Total abdominal hysterectomy – Amanda’s story

Hello, at the age of 42 I had a TAH (keeping my ovaries) in December 2015. My problems started a year before that when I came off the mini pill in December 2014 because I was starting to bleed a little while taking it. By February 2016, I was bleeding so heavily and randomly that I became anaemic and was booked in for a scan.

I had the first scan in March which didn’t show enough – womb was obscured, I was then booked in for a procedure to have a consultant do an internal scan while hopefully fitting a marina coil in May. He realised that this wasn’t going to happen because I had a huge fibroid. An apt. with another consultant followed and was booked in for an MRI in October which confirmed his fears. All the while trying to hold a senior Marketing job in a busy school, with mainly male staff…

I was on so many tablets to try and stem the erratic bleeding – tranexamic acid, the mini pill once more and finally I was given a relatively new pill to prepare me for the operation – Esmya. By the time the op came I was desperate – having to take changes of clothes into work, having to rush home at a moments notice. The operation took place on 14 December, and it was a very slow recovery. I was home from hospital after two days feeling very weak.

My biggest words of advice would be DO NOT RUSH BACK TO WORK. I wish I had taken at least 4 months off to recover physically and emotionally – nobody cuts you much slack once you are back in the office.

For me, the lasting effects have been a tightening around my stomach that makes me feel like an elastic band has been wrapped tightly, I cannot sit for long periods of time at a computer, I ache to the core of my being at times, and still have to take pain killers around once a day (cold weather doesn’t help) and finally, my left leg has experienced nerve damage from the operation. It tingles if I try and sit on a sofa or if I lay down for a long period of time at night. I have embarked on physio and pilates to try and help me – but I’m not holding much hope of it every being back to normal. It feels like a dead weight going from my gluteal muscle and through my thigh, tinging in my toes.

I had to have the op (including a blood transfusion) therefore the surgeon truly saved me – the side effects are ok but I would be very interested in anyone who has experienced similar with nerve damage.