Has anyone had the hysterectomy with anastomosis (cut and rejoin of bowl)? How was the recovery time? Thank you
Hi. I had this last October. It is significant surgery (mine was scheduled for 6 hours and took longer) but you can prepare for it to improve your recovery
I am a fairly fit and slim 67 year old and exercised before surgery to maximise my fitness. After surgery, knowing that getting out of bed to sit in a chair and also waking a few steps each day would help recovery I did that. Psychologically it also helped me to do this because I felt that I still had some control over my life when I didn’t really feel in control.
I returned home after 6 days (which was so nice) and had great support from my husband. This support from someone is crucial for the first week. The first day at home I took 1 1/2 hours to shower (bliss!), change my colostomy bag, dress and breakfast and was then exhausted. In hospital I was told that 90% of my energy would go into healing and that was so true. In the first week every day I slept post lunch for at least one hour and needed it. I also walked every day. At first around the garden, then my road and then neighbourhood for 20 minutes. Again this walking helped my recovery.
you will find your pelvic floor muscles are non existent (at night when standing to go to the loo I would leak) so pelvic floor exercises are a must. I downloaded the Squeezy app, which is very good, did it initially 3 times a day and as a result my pelvic floor control is now excellent.
After my 4 week check I was able to increase walking and short cycle rides (for a coffee 
) and after 3 months return led to the gym where I asked for core muscle exercises to help with healing. At first I felt tired after exercise and had to rest much more but now I am living life absolutely normally.
the key thing is prepare as much as you can now, be kind to yourself and be willing to ask for help and be looked after!
Good luck with your recovery.
