My Big Top Tips for a Happy Hysterectomy – Diane’s Story

My experience around the whole thing has been very positive but then I did invest a lot of time and effort before the operation and that is my BIG TOP TIP for a happy hysterectomy. Prepare both physically and mentally beforehand.

Get as fit as you can before the event, invest in some excellent shoes for walking after the operation and get your friends motivated to take you out walking. I was up walking outside the hospital by day three and walking 30 minutes by day five. But then I did lots of gentle jogging and some weight training before that helped. I therefore didn’t get depressed I just went for a walk. By the end of six weeks I was walking three hours! Everyone gave me great encouragement to get walking, especially the nurses on the ward.

Get your mind around if you want any hormone replacement treatment, and if so what, again before the event. I decided on patches and was adamant I wanted them the day after the operation. They worked and I’ve felt fine since, although the dose did need to be raised.

I stocked up on DVDs to watch, books to read and projects to do. In the end I had too many but that’s better than being bored.

Bending is a problem so get a table next to where you intend to base yourself during the day – it’s yours for your stuff and absolutely no one, under pain of death, can put any of their trash on it.

The golden rules when you come home are REST, WATER and EXERCISE. Do this religiously, you can’t drink enough water, I’ve covered the exercise bit and as for the rest just don’t feel guilty. See it as a present for you to do your stuff, you’ll never get this luxury again.

Reflecting back, six months after the operation, which was a total abdominal hysterectomy for fibroids (two grapefruit size with numerous smaller ones) I don’t have any grips, everyone was fantastic and very supportive. However I was amazed how tired I felt. Be kind on yourself and don’t expect to be fully back to normal at six weeks. Six months later and I’m still amazed how tired I still feel.

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