I've decided...

Well, after a LONG discussion w/ my husband last night, I've decided to go ahead with the surgery. I am going to call Monday and schedule it. I will be having a hysterectomy (leaving my ovaries), a cytocele repair and a rectocele repair.

Because I have 2 young boys, I'm trying to be as prepared as possible before the surgery. Ya know, having everything laid out, making sure who is taking them to daycare, picking them up, etc. I have some questions for you ladies to help me with if you can. I know you are not doctors and can't give me medical advice...I am more looking for different experiences with this surgery so I know what can or cannot happen.

1. The hysterectomy will be vaginal but can they do the 2 repairs through there or is that surgery an open or laproscopic surgery?

2. If it is an open or laproscopic surgery, how long was the hospital stay?

3. Were the incision(s) very limiting after a week or two? (I mean, I have 2 small kids so am I going to be able to pick them up, change diapers, etc.)

4. Do you have to do a fast and/or bowel cleanse before the surgery? (The only surgery I've ever had was emergency surgery after my last delivery so I've never had to prep for surgery before).

5. How long were you out of work?

6. Was recovery very painful? (I've heard conflicting stories on this one...some people tell me they had little to no pain afterwards and others have told me it was the worst experience ever)

7. Do you feel better now?

8. Is sex painful afterwards? (EXTREMELY concerned about this)?

9. Is your energy level better? (I've been REALLY tired since this all started)

Thank you ladies so much for any insight you can give me!

I am scheduled on the 18th for a full abominal hysterectomy and my doc tells me I'll be in the hospital for at least 3 days. I can't answer any of your other questions but I'm confident you'll get all the answers you seek here. these ladies are amazing.

Best wishes to you... I found making the decision so far for me as been the most difficult part.

Hi!

I had a TVH (total vaginal hysterectomy) and kept my ovaries. My hysterectomy was done completely through the vagina and I didn't have any abdominal incisions. There is a LAVH and that means 3 (or 4?) small incisions. Do you know what kind of vaginal hysterectomy you're having and why are you having a hysterectomy?

To share my experience in answering your questions:

1. The hysterectomy will be vaginal but can they do the 2 repairs through there or is that surgery an open or laproscopic surgery? Repairs can be performed vaginally and since I didn't have any, I'm not sure, but they are usually done vaginally most of (if not all) the time.

2. If it is an open or laproscopic surgery, how long was the hospital stay? Hospital stays tend to vary. I was only in the hospital overnight, but my LAVH and other type hysterectomy sisters may stay 2 - 3 nights as an average.

3. Were the incision(s) very limiting after a week or two? (I mean, I have 2 small kids so am I going to be able to pick them up, change diapers, etc.) Having any kind of incision(s) are just a part of the limits you can expect. Your doctor will give you instructions (usually when you're discharged from the hospital) for your recovery. You will have a lot of stitches internally that will need time to heal I wasn't allowed to lift more than 5 pounds for first 6 weeks of my recovery. That was my doctor's instructions for me. They are all different, but you will have some lifting restrictions for a while.

4. Do you have to do a fast and/or bowel cleanse before the surgery? (The only surgery I've ever had was emergency surgery after my last delivery so I've never had to prep for surgery before). I wasn't required to do any bowel prep beforehand. Since you're having repairs done, you probably will have to do one. Your doctor will instruct you own that, too. Just be sure to do whatever is instructed. If you have to, do one. If not, don't do one on your own.

5. How long were you out of work? I didn't work outside the home at the time of my hysterectomy. Your doctor will give you an idea on what you might expect. Reading around here it looks like most women are off work for about 6 weeks as an average, but some are able to go back to easy jobs earlier and some it takes longer. The main thing is to give yourself time to recover. You're only given this one chance to heal, do everything you can to do it right.

6. Was recovery very painful? (I've heard conflicting stories on this one...some people tell me they had little to no pain afterwards and others have told me it was the worst experience ever) In my case, I think I expected the pain of recovery to be worse than it actually was. You will probably have some post-op pain, but it will be controlled with meds and it won't be for the duration of your recovery.

7. Do you feel better now? I personally do. I was very fortunate to have a very uneventful surgery and recovery. My hysterectomy was for fibroids and suspected adenomyosis, so I don't have pain anymore.

8. Is sex painful afterwards? (EXTREMELY concerned about this)? For me, no. I haven't had any problems with intimacy but some women do. There's no guarantees and no one can predict what your outcome will be.

9. Is your energy level better? (I've been REALLY tired since this all started) My energy is good. I'm not anemic anymore.

This is just my experience. We're all different and hopefully, you'll hear other stories! I wish you the best! Keep reading and don't forget to click on the tabs and words at the top of the page for even more great and helpful information!

s, Deb

hi onnie,
Great ?????s, i am new to this s ite also. i have posted a few thing here too, but get off track with what i actually want to know. i will be following your post for some good answers. ggeesse that whole ?? about sex... it has been so long for me and husband that i completely didnt even think of asking that one.. that is such a huge problem here...i need a rectocele repair also..2nd one..i had one 5 yrs ago, wasnt that bad. dr said that there is a new "mesh" now to help support that wall better now"last longer" i didnt know that i would need another one thought the repair lasted forever. little did i know... i also have 2 kids 6&8 ,trying to figure out how to prepare things around here. nervous about all the possibilities...just glad that you have some great ???s here and looking forward to seeing what anyone has to say...

1. The hysterectomy will be vaginal but can they do the 2 repairs through there or is that surgery an open or laproscopic surgery?

I had a TVH and several repairs, all were done vaginally.


2. If it is an open or laproscopic surgery, how long was the hospital stay?

I only stayed in for 24 hrs

3. Were the incision(s) very limiting after a week or two? (I mean, I have 2 small kids so am I going to be able to pick them up, change diapers, etc.)

Even if you have NO visible incisions you do not want to pick anything up over 10-15lbs for a while! A mistake many women with TVH make is that they think that because they don't have any visible incisions that they are already healed.

4. Do you have to do a fast and/or bowel cleanse before the surgery? (The only surgery I've ever had was emergency surgery after my last delivery so I've never had to prep for surgery before).

I had to do a bowel prep the night before, but it is all dependent upon doctor preference from what I have noticed.

5. How long were you out of work?

I was out of work for 3 months, BUT I am a VERY slow healer and I am in the Army too... so I needed all the time off that I could get. Everyone heals differently... so keep that in mind and don't be too hard on yourself.

6. Was recovery very painful? (I've heard conflicting stories on this one...some people tell me they had little to no pain afterwards and others have told me it was the worst experience ever)

Again this all depends on the person. One word of advise I will give... take the pain meds as prescribed. I would wait too long (I don't like taking pain meds) and then they wouldn't work as well because my pain was too strong. My dh and my doctor lectured me a few times before I finally started taking them regularly!

7. Do you feel better now?

I do feel better now... I had a uterine prolapse and now I no longer feel like my insides are falling out!

8. Is sex painful afterwards? (EXTREMELY concerned about this)?

It hasn't been painful for us... just tight! (If that makes sense). But my doctor says the more I do it the more things will adjust to my dh's size.

9. Is your energy level better? (I've been REALLY tired since this all started)

My energy level is getting better, but I have other issues that affect it too.


If I had a choice to do it all over again... I would do it! It wasn't an easy road, but I'm glad that things are getting back to normal and it has really brought my dh and I closer.

Another thing that I had an issue with were hot flashes at night. The chillow helped tremendously! I kept my ovaries, but I think they were snoozing for the first 3-5 months after the hyster.

Best of luck!