Upcoming vaginal hysterectomy 9/14 - How long off work should I take? Post-op soreness?

Hi there!

So my op is planned for this coming Wednesday the 14th sept. and Im scared out of my pants after getting on youtube (stupid i know).
I am unsure of what my hysterectomy is called...but I will explain best I can.

It is vaginal, and they are taking uterus, tubes and cervix.

My question I guess is on recovery...

How long off work should I take? I have two jobs (both in an sit-down office environment) One is 3 days a week - I can take all the time in the world off this job..but the second one is 2 days and only new. How soon after surgery do you think I can go back to 2 days at work? I'm scared to take the time off work and am hoping that I can take a week off, and return to 2 days after that.

How sore is the actual outside of the vagina! I had no idea it went through so much trauma till watching a stupid video today and i almost died! Im scared to wee!

Im so scared of the pain!

Anyone who has experienced this in australia would be helpful too, in case anything is different here to the US...

SOrry if this sounds muddled...im just getting close and have lots of thoughts going through my head!

Hi there! Recovery is different for each of us. Did you ask your doctor/consultant for any kind of guidance on this? This is major surgery and 7-10 days is optimistic for a return to work. I had a TLH (5 small incisions with a 3" bikini incision) with all but one ovary removed. While I probably could have gone back to my sit down job at 3 weeks, I'm glad I did not go back until the 4th week and it was part time to start. At the end of each of those part-time days I went home and fell into bed for a 2 hour nap since my body was not used to sitting up straight for 4 hours. Other sisters have stayed out longer. You will need to listen to your doctor about restrictions and listen to your body as you are healing. If you take a longer period of time off, you can always return sooner if you feel better.

Best wishes for your upcoming surgery!

Hi. I am scheduled for vaginal hyst on 10/5. I also have a sit down office job. My doctor told me plan to be out 3-4 weeks and maybe work from home 1 week before returning to normal office routine.

Returning after one week is pretty ambitious. I've noticed in the posts from sisters who've had vaginal hysterectomies, many of them seem to have trouble sitting for a couple/few weeks after surgery.

Also, a hysterectomy by any technique is going to discombobulate your abdominal muscles. As a result, many sisters find it difficult to sit upright for long periods for a couple/few weeks.

Then there's the fatigue factor. At one week many of us are still taking regular naps! And you may or may not still be on narcotics.

The thing is, you don't know where you're going to be at one week until you get there. Your employers aren't going to be impressed if you tell them you'll be back in a week and then simply can't handle it physically.

I had abdominal surgery myself. At one week I could sit upright for a couple/few hours, but then my abs would start to burn as though I'd done too many crunches. The brain fog from the meds given to me during and after surgery was just starting to clear. I was still taking regular naps, still eating frequent healthy snacks instead of regular meals (since my body couldn't handle the latter). I was going for frequent short walks in order to help my body heal.

I was definitely not ready to go sit in an office all day.

I had a vaginal hysterectomy. Personally, I had no vaginal soreness or pain and no trouble sitting. I was cleared for, and felt ready for, office work at 2 weeks. But I don't have an office job, so I had to wait until 5 weeks. One week is optimistic, 2 weeks for a 2 day a week job may work out, depending on your recovery. Keep in mind that some do have discomfort sitting, even though I did not. If you can have the option to see how you feel before you commit to a return date, I would do that. Some of us have very easy recovery, others need more time, and you can't predict which group you will be in. Best wishes all goes well for your recovery.

I'm having the same surgery as you on the same day and hoped to go back on October 4th but dr said I am not cleared to go back until October 13.

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Originally Posted by UsernameIsTaken Hi there! So my op is planned for this coming Wednesday the 14th sept. and Im scared out of my pants after getting on youtube (stupid i know). I am unsure of what my hysterectomy is called...but I will explain best I can. It is vaginal, and they are taking uterus, tubes and cervix. My question I guess is on recovery... How long off work should I take? I have two jobs (both in an sit-down office environment) One is 3 days a week - I can take all the time in the world off this job..but the second one is 2 days and only new. How soon after surgery do you think I can go back to 2 days at work? I'm scared to take the time off work and am hoping that I can take a week off, and return to 2 days after that. How sore is the actual outside of the vagina! I had no idea it went through so much trauma till watching a stupid video today and i almost died! Im scared to wee! Im so scared of the pain! Anyone who has experienced this in australia would be helpful too, in case anything is different here to the US... SOrry if this sounds muddled...im just getting close and have lots of thoughts going through my head!

How are you I am also going to have my surgery on Wednesday I am a nurse and I met a woman on Monday you had a surgery 10 weeks ago and she said two weeks after she was fine driving and had not noticed anything different just take it easy and follow your postop instructions everybody is different I have had a laparoscopic emergency surgery couple of years ago and it took me about 2 to 3 weeks to be back to normal but I think you really have to rest a lot in the first few weeks I also set down a lot of my job because I work for GP and I can only have two weeks off but don't tell my boss that! I am in Eleonora Queensland