DAV total hysterectomy considered easy or major surgery?

I guess you can say I'm officially freaking out. I've been lurking on here for a few weeks and with 11 days until my surgery I'm starting to panic. I'm so thankful for finding this site! I'm holding it together great in front of my husband and kids ages 17, 16 and 4 and down playing things but inside I'm screaming with anxiety. I tend to be a worry wart as it is and minor things can stress me out for days. My surgery is Dec. 21st and I think I'm only in the hospital over night. With Christmas right around the corner I'm a bit worried. We usually go to my parents and with five siblings and 11 grandchildren ages 4-17, aunts and uncles and cousins there is usually about 30 people coming in and out throughout the day. My parents live 25 min away but I'm not sure it's wise that I attend Christmas this year. My mom begs to differ saying that this surgery is easy and I'll be fine just tired on Christmas and I need to be there. Lets throw in the fact that don't have the best relationship with my brother and sister so holidays are stressful as it is. What would you do? I don't want to make a mountain out of a mole hill but it frustrates me how much my mother is down playing my surgery just because I've had kids and it'll be laparoscopic by DaVinci that ill be fine by Christmas. Ugh!

Any hyst is a major surgery, regardless of the type. It's not as big of a deal as a heart bypass, but it's still a big deal. Some people bounce back quickly, others take substantially longer. It all depends on your individual situation, and how fast you heal. You might feel well enough to go, you might not. Regardless, you'll be tired, and you'll need to take it easy. I'd recommend a "we'll see how I feel" kind of response. Then if you feel good enough to go for a little while, great. Just be sure to have an exit strategy thought out in advance. If you don't feel up to it, that's fine too. This is about you and your recovery. Not everyone else. If you don't go, and others want to see you, they are close enough they can drop in to say hi at your house. If anyone else is bothered, that's their problem, not yours.

Major surgery. I would not ave been able to attend 4 days post op.

The following is just my opinion and from my experience.

Any hysterectomy is considered major surgery. It's not like having a tooth out. Besides the female parts, there are other organs there as well-bowel, bladder. By necessity they will have to be moved around and in a lot of cases inspected to make sure everything is OK. Which is a good thing if you think about it. Sort of getting an internal checkup.

You sound like the Christmas festivities will be far from quiet! In all honesty, you need to rest. In my case, for the first 2 weeks I took it easy. Not to say I stayed in bed all the time but I limited my activities to taking short walks around the apartment 3-4 times a day--not including bathroom breaks. Did not get into a car until my 1 week post op checkup. Got a huge soft pillow and held it against my belly during the ride. Don't know how far you have to go, but that ride was 18 miles for me. It wasn't bad but did head right to bed as soon as we got home.

There is a saying here that you only get one chance to heal properly. Who needs complications? You will have some sort of closures, whether they be stitches, glue etc. Plus whatever will be internal.

IMO that's a lot of people and I'm sure many will want to talk to you. For the first few days I found it tiring, though their concern was appreciated. Children running around can be distracting and tiring as well.

Christmas is a very stressful time of year for a lot of people. You will need a lot of rest. My energy came in spurts, followed by periods where my body demanded rest. If you read through the posts here, most women needed rest above all. There is also the matter of getting the bowels back to normal. Some have problems, some don't. That's something that always needs to be taken into consideration.

Have you talked to your surgeon about this? That's the first place to start. But in the end, only you know how you will be feeling post op.

Sorry for the long post but IMO yes, this is major surgery. There is a reason why we "pamper the princess" during the immediate post op period, and take things carefully after that.

Good luck and Happy Holidays, whatever you decide.

My Pre-op appt is this Wednesday so I'll ask my docs opinion as well. I just don't want family to think I'm being a baby if I don't go. Thanks girls!

Honey, if you don't want to go, don't go. Period.
Stay home, watch your favorite movies and sip warm cider.
If somebody thinks you're being a wimp, that's actually their problem and you should feel free to tell them that you truly hope they never have to understand how overwhelming this is.
This is one of those moments in life when you need to be utterly selfish and just take care of you and your needs- stress and overexertion can prolong your recovery time, so you'll actually be serving your family's best interests by doing all you can to relax and heal because that will get you back to normal faster than pushing yourself to do what you're not yet ready to do.

Have a happy holiday.

	Quote:
Originally Posted by Sar22222 My Pre-op appt is this Wednesday so I'll ask my docs opinion as well. I just don't want family to think I'm being a baby if I don't go. Thanks girls!

Do not worry what your family thinks. This is about you and healing. I had the same type of surgery, and there is no way I could have gone 4 days after surgery. I couldn't sit up, I had to lay down, because I was to sore in my vagina area (that is because I ripped down there when they pulled everything out). This is major surgery! You will be tired. It took me about 4meeting days to have my first bowel movement and I was still dealing with gas pains, which was for me the worst part of the surgery. Good luck and keep us posted.

Tell your family to go on ahead without you, because four days post-op, you won't feel like doing much of anything! This IS major surgery, even though the DaVinci system is less invasive. I'm 12 days out, and I've had an unbelievably easy recovery so far, but boy howdy, four days post-op, there is no way I could have gone anywhere besides the couch and the bathroom! We only get one chance to heal from this- have to get it right the first time. This is YOUR time now. Best of luck to you! :-)

I had a DVH/BSO on November 19th and I definitely wasn't ready to go out on day four. I was still very sore and was dealing allot with gas and trying to get my bowels moving. I was also extremely tired. Just take care of yourself first. I too had some stitches in the vagina do to removing everything through the vaginal area. Wishing you a successful surgery and good recovery.

Thank you all so much for your responses. I'm a home daycare provider and as it is I've scheduled my surgery the day before my paid vacation week starts and I'm only taking two additional days off for a total of 12 days off before reopening my daycare and that is including Sat and Sun. I've already had one family give notice that they're leaving just because of the two additional unpaid days I'm taking the day of my surgery dec 21st and Jan 2 which is my post op appointment day. I hope 12 days is enough time to heal or I know I'll lose the remaining three families I have. I'm having my uterus and cervix taken out due to stage 3 pre cervical cancer and prolonged menstrual bleeding but keeping my ovaries.