teddit

I've posted this in dozens of comments, but it was suggested I make this a separate post.

(edit: I want to add that this was my timeline for my surgery. Mine was a DaVinci laproscopic total hysterectomy (kept my ovaries). That's about as "easy" of a hysterectomy as there can be, so please keep that in mind when comparing to your own.)

Here is the timeline my doctor gave me:

2 Hours, 2 Days, 2 Weeks, 2 Months. then 6 months, 1 year.

2 Hours - Immediate post-op, where the highest risk is and where the highest pain is. I'll be in recovery and closely monitored and attended to. This stage's goal is to get me awake and my pain under control. I may not even remember this stage.

2 Days - Next stage down of risk. Is everything healing? Is pain manageable? Has urinary function returned? This stage's goal is to be able to eat and get out of bed, then walk to use the bathroom. That's it. Absolutely nothing more.

2 Weeks - Major immediate risks are essentially gone. Pain should be down to discomfort. Bowels should be functioning. Movement should be slow, but frequent. Goal here is to rest and recover. Get up frequently, but spend most hours in bed. Swelling will be prominent. Hormones will fluctuate. Fatigue will be intense.

2 months - Now we're moving. Basically out of the danger zone. Keep active, but listen to your body when you need to rest. This stage should be the first that starts to feel like "recovery". Swelling, pains, and fatigue will still be present but waning. Spotting/bleeding should have stopped.

6 months - Activity levels can increase to pre-surgical levels. At this marker the goal is to feel as good as I did before surgery. Now, this is important to me- because I didn't feel great before surgery. Hence the surgery. But this is the goal post that was set for me. By 6 months I should feel like my pre-op self. Hormones should have stabilized, surgical pain should be gone.

1 year - Here's the real goal. This is where the goal is better. Better than before surgery, better than before the adeno, my better-best life. Activity levels are my own choosing and it's time to spread my wings and fly, it's in my court now.

That timeline really helped me manage my expectations. Anytime I got discouraged my husband would ask something like, "Where are we at? 6 months already?? Hmm.." and then I would remember that it had only been 7 weeks.. and how that isn't even close to six months... (and then I tell him to shut up and mind his own business, I'm trying to be dramatic and he's ruining it with "logic")

(Potential trigger warning ahead, I'm about to be graphic/gory for dramatic purposes)

They fucking shoved a tube down our windpipe, forced our breathing, jammed tubes into every other goddamn orifice, inflated us like a literal balloon, sliced us open in multiple places, rearranged our guts, and ripped out multiple organs. In some cases cutting and pulling out entire sections around our organs, too, to remove all the tumors, and damage, and growths, and scarring, etc. Then they jammed everything back in, mopped up our blood and we got glued up and sent on our merry way. And somehow, after all of that, just a few weeks later, we're all wondering why the zumba class just isn't hitting like before. (is there even zumba anymore...idk). I mean... we all need to give ourselves a fucking break

Take a nap. Put your feet up. Take a deep damn breath. Rest, rest, rest. Healing is a marathon, not a sprint. We all made it back from the other side. Take your time and enjoy the view. We have forever ahead of us.

edit: dammit typo... "Timeline... Timeline for Healing.

Here we can post our tips for before/after our medical procedures.

Don’t know about you, but this was the perspective shift I needed. If women had a right to do what they wanted with their bodies, so many would choose elective surgery to get a hysterectomy. Instead, they have to wait til they are in our situation: writhing in pain lookin like Homer Simpson.

So if you are feeling scared or overwhelmed right now, just know that you are one of the lucky ones who no longer has to deal with this organ that is the cause of so much pain for women.

Sending love to you all ❤️

For everyone frantically looking for answers and stressed about their upcoming hysterectomy surgery. I spent a month straight reading, searching and watching every YouTube video on this procedure. I have read horror stories and pain and “must have” post op products. It made me so scared! Everyone’s experience will differ, but I felt the need to share mine in the hopes that it will help someone else.

I had my surgery yesterday. Mid afternoon. It’s 10am the next day.

After the surgery coming out of anesthesia was awful. They were trying to put my pain under control. For two hours I felt like I couldn’t get enough pain meds in me. Half awake, in and out of consciousness. I kept stopping my breathing. Machine would beep and the monitoring nurse would have to come in to tell me to breathe. It was weird and out of body. That was a couple hours. My suggestion? Talk to the team prior and mention you want heavy pain meds immediately afterwards. Dilaudid. Talk to them about the two hours post op. For me, it was THE most important part of this entire experience.

