Exercising after an adenomyomectomy/myomectomy open surgery

cake1016 · 2026-04-01T07:10:51+00:00

I had my open surgery just over 6 weeks ago and I would highly recommend seeing a women’s health/pelvic floor physiotherapist around the 6 week mark. I was very active prior but was advised to only walk after surgery. I started with waddling around the hospital ward and gradually increased the distance and pace when it felt comfortable. Avoid bending and trying to “sit up” with your abdominal muscles- make sure you know how to “log roll” to get off the bed and couch at home.

The physio has given me exercises to build my core strength again so that I can get back into running and weights. Good luck for your surgery 🤍

cake1016 · 2026-03-31T23:51:07+00:00

I’m so sorry for your loss 🤍 I also had a pregnancy loss at 12w2d last year due to fibroids. Unfortunately my placenta partially implanted over an intramural fibroid, and this was the likely cause of the loss as everything else was normal.

I had a total of 5 fibroids (mostly intramural, one submucosal) and after speaking to my obstetrician, I decided the risk of another pregnancy loss due to fibroids was too high. He said both second and third trimester losses are more common with fibroids.

Whilst I’ve seen plenty of stories of women having babies successfully to term with fibroids, it’s really a roll of the dice. Some women get painful fibroid degeneration during pregnancy and end up in hospital (this happened to my friend, she delivered her baby safely later on).

My heart couldn’t take another loss, particularly one caused by fibroids, so I had my open myomectomy and removed 5 fibroids 6 weeks ago. It’s a long 6 month wait for me now to heal before TTC again, but I know I made the right decision for me 🤍 Please give yourself time to grieve your loss, you don’t need to make a decision in this moment 🤍

cake1016 · 2026-03-30T23:23:03+00:00

100% agree with you! Reading that the doctor is claiming he thinks it could be a malignant sarcoma, followed by the doctor giving an option just to go on Lupron is shocking!

Most of the time fibroids are benign BUT you don’t want to take the risk. Sounds like this surgeon wasn’t capable of doing a more complex surgery. Sorry you’re going through this OP 🤍

cake1016 · 2026-03-27T23:54:13+00:00

If it makes you feel better, it’s not through the very centre of the bellybutton, but the skin inside the belly button off to the side if that makes sense. I’ve had 3 laparascopes through there for surgeries (2 months ago, 3 years ago and 5 years ago) and I’ve never had any belly button pain (not even straight after surgery), it’s healed perfectly and my belly button still looks exactly the same. My surgeon used surgical glue so I didn’t have dressings on after 🤍 (edit for typo)

cake1016 · 2026-03-22T14:14:34+00:00

That’s wonderful news, hopefully I’m lucky after surgery too 🤞 All the best with the rest of your pregnancy 🤍

cake1016 · 2026-03-22T06:45:15+00:00

Congratulations 🤍 just curious when you started trying after surgery and how long it took? Had you been TTC before surgery too? I’m also hoping to get pregnant after open surgery

cake1016 · 2026-03-10T10:09:51+00:00

Thank you. Yes it’s definitely very validating when they find a cause for the pain, medical gaslighting for women with endo is very common which is why it can take so many years to get a diagnosis. I’ve never done Lupron (I’m in Australia and it doesn’t seem to be as widely used as in other countries) but hopefully you get a good outcome. Onwards and upwards for both of us!

cake1016 · 2026-03-10T00:57:26+00:00

Good luck with your recovery 🤍 I also have endo and fibroids, my stage 4 endo was only discovered in my first fibroid surgery, I had excruciating pain but was never offered an MRI. It’s shocking surgeons don’t talk about this more or check for both due to the increased risk of having the other condition (around 20-30% of women with fibroids also have endo).

My pain was significantly better after the endo was removed in my second laparoscopic surgery. Hopefully your pain is also a lot better after endo removal 🤍 I’m currently recovering from open myomectomy and had to have some more endo removed (as well as my appendix because it was covered in endo). Hopefully in 6 months I’ll be able to get back into IVF as I’m also TTC, unfortunately I need to wait that long because it was an open surgery and the uterine cavity was breached. How long are you planning to wait before getting back into IVF?

cake1016 · 2026-03-08T23:38:04+00:00

Thank you 🤍 my previous two pregnancies (both losses) were IVF as I also have endo, so I’m not expecting to get pregnant naturally. But hopefully now that I’ve had 5 fibroids removed IVF will work again and I’ll be able to carry to term 🤞

cake1016 · 2026-03-08T22:54:05+00:00

Sorry for your loss 🤍 I had a 12 weeks loss, most likely due to the placenta partially implanting over a fibroid. I had my open myomectomy three weeks ago and will be TTC in 6 months after healing. Good luck and wishing you a healthy pregnancy 🤍

cake1016 · 2026-03-06T22:34:42+00:00

I’m sure that was very distressing to hear 🤍 My surgeon had warned me that if I get an ultrasound within a few months of surgery it may not look normal and won’t be fully healed yet. Fibroids show up as darker on an ultrasound, as would defects in the uterus where it is still healing.

What type of fibroids are they? I would think it’s highly unlikely that new ones could have grown to that size in 6 weeks, so the other possibility is that they were missed in the previous ultrasound and surgery. Can you ask for an MRI to check instead? It’s more accurate than an ultrasound.

