Major Surgery Advice

[ShinyPurple 10]

Next month I will be having an abdominal hysterectomy (not sure whether I should use or )

 

I've had operations before but all the medical bods have told me that this will be different ...this is MAJOR surgery ....eeek!

 

So anyway, I've read all the leaflets and I have my minions primed and ready to do my bidding (grape peeling etc.) when I escape get out of hospital.

 

Do any of you hysterectomy and/or other major surgery veterans out there have any advice for me? Any tips for speeding me back to health? Anything that will make life easier for me for the next few months?

[GrannyGranny 10]

My Mum, Mother in law and friend of my wife have all had this procedure. My wife's friend about 2 months ago. She is 37 and does a lot of sport so thought she would recover quickly. It took a lot longer than she thought but about the time the hospital said it would take. She soon realised she had to take it easy in the first few weeks and not over do things. Not easy with 3 kids. So my advice is no matter how well you feel take it easy initially, it will aid your overhaul recovery.

[spiritangel1 10]

I had the op as well,i was in for 5 days the 1st one i was groggy but the hosp were brilliant with painkillers and therapy ect,it took me around 4 months to go back to work and tbh a year before i stopped feeling the scar pull if i lifted anything too heavy,i have never regretted haing the op and never looked back good luck hunny you will be fine

[RosyRat 10]

Shiny Purple - I can really, truly reassure you that this is a routine procedure and you will be absolutely fine. Major surgery basically means a general anaesthetic, a deep incision and an extended recovery period. It's a term they use for procedures and not a big deal. I was absolutely terrified and spent the most awful few 3 weeks before my abdominal hysterectomy driving myself mad with worry. For nothing.

 

I arrived at the hospital in an awful state. Was shown my bed by a lovely nurse, put on my deeply unflattering hospital gown and was given a pre-med. I hooped onto the trolley relaxed and calm and my husband came with me to the waiting area outside the operating theatre, where I had a painless injection and woke up again in bed.

 

The operation took 45 minutes. The only pain I had was from the most dreadful trapped wind because I ate before I should have done. That cleared (and so did the ward) after 24 hours. I was up and out of bed a day after the op and walking the corridors, chatting to the other women. Home after 5 days.

 

Within 4 weeks I was walking up to the pub and moving around the house quite comfortably. They'll give you all the advice about what to do and what not to do, but don't worry about that either. You won't damage yourself if you overdo it - you'll get backache because your tummy muscles can't support your back for a while, but you won't do any internal damage or open up the incision. Old wives' tales.

 

After 6 weeks I started at the gym with a gentle programme of strengthening and flexibility exercises to get me fit again after the lack of exercise.

 

I couldn't believe that what I'd always heard people talk of as major surgery wasn't such a big deal after all.

 

You'll sail through it. Watch your diet, as the lack of strenuous exercise and the temptation to eat biscuits in front of daytime TV will contribute to weight gain. Walk about as soon as you can. In the first couple of weeks at home, use a bandage or long piece of material wrapped around the end of the bed to haul yourself up into a sitting position, so that your back muscles are supported.

 

Do pelvic floor exercises after 4 weeks to maintain bladder strength as the pelvice floor muscles will be healing.

 

Your body will tell you exactly how much you can do and you'll be back to full fitness within 12 weeks.

 

Good luck

Edited June 23, 2010 by RosyRat

[bloom1961 10]

I had this done when i was 35 take notice of what the doctors say you have to rest I thought i felt well enough to do things after about 6 weeks was i wrong it knocked me back big style ended up taking me nearly 6 months to get well enough to return to work It is as the post above says but you do need to take it steady afterwards so the body can heal properly

[ALZYMER 10]

Next month I will be having an abdominal hysterectomy (not sure whether I should use or )

 

I've had operations before but all the medical bods have told me that this will be different ...this is MAJOR surgery ....eeek!

 

So anyway, I've read all the leaflets and I have my minions primed and ready to do my bidding (grape peeling etc.) when I escape get out of hospital.

 

Do any of you hysterectomy and/or other major surgery veterans out there have any advice for me? Any tips for speeding me back to health? Anything that will make life easier for me for the next few months?

 

Increase your protein intake as surgery depletes it considerably.... which slows down your recovery period afterwards. I had hip replacement a while ago and drank lots of protein shakes before and after and I was up and around in no time. Not many doctors have a clue about nutrition as it has rarely been taught in the past at medical school.Good luck with your procedure.

Edited June 24, 2010 by Tess
Fixed Quote Tag

[AGB1 10]

If you want some life-saving advice...

Make sure you get TED stockings and clexane injections whilst you're immobile.

And make sure staff wash their hands before they come near you.

Dont let any relatives/friends visit you if they're ill.

 

That should cover most of the big causes of post operative morbidity.

Now you can concentrate on eating plenty, drinking lots of fluid, doing plenty of physio and doing your breathing exercises!

 

Best wishes!

[*Peaches* 10]

Good luck hun and don't worry yourself too much!

[Daven 10]

If you want some life-saving advice...

Make sure you get TED stockings and clexane injections whilst you're immobile.

And make sure staff wash their hands before they come near you.

Dont let any relatives/friends visit you if they're ill.

 

That should cover most of the big causes of post operative morbidity.

Now you can concentrate on eating plenty, drinking lots of fluid, doing plenty of physio and doing your breathing exercises!

 

Best wishes!

 

What a lovely, positive post!

I bet the OP is full of confidence now.

Nice one

[Darth Vader 10]

What a lovely, positive post!

I bet the OP is full of confidence now.

Nice one

 

Is there anything in it you disagree with though?

[medusa 16]

I had the biggest form of total hysterectomy and was amazed by how much it didn't hurt, so don't think that 'major surgery' means that you'll take months to be able to be up and about.

 

I had a total hysterectomy including ovary and fallopian tube removal and an incision which went down one side of my abdomen, across the bottom and up the other side, but I still went out for tea on the way home from the hospital on day 4 and was back at university on day 13 after the op.

 

I don't think that I'm particularly out of the ordinary either. The reason that I needed the operation was so painful that the operation was really not a problem and the most painful thing was having the drains removed before going home.

[AGB1 10]

What a lovely, positive post!

I bet the OP is full of confidence now.

Nice one

 

 

Just telling it how it is Daven...perhaps you'd like to come to where I work and see how often these things are omitted and the consequences they can cause.

There are some things you can control after a big operation and some things you cant. All I've done is give the OP some knowledge to enable her to control a few more things...