HELP! TVH questions

This is my first post on this board. I got on about a month ago when my surgery was first scheduled but since then I have been working non-stop 14 hour days, now scarily my surgery is on TUESDAY!!! I am so not prepared. I have to work tomorrow so this is the only day that I have to even think about preparation. My wonderful husband has taken off work to be here for me so that should be good, but I do have a few questions I hope ya'll might can help me with.

I am having a TVH and my doctor has said that my ovaries will stay. How long should my recovery really be? The doctor told me 2-6 wks. If all goes well that she may release me to return to work a few hours a day after 2 wks but to inform work that it could be up to 6 wks before I am back. What worries me (and my DH) is that I don't know how to only work a few hours a day. Is it realistic that I could be back to work in 2 wks? Should I wait until 4 wks? I do have short term disability so the pay is not the issue, I just want to make sure that I recover completely and don't end up with problems later.

What can I expect afterward? My bed is a high four poster bed that I have to climb into. Should I plan on the couch? Any suggestions or tips would be greatly appreciated!!! As you can probably tell I am beginning to freak a little bit.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me. Sorry this is so long!
Jeannie

Good morning Jeannie,
I had a TVH on monday. You can read about the details on the "tell your story" board... I think I posted it on wednesday. It should give you some peace of mind. My experience was wonderful. I feel GREAT, in fact my biggest challenge is to remember that I have an internal incision.

My husband built me a "nest" downstairs so I am in the midst of everything and that is where we are sleeping. If you are sleeping on a tall bed you might consider having a step stool handy so you dont pull anything getting in or out of bed.

My doctor said the same 2-6 weeks thing. My plan (which my doctor LOVES) is that I'm going to go back for some meetings starting around midweek week 2 and working some from my laptop at home. I'm going to make a point to get plenty of rest in between my work activities. As time progresses between weeks 2 and 6 ~ I'm going to gradually ramp up my work activities more and more until at the end of week 6 I am back full time. My doctor likes the idea of my not going from recovery to back to work FULL TIME all at once. We sound a lot alike about having trouble only being at work part of a day. Last year after I had my gallbladder out I did have some trouble with being at work part-time. This time around I'm going to try and go in for meetings and events only at first, then certain parts of certain days, then just certain whole days of the week. If at ANY time I start feeling tired or sore I'm going HOME. I plan on taking it REALLY easy in between working as I KNOW that will speed up my recovery. Please feel free to PM if you want to talk. Good luck to you and I hope you have an uneventful surgery and a smooooth recovery.

Hi Jeannie,
Welcome to Hyster Sisters. It's impossible to know how your recovery will go, but your DR's timeframe is realistic if you have a desk job and have no complications. I was working on a big project just prior to surgery, so can relate to your long hours. It sure limited the time I had available to worry!

I worked full-time using the laptop and phone from the couch at home my first week and then started transitioning back to the office the second week. I started working just a couple of hours a day at the office and the rest at home, and then gradually went back to the office full-time after four weeks. This is not the norm though, so don't feel disappointed if it doesn't work for you. Most women seem to take off 4-6 weeks. I also had no other responsibilities of children of take care of, making it easier for me to concentrate on my own needs. You'll have limited energy each day so you have to choose where to spend that energy. You can read the checkpoints for each week by clicking the "checkpoints" icon above. That gives you a general sense for what to expect at each point in recovery.

As far as the bed, you should be OK. Most women are able to walk up and down a flight of stairs right from the start. I found the couch was comfortable for a few hours, but not for long periods of good sleep. You may want to practice getting in and out using your arms more and your abs less before you go for surgery.

I wish you the best with your surgery and recovery.
Ashley

Hi Jeannie -

I'm almost 3 weeks post op & am starting to feel pretty good. For me, there is no way that I would have been up to going to work at 2 weeks post op but then I had alot done. If I would have just had a TVH then I might've been up to going in for an hour or so...but it's hard to know.

Since you mentioned that money isn't the issue, why not take the time that you need to pamper yourself? It's not worth pushing yourself too hard & then running into complications later.

I just thought of something other than my new hobby (making beaded earrings) that will hopefully entice me to get a lot of rest at home and not spend too much time at work... Astros in the playoffs!