Hysterectomy - San Pedro,CA

I had a hysterectomy and suggested just have everything removed. Best thing I ever did!..Felt so much better just sorry I didn;t do it sooner!

T.:

I had the DiVinci Method done in Feb 2011. It was the BEST decision I've made for my health and sanity!! Which means they made three 1/2" long incisions on my belly and removed everything vaginally.

My sister flew out from California to care for me and my family. I was in the hospital for 23 hours, yes, 23 - not even a full day. I was brought home and put on the hide-a-bed couch.

My surgery was on a Monday, Tuesday was a tad tough - Advil helped with the pain. Wednesday was the worst, as they had filled my abdomen with gas and it wasn't really moving...my dog was with me the whole time...rarely left my side...finally during the night got up and stepped on my stomach - I had gas coming out from both ends...sorry...but it's true. Biggest burp and fart I had ever had...After that? I was fine. Went shopping for a new stove on Thursday.

Attitude is EVERYTHING in the recovery.
Sitting up straight and walking tall is important. At least it was to me.
I had EVERYTHING removed. No hormone replacements. I am now 47.

You are NOT to climb stairs for 24-48 hours.
No driving for 2 weeks.

For me I honestly believe I was up and recovered so quickly, not only because I had a great doctor, but I had GREAT care when I got home. My sister took care of EVERYTHING - from getting lunches and coffee made, to the boys off to school, their homework and the dog out. I just had to sleep and go to the bathroom.

I didn't really get PMS - yeah - I would get moody - but that's every day life. You have good days and bad days.

I did have some hot flashes...seeing that I'm hot most of the time...it was interesting!!! :) Haven't had a hot flash in about 9 months (knock on wood).

Good luck!!

I had a hysterectomy after menopause. My doctors said it was best to leave the ovaries in if at all possible because the body needs the hormones that they continue to produce to protect against osteoporosis and heart difficulties and others that I don't remember. I had to have one ovary and part of the other one removed because of cysts. Leaving just part of an ovary is better than none, I was told.

I gradually stopped having issues with PMS after I went into menopause. I'm not sure that the ovaries have much to do with PMS. Menstruation involves other hormones too. It seemed to me that menopause rid me of PMS.

It's possible that you'll go into menopause with just removing the uterus tho I'm not sure. It's been years since all of this was done. I urge you to ask your doctor these questions. Also there are many good resources on the Internet and in books that will help you with this decision.

Moods are related to much more than just hormones. If you're having mood issues thruout the month I suggest that removing the ovaries won't get rid of them and removing the ovaries have serious health consequences.

I haven't been through this, but my sister has. She was 39. In her case, it was a total hysterectomy, oophorectomy (totally not how I thought that was spelled, by the way) and... something else... tube removal? Pretty much cleaned her out. Oh, and she had a sling procedure on her urethra(?... or something related to not being able to control her bladder). Her recovery was long. Part of that was because she is a closet superwoman who can't stop flying around to save the world, even when she should have been resting, and part of it was because it's major surgery. They don't write you off work for two months for nothing.

She was not able to start hormone replacement therapy for about a month after the surgery. I don't remember why she had to wait, but that was brutal. It's instantaneous menopause. I remember blogging about some of her comments back then, so I looked one up.

"I'm so emotional. I'm all over the place. One minute I'm crying watching Pride and Prejudice and the next I'm cursing at the TV because it's too effing slow."

The thing is, my sister is not normally too far in either direction. Once she was fully recovered, she was back to her regular happy self. I would say it took a good four months. Again, some of that could have been avoided if she'd allowed herself to recuperate.

Best wishes in your decision.

I had the same issues and was not a candidate for other treatments because of the location of my fibroids. I was at the deciding age of 45 for my doctor to remove my ovaries so she said it was up to me. (If I was younger, keep ovaries, older remove them.) When I asked her what she would do if I was her mom, she said she'd remove them because ovarian cancer is not as treatable as the other risks if worse came to worse on either outcome. I agreed. Just ask your doctor what he/she would do if it was a family member. Things may have changed in the last 7 yrs.

As it turned out, my doctor would have had to remove my ovaries anyway. By the time she got in there and saw them covered with cysts, she would have had to come get my husband's permission to remove them in the middle of the surgery.

The www.hystersisters.com website is awesome! Lots of questions answered and what to expect, how to prepare, etc. My recovery was 5-6 weeks. I appreciated the warnings on the website to not do too much at weeks 3/4 when I felt like I could do more. (It's easy to have a set back.) I rented/borrowed movies to force myself to stay put. I read a lot and asked for help. I am so glad I did, as people were glad to know how they could help. I walked multiple times every day as instructed, even if it was a slow shuffle in the beginning. I did loops around my house faithfully and it really helped to circulate the blood, etc.

