I am planning on having this procedure and would like to know how it went with other mama's! What can I expect as far as pain, recovery time, can I lift things, drive, travel, how is sex after something like this? They are leaving my ovaries in.
My sister had it done a year ago and was back to work the next week. she had very little pain after the second day. recover was very fast for her and she recommends it to anyone who would need one.
I was supposed to have one but as the doctor said "everything I touched just bled and wouldn't stop" so it converted to a full open hysterectomy. I only say this because I was not expecting that and I had planned on being back to work in 2 weeks or less but eneded up needing a longer recovery time. Hopefully yours goes more smoothly than mine.
good friend had this done and developed cancer soon afterwards. because of ovaries left behind, dr. said sorry can't always tell if it get it all. now going tru cemo. very sad situation.
I feel ya sister. :) I have to have it done this next April and I'm going through the same feelings too. I just had a laparoscopy and DNC the beginning of January. The healing from a laparoscopy for me was hardest at the point of incision where it itched really bad once it started to heal up. I was back up and around after 2 weeks for that. However, I have a friend that had the vaginal hysterectomy 4 months ago and she said she was up moving after about 1 week. Actually doing light lifting (gallon of milk, toys, etc) after 2 weeks and beginning sex again after 6 weeks and then back to normal completely by 8 weeks. The key is getting your body up and around again post surgery and then taking it light and easy until there is little or no pain down there again. For her she said the pain from surgery simply replaced the pain she was having before, but it at least healed up and quit eventually. For me, after my lap. I had very little pain and all I did was rotate tylenol and ibuprofen every 3 hours so my body got a break from the same medicine but kept me pain free that first several days. You can do it and think of how much better you will feel. I'm having to focus on that too cause I don't like the idea of surgery. :) Oh yah, the other thing that was difficult for me to get used to after my thing (with the incision sites) was driving again and even sitting in the seat belt. It rubs against your incisions and puts pressure on your belly, especially if you are trying to drive. I would recommend not driving for about 2 weeks if possible. Definitely at least 1 week. My friend also said that sex felt no different (in a good way) to either of them after she was completely healed up. Just becareful the first few times getting back in the groove. :) so to speak. God bless you.
There is a great website,www.hystersisters.com, that has lots of great information on different procedures and options. It also has great information on where to get more information.
I had the vaginal hysterectomy and my sister had the normal cut, she seem to heal a lot faster than i did. The problems i had were that you hurt in your stomach area and also hurt down in the vaginal area, which made it hard to get up or seat.
I don't personally know about the Lap but have heard it has a relatively quick heal time. I had a "regular" hysterectomy since I previously had c-sections. My recovery was very quick and I was back to work in 4 weeks. Just follow the recovery schedule set by your doctor. Good luck to you.
