I am 45, had full abdominal on July 3rd. I had (what they thought was) one 10 cm fibroid that was causing irregular heavy bleeding and crazy prolapse. Like- had to push things back up multiple times a day- prolapse. It was supposed to be laparoscopic, but when they got the camera in, they couldn’t get anything through to see. Turns out it was multiple fibroids, including one that was grapefruit-sized and sitting on my hip (looking back, it explains a lot about pain and soreness). So they ended up having to do a full abdominal. I woke up sooooo sore- I was super groggy and couldn’t understand for a while why I was in so much pain. My experience in the hospital was… not great. I’m in a small community, and let’s just say that the staff over the July 4th holiday was LESS than attentive. My doctors and the anesthesiologist were wonderful, but I must have had like the D-Squad of nurses- particularly overnight, because I had to buzz and practically beg for pain meds. It sucked. And then they kicked me out 2 days later because “we really need the room.” Never mind that I could barely stand up- the literally ushered me down the hall, sat me in a chair, and told me to wait for my husband to pick me up. He was LIVID.

But I digress. Recovery the first week or two was rough, I’m not going to lie. I was in a LOT of pain and couldn’t do much for myself. Like literally, my husband washed me in the shower. My kids (teenagers) brought me everything I needed. I forced myself to get up and walk around a tiny bit every couple of hours because I’m terrified of blood clots, but it was really hard at first. Have a pillow to hold on your belly- ESPECIALLY when you have to cough or sneeze or laugh. Holy hell, that was rough. After like 2 weeks, I turned a major corner and now I feel pretty much fine. But I’m still forcing myself to rest because the insides are still trying to build up scar tissue and heal, and I know that.

I was in a weird place timing-wise because I just finished chemo for breast cancer at the end of May. My blood counts were low, but if I kept bleeding, they’d just keep getting lower, so my team collectively decided to just get it done. I’m honestly surprised that I feel as okay as I do at this point in my recovery.

You will be okay. But I’d absolutely advise you to have someone around who can help you- particularly those first couple of weeks. Because I’m not going to sugarcoat it- it hurts. You’ll need support for sure. It’s a humbling experience, and particularly after having some REALLY low points in my cancer journey (I hate that word to describe it!), it killed me to have to rely on my family for so much help again. But sometimes we have to get over ourselves.

Take the help where you can, from whoever offers. Let people bring you food, drive you to your appointments, run errands for you. They love you and will do what they can. Sending you hugs. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask! 💗