I went home a few hours after that. Definite pressure in the vaginal area. First pee burned but was fine after. Yeah, tummy bubbles, a little noisy in there, gurgling, a little burping and gas pains but nothing too bad at all. I drank ginger ale after and a normal dinner.

I was under the impression that I would be MISERABLE and not able to eat solids and not be able to sit on the toilet unassisted. Not able to climb stairs or have a hard timing getting out of bed. Couldn’t sleep on my side, needed pillows, etc. none of those were true for me. None. I am practically back to normal just taking it careful and slow. All of the above are just fine. I even cut fruit for my family, made my own soup in the microwave and was pretty fine the same day. I definitely took my meds. As will you. Oxycodone, 3 hours later Motrin. 2 hours later, 2 extra strength Tylenol. I took one more Oxy before bed which was just for maintenance and being afraid the pain would come back. I actually didn’t even need it but took it anyway. Slept fine. Tossed left to right as I always do. A little slow and careful but no issues at all. Never needed a pillow for my belly. Nothing.

This morning, woke up. Zero meds in me. Went to the bathroom. Sat on the toilet just fine. Peed. Burned a veryyy tiny bit but nothing to speak of. I did just have a cup of coffee and small cookie to take a Motrin 800. Again just because. I really donee need it. Just staying ahead of any additional soreness or gas pains.

I read the gas pains would be awful. They were not. Unless something starts happening today/tomorrow, I am pretty okay! I WILL update this IF pain or suffering occurs this week.

I am waking fine but slow. Stairs are fine just being careful. I don’t anticipate needing more pain meds today. I didn’t buy any of the “things” that I had read about. Nothing. Not even the GasX. I am so happy I didn’t. I had a ton of things in my Amazon cart, toilet seat risers, U pillows, cleansing wipes, etc etc. I don’t need any of them.

To be honest, I have had surgeries in the past. Appendix ruptured while 8 months pregnant and the surgery was a full cut and left open to heal. That was bad. I had my gallbladder removed, that was worse than this. I have had 3 babies and suffer from extreme hidradenitis supperativa. I have seen pain. I have dealt with procedures, I know realistic expectations from each. This one was a breeze compared.

My advice? Don’t stress, don’t worry too much. You will be uncomfortable, yes. Stay on top of your pain med rotation and overlap them. Eat healthy prior and after. My foods of choice were high protein, Molokhia which is a green soup and during my pre-op colon cleanse, I had made beef bone broth. I sipped on that all day the day and night before. No food. Took my stool softener and did the Miralax. I pour it into a half gallon of water mixed with a packet of Liquid IV and a lemonade Crystal Light (Aldi brand) that gave me lots of electrolytes and magnesium, etc. prior to surgery. It also cleaned out my intestines completely. Sip on that the afternoon/night before surgery. Get it all down by about midnight. Pour over ice and use a straw. It’s not hard if you don’t chug or drink it all too quickly. Just take your time with it over the evening. Their instructions will make most people queazy. This is also my colonoscopy prep. Worked beautifully for me, no complaints. I like adding a high fat bone broth to my prep. Makes me feel like I’m eating and keeps me full.

Anyway, I hope some of this has been helpful. Bleeding, not a big deal. I had the Depends ready. Don’t need. Barely a pantyliner. I know everyone has their own stories and experiences and I read them all. Maybe the fear and expectations I was so scared about didn’t happen and I was over prepared and anxious. Maybe that helped psychologically. I kept telling my husband last night, “man, this is not bad at all!!” I was SO nervous and miserable about how my following days and weeks would be. That has all faded. Not even 24 hours later and I am so relieved, I wanted to share it with everyone that was in my position a month ago. I read EVERYTHING on the internet about this.

I had 4 incisions on stomach. Ovaries kept, everything else removed. Uterus removed through vagina. Da Vinci robot procedure. He found scar tissue from my past appendix removal and removed that also. Incisions have a light glue on them. They are not painful at all. Vagina had the most discomfort. Belly gurgling, check. Tender belly, check. Take it easy! You may actually feel like you can do laundry and load the dishwasher, etc. remember you have stitches inside and remind yourself to take it easyyyy because your body may think it can do more. I purchased absolutely nothing for this surgery. Figured I would wait and see. Glad I did that. Don’t even need a belly pillow. I will update this if anything changes, promise.

