TAH: Positives Please

Hi Ladies,
My D & C or hysterectomy is tomorrow. ...been preparing..UGH. Just heard from the doctor’s office and was told, if I do need a hysterectomy, it will be abdominal. I knew this was a possibility, because one out of every three hysterectomies at this hospital is abdominal. They are doing a study. I am a little disappointed, because I know that the recovery time is longer. Are there any benefits to an abdominal hysterectomy? I want to approach this as positively as possible.

Thanks,
Lydia

Good luck to you. You didn't mention why you are having the hyst. but for me, I had a mass. The advantage to TAH was so they could have a really good look at everything in there. For me also, if the pathologist thought it was cancer, they wanted to check the lymp nodes and stage it.
Take care of yourself

Hi there,
I'm 6 weeks today from a SAH (vertical incision kept ovaries & cervix)
I had a smooth recovery and feel better than I have felt in YEARS!
Surgery was on a Wednesday afternoon..I came home Friday around lunchtime.
The best advise I can give you is to rest, walk and drink water and liquids to help things move along.
You only get 1 chance to heal from this surgery correctly.
Don't LIFT or PUSH anything and follow your doctor's instructions and restrictions.
And..use the "Pajama" rule that I have in my house now. When I feel that I am too tired or need to rest..I put those jammies right back on as a signal to my husband!
Sometimes I do that JUST to remind myself that even though I am at 6 weeks post op..I still have lots of internal healing to go through.

Good luck to you!

My TAH was the 10th, and I'm feeling pretty good. I did get nauseus on day 2 when I came home from the hospital. I just wasn't eating enough to stomach the pain meds I think. Be sure you keep eating. Doing lots of lounging around, but I am feeling good enough to cook for me and DH, and do dishes. Everything else, he is doing. If you end up having a TAH, you'll do fine. Don't let it get you in a panic.

Hi Lydia,
I had a TAH 8 days ago. The time leading up to the surgery is the worst and it can be awful. I would have liked to have had a vaginal hyst, but was not possible for me. I can say the day of surgery is the hardest part, but usually you are drugged an pretty much out of it. First couple of days home was a little tough, but it really does get better each day. I went to the dr today to have my staples out (vertical incision) and did ok. was very nervous riding in the car, but really I do think that the mental part can make everything else worse. This place here is awesome and I also have a wonderful family and church family around me. I was still a nervous wreck before the surgery, but it does help ALOT to have support.
Good luck
chele.
also be prepared. ask questions, at the hospital, to your dr. I am not an outspoken person, but I never kept my mouth shut on this. I asked so many questions, they probably have some kind of warning code when I come near...lol! I had my pain meds set up before surgery, things ready at home, I wanted to know exactly what was going to happen and that really helped. b/c of my big mouth I even had my own private room at the castle!!

Hey Lydia,

You will do great!! I had a TAH January 14 and I am doing well! My surgery was early morning, so I was pretty much out of it that day! The next morning they had me up walking! I even took a shower and washed my hair!! I put on my own PJ's, so that made me feel more comfy!!

The main thing is to take good care of yourself before and after the surgery!! Listen to what your doctors say! My DH told me to pretend I was on vacation, to let him take care of me (and everything else) and I did listen!!

My doctor said to keep positive thoughts!!

Good Luck, Take Care and God Bless!!

Jenn

Hi Lydia,


I had my Tah on Jan. 16th. Surgery was early(8:00). I was back in a room at 10:30. You will probably sleep most of the day of your surgery. The next day I was up and running so to speak. Shower, walking, eating regular food, and feeling pretty decent. I was glad for the 2 day time in the castle, but was ready to come home to rest.


The reason I had TAH instead of TVH was a swollen uterus, tilted uterus, and fibroids. I was upset at first when the DR told me , but after I thought about it, that was what was best in my situation. Everybody is different, as you will see on these posts, but we have 1 thing in common.... we are all being supportive to one another. Good luck in whatever happens and whatever choice is made. Put trust in your DR. and follow your own good judgement. GOD BLESS YOU! Deb

I had a Sah/bso on Monday Feb 23 @7:30 A.M. I was release less than 48 hours later, Came home today at 7:00 A.M. No pain pump, a little pain, ( sometimes alot of Pain ) but it is not as bad as I thought it would be. the worsed is over. the worsed is the waiting. Ladies, Trust me it is not as bad as you think. It does hurt. But not as bad as you all would think. I am home and doing ok. Just let everyone wait on you! It is your time to be pampered. GEt plenty of rest and don't over do it. Take as much time as you need Follow doctors orders and Rest Rest rest!. I am not doing anything except sleeping eating and Typing. That's all for me. anyway I wish you all the BEst of Luck I must get back on the Couch now! Good Luck and Bless you all. You are all in my thoughts and Prayers!
JoJo

Looks like several of us had the surgery on 1/14/04 --- HAPPY 6 week recovery anniversary!!!

Had TAH/RSO - and I'm doing great. My experience was that I had very little bleeding (not even one full day of light bleeding), no "packing" of the sight, and my "private parts" weren't (and still aren't) sore at all. I'm glad for the TAH vs. TVH only because now I feel secure in the fact that my MD was able to get a good look inside and took what he needed to take in order to maintain my good health.

Ask about keeping your cervix --- although I lost mine and DON'T REGRET IT AT ALL -- it is an OPTION that you may or may not have available. It's something that seems to not be discussed much prior to surgery. But, it is something you might want to talk about with the MD before surgery. Just a thought....

But, after the surgery, just remember to REST, REST, REST and listen to your body. And we will all be thinking about you and praying for you.

Best Wishes!!

I had my surgery in May and I will say that one benefit to having it abdominally is that I was able to use the new On-Q pain management system that is used in abdominal surgeries. It is super cool and works better than any other pain management I have ever had and I have had a lot of surgeries. You should ask your dr. about it. It is non narcotic, it won't make you sick and you will heal so much faster because you will be able to get us and walk around a lot sooner that usual. Another benefit to this type of surgery is they are able to see everything very clearly and remove anything that does not look right and leave everything that looks ok. The only regret that I have about this surgery is that I did not schedule a tummy tuck at the same time! It would have been half price!

Best wishes! Val