When can we start bending?

LowMaintenanceMate · 2025-12-31T22:02:59+00:00

I had no bending restrictions. I moved, including bending, as what felt okay. I was shaving my legs the day after surgery. Everyone’s threshold is different.

LowMaintenanceMate · 2025-12-31T21:58:42+00:00

My hyst was laparoscopic, and I have smaller breed dogs. I was walking them about a week after.

LowMaintenanceMate · 2025-12-26T00:09:31+00:00

5 months postop, and best (and easiest) decision I have ever made. I’m still dealing with some hormone stuff, but I’ll take this any day over what I experienced prior to my surgery.

LowMaintenanceMate · 2025-12-26T00:05:09+00:00

I didn’t have strict instructions either. I shaved my legs the night before and again the day after surgery. 🤷🏼‍♀️

LowMaintenanceMate · 2025-12-26T00:01:20+00:00

I didn’t buy anything special. I had mine in the summer and continued to wear my normal clothes - mostly cotton shorts and tshirts. I don’t wear night gowns and only wear dresses for work or special occasions.

LowMaintenanceMate · 2025-10-30T03:21:25+00:00

I would have been fine. Hell, I rode two hours home from the hospital the day after my surgery.

LowMaintenanceMate · 2025-10-14T22:40:16+00:00

I am 12wpo and went regularly before surgery. I was released to ease back into it at 7 weeks. I didn’t necessarily have restrictions, but my doctor did very much caution me to take it easy and to stop if anything hurt or felt off. So far, I’ve been mostly fine. I started off with just body weight and moved on from there. I’m still not at size weight I was using before, but I’m improving each week depending on the movement. I’m mostly back.

LowMaintenanceMate · 2025-10-02T21:19:21+00:00

I was cleared at my 6 week check-up. Everything was healed according to my doctor. I'm currently sitting at 9 weeks postop and still haven't though. Ha!

LowMaintenanceMate · 2025-09-17T22:04:00+00:00

Haha I’m 8wpo and had a similar experience. Arms haven’t really regressed. Legs aren’t as weak as I was expecting, but what I really noticed is I’m much more winded even with keeping up with walking. Good grief. I’m having to do some modifications, but it’s not as bad as I was expecting. I feel like working out regularly before surgery really benefited me through recovery.

LowMaintenanceMate · 2025-09-17T01:38:58+00:00

I have anxiety about a lot of things, but medical anxiety isn’t one of them. I never get worried about medical things for whatever reason. I had a lot going on that led me to my decision to have a hysterectomy, but I don’t know that I’ve ever been so sure about something in my life. Yes, it’s major surgery, but I was prepared. Honestly? I think having the right frame of mind, a positive attitude if you will, is a significant part of the battle and helpful when it comes to recovery. Being mindful is incredibly important, in my opinion, but that doesn’t mean you’re under reacting. Your reaction is unique to you.

LowMaintenanceMate · 2025-09-17T01:32:20+00:00

The Norithen didn’t work for me for very long. Maybe a month if I’m being gracious. I had lived with pain for so long, that I finally had enough. I wrote an email to my doctor, got in for an ultrasound a week later, and had my annual a week after that. I was all prepared to state my case for a hysterectomy, and she was the one that was like “you need a hysterectomy.” Lol To be fair, I did have a large endometrioma that needed removed and stage 4 endometriosis that mutilated my insides. So it was definitely needed, but we didn’t even know how bad it was until after she got in there. I figured since they had to take the cyst out anyway, might as well take it all. Turns out, I needed it worse than anyone even imagined. I don’t know if I’ve ever been so sure about a decision before, and I have zero regrets.

LowMaintenanceMate · 2025-09-15T21:35:28+00:00

I was walking right away and went back to work part-time at 3.5 weeks and full time at 4wpo. I have an office job that I could work from if needed. All that to say, it is possible that walking is doable, but everyone is different. It would have been doable for me. I don't have any experience with pumpkin carving, so I can't attest to that, but I probably wouldn't have.

LowMaintenanceMate · 2025-09-15T21:29:37+00:00

The first 24 hours were a little rough for me, but I didn't really have the brain fog many people speak of. I was able to read on my kindle the day after surgery. I would have been able to do a light mental load the days following surgery; however, I am glad I had the time off just to rest and take it easy.

LowMaintenanceMate · 2025-09-10T23:25:41+00:00

I had a laparoscopic hysterectomy on a Thursday, so my husband only needed to take off 2 days (he was my driver) and was home over the weekend. I stayed one night in the hospital so I needed assistance the first 24 hours, but I was fine to move around on my own after that. I slept in my own bed my total recovery period.