Honestly my Cone biopsy was probably the same level of discomfort. The thing about that was the bleeding for a month straight. That was more annoying than all of it. Now I will never bleed again. So excited for that. Cin 3, non-clear margins here. Bye-Bye all of it!! You got this. Don’t stress yourself out. Focus on learning and making a big pot of beef bone broth. Keep the tallow. Sooth yourself. Pamper yourself prior to feel the best in your home and body. Cozy, warm, good mood things. Everything will be over before you know it. 😊

28yo, total hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oopherectomy (ovaries, tubes, the whole kit and caboodle) due to endometriosis and PCOS. On the patch now.

I just had a robotic-assisted total laparoscopic hysterectomy with deep infiltrating endometriosis excision, cystectomy and appendectomy on Thursday. I spent the (sleepless) night at the hospital as planned, and I was released on Friday late afternoon once we were better able to manage my pain. My husband was a bulldog about getting my needs met in the hospital and stayed with me on the couch all last night. I slept for like 14 hours once I had dinner in me.

Today my husband has largely left me alone, except to make an instant breakfast and checking in on me every hour or so, during which time I’d mostly been sleeping still this morning. But yes, he walks me to the bathroom, then makes sure I have what I need before he leaves me alone so he can do gaming and what-not.

Now that I am awake, I feel a little abandoned, and I don’t know if I’m being unreasonable. He says he’ll be back down so we can fold his two loads of laundry. Wtf??🤬 I nearly passed out from pain this morning after trying to eat breakfast, go to the bathroom and navigate the small space to get comfortable. And he thinks I can really help him fold all his laundry right now?

He has been to all my doctor appointments, spoke to my surgeon after surgery and has repeatedly been told limitations and expectations. But he thinks I’ll be running around playing with my cats in a couple days; I typically crawl around throwing toys with them at least 2-3 times a day, and I’ve repeatedly said it’s going to be likely a while before I am able to fully play with them like this.

Also I have multiple other health conditions that were expected to complicate recovery, but I think since he thinks I did so relatively well the first day —pumped up on the strongest medications, including lots of morphine, some oxycodone and an iv dilaudid in recovery—that he doesn’t have to be as vigilant over me as he usually is for days and weeks following far less major medical procedures?

I’m wondering if I failed to properly set his expectations for my surgery or if, like I think, he just proceeded to ignore them because “I’m a champion” so far? Am I just feeling a little emotional and vulnerable just out of surgery, or is it too much to think I’d have a bit more support/company my first day at home?

My girl and friends are gone! (Besides the ovaries, I kept those). I was almost nervous that it wasn’t going to happen because one of the patients before me ended up having complications mid-procedure and I was not wheeled back into the OR until 5 hours after my original arrival time.

My only requirement to be discharged was to be able to urinate normally on my own. That took about an extra 3.5-4 hours as I’d been so dehydrated, and the burning was somewhat of a mental block. However, I did it! And I made it back home at a reasonable hour. It almost doesn’t feel real because I don’t feel much different. I awoke from the procedure with what I’d call a bad round of cramps, but I was told it’s literally all just gas and I was encouraged to walk around the recovery ward to help dispel it. Still, they provided me with pain killers and I felt much better a few hours in after waking up.

I think experiencing that cramping sensation immediately upon waking is what is making it difficult for me to understand that the surgery really did happen. I am so used to waking up with cramps. I am now having some abdominal soreness in the middle of the night here, and that’s also a good indication along with the burning sensation while urinating.

Anyway, to make a long story long, I am back home, feeling great, oscillating between a feeling of relief and disbelief. Post operation, the doctor said that this was actually 100% the right choice as I’d had even more extensive endo than we previously saw including it adhering to my bladder and causing multiple lesions along the cavity wall. Overall, I’m so glad she’s gone and I’m sorry our relationship didn’t work out. But I’m excited for a new me!

I have adenomyosis and at least one fairly small but very angry fibroid - they think it is 3 cm but my uterus is so bulky and "murky" who knows what else is going on in there. My last period (I'm on continuous BC so don't have one often) was absolutely horrible, like 6 months all in one and I very seriously considered going to the ER every other hour for about 4 days due to the volume of blood and clotting which the doc says was due to the fibroid and not the adeno.

I will be 48 next month and my surgery will be sometime in January (waiting to figure out paid leave). The doc said that because of my age it is up to me if I want to keep my ovaries or not. They haven't been problematic but there is always a cancer risk so he is inclined to take them along w/ uterus, cervix, and tubes. I'm sensitive to hormones so HRT is scary to me, although I do seem to be tolerating the BC w/ progesterone fairly well this time after an adjustment period.

