Thank you for such a wonderful site!!

I feel like I found gold!

Your stories and experiences have really made me feel so much better; having a better idea of what to expect.

I am having a TAH/BSO on March 11th due to fibroids, cysts, cramping...they also found Gall stones and will be taking my Gall Bladder out as well.

I'm just finishing my last cycle and keep telling myself that I'll never have to go through this again !!

I am a single Mom (divorced 7 years) and have 11 yr. old twins (boy/girl) and 8 yr.old son that I raise on a beautiful island in the
Pacific NW. My Mom will be coming up and staying for three weeks. The only downfall is that the DR/Hosp. are about 6 hours away via ferry and Hwy 5 and I'm not looking forward to the commute. How sore will I be coming home from the hospital??

It sounds like everyone is different in their recovery time - is there something that I can be doing now to help a speed it up?

I've already started cleaning - thanks for the advice - and am collecting things for hospital and home that I will want. I just don't know what else to do...I guess one of the hardest parts is just waiting!

Again - thanks so much for sharing your experiences, joys, pains, and unity!!!

Hi Jill

This site is great, isn't it?

As far as your trip home from the hospital - one good thing is that the ferries have those big booth seats so you can stretch out if need be. I had a bunch of pillows with me in the car (2 under me, one between me and the seatbelt). They worked well as far as pain/comfort goes. It helped to have the seat leaned back, too. My car trip was only an hour but I did just fine.... glad to be home though! I had my surgery at St. Francis down in Federal Way (I live in Edmonds). Where is your surgery going to be?

I didn't really do anything special before the surgery to help things along, other than eat healthy, get lots of rest, etc. I wanted to be as strong as possible going into it. Some women here recommend sit-ups, unfortunately I couldn't due to pain from my fibroids.... but if it helps, right on!

I'm glad to hear your Mom will be there to help you!

Take care,

Heidi

Thanks Heidi -

It's great to know you're close. When was your surgery??
I will be at Overlake Hospital in Bellevue.
Like you, I don't feel like doing one sit-up because of the pain. I can eat healthy though and will try to walk... Do you take any vitamins?? Would extra iron be beneficial??

I hope my motivation to exercise will return after I start to feel better.

I'll remember to bring lots of pillows/blankets. When do people get released for stairs??
My bedrooms on the 2nd floor, then up to the loft...ugh!

Jill. Glad you found us. Wow...I bet it's beautiful where you live.

Be sure and surround yourself with pillows for trip home. Maybe you can get something extra for pain before you leave the hospital..to help make the trip and little smoother.

Initial recovery is 6 - 8 weeks...some feel better sooner...some later....but that's a good average time. Resting the first few weeks is crucial...to give internal stitches and external incision time to heal. I walked for circulation - but it was limited to just around the house some and bathroom & snack trips.

Welcome to hystersisters Jill.

Hi JillB, Sorry to hear about all those stairs! That's one to ask your doctor about...also the iron question -- mine told me I had to make sure not to take any vitamins with iron anymore... no cycles to get rid of any excess iron so it can build up in your liver. I had TVH on 2/4 with anterior & posterior repair, ovaries too, plus resuspension...no more periods is a blessing but I didn't know about the iron thing, better ask your doc. about it. I found they have vitamins now that are formulated for "women over 50" -- I'm not there quite yet but it's creeping up soon, and those vitamins don't have iron in them. I'm taking them and also extra calcium and vitamin C...my doc told me Vitamin E is bad before and after surgery (can make you bleed more), also no aspirin...
Walking is great but you'll probably find you get tired really easily at first. I've always enjoyed very long walks but I find I can't make it very far before I get out of breath, also my belly starts to swell so I know it's time to put my feet up and rest. You might want to get a couple of pairs of really loose (waist and tummy especially) pants you can wear to go outside to walk because at first nothing will fit. You're lucky in one way to have time to get ready for your surgery (mine was very short notice), you have time to ask lots of questions...don't be afraid to ask them, and listen to your doc.! Good luck!!!

Hi Jill,

Overlake is a great hospital. My friend has been there several times and she was very pleased with the staff and the level of care.

I had my surgery on January 15th. My doctor said no vitamins or herbal remedies for a month prior to the surgery, just to be on the safe side. Instead, I ate a lot of oranges, spinach, etc.

My doctor said one flight up, one flight down for the first week. After that he said to use my judgment, depending on how I felt. Just take it slow, make sure you have someone right there with you when you tackle the stairs. You may want to consider fixing up a recovery area on one of the lower floors for the first few days, if that's possible.

Feel free to email me anytime - it's nice to have someone close by to talk to when you're pre-op and nervous

Heidi