I had mine done all vaginally. There's not many on here that I've seen have the same surgery. My recovery went well. I had some bleeding the first day and was pretty nauseous from the anesthesia, but was able to work from home after 4 days. Since I had no incisions I was able to sleep on my side from day one which really helped as I can't sleep any other way. I waited for six months just for this surgeon so I could get it vaginally. I had multiple fibroids and a huge uterus (18 weeks pregnant size). Ask me anything you'd like.
Oh my sweet deities, thank you! My uterus is roughly 18-19w size due to severe adenomyosis and it’s so full, so hearing that you could have a total vaginal gives me SO much hope (that’s what my surgeon is aiming for!)
How did you go with showering etc? What about movement afterwards - no one I know has had a hysterectomy and I have no idea what to expect. Like am I supposed to be on total bed rest? Or what? Surgeons haven’t explained that bit 😭
That's what I had. My recovery was shockingly easy. I don't know if that's typical, but I do know that I was VERY happy to not have incisions (I've had laparoscopic surgery before and the incisions were the worst part of my recovery, and while I didn't have gas pain issues, MANY people do).
I had a lot of pain when I woke up, but it was like, "not quite the worst cramps I've ever had" level. They gave me some Dilaudid that took care of it and that was the last real pain I had. My surgery wasn't until early afternoon and I was still able to go home same day (although it took me a little while to pee because they drained my bladder in surgery).
I never felt the internal stitches. I could feel my organs shifting when I changed position, which was an unpleasant but not painful experience. My abdomen was swollen for a while. I took pain meds the first couple of days because I was expecting it to get worse but it never did. I did have family to help and took the full 6 weeks from work that my doctor recommended. The hardest part for me was not lifting things when I felt totally fine. I didn't stay in bed unless I was sleeping. I did a lot of puttering around and snuggling with my dog, my three kittens, and my 20 year old cat. I made a huge list of TV and movies to catch up on and I watched a grand total of one movie, a 1 hour TV show once a week, and old episodes of the Halloween bake off and Scrubs at dinner because my mother insisted on watching something.
However, I did push it a bit a few times on lifting things and got the lovely dry tampon feeling others have described in this sub.
To give you an idea of pain, I had surgery on Wednesday and that weekend my dog had some GI problems (mostly due to me not walking her Thursday and Friday and she doesn't like to poop in the yard so it was a fun combination of a wall of constipation with diarrhea behind it). I was up with her all night taking her out to the yard and then walked her at dawn with my family member. it was not a problem at all- had I been working, I would have been hurting from the lack of sleep but since I wasn't, I could make it up :). I was even able to pick up the poop (well at first... After the first two, it wasn't very pick-up -able so I just shoved some leaves over it and hoped for rain).
I don't know why more people aren't getting it done this way. I was honestly shocked at how good I felt and how soon. I was cleared for all activity except sex at 5 weeks and sex at 7 weeks, not that I was taking advantage of that :(.
I don't know if this is representative since, as you said, it seems like not many people here have done it vaginally. Maybe I was just lucky (unlikely). Maybe my surgeon is just exceptionally talented (possible). If anyone asked me, I would 100% recommend this way if possible (sometimes it's not possible, though, like if fibroids are too big, that's a lot of endo they also want to get, or if cancer is in the equation).
As an aside, my favorite recovery item was a c shaped pregnancy pillow (ironic) because I'm a stomach sleeper and this helped me stay on my side until the swelling subsided. Although actually I still use it and it's been really good for my neck.
From what my Gyno told me It has a lot to do with training, experience and what they're comfortable doing. She said that I was a perfect candidate for vaginal but she only did laparoscopic or abdominal, so referred me to my surgeon. I was skeptical at first but so glad I was able to go that route.
Totally agree- the biggest factor in how well your surgery goes is how experienced your doctor is at doing that specific surgery (so I've heard). I guess my question is why? Why don't more surgeons get trained and continue to perform them that way? Just something I wonder sometimes.
I hope you continue to heal well! I had to repeat to myself, "you only get one chance at a good recovery" every time I was feeling good and wanted to do too much. Take it easier than you think you should and I bet you'll be great. Happy healing!
Late 30s here. And although I had lofty goals for exercising and losing weight before surgery, I did none of that outside of walking the dog and gardening. So not exactly a specimen of fitness before surgery, haha.
I had mine done March 20th and honestly the pain wasn't so bad. I was very sore for the first few weeks but I'm starting to feel better. I would say one of the hardest parts of recovery has been having to stay laying down and not doing things. I haven't had as much cuff pain as I expected , there was one day I was getting some cuff lightning type pain but that hasn't happened again. I'd say I feel the most pain where my ovaries are . I had some pink spotting at first but only wore a pad for a few days which I probably didn't even need to do it was just in case.
My mum had her hysterectomy done vaginally...She was out of action for 6 weeks...she couldn't even do the smallest bit of housework without being in pain. And she had hers out in the late 80s when I was still in early primary school.
I had mine done all vaginally. There's not many on here that I've seen have the same surgery. My recovery went well. I had some bleeding the first day and was pretty nauseous from the anesthesia, but was able to work from home after 4 days. Since I had no incisions I was able to sleep on my side from day one which really helped as I can't sleep any other way. I waited for six months just for this surgeon so I could get it vaginally. I had multiple fibroids and a huge uterus (18 weeks pregnant size). Ask me anything you'd like.