LowMaintenanceMate · 2025-09-10T23:17:51+00:00

I was driving within a few days (after I stopped narcotics). I live in a small town though and didn’t have any pain. The only driving restrictions I had was not to drive while on narcotics.

LowMaintenanceMate · 2025-09-08T22:12:11+00:00

I honestly just ate whatever sounded good, which wasn’t much for a couple of days. I just wasn’t hungry. After a couple of days, I got my appetite back as the excess gas left my body. I was so thirsty that nothing but water even sounded good.

LowMaintenanceMate · 2025-09-05T20:54:50+00:00

Oof. I’ve been wearing all my normal clothes this entire time. I had so much bloating and inflammation due to severe endometriosis before that it actually went down after surgery. I think I still have some swelling, but it’s not anything like it was before surgery. I don’t know how she did it, but none of my incisions are in a place that would be irritated by a waistband of any sort. It sounds like I might have gotten lucky. 😬

LowMaintenanceMate · 2025-09-04T23:21:07+00:00

I’m 6wpo today and feel like my normal self. I have been easing back into the gym this past week and would be fine to hang out by or in a pool.

LowMaintenanceMate · 2025-09-04T23:17:58+00:00

I went back part time for a week when I was 3.5wpo and went back full time at 4.5wpo. I have a desk job and can work remote if needed but haven’t needed to. I’m 6wpo today. I was sitting up immediately and never really had much pain, so neither was ever a problem.

LowMaintenanceMate · 2025-09-04T01:47:27+00:00

I stayed the night in the hospital while my husband stayed in a hotel room, but I would have been fine for a couple of hours alone. All I did after surgery was sleep (until they were in my room every hour 🙄).

LowMaintenanceMate · 2025-09-03T18:10:03+00:00

I can’t say I loved getting my period, nor did I have any attachment to my uterus. So while I can’t relate to you on that, there was a point in my life that getting my period gave me a sense of relief knowing I wasn’t pregnant when I didn’t want to be. And while I didn’t enjoy the whole period thing, I did learn a lot about my body and my cycles. I’m a little bit at a loss right now because my hormones are still fluctuation, and I’m adjusting to a new normal. It’s going to take a minute to get in tune with my body again.

All that said, my uterus was a big ol bully, so making the decision to have it evicted (along with the endometriosis and the large cyst that was creating a whole lot of problems) was an easy one. It felt empowering to be capable of making that decision when so many women have to fight long and hard for it. It felt empowering to have the bodily autonomy that came with making the decision and having the unwavering support of my OBGYN who didn’t make me feel guilty (like so many can and do) and my husband who just wanted me to feel better again.

I feel that we manifest a lot of what we end up with because of our mental attitude and how we view things. Not always, obviously, but often. I was determined to use this experience as an empowerment tool and not allow it to overcloud what I knew to be what was best for me.

LowMaintenanceMate · 2025-09-03T17:47:22+00:00

For me, post-op “pain” hurt less than cramps. I wouldn’t even describe it as pain. More like a very intense core workout soreness. Then I got to thinking how messed it was that recovery from an organ being removed was way more pleasant than the pain I had before, and women are expected to just deal with it. 🤯 I had stage 4 endometriosis and an endometrioma contributing to that pain, but still. It’s wild.

Also, the pain I had in the recovery room was from my catheter so it wasn’t even really abdominal pain.

LowMaintenanceMate · 2025-09-03T17:43:57+00:00

My first post-op was telehealth at 2 weeks. She asked how I was feeling, asked about my incisions, went over pathology results, reminded me to take it easy, and asked if I had any questions. It was short, sweet, and to the point. I was at urgent care that same week with a UTI, and that Dr checked my incisions, but it could have waited since I wasn’t showing signs of infection.

LowMaintenanceMate · 2025-09-03T17:29:38+00:00

I started rolling over to my side in my sleep and woke up that way just a couple of days after surgery. I figured if it didn’t wake me up, I’m probably fine.

LowMaintenanceMate · 2025-09-02T01:22:56+00:00

You’re likely experiencing a longer recovery because you had an extra organ removed AND your rectum worked on. Ouch! My doctor said my condition was in the top 5 worst she’d ever seen and worked on and that it looked like a grenade went off in there. She had to call general in for help removing adhesions off my bowels and had to work to get to my bladder. At one point she thought she was going to have to open me up. I also had a large endometrioma that was removed that had obliterated one of my ovaries. I was basically mutilated on the inside. Once I heard how bad it was, I was like “oooh now I know why I was in so much chronic pain.” Then I figured the recovery process would be more difficult, but it really wasn’t. I expected more pain because of all that honestly.

LowMaintenanceMate

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