Hi Chrissy

Very sorry to hear your news but, as you say, your arm may well have saved you.  I had same hysterectomy as you 3.5yrs ago, and made excellent recovery at age 63.  It was my first time in hospital and can't speak highly enough of them (Churchill, Oxford) even the food was lovely!

I'd say do exactly as your surgical team advise, keep the wound/dressing dry as infection less likely to occur.  Then do as the hospital physios tell you and do a little exercise each day to help things heal well.  They had me out of bed on Day 2 and walking a little.  Take your phone charger but no money as all you'll want is their food which is excellent.  Take loose clothing to put on the day you leave, possibly elasticated waist tracksuit bottoms that you can roll down to or above bikini level depending on your scar.  Most of all just don't think about it - just go with the flow, let the professionals take over and do their job.

Tips: stock fridge with soups and ready meals and vegetables.  Prune juice too in case of constipation initially. Then lie on the sofa reading or watch a box set, I was six weeks off work but you'll need it as you'll be exhausted initially.  

Sending lots of positive thoughts

Kate

Hi Chrissy, welcome to the group and to this roller coaster ride! Well done for every day that you’ve got through so far. I was diagnosed this time last year and had my laparoscopic hysterectomy in January this year. I did a Hysterectomy Diary thread starting with the op day itself, and you may find it of interest! community.macmillan.org.uk/.../hysterectomy-day-and-after---diary

And here’s a thread started by MrsBJH and added to by others, re what to pack in your overnight bag. Not everything will apply to everyone, but it’s worth looking through. For me the most vital things were my own pillow and snacks/squash. community.macmillan.org.uk/.../what-to-take-in-my-overnight-bag

Chrissy, just to say that your original post doesn’t seem to have a title? It might get more responses if you added one as then it would show up on the main forum page and more may notice it.

Hi ChrissyG and welcome to our group of lovely supportive ladies who'll be here to hold your hand or offer a holder to cry on, we've all been there and for most of us this was our first brush with major surgery. Thank goodness for your Nurse Practitioner being on the ball!

If you have laparoscopic surgery recovery time is very quick, some ladies went home the same day! The main thing is to avoid lifting and bending, take small walks as soon as you feel up to it, rest when you feel like it.

When you get a minute it’s always helpful to others if you write a little something (or a lot) about yourself and how you came to find yourself here. Why not take a few moments to update your profile. It's always helpful for us to read if we want to ask you questions and you also won't end up repeating yourself. You can enter it into your profile (click on your username and select “Profile”). You can amend or update it at any time. If you’re not sure what to write, just click on my username.

As Marmitefan59 mentioned, give a title to your future threads so the subject appears to others. I'm not sure if you can go in retrospectively and give it a title so I'll ask the team if they can add a title. I'll ask them to entitle it Hello, I'm new here.

If you want to ask any of us any questions please come back and do so. There's always someone around and we can offer a shoulder to cry on, a hand to hold or listen to a rant, we’re here for you.

It might also be a good idea to download this booklet Understanding Womb (Endometrial) Cancer. I found it really informative and helpful.

Click on the link I’ve created to find out more information covering diagnosis and treatments for Womb cancer.

You might also find this link to what to take in my overnight bag useful for when you have surgery. One of the ladies has already provided a link.

You can speak to someone in confidence by calling Macmillan Support on 0808 808 0000 - 365 days a year 8am to 8pm It's free from mobiles and landlines. The friendly team are waiting to take your call.

There is also an Ask an Expert section, but you should allow two to three working days for replies from our expert team.

Sending you welcoming hugs, Barb xx 

Hi Kate. Thank you so much for the tips, luckily I have a very self sufficient hubby, he’s retired so he is standing by to wait on me hand and foot. I bought some jogging bottoms, also a couple of nighties as I thought they’d be better than pj’s for “ease of access” while I’m in hospital  I’m hoping the prune juice won’t be necessary as I do suffer from constipation anyway but have been told that’s it more than likely due to the “beast” of a fibroid I have which after too many years I will finally be losing. 

Thank you so much for the link MarmiteFan59 it gave me some idea of what to expect. When I was first diagnosed, I started a blog but I found everything so overwhelming I had to stop. I think I just tried to take everything on board too soon. I’m feeling a bit better about it all now and I will continue with it. I smiled at the part where you said you didn’t like people, bright lights and noises - I think that’s one of the things that I’m dreading the most. I am definitely not a social butterfly - the  thought of having to make polite conversation with strangers! I’m practising my ‘stay away’ scowl :). The what to pack link was very helpful I thought I had it all covered but there was some good ideas there. Thanks again and I was sure I did do a title for my post but thinking about it, it may have just been a waving emoji. 

Thank you MrsBJH it’s a comfort to know that I am not alone. I can’t have keyhole surgery due to a very large fibroid - that I was assured would shrink after menopause when a hysterectomy was first considered due to heavy periods back in my early fifties - it didn’t and is precisely the same size today. I will definitely make sure to update my profile, I initially started to update everything and then became so overwhelmed by it all I had to stop, but I’m feeling much better about it all now. 

Hi Chrissy, as you’re having open surgery, you will be staying in a bit longer than for laparoscopic surgery, so taking in stuff from home will be especially helpful for you. Could I suggest that earphones/ear buds would be a good idea, even if you’re not planning on listening to anything, as you can pretend you are, and not have to make small talk if you don’t want to! 

Something I did in preparation for my hysterectomy was to keep my diet light in the couple of days pre up, and, the day before my op, I had my main meal at lunchtime, with just fruit and soya milk in the evening, so that I has a poo that evening and my bowel was then as clear as possible for the morning. Post op I again kept my diet as light as possible until I had had my first post op poo. I didn’t have any wind pains post op, nor any constipation. Getting up and about asap post op, and having gentle walks around the ward and corridor, should also help get things moving,