Had my op yesterday - and am now home!

Hi Free at Last,

Glad to hear it all went well, and you are home.

I think things must be done slightly different over there. I think they err on the cautious side here! When my husband had an operation for throat cancer his Italian surgeon said ' Eat ze spaghetti'. The nurse was behind him shaking her head vigorously, and mouthed 'No'!!! He had lots of advanced, new ideas. It was quite refreshing.

Take it easy.  xxxxx

Hi free at last, I bet you are so pleased to be home. 

It sounds like it went really well. 

Take care of yourself and take it easy. 

Great news to hear you are home. Rest up now and take care. Sending lots of good wishes for your recovery x

Great to hear that your op is over and you are home. Take care with your recovery and good luck with your check up on 19 November. 

Thank you.  Yes, I'm sure there are lots of differences.  You all seem to have a lot more dialogue with your doctors and more information discussed with you, and there is certainly nothing like having a named nurse as a contact here, I wish there was.  The system here seems very efficient and quick, but brisk to the extreme.  There has been no advice offered about what to do or not do after the operation, so the information and advice I've gleaned from this group has been vital.

One thing that really took me by surprise was that I wasn't brought water to drink after my operation.  My husband had gone home and when I asked the nurse if I could have some, she asked if I had any money (I hadn't brought any as I didn't think I'd need it) as drinking water had to be bought from vending machines.  She did bring me tap water but only a couple of cups at a time.  I drink tap water at home so that didn't bother me, but I didn't want to end up dehydrated. When I was in the private hospital last year they kept on bringing me so many bottles of mineral water my back teeth were practically floating, I must have drunk 4 litres in a day.  I rang my husband and asked him to bring in some bottles the next morning and then I got discharged so didn't need them.  We left them behind with the nurses - maybe they have to buy their own, too!

So happy to hear that the operation went well and you are now at home. Please take care, no bending or lifting and remember it takes at least six weeks to heal externally and a year or so internally. So when you feel so well and ready to conquer the world in three weeks time take my advice and dont..it only leads to problems. Remember slow and steady wins the race! Take care. God bless. Love lamb.xx

Thank you, Little lamb.  I'm not going to do anything silly and reorganised my kitchen cupboards before going into hospital so I can easily reach essential things (nothing heavy) without bending or stretching.  I'm managing to make drinks, heat up soup and make things like toast, when I am ready for larger meals I cooked a lot for the freezer so can just ask my husband to get them out for me.  He will be doing the cleaning (we always share it anyway), carrying the shopping and hanging out the washing.  He cooks his own meals anyway, as he is vegetarian and I am not.

But a year or so to heal internally?  Does that mean I won't be able to return to exercising for that long, because if so I would find that really hard.  I am a bit of a fitness fanatic and I don't feel right unless I can get some exercise.  I don't want to go mad, but after I'd had open heart surgery in June 2018 I started swimming again at the beginning of September, and immediately all the aches and pains I'd been suffering from disappeared and I could sleep much better - and I mean swimming 50 laps in a session, not just splashing about.  I followed a cardiac rehabilitation exercise programme designed by St. Thomas's Hospital in London before I resumed my normal gym sessions as well, which builds up gradually through 4 levels, and was hoping I could do the same after this operation.  It doesn't involve any abdominal exercises.  I will talk to the gynaecologist about this when I have my check-up on 19 November, and I know there is no way I will be ready to do anything like it by then.  I was hoping to maybe be able to start swimming again from the beginning of December and then start the rehabilitation exercises in the New Year.  

I managed to walk to the supermarket and back with my husband this morning, without any problem, and I feel much less tired today than I did yesterday.  Luckily we only live a 5 minute level walk from the shops.  I'll go a little bit further every couple of days, there will be no long hikes involved for some time!

Found this advice about exercise post-hysterectomy, which seems sensible to me.  What do you all think?

https://www.lifeafterhysterectomy.com/exercise-after-hysterectomy/

That seems pretty sensible but as you said I would run through it with your consultant at your meeting just to make sure as they are the professionals and will know how much is too much. When I said a year to heal completely internally I was just echoing what I had been told personally and that may well differ between individuals and healthcare regions. For example I am a short, stout little thing with a high bmi, a few health problems and my fitness regime would mainly be walking because my husband and I don't drive. My job involves standing for at least ten hours a day. I also care for my elderly parents and my son. I enjoy swimming but unfortunately I cannot fit it in as regularly as I would like to due to time constraints. You sound pretty fit and active so your body would probably recover faster than mine would and if your body is used to doing exercise on a regular basis I can understand your frustration. If you coped ok after your heart operation with your regime I imagine that the same sort of approach, given swimming is quite a gentle exercise like walking that you can build up gradually, would probably be ok but seek advice first. I don't know about jumping in or diving though because of the impact as you enter the water so you may have to use the steps for a bit longer! I hope your check up goes ok, my second is on 28th November. Take care now. Love lamb.xx

Goodness me, Little Lamb, being on your feet for 10 hours a day at work plus all your caring responsibilities sounds like a pretty active lifestyle to me!  Neither my husband nor I drive either (I never have and he gave up driving after we moved over here) so we walk everywhere too.  

Best of luck with your second check-up on 28 November, I hope everythiing will be fine.

Love

Lynn

x