I have cysts pretty often my obgyn says it's normal but I can't seem to lose weight and I'm always bloated. Considering taking the pill to regulate my hormones
My surgery was June 15, today is June 23. I had surgery on a Wed. and came home on Monday night.
The cysts went from 15cm the beginning of May to 20cm when they removed the mass June 23, so it increased 33% in six weeks! They removed it whole and did a wash to make sure there was nothing left behind in case it was cancerous. Pathology report came back benign. :)
My surgery was more extensive than just having a (full) hysterectomy and cysts removal because they also did a hernia repair. My incision if roughly a foot long. Hubby said he wants to count the staples before they take them out. He's guessing there is around 40!
As painful as it may be to get out of bed and walk, that is what it will take to keep your body from getting as stiff!
One week post-op I talked hubby into taking me out to eat locally. I am using a walker for safety and to steady me when I have to stand still (like to wait to be seated or get back in the car etc.) and I use it to go from living room to the bathroom. Someone having just a hysterectomy probably wouldn't need the walker, but given my circumstances, the surgery was more invasive.
I am doing well, back to my same old sense of humor, just having to take breaks between things I do. My family is quite impressed with progress.
I will say there are a lot of things you can do to make sure your post-op recover and hospital stay are easier.
1. I took my own ice packs and a cold therapy machine. The hospitals ice packs were not cold enough to do anything with wearing a binder after surgery. You can buy clay ice packs from Dollar General for only $4. I recommend having at least 4 to 6 so you can have two on at a time while the others are freezing and just keep rotating them out. You can find a cold therapy machine online if you want to buy one. Some hospitals have them, but good luck getting one.
2. I took my own small pillow. Any time you have torso surgery, it is a good idea to keep a small pillow by you in case you have to sneeze or cough! It will help it to be less painful. Also, keep the small pillow with you in the vehicle for car rides to shield your abdomen from the seatbelt.
3. Your family can be a great help at the hospital to take care of your needs. My husband and two of my daughters made sure one of them were around most of the days and sometimes people spent the night, at least the first 3 nights I was in the hospital.
There are numerous things you can buy for use at home, but I'm not going to go into them here. I decided I am eventually going to do a blog post on things to help with various surgeries/recoveries to help other people out.
I hope my experience helps you in some way. Good luck if you are dealing with cysts/hysterectomy/hernia, etc.
After reading your post before, I did ask a lot of women, and woman after woman said it was the best thing they ever did.
I don't want to face having another surgery if more cysts grow. As is, I'm already facing another hernia surgery after my surgery Wed. (they'll do hysterectomy, remove the three cysts and fix one of the hernias). I will try to talk to my surgeon prior to surgery, but as is, I will probably end up having the full hysterectomy. I don't know if there's anything they can do that just removes ovaries, but I don't want to risk uterine cancer either. I know a couple people who are dealing with that now. Which is why I think the full hysterectomy may be the best choice. My mother had uterine cancer too, then a year after being treated for that, they found cancer in her lungs.
I'm not a smoker. I know cancer tends to attack the weakest organs it seems. I'm just anxious to get past all of this and feel better. Thankfully my pain hasn't been enough to ever send me to the emergency room. I am nervous about the cleanse tomorrow though because sometimes going 'big potty' nearly doubles me over in pain. My back hurts and I can barely straighten. Less than 36 hours until surgery!
I was 49. That was 10 years ago and it still haunts me because of all the changes / rapid aging that ensued. And it was all so unnecessary...should have only lost the cyst itself.
The thing most people don't understand is that surgical menopause is nothing like natural menopause. The ovaries produce hormones our whole lives. They simply shift their role from "reproductive" to "endocrine." Their removal is associated with a whole laundry list of increased health risks including heart disease, osteoporosis, Parkinson's, dementia, mood disorders (depression, anxiety, irritability), memory and cognitive impairment, lung cancer, hair and skin aging, muscle wasting, sexual dysfunction, more severe hot flashes.
I know some women who had their surgeries after menopause and suffered severe symptoms. One was 72 years old!
The uterus and its ligaments are essential to anatomical and skeletal integrity. That is why bladder and bowel problems are common complaints after hysterectomy. And the severing of ligaments that are the pelvis' support structures explain why women's figures change after their uterus is removed. This effect is just as devastating to me as the loss of my bodies' own hormones and the rapid aging it has caused.
I talked to other women. Frankly, they were not forthcoming about the negatives until after I'd had my surgery.
Best of luck to you.
I am hoping since I am presumably perimenopausal that I won't have a lot of problems. I had the hot flash type stuff in my late 30's. I have had 2 cycles this year, and it seems since my cycle in April, and finding out what all is going on, I seem to have hormone fun as I have cried like 3 times of stupid things, and 1 time because of pain. I don't usually cry, so I know the silly things I've gotten upset over isn't me.
I have read of so many people getting cysts again, and after having a couple people in our family get cancer in uterus, I don't want to invite trouble and have to have another surgery later.
How old were you when you had your hysterectomy?
Sorry to hear about your cysts! I personally wish I still had my parts. I did not realize how much they were doing until after they were gone. Everything changed pretty quickly and drastically.
Best of luck to you.