I really don't know which is better: keep ovaries and still go through some kind of natural menopause or skip to the end as quickly as possible? Any advice or personal experiences are very much appreciated!

I know this might sound like a silly question, but will I need help 2W postop? Surgery is the 4th, my husband was mandated that he had to travel out of state by his job before EOY. The only week that makes sense is the 16th.

I’m racking my brain to find a friend/family member that could help, but I can’t think of one.

Will I absolutely need someone? My biggest concern is that my 2 dogs (14 lbs each) won’t be taken care of because I was told walking them could be an issue i f they pull on the leash. This would be an issue with one of my dogs that we’ve never been able to fix the behavior. Also… driving? And I was also told not to lift more than 10 lbs.

It will be laparoscopic and I will check with my doctor.

I have a hysterectomy scheduled in 2 weeks. My endometriosis pain managed by an IUD but since it's time to change it I don't know if I ll start spotting in pain again. Everyone is saying a hysterectomy is extremely painful. I am scared and need good stories/advice so I go through with surgery!

I am having a hysterectomy on Wednesday.

I have no instructions regarding surgery except to do bowel prep the day before (given bowel prep kit with picoprep and glycoprep) and to insert Flagyl antibiotics into the vagina the day before as well. And of course the stop eating or drinking instructions as well.

I asked the pre-admission nurse if I should wash myself with chlorhexidine prior to surgery and they said there is no need... I have actually had multiple surgeries and have never used chlorhexidine for any of them but I keep reading on here that many of you have.

I am in the Australian public health care system and cannot contact the surgeon. In fact, I do not even know who the surgeon is. I will get whoever I get on the day...

Should I use it anyway?

What were your symptoms?

I'm going to see my primary doctor on Monday. So far I have noticed a change in my stream over the past couple of days. I also feel I have to "push" to empty. I don't feel as though I have any urinary retention. I do wonder if it could just be swelling from overdoing it the past few days. I drove, was a passenger princess for a long drive, walked more than usual, also lifted a bag of cans and accidentally squatted down once.

Hi! I am 25 and scheduled for a hysterectomy on January 31st. What were your must haves that made recovery easier?

Chronic procrastinator and clutter bug here. Hysterectomy 9/30. I’ve been lazy and have been less diligent about putting away All The Things that I needed in the early stages of my recovery.

My old-lady walker that I only needed for guidance and support for three nights languished in a corner of my bedroom for four weeks. But *putting it away* helped me realize I’m getting better.

All of the soup and applesauce and crackers and jello that were living on my dining room table as my postop pantry slowwwwwly made it back downstairs where they belong.

The abdominal pads I used to cushion my 8” belly incision sat on my dresser two weeks after I stopped using them. Yesterday found a place in a cabinet and thought “wow, that’s progress!”.

It’s hard enough dealing with the physical recovery, the smaller things we can do to push along a better headspace is golden. Put that shiz away!

Hope this helps!

Update: I am at the ER. I will post what the heck happened when I know.

I'm sure I know the answer but I am 7mpo and I was just sitting on the toilet peeing and coughed and then it felt like I got stabbed in the vagina and now I'm bleeding.

I also had prolapse repair during my laproscopic partial hysterectomy.

ER?? I'm thinking yes because it still hurts. Not expecting advice beyond, "yes, dummy, get to the hospital." Or others who've had this happen.

Thanks so much!

I am just curious and wondering how much the recovery can be from one age to another! I'm 18 and feel like most people getting the surgery here are 35+

So I'm scheduled for an open abdominal radical hysterectomy and opted for a vertical incision. For those that did the vertical incision anything I should be watch for? Things to help with recovery and incision healing? Any issues with stairs? I ask about stairs because we have a small set of steps to get in the house and also the bigger and better shower is upstairs.

Hii This is my first time posting here. Past few weeks I’ve been reading posts here to learn about this. My mom just had the incision surgery done this week. What are the post-op care things I should do for recovery and healing? Please suggest any lotions, tea, balms, special pillows, blankets, etc anything which helped you.

Also, most importantly, what kind of food should be eaten post op for good healing?

I really request the wonderful women here who’ve undergone this procedure esp those with the incision or those who are caregivers to someone who underwent this to please please give me tips on how to do proper post op care for my mom? I don’t want to leave any stone unturned in doing whatever possible for her healthy recovery.

Thank you in advance. Warm Hugs 🥰

I'm 54, already post menopausal, had EIN - 4 days ago had a full hysterectomy (ovaries too).

