This is Part 3 of my Laparoscopic Hysterectomy journey. If you haven’t already, please read Part 1 to understand the background of my condition and surgery and Part 2 for the surgery and post-op.
Part 3 took a long time, but here it is!
Home Recovery
I have already taken 2 weeks off work to recover, and afterward, 2 weeks working from home. I have office-based work, so I mostly sit in front of the computer without strenuous exercise. The commute to work was within 15 minutes drive and minimal walking. However, I would avoid driving as much as possible. So I would be mostly at home for 4 weeks.
My surgery was on Monday and I was home by Wednesday. Once I got home, I took a shower, put all my medication by my bedside, and then went to sleep. For the first 3 days, I was mostly resting in bed but I would also walk around the house and watch some TV. I was taking paracetamol 4 times a day, 2 tablets each time, Celecoxib twice a day, and Tramadol once a day. I stopped taking docusate sodium with sennosides (stool softener) on the second day because my bowel movements were normal already. I did not need to take Lavacol or morphine tablets at all.
take-home medications
By Friday my energy level was already back to normal, but I wasn’t doing a lot during the day anyway. I did not have to cook, wash dishes, do any heavy lifting, or do school runs. I started helping out with making lunch boxes for the kids in the morning because I was waking up very early – like 5:30 a.m.
On the 3rd week, I was back on cooking duties and morning duties. Packing kids’ lunches, washing dishes, cooking dinner, and helping with cleaning up after dinner. I do have my mother-in-law at home to help, but after the first 2 weeks, I overheard her complaining that I was just sitting on my ass without helping when I’m clearly recovering very well. I could sense the tension that she didn’t want to help out anymore. She is retired and hardly does any housework because we don’t ask her to. Sometimes I prefer her not to help out because of how she will make you feel you are in debt to her.
Anyhow, I am feeling OK, so I’m OK to help out around the house. I feel like a bum doing nothing anyway. I stopped taking paracetamol just before the end of the 2nd week, only taking it when I was feeling a little sore. I also finished all of the celecoxib and did not feel the need for more.
Incisions
The waterproof dressing that I came home in from the hospital eventually got wet and I had to remove them. There was also surgical tape over the stitches to hold it in place. I had to remove the dressing over my belly button first and it looked like I had an extra belly button under my existing one. After 2 more days, the area around the dressing of my side incisions started to itch and look a little red. I also removed all 3 other dressings and kept the surgical tape on. Every time I shower, I use a gentle body wash to wash the area and then dry it off completely without putting anything over it.
surgical tapes removed
belly button
side incisions
side incisions
I wore loose clothing and pants with waistbands that did not sit right over my wounds, but eventually, I took the surgical tapes off as well because the area was getting really itchy, red, and irritated. I started applying creams and ointments around the area avoiding the incisions because I didn’t know if they were all healed. I was using the Apicare Manuka Therapy 30% honey creme which is one of my favorite wound balms that aids healing, I often use this on cuts and burns even on my kids. I was also using the La Roche Posay around the tummy area to help with moisture around the area. The Thursday Plantation Tea Tree Wound balm was a backup tube I had because Apicare was sold out for a while.
The combo seemed to work and after a day, I was no longer itchy around the area, but there was still some redness and pigmentation. Almost all of the bruising is gone except for the lowest opening, which is the large one where they had to pull out the uterus. The area is still a little swollen and kind of folding over a little bit. I can tell the scar is going to be big for that one. The small scar on the sides was small and with just a tiny piece of stitch coming through, not catching onto anything or hurting when I touched it.
I was able to wash the area daily with warm water and gentle soap. I was washing my body with a fragrance-free body wash to prevent any irritations. As you can see I got these Scar Reducer patches by Elastoplast which are silicone patches to help reduce scarring. The instructions do recommend to use once the wound has fully healed and no stitches remain. I was able to start using these after 2 weeks.
Emotional changes
Initially, I wasn’t expecting any emotional challenges because I was feeling very good about doing this surgery – for my health and for my well-being (not having to feel anxious about excessive bleeding anymore is such a relief). I have already had kids and won’t be planning to have any more. I thought removing an important part of my body was emotional, but since it isn’t something I could see or feel on a day-to-day basis, it was actually OK. However, it was the random emotional changes after the surgery I was not ready for.
About 2 weeks after my surgery, I was due for my usual menstruation period. Even though I will not be having any menstrual blood, I will still get PMS and have mood swings. I felt really low and sad. After the incident where I overheard my mother-in-law gossiping about me, I felt really emotional and depressed. I felt really useless and I don’t know what to do to make things right. On the first day that I started cooking again for my family, I forgot to do a lot of things, and the comments from my husband and mother-in-law on how forgetful I am really made me feel very upset. I didn’t want to talk, I didn’t want to do anything. I wanted to hide. I had suicidal thoughts. I felt really stupid and out of place. How can I be a good wife if I am always like this? Am I a really bad mother? A bad wife? A bad daughter-in-law? What do I need to do to make people accept me?
These thoughts come and go, I have felt like this before, but the emotional stress seems to heighten a little after surgery. Probably my ovaries are in distress and my hormones are out of whack. Anyway, I think I’m OK and don’t need to consult anyone about it because it’s normal to feel shitty about yourself from time to time right?
Life is great without having to worry about leaky period
Progress after 6 weeks
After about 5 weeks I was back driving again and going into the office for work with no issues. I know that once I’m back driving, I will be really busy – picking up the kids, grocery shopping, taking the kids to after-school activities, etc. However, I really looked forward to it. I really didn’t like staying at home at one point because I didn’t want to be around my mother-in-law. I really felt how some people struggle with staying at home during the pandemic lockdown, and how some people don’t want to be home when someone with negative energy is around. It’s something in my life that I cannot change and something I have to live with. I look into my religious beliefs to help me get through this, but sometimes I cannot change the way people want to think and if they keep hurting me, I don’t know how much I can stand before I crumble.
Physically, my body feels back to normal with my scars feeling itchy occasionally and I’m working on the pigmentation. The large incision below my belly button is looking very well but it looks like I have a little pouch over the scar where my skin and fat overhang a little. It looks strange on the side, but I would wear a comfortable shapewear bodysuit to control it. The stitches on the side incisions were intact for at least 4 weeks with some bits poking out. At around 5th week, it fell off and the area got a little red and purple which looks to be more pigmentation than infection, but I did get a little bit of puss on my left side, but it cleared up within 2 days. I have heard that some people’s stithces do not dissolve even after 3-4 months, I’m just a little worried about my internal stitches not dissolving. I’ll be asking my specialist about this.
First post-op specialist appointment
My first post-op appointment with my surgeon/specialist was right at the end of my 6 weeks post-op. We went through how the surgery went and how I was feeling. She summarised that my uterus + fibroid was around 400g in total which was removed without issues. My biopsy results were normal as well. We did a quick internal check of the stitches and she said I’m all closed up without issues. If I were to have any persistent pain around the area of my ovaries, then I would need it checked out in case I have anything growing on my ovaries. But for now, I am done with this procedure and I won’t need to see her again!
Life after hysterectomy
As I am writing this update, it is Decemeber and it has been well over 4 months since my surgery and I have had an amazing recovery journey. Despite the emotional ups and downs during my resting phase, things got back to normal and I’m back to my normal self. The swelling of the tummy area did take me a long time to go down and the scarring is also take it’s sweet time to fully disappear, but other than that, my body is functioning as normal. I have been back to pilates class but I was super weak. I need to build that strength up gradually. I have also been able to get rid of all my period undies and extra pads so I am no longer seeing those for the rest of my life!
