Having DaVinci Hysterectomy - Can You Share Your Experience ?

Hi! I got my pre-op papers in the mail yesterday. It says I will be having a DaVinci laparoscopic hysterectomy. I read good things about it but was wanting to hear some personal experiences. How long were you under anesthesia for? How many incisions? I am trying to relax and not be so nervous about surgery. Today is reminding me why I want this surgery. My period is expected in another week but I always start getting pain in my back and abdomen about this time every month. Last month my period was lighter than I'm used to because I had pneumonia. Now I am fully expecting this next one to be really bad. At least it will be my last one!

Welcome jchance18,

I have no personal experience with the Da Vinci but I'd just like to share this link with you until others start to respond.

Da Vinci Explained

Hopefully you will get an overview from this info and get first hand experience from
from others here.

Hugs and good luck!

HI and welcome!
I had a davinci hysterectomy (including ovaries) on July 2nd. The doc said I would be "under" for 5 hours but it was actually 1/2 that. They said it went extremely well. I went home the following day, early afternoon.
Because of previous clot concerns I am on lovenox (blood thinner) for 30 days but no other meds.
Nothing hurts but I am tired, sleeping a lot. Sort of feel bruised in tummy. I think this minimal surgery was truly a gift and they were able to get stage 1 cancer and test lymph nodes etc to find out it had not spread. Happy!

Hi! Had my da Vinci on 6/17. Uterus, cervix, one ovary, both tubes removed. Significant adeno and endo and 1 fibroid. My surgery was about 3 1/2 hours and went really well. 4 ports - 2 on right, 1 in belly button, 1 on lower left. They were closed with surgical glue. One night in the hospital and walked a lot. The IV Tylenol was awesome - alternated with Dilaudid. Very swollen everywhere and don't be surprised by that. You are in a head down position during surgery, so your shoulders and neck may feel a bit sore. Totally normal. I'm 4 weeks out tomorrow and feeling really pretty good! It is a roller coaster (great one day, wiped the next). I'll go back to work at the end of week 5. I am super happy I chose the da Vinci assisted option. Best of luck! Let me know if you have more questions. I'm happy to help.

(((jchance18)))

Please be sure to also check out your surgery category in Our Hysterectomy Stories forum where you'll find many hundreds of detailed experiences.

We're sending best wishes for your surgery and recovery!

I had a da Vinci late last year. The surgery took 4 1/2 hours and my uterus, cervix and tubes were removed vaginally. My uterus was slightly larger than anticipated and my surgeon found an ovarian cyst that took a bit of time to remove. Spent two nights in hospital and I was walking 1.5 kms (slowly) around the block about four days after coming home. Only had five small incisions and a little bit of discomfort. I managed to stress myself out in the lead up to the surgery but it wasn't nearly as awful as I was anticipating. Everything healed well and I do not miss the monthly dramas that come with heavy bleeding. Best of luck with your surgery.

JChance18-

I am a bit further out in my recovery than the others. Jan 28 was my surgery date. Dr said to expect 3 to 3 1/2 hours for surgery and then 1-2 hours for recovery room, especially if they needed to remove any lymph nodes. From the point they wheeled me away until I was wheeled into my room was 3 hours (with one hour in recovery - which I have absolutely no memory of) that was with 2 lymph nodes removed. So things went very well. I had a one night stay in the hospital which was considered standard. Worst part was the gas from being "inflated" during surgery. The nurses started having me take Gas-x immediately and that really helped. Mostly only needed that for the first 12-24 hours.

As far as actual recovery goes...of course each person is different...but it has been pretty easy. I only ever took one prescription pain pill after returning home and was able to discontinue the Motrin the following day. It was nice not having any large incision. When I would over do it my body would let me know by this constant tugging discomfort in my side. Even now I still get that sometimes. It's kinda like a side stitch that doesn't go away. The heating pad helped a lot with that. I also found the binder to be helpful the first couple of weeks. Although I purchased one through this sight, they provided one at the hospital and I found it to be the most supportive. Most frustrating thing was bending over (or rather trying not to bend over for those first few weeks). Shaving my legs was a frustrating process (luckily it was winter so it wasn't too much of an issue) And my family swears that I dropped more things in those first few weeks than I ever have in my life (I think it was just that they were having to pick things up for me) Life is back to normal and I have resumed all of my normal activities. You'll need to keep reminding yourself to take it easy during recovery even if you are feeling great. I remember actually feeling worse in weeks 3-4 but then realized that I was probably over doing things in the first couple of weeks because I really didn't feel like I had been through a major surgery.

I do now deal with hot flashes and night sweats...but I'll survive that. Still dealing with "swelly belly" but that will take time. My Dr told me that at 12 weeks they considered a person 30% healed and at 6 months 90% healed. She told me at 8 weeks to "allow" a full year for complete healing.

Oh, one of the best things I did before hand was to make and freeze 3 weeks worth of meals.

I wish you all the best for your surgery and recovery.

I had davinci assisted vaginal hysterectomy on July 6 .. cervix and uterus removed and some endo adhesions. I had adenmyosis ( sp) and 5 fibroids. So glad it was robotic assisted. I have four small incisions healing nicely. My pain wasn't as terrible as I imagined. Anesthesia makes me sick, so I asked for lots of nausea meds before the surgery. My major issue was with the percocets making my bowel slow after. I had to take extra laxatives. Two weeks out I am able to take walks in the yard. I am only taking over the counter pain meds today. Still have bad pain in the morning and then it eases as I move around. I packed a back scratcher and thank goodness because I had cuffs on my legs all night to prevent clots and I was itchy. Don't expect to be able to bend over and paint your toes or shave legs for a few days. Have help at home after.. don't expect to clean or do laundry for a while

Thank you for all the responses! I will have help at home but it's going to be hard for me to sit still and not want to do laundry and other stuff once I feel better.