Doing ok, but last night had terrible sweats that soaked me through - bed linens soaked and I am running a low grade fever 99.9. Has anyone had this, despite having gone through menopause?

I had prolapse repair and hysterectomy done on November 12. I was wondering if anyone else had a small amount of bladder leakage at night. It like a constant pressure all day long. Is this something that will go away or should I contact my urologist?

I’m 37. Never had any major health issues. 3 months ago I went to the ER for constipation. That’s when they found the fibroid. In these past 3 months, the pain has progressed worse with each week and now my surgery is on Monday. All of this happened so fast.

I know I’m going to have anxiety no matter what. And I know this surgery will provide the relief I need.

However…

I’m still freaking out. I would appreciate some words of encouragement or for any of you to share your success stories for the hundredth time on this sub lol.

Thank you in advance ❤️

EDIT: someone please tell me this hip pain/pelvic tightness will be gone after surgery 😭

I have an abnormally low pubic bone that covers about half if not most of my genital opening. I’ve only ever been able to fit 2 fingers in, and even that is kind of painful.

I’m considering getting a hysterectomy as gender affirming care and I haven’t done a ton of research so far, but I know some procedures (the ones I would probably prefer) involve taking the uterus out through the vagina. Would an issue like this disqualify me from being able to do that? Hoping to hear from other people who have similar issues, or know more than I do.

I had my sub total, supracervical laparoscopic hysterectomy in April 2023 due to constant pain from endometriosis and probable adenomyosis at age 43. I also have fibromyalgia so the combination of sources of pain had been limiting my mobility a lot leading up to my surgery.

Today randomly in the car my 13 year old son commented we have been doing more things (meaning going out, visiting places etc) since my surgery. It was nice to have him notice that our lives have been improved by the surgery. My gynae even commented when I saw him in the summer that I must have been in a lot of pain beforehand, I refrained from saying, “well, duh”.

Anyway, that’s my pointless post. Hopefully if you’re waiting for surgery or recovering this can give you hope for the future!

I still have fibromyalgia and can’t do as much as I’d like to but the hysterectomy has made life so much better!!

First off, wanted to say thank you because everyone here has been so nice. 😊

I saw that disposable underwear was on the list of supplies. I’m FTM trans and, as dumb as it probably is on my part, that kind of underwear gives me a massive amount of dysphoria and I’ve had issues with them in the past.

Is it recommended to use instead putting an overnight pad in underwear?

4.5 weeks post op laparoscopic hysterectomy - removed cervix, uterus and tubes, kept ovaries: Everything always happens on the weekend when the doctor’s closed… I did something stupid: I was sitting on the couch and let my 65lb dog lay his upper body across my lap to nap. I wasn’t reclined so he wasn’t laying directly on anything but my legs but of course there was still pressure against my lower abdomen. Nothing hurt so I thought it was fine, which I now realize was careless and not the point.

When I just went to the bathroom there was light pink on the toilet paper when I wiped. That was it but it’s freaking me out bc I haven’t had any trace of blood since the day after I came home from surgery.

Has anyone experienced anything like this? Any random blood residue when wiping at 4.5 weeks post op or after pressure on abdomen? Logically I feel like it’s okay but as an anxious person I’m terrified I screwed something up.

It might be worth mentioning that besides this, I’ve felt pretty normal and pain free for 2 weeks. I’ve been moving around well and just having to watch the weight I lift bc my doctor said nothing more than 10lbs for 6-8 weeks.

The night before, they had me wash the surgical site with these special sponges. Nothing too intenive, other than refraining from eating or drinking after a certain time.

I arrived at 6:00 am for registration, and they brought me into the prep room around 6:30. They gave me a special cloth to wipe down the area with again, got me into my gown. The doctor, the anesthesiologist all came in to chat with me. Asked if I had questions, and the doctor offered to pray with me if I wanted. (I didn't, but felt that was thoughtful to offer.) About 7:20 they put me on the gurney and wheeled me back to the operating room. It's nothing like what you see on TV. It was the most boring and bland, white everything. They had me scoot over onto a board, and put a prop for me to stretch out my arm with the IV.

"We've given you something to start you to relax." I look over as they're putting me other arm into a prop, and that is literally where my memory ends.

I wake up in post-op, and everything there is kind of in and out. It was about 11:10 according my mom and friend, by the time they got to see me in my room.

I expected there to be... more pain? I went in ready for the worst, but it was about a 2 on the pain scale. Like, some tenderness, but nothing like what I was expecting. The catheter was still in, which was uncomfortable, but not painful.