My moods were immediately improved because the excruciating pain went away with no periods. I didn't have to pretend I was fine and my patience was not overburdened. My peace of mind was improved as I did not have to keep a change of clothes with me if I had a very serious blood flow that happened every once in a while. No marking days of periods and wondering why I had fewer and fewer days of no period! No more feminine products! Freedom! No more PMS! No more tears! Why did I wait so long?

My only issues were hot flashes and vaginal dryness. I used to have an estrogen patch but it got really expensive, so I switched to a product that is sold by the company I am a distributor for and I have no more symptoms. I just take two pills/day for a lot less cost and they are top quality. Let me know if you are interested and I can tell you how to get them cheaper.

I had a hysterectomy and I kept my overies. I had it done vaginally so recovery for me was easy. Typical recovery time is about 6 to 8 weeks. Even if you feel good you have to take it easy so not to tear anything.

My supervisor had it done for endometriosis a few years ago, when she was in her late 40s. She suffered for 30 years before she got her hysterectomy. I don't know if she absolutely needed the entire time she took off, but she was on medical leave for 6 weeks after her hysterectomy. She was definitely sidelined for about 3 weeks before she started to venture out at all.

She was MUCH more pleasant person to be around once she returned to work.

I had a complete minus an ovary (ovary removed in 68) 19 years ago. It was the best thing I could have done for myself. It, too, had endo and several large fibroids with heavy bleeding and then continuous spotting until surgery.

My doctor did the bladder thing to keep it in place. Procedure was the same as a C-section only nothing was put back after delivery and stapled shut. Two staples had to be removed before I left hospital because of my quick healing. I did not get a binder for the tummy and did not gain weight. No mood swings in fact everyone was happy that I got the surgery so my mood swings were prior.

You have to have the right mindset and know that you are not going to have anymore kids. You are ready to start a new chapter to you life and you are happy with your decision and you are positive for what the future holds.

I took off six weeks. You can't drive for two weeks because of the way you sit and the muscles used to push the gas/brake peddles. Enjoy not doing much for a bit. If you push it you will pay the price of pain and longer recovery time. Mty surgery was done around Christmas so much of my time off was holiday time and I didn't have to use up all my vacation time.

Now I feel great and remember how it was when you were a little girl and didn't have to worry about anything -- carefree and foot loose.

I did the HRT patch/pill for a bit but I stopped due to other issues.

the other S.

I had the same kind of issues as you. I was severely anemic due to the bleeding and had fibroids. I also had my gall bladder out at the same time. Both surgeons used the same holes, and each did their part during it. I am glad I had it done. This site helped me so much: http://www.hystersisters.com/
The doctor left my ovaries as he said the hormones would be better if he did.

You sound like I was. I went through the embolization also but didn't work due to fibroids and endo (determined from hysterectomy). I did it vaginally and kept my ovaries. It's been two years this month and I'm glad I did. Recovery was about five weeks. Don't push it too early or it will take longer to recover. After I had it done, people kept talking about how tired they were. I wasn't prepared for that part.

Good luck in your decision

My complete abdominal hysterectomy was done 11 yrs ago this May.

It was the BEST thing I ever did for myself.

I opted for the Dr. to take everything and go on HRT. You'll get people telling you horror stories about HRT, losing ovaries, etc but I have had ZERO negative experiences from my surgery. You have to weigh the info for yourself.

I never had the weight gain, swelly belly, etc and my sex drive went up vs down because there was no chance of an oopsie!!

I'm a firm believer that attitude has a lot to do with recovery. The first week was just hard because I am accustomed to being up and going all the time and I had to put myself on hold to make sure I recovered properly. I couldn't drive for 2 weeks per the Dr. I was at a track met in 3 weeks watching my daughter participate.

Although I felt fine and had no pain, I did take it easy for about a month to make sure everything was falling into place. I faithfully wore the binder they put on me after surgery and I believe that helped me a lot.

I went into the surgery in good physical shape, not overweight, etc. I got a lot of good info from hystersisters.com and found a great deal of info. It can be overwhelming and TMI but it did help me understand the surgery and opions I chose.

I found the worst part of the entire deal was the wait until the day of surgery. Also, I do have a bikini like scar that is hardly visible due to vitamin e oil use, etc. I still wear my bikini with my HRT patch and you can't see the scar or patch.

My PMS was never that bad. Some women are emotionally attached to their reproductive parts and go through a grieving process with this surgery. I had a friend who had a hard time with this. For me, I was glad to be free from pain, free from oopsie chance and free to feel great. My other friend opted to keep her ovaries and she still has PMS symptoms monthly but not on the level she did before surgery.

I am SO glad I opted for my choice of hysterectomy and I have ZERO regrets.

I had a hysterectomy, but not recently. Don't think it matters as your questions are pretty general.

I had my hysterectomy done vaginally so no scar and healing time was pretty fast. I was out of the hospital in two days, and back to swimming and everything else within a couple of weeks. Doc did take me off work for six weeks and I did take all that time, but I COULD have gone back earlier if I had wanted to. There was no medical reason why I couldn't.

I did not have my ovaries removed. Best thing I've ever done!