Keyhole or abdominal hysterectomy

Hi Ronamy...welcome to the group although I am sorry to hear what you are going through. Your case sounds similar to mine. I had a hysterectomy in July for stage 1A endometrial cancer. I never had children either and my surgeon said they would decide on the day whether to do keyhole or abdominal. She said my womb felt ‘bulky’ and because I’d never had a baby she wasn’t sure if keyhole would work. When I came round from the op my surgeon told me they had been able to perform it keyhole after all.

Whichever way it happens for you, the main thing is it’s getting done quickly. This is (I found) a difficult time as it seems that time stands still! But the day will come and you’ll get through it x Many of us here have had similar surgery so we are all here if you need to talk/ask anything at all.

You’re in my thoughts, sending you a big  

Stephy x

Thanks for the reassurance, it’s all the uncertainty I’m finding difficult. ‘Friends ‘ keep telling me it’s a ‘good ‘ cancer to have as it can be removed without too much impact on the rest of you. This may be true but they are the going through this. I’m lucky in that my surgery is scheduled before Xmas, I thought I would have to wait until after the holiday.

Ronamy

Exactly...people said similar to me. I am lucky that the surgery was all the treatment I needed and although it was honestly fine it’s still major surgery. And the emotional impact of having cancer can be overwhelming. I found the uncertainty was the worst bit...like someone had pulled the rug from under my feet. I am glad you are scheduled for before Christmas. For me it was a relief knowing the cancer was out and the recovery was much better than I imagined. For me, tiredness was the main drawback but I am better now and was back working full time in a primary school 7 weeks after op. You will soon be on the other side of this. X

Hi Ronamy,

 I had abdominal surgery as my womb was bulky and my surgeon didn't think he could perform it laparoscopically. The problem is trying to get the womb out through the vagina if the womb is big (I don't have kids either). I was surprised at how well I felt after the op, I was home after two nights and was up and showered and dressed on my own the morning after the op, slowly but I done it. They had me on enhanced recovery which basically meant they encouraged me to do things like get my own water and shower on my own. They didn't rush me home though, I could have stayed another night if I wanted to.

My cut runs from my belly button down, some others have a bikini line cut. I think GBear had laparoscopic surgery then a smaller incision to get her womb out, so kind of half and half.

I know how stressful this time is so please share your worries or ask any questions, if you are thinking it we all probably have too.

lots of love

xxx

Thank you, good to hear positive stories, feeling less anxious now. Just want to get it done now and move on.

Hi Ronamy, Arla is quite right I did have what I call half and half. It was planned as fully laparoscopic  but my womb was rather bulky so they did an incision down from my belly button. Every part of my incisions healed very well indeed although I was rather nervous of having a total hysterectomy it was no way near as bad as I thought it would be. I too had no children before.

I agree with arla if you have worries or questions please ask everyone of the ladies here are very understanding and really care.

Hi Ronamy, I  too had my hysterectomy by keyhole at the beginning of  August,  my consultant said he would be able to  do it that way, as my womb was normal sized on the MRI. I  agree with the other ladies here that the waiting is hard. I  spent just 1 night in hospital and recoverd  well, I  was taking short walks after a few days, driving after 4 weeks and only just  started hoovering  again after 4 months. I  am now on the patient initiated follow up  as my cancer was stage 1A grage 1. I  hope all goes well with your op.

I've never had children. My surgeon say they would try laproscopically but couldn't be sure until they started. They did it successfully laproscopically, the external cuts were glued so the only stitches I had were internal ones. I was in hospital one night only and the actual op and recovery were much better than I expected. Good luck with your op xx

Thank you, I hope it will be the same for me.

Hi Ronamy, just to add my account here too, I have had no babies and I had laparascopic surgery (TLH and BSO), although I was warned beforehand that there might be a need to do open surgery.  I had the idea this was to "cover themselves" in case of some unexpected event - I don't know what, I didn't ask.  I think I already had information overload!  Anyway it turned out to be laparoscopic and I had 3 little holes, one each side low down on my tummy, and one at my bellybutton.  The ones at each side healed up super-quick and the bellybutton one took longer but didn't give me any trouble.  It was just that it had a scab there for a while. Wishing you lots of luck.