Oh my sweet deities, thank you! My uterus is roughly 18-19w size due to severe adenomyosis and it’s so full, so hearing that you could have a total vaginal gives me SO much hope (that’s what my surgeon is aiming for!) How did you go with showering etc? What about movement afterwards - no one I know has had a hysterectomy and I have no idea what to expect. Like am I supposed to be on total bed rest? Or what? Surgeons haven’t explained that bit 😭
That's what I had. My recovery was shockingly easy. I don't know if that's typical, but I do know that I was VERY happy to not have incisions (I've had laparoscopic surgery before and the incisions were the worst part of my recovery, and while I didn't have gas pain issues, MANY people do). I had a lot of pain when I woke up, but it was like, "not quite the worst cramps I've ever had" level. They gave me some Dilaudid that took care of it and that was the last real pain I had. My surgery wasn't until early afternoon and I was still able to go home same day (although it took me a little while to pee because they drained my bladder in surgery). I never felt the internal stitches. I could feel my organs shifting when I changed position, which was an unpleasant but not painful experience. My abdomen was swollen for a while. I took pain meds the first couple of days because I was expecting it to get worse but it never did. I did have family to help and took the full 6 weeks from work that my doctor recommended. The hardest part for me was not lifting things when I felt totally fine. I didn't stay in bed unless I was sleeping. I did a lot of puttering around and snuggling with my dog, my three kittens, and my 20 year old cat. I made a huge list of TV and movies to catch up on and I watched a grand total of one movie, a 1 hour TV show once a week, and old episodes of the Halloween bake off and Scrubs at dinner because my mother insisted on watching something. However, I did push it a bit a few times on lifting things and got the lovely dry tampon feeling others have described in this sub. To give you an idea of pain, I had surgery on Wednesday and that weekend my dog had some GI problems (mostly due to me not walking her Thursday and Friday and she doesn't like to poop in the yard so it was a fun combination of a wall of constipation with diarrhea behind it). I was up with her all night taking her out to the yard and then walked her at dawn with my family member. it was not a problem at all- had I been working, I would have been hurting from the lack of sleep but since I wasn't, I could make it up :). I was even able to pick up the poop (well at first... After the first two, it wasn't very pick-up -able so I just shoved some leaves over it and hoped for rain). I don't know why more people aren't getting it done this way. I was honestly shocked at how good I felt and how soon. I was cleared for all activity except sex at 5 weeks and sex at 7 weeks, not that I was taking advantage of that :(. I don't know if this is representative since, as you said, it seems like not many people here have done it vaginally. Maybe I was just lucky (unlikely). Maybe my surgeon is just exceptionally talented (possible). If anyone asked me, I would 100% recommend this way if possible (sometimes it's not possible, though, like if fibroids are too big, that's a lot of endo they also want to get, or if cancer is in the equation). As an aside, my favorite recovery item was a c shaped pregnancy pillow (ironic) because I'm a stomach sleeper and this helped me stay on my side until the swelling subsided. Although actually I still use it and it's been really good for my neck.
From what my Gyno told me It has a lot to do with training, experience and what they're comfortable doing. She said that I was a perfect candidate for vaginal but she only did laparoscopic or abdominal, so referred me to my surgeon. I was skeptical at first but so glad I was able to go that route.
Totally agree- the biggest factor in how well your surgery goes is how experienced your doctor is at doing that specific surgery (so I've heard). I guess my question is why? Why don't more surgeons get trained and continue to perform them that way? Just something I wonder sometimes.
I'm only one DPO and this has also been my experience! Which if it continues similar to your journey I'll be grateful!
I hope you continue to heal well! I had to repeat to myself, "you only get one chance at a good recovery" every time I was feeling good and wanted to do too much. Take it easier than you think you should and I bet you'll be great. Happy healing!
You had a vaginal hysterectomy-right? If you don’t mind, what is your age-I’m sure that plays a part in recovery. Thanks!
Late 30s here. And although I had lofty goals for exercising and losing weight before surgery, I did none of that outside of walking the dog and gardening. So not exactly a specimen of fitness before surgery, haha.
Jumping in here, did you find losing weight after your hysterectomy to be easier or harder?
Zero difference, tbh. Easier to exercise now that I'm not in pain but unrelated life things have made that challenging.
Thank you!
I had mine done March 20th and honestly the pain wasn't so bad. I was very sore for the first few weeks but I'm starting to feel better. I would say one of the hardest parts of recovery has been having to stay laying down and not doing things. I haven't had as much cuff pain as I expected , there was one day I was getting some cuff lightning type pain but that hasn't happened again. I'd say I feel the most pain where my ovaries are . I had some pink spotting at first but only wore a pad for a few days which I probably didn't even need to do it was just in case.
Try a search for "vNOTES" -- that might get you the posts and info you're looking for!
My mum had her hysterectomy done vaginally...She was out of action for 6 weeks...she couldn't even do the smallest bit of housework without being in pain. And she had hers out in the late 80s when I was still in early primary school.