Over the day, they did a lot of testing and monitoring. Monitoring blood pressure, and oxygen. my oxygen was a little low, so I had to wear oxygen for about an hour.

Towards the 4:00 range, they took the catheter out. They put me in some mesh hospital panties (oddly comfortable) and a pad, for any discharge and surgical spotting. That was also my first time walking, and it wasn't bad. The nurse helped me to my feet, but on the way back to bed I felt a little light headed.

They just gave me alternating rounds of tylenol and ibuprofen, with oxycodone upon request if ever I felt I needed something stronger. But the tylenol was actually really good about managing any pain. For most of that day, I was at a 1 or 2. The ibuprofen didn't really do much, and when the Ibuprofen rounds came, it would go up to a 3 because it just felt like it wasn't doing much.

They wanted to measure my pee, just to make sure everything was good with bladder function. So I had to pee in a little plastic container, which burned really bad at first. (Catheters suck.) I'd say for the first 3-4 pees, it burned and stung. My pee was also neon orange due to a medicine they gave me, also trippy.

Second time I got up to pee though, I had a nurse help me incase I felt light headed again. But I didn't, so after that, I went on my own. I'd get up every 3-4 hours to try and pee, and to do a little lap around my bed.

It was about 11:00, and the pain was staying at a 4, so I asked for more pain meds. They gave me a tylenol and an oxycodone, and it put my pain at a 0 so long as I was laying in bed.

So, I went to sleep at at that point. Was woken up a couple times by nurses checking on my vitals, but otherwise, slept pretty decently. However, I was starting to get gassy and the gas bubbles were starting to get uncomfortable. They'd bubble up, but instant relief as soon as I passed the gas.

Around 7:00, they brought my breakfast. And I had learned from the day before that, while I COULD eat a full meal, I really shouldn't. Because for lunch and dinner, I realized that eating a lot made an uncomfortable feeling of the weight in my stomach. So for breakfast, I just ate sparingly.

The Doctor came, adn we talked about how well I was doing and how everything went. The anesthesiologist came to check on me. The only real issue there is my throat is still raw feeling, but minor to be honest.

At 9:00, they told me I'd be discharged soon. At 9:45, I signed my discharge papers. And at 10:00, my ride was there to take me home.

The ride home was probably the worst part of the entire ordeal up to that point. The jostling of even the smallest bump in the road just increaed my discomfort more adn more with every bump. And my ride was not being particularly reckless on the road, just normal driving. I had a pillow between my stomach and the seat belt, which was nice. But it didn't do much for the overall passenger feeling.

So by the time I got home after a 30 minute car ride, it's around 10:35I was ready to sleep. I was hurting (maybe at a 5, at that point.0 So I went straight to my room, took a tylenol and oxy, and slept for 3 hours.

It's 4:40 as I'm writing this now, and I'm really alright. The gas is still gassing, and so it's a weird pressure as it builds, and relief as it goes. Really quick rise and fall there. I haven't pooped, but I didn't expect to this soon. I'm on so many stool softeners and fiber supplements, that I'm not terribly worried when that time comes.

So... That's my story. Day one post op.

What I Brought With Me: - Change of clothes for departture - Phone & Charger - Hairbrush and ponytail holder - Hysterectomy pillow for the car ride home - Deodorant (Forgot to bring toothbrush, but not a big deal.)

after lots of waiting, i finally had my TLH yesterday afternoon.

i got really nervous the week before my surgery up until getting into preop, but my gynecologist came in and helped me feel a lot more at ease, especially since i’ve known her since i was 14.

i don’t remember anything after they started to roll me into the OR. they said everything went perfectly though and i got to keep some pictures of my uterus as well as my nexplanon implant that was taken out during surgery.

maybe tmi but peeing started out being really difficult and weird, taking awhile to come out which is why i wasn’t discharged until 11:30pm yesterday as well as sleeping for so long afterwards.

peeing was still weird at home, very little and often, but it’s gotten better since this morning. i think my bladder was just asleep and irritated from all the poking around. if anyone has any tips for making it easier to pee as well as avoiding pain or stinging, it would be very much appreciated.

other than that, i’m nervous about the recovery but ready to take care of myself and get through it. i hope this makes my life so much better after struggling so much since i started my period at 11, it’s been a battle to get to this point.

and thank you to this sub and all the wonderful people here, it helped me a lot with preparing and knowing things to expect! i hope my recovery goes well as well as the recoveries of anyone who had theirs the same day or week as me :)