Hysterectomy Advice - Lewistown,PA

I had a complete hysterectomy, bikini line incision, everything removed back in 2001 and IT WAS THE BEST THING I EVER DID.

As far as recovery time, It was not that bad. The first few days after the surgery I was sore and careful but I was at my daughter's track meet at the 2 week point. I do think your frame of mind and how in shape you are physically has a lot to do with recovery. I am active and I don't let something keep me down for long. I followed all Dr rules and was fine. I know some people who would fully use a 6-9 week recovery time if the Dr mentioned that time frame just to have an excuse to use it.

I never had the complications I'd heard about, however, I educated myself and was proactive.... You can hardly see my scar, I did not have the weight gain, I am on the HRT patch, a positive side effect was my boobs grew and they are still a perky 34DD! Can't beat that for a good side effect. I never had the "swelly belly" they mention because my dr had me wearing a binder around my waist from the time I left the OR. I wore that thing for weeks to make sure I would be ok. I am still my same size 2 and wear the same clothes, except for tops :).

My friend had the type of hysterectomy you are talking about and she was made an easy recovery as well. However, both of us only have 1 child and our daughters were in 1st grade when we had the surgery.

I got a lot of information from the website www.hystersisters.com
It is a straightforwrd site, women speaking from experience of going through it and questions from women about to go through it. Some women find the site scary. It depends on how you look at things..... can you objectively look at info or not?

I do believe the hardest part of it was was the waiting until surgery day.

2 moms found this helpful

Hi J., I just had a daVinci hysterectomy (leaving only the ovaries) 9 weeks ago. I am so incredibly happy I did it. Go on www.hystersisters.com and check it out....it gives you info on all the hysterectomies there are and any advice you may need. I couldn't have done it without it. Doctors are just so used to what they do that they don't give you nearly enough info. I had problems after my hyster but it turns out that I was doing too much (bending, lifting, etc) without even realizing it since my Dr didn't give me very good directions. Good luck!

I had an IUD done yesterday. The doctors practice where I go told me that they had one person in ten years get pregnant when she had an IUD. I figure if I do it is gods will. I did not want my tubes tied either. The reason you go pregnant is because they iud shifted. I was also told that I could also have the chance of having a tubal pregnancy. The IUD is 99.4% effective. There are different kinds out there. I would say that it is good that you are having the hysterectomy. I am sure you will feel better. Normally, you will probably not be able to lift anything over five pounds for about two weeks. I wish you luck. I hope you feel better.

I had a laparoscopic hysterectomy in October 2009. I was out of the hospital the day after the surgery. My bottom was tender (I also had a repaired prolapse) and you will be unable to pick up your kids until you are cleared by your doctor. My mom came and helped me out. It wasn't a long recovery at all and I had no complications.

I had a complete surgical hysterectomy 5 years ago, so I'm not experienced with the laporoscoptly assisted. However, a friend of mine had this kind of hysterectomy. She recovered far fasted than I did. Her recovery was very short and easy.

I am assuming that other options have already been explored and that it has been deemed that a hysterectomy is the best route???
Do you have fibroids causing your bleeding?

Are you a candidate for an endometrial ablation? I had the Novasure done a little over a year ago - and no periods since - my doctor expects that I never will. You are pretty young - sometimes the ablation doesn't provide permenant or complete cessation of menses.

I would personally NOT have a hysterectomy unless it was my only option. But I know lots of my friends who are so glad they had the surgery - and it is rare to have complications.

Good luck!

J.,
I used to work for a GYN and I saw her doing a lot of these. I found out a couple of years ago that according to researchers it is not good for a woman to get one done unless she has the highest stage of cancer. So what I would recomend you do is get a second and third opinion if you can before you decide to do it; especially because you are very young to get this done. If you can, just postpone it until you can get a second opinion. There might be other alternatives that your doctor is not aware of to deal with your issues. Wishing you the best.
Blessings

I had a vag hysterectomy 12 years ago (and also still have my ovaries). I did have very serious complications - not because the surgery was necessarily dangerous, but you know when they go over the forms with you right before the surgery and say "there is a risk of this but we have never seen a case," and "this other complication is like one in a million"? Well that was me :) If not for the rare complications I had, I would have been back to work (desk job) in two weeks and back to "normal" in about 6 weeks - far less than a surgical hysterectomy. Even with the complications and near death experience, if I had to do it all over again, I would do it in a heartbeat! I had my period for 1 year straight, then miraculously got pregnant AND carried to term, but then never stopped bleeding again until they did the hysterectomy 1.5 years later. They tried EVERYTHING. Nothing sucks worse than bleeding for that long of time so I know how you feel.

If you can get someone to help out with the kids until the following Monday after the surgery, and then get some off and on help for another week, you should be golden. Also, don't do stuff that you aren't supposed to do! That will only set you back more.

Good luck!

I had the da Vinci hysterectomy (robot assisted) done less than a year ago. 3 tiny incisions (one in my belly button). This was the best thing I could have ever done. I feel like a fabulous new person. Plus no periods!! Yea! She took everything except my ovaries. My uterus was completely covered with fibroids and was so engourged it was the size of a canteloupe (huge). I was in the hospital about 24 hours. The only discomfort I had after the surgery was from the "gas" they fill you up with prior to surgery moving around in my stomach trying to dissipate.

I had a good friend have a complete hysterctomy this way(vaginally and with a robot doing the work), and her recovery time was short. The anesthesia recovery was the worst part for her, but she was able to go home after two nights in the hospital.(she was supposed to go home the next day, but her bloodwork was off so they kept her an extra night) You are young, though, so I would also look into alternatives. Look into Novasure. I picked up a pamphlet last time I was at my GYN, and it is some outpatient procedure for heavy bleeding with no hormones and no hysterectomy. Don't know anything else about it, I just hate when a doctor will jump at a chance to perform a hysterectomy when I know there has to be other options.
In the end it is your decision. Good luck!