Questions

My abdominal hysto is scheduled for May 8, 2003 due to heavy bleeding, large clots, reocurring ov cysts, pain, pain, pain and endometriosis(sp), . I am 33 yrs old and I have had 2 csections. My questions are:

1. Is the recovery similar to the csection? My 2nd csect was a breeze so I guess you can see why I ask. I was able to get up the next morning, take a shower, walk (never used a wheelchair), etc. I did not use pain pills after the 2nd post op day and even began driving 4 days after surgery. Basically I was fine. I realize each surgery is different but I do have a pretty high pain tolerance. I know I will need to rest but I am praying this will not be horrible. I guess I've been in pain for so long now that I can't imagine a hysto would be worse.

2. How many days do you normally stay in the hospital? Guess I should have asked my doctor but I forgot!

3. Due to the endo, every dr. told me that I cannot have a vaginal hysto...they said there are too many chances for complications and I want to be sure the endometriosis is cleaned out??? Is this normal?

Thanks...I really like this board.

1. This is going to be worse than a c-section. You will be fine but I don't want you to have your expectations too high. There is usually initial pain and then several days of discomfort. I began to feel normal again after two weeks.

2. I have read that the average stay is three to five days. I stayed three and due to bladder repair and a sleepy bladder came home with a catheter. I was ready to come home.

Good luck to you, if you are anything like me you will be so happy when you are done. I think it's the best thing I've ever done for myself.

DR

it's normal for a doctor to want to do an abdominal hyster when you have endo. They need to have the best opportunity to get as much of that stuff out of there as possible. It's also possible, as in my case, that things are attached to each other and present a bigger problem. I've got endo on my bladder that needs to be dealt with, amoung other places it's grown. Ick.

Rita

Hi and welcome...

I am 33 and will be 8 weeks post friday....i went back to work a week ago monday and i'm doing great...

I did not have a csect with my one DS so i can't help you there, but the sole reason for my hyst was endo. I had so much pain etc...the doc found my left ovary attached to my pelvic wall so anytime i did anything that jarred the wall i was in pain (i.e. sex)

I was in the hospital from 6am friday til noon on monday....originally i was told 5-7 days...but i think the sooner you can get off your pain meds (IV) and get up and moving the sooner you can go home...

As for the abdominal vs the vaginal...i too begged for a vaginal hyst. I too was told no. Endo may not all be seen until the doc gets in there etc...as in my case, my doc told me i was "put together wrong" he of course said this jokingly, but it seems my ovaries were further away than normal and he said he couldn't reach them....supposedly they are relatively close to the uterus, mine weren't...he showed me the pics from the LAP and they were nowhere near the uterus, your abdomin is larger than u think....any way i'm sorry you too have to have a TAH, but since my TAH/BSO i'm wonderful...

Please email me if you have any specific questions....its easy to relate to alot of the women on this board....no matter what the age, but i had a buddy on the board that shared my same hyst date, who was my age....and it was great.

I'm scheduled for the same day....have you completely wigged out yet? I'm getting there.

Here's a little white light for you on the 8th!

Carmalota and Rodeo414...

I too am scheduled for May 8th. Ah yes, ...Freaking out is putting it mildly! I am a mess. I am so afraid of the anasthetic! (read, control issues). The waiting is frying me.
I am looking forward to having it over and reading your posts!
Thanks.... Sandra in Southern California.

Caralmota, I am going to go into my standard ptich. Go to the home page and look up the hints and articles section on the left side. Read the pre op ones and browse through the post op ones too (especially the do's and don't's, what the hubby can do for your and the princess stories). Most of thes questions have been aske and asnswered there, plus ones you haven't even thought of yet and will be glad to be aware of ahead of time. If you can get the book offered here called the Journey through the Land of Hyster, get that too, they work well together. I found out things I wasn't aware of and I am a post op nurse! It is different when we are the patient. And keep asking questions, that is what we are here for.

I had a c-section and also had no problems. I remember going on a motorcycle ride with my dh 1 1/2 weeks later. The first week I was sore getting up and down and had to go to the bathroom millions of times a day. I did not take pain meds after I got home from the castle. It didn't hurt enough to justify taking them. Just some Advil and I was fine. You will not be able to drive that soon afterwards. My dr. released me after two weeks to drive. I snuck in some quick trips to the store from day 11. It's not about hurting from driving for me, it was the fact I was scared that someone was going to hit me.

I stayed at the castle from Thursday at noon, until Saturday at 1:00.

Don't know anything about the endo. I'm sure that many people will be able to answer that though.

Just like everyone else says, each person is different in thier recovery and abilities. If you can, just take it easy for the first few weeks. There is nothing more important than healing properly. Good luck and don't be scared.

Pam

Thanks for all your replies. I'm really hoping I make it through. The hardest part for me will be that I do not have the ability to take the "normal" time to recover. The surg is on May 8th and I have to be back at work by May 19th. My dr already knows about the not so ideal timing but we both agreed that I need this done asap and I will deal with it. If I have to I can come in earlier to work and leave earlier so that I don't hit the traffic. My mom had this done at 28 yrs so I guess I made it 5 yrs past her. She also had to go back to work within this same time but I realize I cannot be super woman. I only wish it was that easy! Thanks for your responses. Yes, I am getting a little scared now.

One more question....I have not asked my dr about a bladder tack but I wonder if I should. I do not have incont problems now but I did after my children. The reason I question it is because my mom had this done and then wore pads constantly for 5 yrs due to incont and then finally gave up and had bladder surg. It certainly would be better to get it all done at the same time.

Has anyone dealt with multiple adhesions and had this done? I know I have them because it hurts. I'm expecting the dr to remove them but I probably should ask to make sure.

Thanks again.

Are you having a TAH?

Please take more time off than that. That's only 10 days and truthfully you need the rest. Is there any way you could have the surgery done sooner? What type of work do you do? If you just have to be back to work so soon, don't sit for longer than 30 minutes at a time. You will get stiff and sore.

You might want to discuss this with your dr. about working so soon. You will not get a chance to do things the right way in recovery if you do too much too soon.

I truly thought I was going to be able to work at 3 weeks and I cancelled my substitute assignments for another 3 weeks. Just this week, I started back to shopping at the mall, going to buy groceries by myself and driving longer distances.