I had a total abdominal hysterectomy (TAH) on Thursday, May 23, 2003 at the age of 39 years old after months of pain and excessive bleeding from fibroid tumors, one of which twisted around and caused extreme pain for the entire two weeks before my surgery. I had a textbook recovery and no complications at all. Below is a summary account of the different weeks of my recovery:

Week One: 10% of normal. Shuffle to the bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, recliner, and around the courtyard to the mailbox. Can only sit up straight for 15 minutes before pain sets in. Shower with a plastic chair in the tub - but am totally exhausted after washing my hair and shaving my legs. Can make quick meals (Lean Cuisines). Pain level - 3 to 4 on a scale of 1 to 10. Pain pills - One Darvocet every six hours. Don't feel as bad as I was afraid I would.

Week Two: 30% of normal. Shuffle to the bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, recliner, and around the courtyard to the mailbox. Can only sit up straight for 25 minutes before pain sets in. Shower with a plastic chair in the tub - but am totally exhausted after washing my hair and shaving my legs. Can make quick meals (Lean Cuisines). Insomnia has set in and I'm only sleeping a couple of hours a night and none at all during the day. Tried Tylenol P.M. Works okay sometimes, but makes me rather groggy when I first wake up. Pain level - 2 to 3 on a scale of 1 to 10. Pain pills - Got dizzy off the pain meds, so cut back to 1/2 Darvocet every six hours with a couple of Motrin thrown in for good measure. Feel pretty good (pain meds and lingering effects of the anesthesia.)

Week Three: 50% of normal. Shuffle to the bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, recliner, and around the courtyard to the mailbox. Can only sit up straight for 35 minutes before pain sets in. Shower without the plastic chair, but still get tired. Start going to dinner with my Mom at my favorite restaurant, but have to sit in a booth, kind of slid down in the seat. Trip to grocery store, rode the little cart around. Another day a fifteen minute killer trip to Walmart to buy a printer. Big mistake!!! By the time I got to the front, I was in pain and about to pass out. Drove once on my own. No long car rides, as I can feel every bump and sudden stops make me wonder if my innards are going to come flying out. Still dealing with insomnia. Pain levels - 1 to 3 on a scale of 1 to 10 Pain pills - mostly Motrin with a 1/2 a Darvocet thrown in when I go out. Feel worse this week because the pain meds and anesthesia have worn off, and I've overdone it with the killer trip to Walmart.

Week Four: 60% of normal. Up and around more. Dinner out with friends at a tea house. Sat in a straight chair for an hour and was in pain the whole time. Drove to my four week appointment - released for everything, including work - yeah, right!! Still tire very easily. Made it down three aisles at grocery store before I needed the little riding cart. Avoiding Walmart like the plague! Can sit for about 45 minutes without pain. Went to a movie with a friend. Was able to slide down in seat most of the time and did pretty well. Trip to Books-a-Million afterwards was a big mistake! Finally cleared to take a bubble bath! Ah, such luxery! Still dealing with insomnia - how long can a Princess go with no sleep? Pain levels - almost zero. Pain Pills- occassional Motrin with an occassional 1/2 Darvocet thrown in if I'm going to be out for awhile. Internal stitches starting to dissolve - sharp pains in right side and mild aches and pains elsewhere.

Week Five: Feel more human this week. About 80% back to normal. Able to be out and about. Had a tooth filled at the dentist. Can sit most of the time now without pain. Went back to work at 5 1/2 weeks on half days. Return of discomfort while sitting at my desk. Came home exhausted. Insomnia hung on for a couple of nights after going back to work, but finally my sleep schedule got back on track and I'm sleeping normally again. Pain levels - 1 to 2. Pain pills - back to 1/2 Darvocet while at work. Now my hair is falling out! Talked to my doctor, he said it was normal after surgery - a side effect from anesthesia, stress from the surgery itself, and fluctuating hormones.

Week Six and Seven: Almost 90% of normal. First full week back at work at 6 weeks. Discomfort from sitting getting less and less. Still tired, but not as much as the previous week. Pain levels - almost zero most of the time. Pain pills - an occassional Motrin.

Week Eight: Almost 100% back to normal. Still get tired occassionally. Almost can't even tell I had surgery. Pain levels - zero. Pain pills - None.

Thirteen weeks post-op: Feel almost totally back to normal (except I moved to a new apartment this weekend and overdid it a bit, and I'm still tired from that.) Can barely tell I even had surgery though I still get an occassional twinge of very light achyness in my abdomen and that bone weary fatigue still hits without warning on occassion. (Oh, and still dealing with swelly belly, which seems to be worse at the end of the day.)

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Added Note: February 28, 2005

I had a pretty uneventful recovery - my doctor called it a "textbook" recovery. True, I had more aches and pains during the months ahead and the swelly belly monster made frequent appearances if I did too much, but after all, it does take 6 months to a year for full recovery. (And my hair finally stopped falling out and got back to normal - but only after a perm I got at 4 months fell flat and my haircolor turned out all wrong for almost a year!)

I'm now almost three years post-op, and I feel better than I have in years (other than normal aging issues, of course.) My health is much better than it was before my surgery. I'm no longer anemic, I no longer have the constant bleeding, and no longer suffer from the pain I had before. Since I kept my ovaries, I have no hormonal issues either. I have developed high blood pressure, but it is controlled by medication. I also need to lose some weight, but I just can't seem to get motivated with my busy schedule to do what I know I need to do to lose it.

This web site was a Godsend, I could never have made it through that time before and immediately after my surgery without the caring and support from my Hyster Sisters! I hope that, by describing my "journey through the Land of Hyster", I can help someone else and, in some small way, pay back a little of the wealth of support that I received.

(Additional note added 8/14/05) - On July 19, I had a bilateral reduction mammoplasty (breast reduction.) I went from a 44F to a 42C, a total of five pounds was removed during the surgery. The neck and back pain I suffered for years has totally gone, and the numbness in my hands and arms has disappeared too. My only regret is that I didn't do this a long, long time ago!

Love and hugs to all,

Shashi - the Chocoholic Princess