Recovery Progress Reports for Hysterectomy dates Aug 03-Aug 09,2020

Had surgery on Thursday and home next day! My uterus was the size of a volleyball they tell me so it took them almost 3 hours Instead of 2 hours for surgery but they still did it without having to fully open me up. Haven't taken pain meds since last night. Only pain I have is from co2 gas bubbles in my shoulders but heating pad really helps and mild cramps but my tummy binder helps with those as well. This was less painful than my gallbladder surgery 2 years ago as I can actually get in and out of bed this time around.

all & : KD2020 & Myowncoffeeshop,

Glad to have you both on board here on the Progress Report thread.

KD sorry to hear you are having issues. Did you tell the Dr you were worried about DVT? The dizziness and nausea aren’t fun either. My advice at this point is to try and relax buuut if you still feel things aren’t right don’t ignore it. I get trying not to be alarmist but our bodies do give us signals. And at HS we advise listening to your body. Congrats on the BM!!

Coffee, that sounds like a pretty big Uterus! Glad they got it out. Sounds like you are doing a good job of working through the first stages of this journey.

Mseb, many take up to 6 days and remember you really haven’t had a lot of food in your system in the last 3 days with the time off for you surgery. Good luck, many of the ideas suggested by your sisters here have worked for others. Did your Dr give you his/her best suggestion yet?

Tt, good luck to you also. Hope you get past this milestone soon.

Sister Hugs to all,
Anndy

I was able to walk up and down the driveway twice in a row today. And then I took a three hour nap. My appetite is still not very big but better than it was in the hospital and my first day home. I require 10 perfectly positioned pillows in bed to make an appropriate nest for sleeping. I think I’m doing as well as can be expected! Sending love and healing vibes to everyone else as we continue this recovery journey together.

I'm doing very well. I haven't really had any pain. I thought at first that it was just the anesthesia taking a long time to wear off, but it really does seem I'm not going to have much pain worth mentioning. I do have swelly belly and feel best when lying down, rather than sitting up. I've been taking the prescription ibuprofen to keep inflammation and swelling down as much as possible. I live in a very large apartment building and have been walking from my apartment door to the elevator and back on a regular basis. (It's a 2 minute walk, round trip.) It turns out my elaborate preparations were not needed.

I am disappointed that the doctor ended up having to take one of my ovaries. Apparently there was some endometriosis and the ovary had adhered to the uterus, so It had to come out as well.

My family and friends are being as supportive as they can be, considering we are in the middle of this covid mess.

I'm sending healing thoughts out to all of our hyster sisters, hoping we can all heal as quickly as our bodies will let us.

Ladies all,

mp & Poppy, sounds like you are both doing a good job of taking care of yourselves. This is a baby step recovery and what you are doing is wise.

To all!! Being cautious and only increasing activity slowly is the way to go. It may be a few weeks yet before things will be stable enough inside to keep over doing from the possibility of causing more inflammation. Right now wisdom says listen to your body. We are all different, had different surgeries with different surgeons, so the range of speed of recovery is very different.

A reminder and eat healthy.

Lots of gentle Hugs,
Anndy

I feel like my walking has gone a lot slower because I'm attached to a Foley catheter. Thankfully I've been sleeping well. But I've had a lot more nausea than I expected. Thankfully I finally went to the bathroom this morning (BM) and I think maybe that will help some of the nausea go away. My doctor scheduled the cystography for Friday so we can hopefully get me off this catheter that day.

Had my surgery last Monday and surprise, it was complicated. 8 hours instead of 2. Pesky fibroids and angry uterus didn’t want to go - sticking to nearby organs and whatnot. Also had a blood transfusion despite all efforts to avoid, had to stay the night in hospital. This recovery is rough— worse than my prior surgeries. Feeling scraped out inside. Hurts (and takes ages) to go the bathroom. Nausea prevents me from eating much then I have very low energy during the day. All I do is sleep, almost a full week of sleeping now. The days passing by in a haze... One piece of good news is the sore throat from intubation is gone and no more night coughing to reawaken the incisions! Baby steps (literally)!

Have also been surprised at the emotional release from the surgery. When I woke up from anesthesia I immediately felt the emptiness where my hard and intrusive uterus had sat for 15 yrs earlier. Cried tears of joy alongside the pain!

all & : fifteenyears,

So glad to have you join us. It does sound like that was pretty rough. Please allow yourself to keep resting and staying slow. Your body has lots of work to do to recover from all that trauma. I have had other sister with similar issues so I know it can be done just be patient, Sis. Feel free to keep us posted and/or vent if you need to we are here for you.

Joy, thinking of you and do hope the cystography goes well. In the mean time be gentle with yourself.

s0ng, haven’t heard from you in a few days. Are you still doing well?

Ladies hope all are slowly feeling improvement as the days pass. I know it can seem daunting but and keep taking care of yourselves.

Sister Hugs to all,
Anndy

almost a full week of recovery. I have minimal pain. I'm having a hard time remembering things as I am doing them and now I feel very exhausted and achy everywhere. Like flu, body aches. Has anyone dealt with these symptoms yet?

Yup, s0ng. The brain fog happens to lots of us. I had all sorts of reading and projects that I wanted to do during my recovery and I found I couldn’t concentrate long enough to want to start anything.

The fatigue is also a main issue for most. Mine lasted until into my 4th month. But since you are doing so well generally think you can expect it to subside sooner. I think it just shows how much energy it really take for our bodies to complete the healing. And this is part of why most Drs say it take 4-8 weeks to recover.

Hugs,
Anndy