of adhesions, from what I understand. Is it possible to get some child care help from a family member or friend?? Just until you reach the 6-week mark.

Best wishes,

Mary