Recovery Progress Reports for Hysterectomy dates Jun 22-Jun 28,2020

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Originally Posted by Smalladie Good morning ladies. I am on morning 2?? (1? surgery was yesterday) LAVH was able to keep both ovaries. Yesterday was a little rough, most of the pain radiated from my vagina down more intense than my menstruation cramps but comparable. Today the pain is in my stomach. I also have diastsis recti and an umbilical hernia so the bloating was really rough. I will say the most annoying is the headache from all of the medications. Hoping to go home today. I have everything in place including ready made meals and assistive devices. I am on my own besides my 12 year old twins and my ex husband (at least we are better friends now than we were married). I didn’t really know what to expect post op, but I have been lucky and so far so good...of course I am not even 24 hours in yet so everything is still up in the air. I wasn’t ready emotionally. I have 2 wonderful boys, I am 44, my partner is 50 with two teenage daughters so having more children wasn’t something we had wanted to move forward with; but now that it is no longer an option it makes me sad. I didn’t think I would feel this way at all. Good luck with everyone’s recovery - xoxo

Hi Smalladie,
The emotional aspects of hysterectomy can hit hard for some of us. I was in a similar situation, I had a 16yo son, my partner had no children and he was in his late 40's. I knew we weren't going to have children together but it was still very difficult for me to have that choice taken away. Hysterectomy is just so final. It's ok to grieve the loss of your fertility! Process your emotions in whatever way feels right for you. Some women plant a tree, make a quilt, or write poetry. Don't forget to communicate your feelings to your partner; often they feel a sense of loss as well.

Ways to Symbolically Grieve Your Loss

Wishing you peace of mind & heart as you continue healing.

I too didn't realize how much help I would need. Getting in/out of bed is the worse. No bleeding. Brain fog. Pain is well managed by my mom. My advice is to have a chair near bed and toilet to help you get up. Oh and still no bm. Good luck and I wish you all a speedy recovery. We got this

If it helps I had a hysterectomy on 6/23 and now I am feeling so much better then I did yesterday. Yesterday I felt everything you said and today it is almost all better so maybe tomorrow will be much easier for you

Had my hysterectomy on 6/23/20. Getting in and out of bed is hard for me as well. But urinating hurts anyone experiencing this to?

I had my hysterectomy 6/23 and had a few ups and Downs. I had the usual gas pains and difficulty getting up and down. On the second day post op I had a fever of 101.7 and ended up going to the ER. Ultimately found I was ok just my body trying to heal itself, but nothing out of the normal. I continued to take my pain meds and drink my water and slept. I am 5 days post op and feel SO much better. I know from the forums that I still need to take it slow but it feels great to have almost no gas pain and to finally have a BM. ( never thought I’d be so happy about that) lots of fluids and rest when my body wants to. I think the small walks in my house helped as well. I think the only thing now that I notice the most are my incisions are a little painful. I am very thankful to be able to read other experiences that are similar and some that are not. It helps my anxiety with this whole process.

I’m 28 years old. I have three children (8 years, 6 years, and 2 almost 3 years). I was diagnosed with Adenomyosis with the probability of Endometriosis (which was correct). I had severe symptoms that were causing very severe and scary symptoms on top of my adeno/endo symptoms and pain.

I had my Hysterectomy, Oophorectomy and Endometriosis excision on 6/23/2020. It was a Robotic surgery and vaginal. I have 4 incisions on my abdomen (the one on the left is my biggest and bruised with extra cuts and damage because that’s the one they used to remove the endometriosis and they warned me it would be the most sore. I only have my right ovary left to see if I can successfully have it in without endometriosis coming back but if it does we will remove that as well.

I woke up with 10/10 pain after surgery, crying in the recovery area and when they finally gave me more meds it only went down to an 8/10. I couldn’t find much relief in those first two days. They tried a few different pain medications and the nurses and doctors knew but they could only do so much. I had my catheter out the next morning and had trouble with output so had to work on that before they would discharge me. But long story short the pain I was in was causing me to have a difficult time relaxing to urinate. Ended up just sitting for a while to let myself go in bits so I could make progress. I spent the last few hours of my hospital stay in tears with pain because they had given me the last dose of pain meds and my doctor thought I was home already so didn’t give authorization for more.