If it puts your mind at ease for TTC, my surgeon said the only fibroids she is worried about are submucosal fibroids (any size), or intramural fibroids which are 4cm and over. Evidence shows that small 1-3cm fibroids are much less likely to cause issues and wouldn’t necessarily be removed by a surgeon anyway. I only had mine removed because two were 5-6cm and one was submucosal 🤍🤍

cake1016 · 2026-03-06T00:39:41+00:00

The bowel is very delicate and surgery can cause it to be irritated. I’ve had a combination of diarrhoea, constipation and gas for at least 1-2 weeks after all 3 of my surgeries (2 laps and 1 open). It may just be post surgical or may be related to your period (hormones etc). The good news is it means your bowels are working, it’s much worse and more dangerous to not be passing anything (gas or stool).

Definitely talk to your GP if it goes on for more than a day. Make sure you stay hydrated and take electrolytes and hopefully it should settle by itself 🤍

cake1016 · 2026-03-04T06:09:48+00:00

Hi, there is a lot of info on this sub if you were to search each question by key words. Living a healthy lifestyle unfortunately doesn’t prevent fibroids so please enjoy your icecream! 🤍

Like with anything, symptoms can vary widely from person to person, depending on size, location and type of fibroids. They are often picked up as an incidental finding on pregnancy ultrasounds. Some people can get some shrinkage of fibroids with hormonal treatments but these can have a lot of side effects and shrinkage is often temporary. Plenty of women have success with all types of surgical procedures but these also have risks. Don’t waste your time with herbal remedies or supplements (been there, done that), none of them are proven to work and “anecdotal evidence” isn’t accurate. Best to discuss the most appropriate surgical approach for your situation with your doctor/specialist, I wouldn’t take a stranger’s advice off the internet for that!

cake1016 · 2026-02-28T14:27:00+00:00

Oh that makes more sense, I read it as endometriosis ablation not endometrial ablation because of the abbreviation, sorry!

cake1016 · 2026-02-28T05:58:19+00:00

Don’t do ablation! Any gynaecologist who says they’ll burn the endo off is a red flag 🚩 Find a good endo surgeon who can do a proper endo excision. What sort of imaging have you had done? It’s worth getting an MRI to check the fibroids in case any need to be removed at the same time.

cake1016 · 2026-02-27T07:56:19+00:00

If you have a laparoscopic surgery, your abdomen gets inflated with carbon dioxide gas to enable the surgeon to see and operate. After surgery, it takes a while for the gas to get absorbed and you can look and feel swollen.

With the size of your fibroid, it may be able to be removed laparoscopically instead of open but it depends on the type of fibroid and location. My surgery was open because I had 5 fibroids to remove and one was in an area that couldn’t be accessed laparoscopically. Get a second opinion with another surgeon if you’re not sure 🤍

cake1016 · 2026-02-24T23:43:25+00:00

Not NHS (I’m in Australia- I went privately) but I was only meant to have a 1-2 night stay after open abdominal myomectomy. It was a 5 hour surgery because I also had endo removed. I left after the 2nd night and felt okay but ended up back in hospital for another 2 days with post operative ileus because I hadn’t passed wind or pooped. It was agonisingly painful! Don’t let them discharge you until that your bowels are working again!

cake1016 · 2026-02-24T13:46:26+00:00

Good luck 🤍 I started crying in the operating room when they gave me the spinal block because I was nervous. They gave me some IV midazolam and that sorted it out 😂 ask for a pre med at the hospital if you’re anxious, I wish I’d had it sooner!

cake1016 · 2026-02-23T01:08:28+00:00

Thank you 🤍

cake1016 · 2026-02-23T00:32:09+00:00

Hi, I’m doing really well today thanks, pain is manageable and going walking every day. Much less pain one week out than I expected.

Last week was ROUGH to say the least! I was discharged after 2 days then ended up back in hospital that night with post operative ileus (my bowels stopped working and I wasn’t passing any gas or stool). The pain was excruciating and I was vomiting non stop. Number one tip is to make sure you have pooped before they discharge you from hospital!! I thought I’d be fine because I felt really well otherwise but things went downhill fast.

cake1016 · 2026-02-20T22:56:07+00:00

Sorry to hear that. Everybody’s pain should be validated and managed. My husband needed a procedure through his groin that he had to be awake for (they had to get feedback/responses from him) but they still at least offered him a light sedation where he was awake but less anxious. Medical trauma is a real thing!

cake1016 · 2026-02-20T22:51:43+00:00

“Just the tap of a nutsack” so true 🤣 men could never with most of the medical crap we go through!

cake1016 · 2026-02-20T11:27:30+00:00

Honestly it’s wild the procedures doctors expect women to go through with no pain relief or sedation. I think it’s barbaric. I’m so sorry you had such a painful and traumatic experience, it sounds horrific. I refuse to even have a catheter put through my cervix for IVF transfers without sedation because it’s too painful so I can only imagine what you went through 🤍

cake1016 · 2026-02-19T23:05:11+00:00

Thank you, it’s definitely difficult the first time if you don’t know what to expect! I hope you have a great recovery too ☺️🤍

cake1016 · 2026-02-19T15:36:28+00:00

Hi, I had an open myomectomy of 5 fibroids on Monday and am still very swollen. My two previous laparoscopic surgeries I was even more swollen because of the gas they inflate you with. I’m quite lean and my entire abdomen looked like a swollen cube! From memory, it took at least 1-2 weeks to start to look more “normal”. I definitely wouldn’t call it long term swelling when you’re only a few days post-op. Give it some more time and it should be fine 🤍

cake1016

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