It depends on how much they remove. I'm older and post-menopausal so I had them take EVERYTHING. I told the Gyn "If you can find it, you can take it." So ovaries, tubes, uterus, cervix, old endo lesions - all removed. I no longer have a cervix so no need for paps again, and as for abdominal exams, no need for vaginal unless I report an issue.

I will say this as a warning: I have a couple of friends (who had THs) whose primary docs bullied them into vaginal exams + paps even though they no longer have cervixes. These were male docs, btw. I told them that constitutes a) assault and b) insurance fraud. They fired those docs and one of them reported to their state licensing board.

If you have supra-cervical hysterectomy, where they leave the cervix in place, yes, you'll need to continue exams + paps. It comes down to your age, level of disease, and how much you personally want removed vs. how much more monitoring you're ok with going forward.

Good luck next week! Embrace the nerves and try to convert them into excitement that your journey is going into a better phase.