LSH: Real recovery period/hospital stay?

Hi Fellow Sisters,

I wanted to hear from those who have had the LSH procedure. How long was your recovery period and did you stay overnight at least after the hyst?

Inquiring minds need to know.

I had my LSH with both ovaries removed last Thursday 9/17. I did spend one night in the hospital and was glad that I did. Before the surgery I was bugging my doctor to let me go home, but after I woke up I told her that I would rather stay. I was really glad that I did because of how attentive the nurses were. My recovery from this has been pretty quick, faster than for my gall bladder surgery a couple of years ago. Other than being very tired during the day I feel great. I think the tiredness during the day is because I am not sleeping well at night due to hot flashes. I was already menopausal, but still losing my ovaries have caused hot flashes of nuclear proportions! My doctor gave Evamist to use for the hot flashes and I was going to try to go without it, but I finally gave in and started using it two nights ago so I am hoping it kicks in pretty soon and gives me some relief. Good luck,

My LSH was just over a year ago. I had gotten more than one opinion, and in doing so narrowed down my choice of surgeon to two. One said I could probably go home the same day; the other said it was standard protocol to keep patients overnight. I really wanted to go home the same day, but other factors made me choose the second doctor.

My surgery was scheduled for 1:00 pm, and ended up running a bit late. I did stay overnight, and my doctor visited me the next morning around 8:00. He admitted that it went so well he ALMOST decided to release me the previous evening. By the time they got all of my paperwork and stuff in order, I did get out of there by about 10am. So mine was considered an "outpatient" stay (less than 23 hours).

I would have preferred to not stay overnight. I don't like hospitals, and I really didn't get any sleep. I think I would have been more comfortable at home.

As far as recovery time, I was feeling pretty good right away. Started going for short walks with my husband and our dog the day I got home from the hospital. Two days post-op I felt good enough to go to a family barbecue for Labor Day weekend. I was back to my office job one week after surgery. My doctor cleared me for regular exercise/activities (I'm a part-time gymnastics coach and recreational ice hockey player) at my post-op, as long as I didn't do any heavy lifting or contact sports. I was back in the gym and on the ice in less than two weeks!

My recovery was helped by a lot of factors. Simple surgery with no complications, and I was in good physical shape going in to surgery (thin, non-smoker, athletic, etc). Probably not a typical case, but thought I'd share my good experience with you.

Hi rsh1922,

I also had a LSH. I had my hyst at an outpatient center at 7:30 AM and I went home at 6 PM. I had the option to spend the night on my chart if I had needed it.

I did two weeks of R & R after my LSH and I went back to work at the the 2-week post-op mark, with my Dr's okay. Truthfully....3-weeks off from work would have been nicer. I got a greenlight for sex and the gym at 6 weeks post-op.

In the post-op recovery period...I can suggest eating healthy, drinking lots of water to prevent a UTI (which can be common in post-op), getting enough rest and I can also suggest light walking when you feel up to it. Walking made me feel better phyically and I think my digestion was also better from it.

Best wishes ~

Mary

Thank you. Any hard to deal with pain? How long was your surgery procedure?

My doctor originally scheduled 2 hours for my LSH but after the surgery she told me that it had taken just over 50 minutes. She said mine was one of the easiest procedures she had ever done. As far as pain I really think that spending the night in the hospital helped me to get and stay on top of it. I think on going home the gas pains bothered me more than the incisions. Take some GasX or whatever you want to use to the hospital with you and start taking it before the gas pains actually hit you. Don't let the nurses see you taking it though because they kind of frown on you bringing your own meds. Also if the doctor hasn't ordered anything for gas they can't give it to you without getting the OK from the Dr. and that can take time. I am now 11 days post op and feel great, except for the hot flashes. I go back to the Dr. on Thursday for my 2 week post op and I plan on asking her if it's alright for me to start running again. Maybe being in really good physical condition is one of the reasons I have recovered so quickly. I had laproscopic gall bladder surgery 3 years ago when I was 50 pounds heavier and it took me a lot longer to get over it.

As far as pain goes, I couldn't believe that I actually had a hysterectomy. If my doctor had found endometriosis, or something else that he thought was causing my pain, he was going to leave the uterus alone. When I woke up in recovery, I heard the nurse say that I ended up having the hysterectomy, which surprised me since I felt so good. I never really had any pain. For a few days, my abdominal muscles felt tight, like I had done a few too many sit-ups or something, but it didn't really hurt. (Except when I sneezed...that was not pleasant.) Never took any pain meds other than what they "automatically" put in the IV until I was able to get rid of that.

My surgery time was somewhere around 1.5 hours. I was scheduled for 1:00, but my doctor was late, so I think we didn't get started until around 1:30. In my surgical report, the time stamp on my doctor's notes is 3:08, so I know we were done by then. I also remember seeing the clock in recovery when I woke up about 3:20.

Mine took a bit longer because of looking for other stuff while in surgery. It was basically scheduled as a diagnostic laparoscopy, with the possibility of doing a bunch of other stuff depending on what was found. In addition to the LSH, he removed a peritubal cyst on my left side, and some filmy adhesions on the right ovary/fossa.