Hysterectomy Today

Well done StarsandSky - glad to see you posting again! You may get some wind/bowel pain as your digestive system starts up again. I kept my diet light (mostly protein and fruit, keeping starchy carbs to a minimum) until after I’d had a poo - which for me was day 4. I personally wanted to wait rather than take anything to speed that up. Oramorph and codeine can cause constipation so you may want to bear that in mind. 

Please don’t worry as the pain I experienced was completely manageable for me with paracetamol I think . Didn’t need morphine.  I have made a complete recovery after about ten weeks and wouldn’t really know I had the op now ( 9 Jan). Tiredness was my thing but I spent a lot of afternoons in bed at first just chilling . Ask visitors to strictly limit to 40 mins at first is my best advice and handy to have a visitor to lift your overnight bag up and move it as I hated troubling the nurses (36 hours in hospital). Best of luck 

Good to hear that your op went well. Don't rush to do things. 

H 

Hi StarsAndSky,

How are you doing?

Your first week is over now which is generally the hardest, I hope you are feeling comfortable and taking it steady.

Hi KeswickC, thank you so much for your message and for thinking of me. The first week has been tough, been in a fair amount of pain, but haven't taken any Oramorph for the last couple of days, just Ibuprofen and Paracetamol. I am much more mobile than I thought I would be though (I know mine was only keyhole but I still expected to be less mobile) which is good. It is hard not to do too much though, my partner has to keep reminding me not to lift things. I have been going for a couple of walks a day (again hard to know how much to do, when! Started off with 5/10 mins and now doing 20/25 mins). I hope you are ok. 

Wow StarsAndSky, so many walks so soon. Prior to my Op we (hubby and I) are keen walkers (geocacheing all over Yorkshire), but I gotta admit the furthest I’ve walked up to now (4week post Op) is around my garden watching the tulips coming through and very light seed planting in the greenhouse last weekend. I’m known for never being still so the only way I could stop myself was to stay out of the kitchen and recouperate upstairs, obviously light walking around the house to keep moving but only short bursts. Take it steady it is very early days for you, but we are all different, try rest a bit more. Mine was keyhole too.

Take Care and I hope your pain soon goes.

Oh ok, maybe I am doing too much! So hard to know. I will take it a bit easier, I just didn't want to not be doing enough! So jealous that you are Lake District/Yorkshire area, I love Yorkshire. Although very lucky where we are in Somerset, beautiful countryside around us too (but I live in a town). I have never tried geocaching, but it has been on my list of things to do for some time. Glad you are taking it easy, your garden sounds lovely, so nice you have been able to spend time in it. 

StarsandSky, great to see you posting again! You’re doing great with the walking, and if it’s comfortable for you then KEEP IT UP!  20/25 mins a day after a week was a tiny bit less than I was doing, and others on here have done more than that. One lady on here who is about the same age as me had her op last year and walked to and from her local supermarket on day 3 or 4 post op. Her CNS happened to phone her as she was walking through the woods to get there, and was delighted that she was out and about - and even told her that she’d like her to speak to her patients about how to recover from a hysterectomy! She was also told that you can’t overdo walking. As long as you’re listening to your body and are comfortable walking, and resting as and when you need to, it’s fine. Walking is good for your breathing, your circulation, your digestion, your mental health, and therefore your healing. Lifting is the thing to watch, also repeated bending, and also standing for too long, but walking is fine. Onwards and upwards! 

Hi I’m 7 weeks post op and I’m up to 4 miles walking a day now, I was a keen walker before abd runner. I saw a women’s physio yesterday and she said keep up with the walking unless it’s uncomfortable but def no running for 12 weeks. Also said I could hoover now but not lift it up the stairs. 

keep it up 

physio did say def do pelvic floor exercises as we are all at high tidy of prolapse now lol oh the joy

Thanks MarmiteFan59, that's really good to know. I know everybody is different though. It does feel comfortable doing the 2x 20ish min walks a day so I will continue with them and like you say, just listen to my body and increase the time or amount of walks again, when it feels comfortable to do so. The walks are also fairly flat, as I notice my tummy pulls on gradients so not planning on any uneven terrain or big slopes etc yet. I wasn't the most active person beforehand, but I am only late 30s and apart from being overweight, generally I am fairly 'fit and well'. Yes I do need to be careful with the bending and lifting.