Over the past few days I’ve been trying to stay on top of my pain, taking meds at the right times but I sometimes need to use Tylenol in between when the pain is creeping back before my next dose of prescriptions is allowed. So pain wise I’ve been having a rough time. I honestly didn’t expect all of this pain. Yesterday and today I’ve been a bit down about the finality of this. We had originally wanted a fourth baby but because I had some problems during my last delivery including a “interior window” (a hold bigger than a grapefruit) we were very wary of another pregnancy. Come to find out that my Adenomyosis would have made a pregnancy very difficult to happen with the severity of it (entire uterus and 13+ around the whole uterus) and if I did happen to become pregnant, I would have had a large chance of late term miscarriage. So with all of that I was okay with no more babies. Not really okay but I knew that was best. Before surgery I was crying and sad and now it’s come back. I’m just.. sad. I’ve had a few short moments when I’ve wondered if I made a mistake and my older self (whether a few months from now or a few years) will be upset over my decision. But mostly I feel like that was the best choice for me and my family. I was having only 5-7 days of pain less than 5/10 (in other words good days where I didn’t take any NSAIDs or pain meds). So the quality of life will be better. We will not have to plan around my pain.

Today (day 5) I woke up and have been shaky and weak and in pain even with meds. Just trying to rest today but I just feel so weak/blah/bad. I am still walking sort of hunched and holding my painful areas in my stomach. I just wish I could get down the steps and sit outside. I REALLY wish I could sit on the beach but we are still too far away from that so I try not to think about it. Luckily I went everyday for a few weeks (minus a few days due to crazy fl weather) before the surgery. That’s my happy place, I feel the best by the ocean and the calmest. I can’t wait to go back as my new self.

Well I guess that’s all my brain can think to write. I was just reading and I really didn’t want to write, I was very uncomfortable at first while writing this, but I think I’m glad I did.

I’m happy my Dad found this site for me yesterday when he heard in my voice that I was down. He’s beaten cancer twice in his 45 years and he’s found great support through sites such as these and he knew I wouldn’t have found one on my own (I’m stubborn), so he sent me this page and so far it’s been nice being able to read others stories. I still have a lot of navigating to do since there’s so much but I will get through.



hey_bee

I’m 56 and my hysterectomy was 6/24. I had a single incision laparoscopic total hysterectomy with salpingo-oophorectomy. The only incision I have on the outside of my body is at my belly button. My first question in the recovery room - was it laparoscopic? There was a chance of an abdominal incision and I know the recovery should be quicker with laparoscopic. I’m not in as much pain as I expected. The main source of pain the first 2-3 days was my throat from the ventilator during surgery. Even with heavy pain meds I was miserable; that made me drink a lot of ice water. I’m trying to balance walking around the house and resting. I bought myself a recliner with remote control for my recovery and I’ve pretty much been camped out in it. I prepared my meals and froze them ahead of time so that has been wonderful! I had fresh cut up fruit delivered from the grocery store. The first bm was a little traumatic, but it’s ok now. There is nowhere I need to go, but not being able to drive is bothering me. Overall I’m pleased with my recovery so far.

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Originally Posted by starchild261 I too didn't realize how much help I would need. Getting in/out of bed is the worse. No bleeding. Brain fog. Pain is well managed by my mom. My advice is to have a chair near bed and toilet to help you get up. Oh and still no bm. Good luck and I wish you all a speedy recovery. We got this

to the Other Side, starchild261!

Check out this article below for tips on:
Getting In/Out of Bed Post Hysterectomy
Take your pain meds as prescribed around the clock to stay ahead of the pain. My husband set his alarm during the night and woke me to take my meds for the first few nights; because of this I never woke up in pain.

Snuggle in and let your Mom pamper you!

Constipation is a big concern after major surgery, and even more so after hysterectomy, as we have swelling & stitches down below... which means we don’t want to push or strain. Eat high fiber foods (pears, almonds, peas, bran, prune juice), drink lots of water, walk as you feel able, and take stool softeners. Be careful to only push very gently. If nothing is “happening”, get up and walk around the house for a few minutes, then try again.

• Avoiding Constipation
• 5 Ways to Speed up Sluggish Bowels
• Post op Prunes & Moving Dishes

Gas pain can be horrible! For me it settled in my shoulders and for a few days it was my chief complaint. Some sisters find relief by wetting a hand towel and microwaving it so it's warm (but not hot) and then placing it where you are feeling the most discomfort from gas. The moist heat will help to draw the gas out. Another idea is using a moist heating pad (which can be bought at most drugstores). For intestinal gas: peppermint or ginger tea, Gas X and walking can be the best ways to get relief.

• CO2 Gas Relief After Laparoscopic Hysterectomy
• Gas, Gas, Gas After Hysterectomy
• Do This – Not That: Gas & Constipation

You are in the earliest-of-early stages, Sisters. Lots of TLC for you!

Hello everyone
I am on day 4, my surgery was on 6/25 and a full hysterectomy. I am 31 with one little girl so it was hard to accept it needed to be done and I would be in menopause for severe endometriosis. I have been having bad pain at incision sites and left hep where the most of the endo was. My stomach has swelled horrible too. I havent rested much but I've not lifted anything. I think i may have over done it the past 2 days. Those of you who have rested, have you still had high levels of pain?