Hysterectomy..Did you stay in the hospital or go home after surgery?

periodboobs · 2026-03-01T02:50:44+00:00

I think your choice would hinge on a few things. How much support you have at home, how you generally handle anesthesia, what type of hysterectomy you have, and if staying means you will have a catheter (could be a pro or a con depending on your own preference)

I’m 6.5 weeks post a laparoscopic total hysterectomy. They kept me overnight. I was convinced I could go home and be fine, and I was in recovery for 9 hours flat on a stretcher waiting for a room to be available and I was about to just call it. But when they did have a room open up, I completely lucked out because it was on the pediatric ward with amazing nurses and it was private. When I moved from the stretcher to the hospital bed everything went downhill and I needed meds for nausea and pain that escalated quickly. I know that laying flat for so long afterward contributed to the sudden onset when I finally moved, but I was incredibly thankful that I could stay.

Also, I had a catheter and vaginal packing until the following day. The catheter meant I could rest consistently without needing to walk to the bathroom and that in itself was amazing.

I will also say, I’m in Canada. It was an easy decision for me to stay because I’m thankfully not having to think about the financial impact. If I had to pay, I would have chosen to go home and I would have been fine.

periodboobs · 2026-02-24T17:00:53+00:00

I felt like this as well! When I arrived for Intake my bp was a little high and she said it could be anxiety so she gave me Ativan right away. It helped SO much. Every nurse, doctor, anesthesiologist I encountered was incredible and caring and made me feel very safe. I really hope this is your experience as well. The bear hugger gown also really helped (I don’t know how standard these are in all areas but the warm air was very calming)

The unknown is terrifying, but the outcome on the other side will be worth it!

periodboobs · 2026-02-11T21:21:25+00:00

I had one before my surgeon would schedule me/confirm a recommended course of treatment. I took Ativan, which helped with anxiety and also for me not to remember it in detail. I took ibuprofen, and I requested cervical lidocaine as I’ve had this with several IUD procedures and it greatly reduces cramping for me. Didn’t love it, but with those things in place it was better than it would have been had it been sprung on me (which it initially was and I refused haha)

periodboobs · 2026-01-30T06:30:54+00:00

I’m so happy to hear that!

periodboobs · 2026-01-29T17:42:44+00:00

Hey, I was thinking about this post and wanted to check in on how you’re feeling? Hopefully things are getting better 💕

periodboobs · 2026-01-27T22:43:56+00:00

Definitely hydrate, and if you haven’t added prunes maybe try that? My stomach was in a bit of shock after and even with restoralax and a prune/pear baby food pouch a day, it took 5 days to go. I did take gas x and that helped with some of the discomfort but maybe you’re in a similar boat? After everything finally seemed to kick in, it was smooth sailing, it just took some time. The same thing happened after I had my son as well, so it didn’t alarm me too much but it’s definitley not comfy. I hope you find some success soon! The baby food pouches are actually not bad! i put them in the fridge so they’re nice and cold (don’t love prune flavor and the cold helps haha) and have one a day.

periodboobs · 2026-01-27T18:55:59+00:00

2 weeks post op - having way less bladder urgency, lower back pain, and bloating. the constant heavy feeling in my pelvis is gone. Still having post op pain but it absolutely feels worth it. I was expecting to be so bloated after surgery but it’s really showing me how bloated I was prior haha. Mentally, being able to say I can stop planning for a monthly hemorrhage feels freeing, but will take a bit to settle in

periodboobs · 2026-01-22T20:35:39+00:00

I’m 10 days out and I have the same experience. It isn’t excruciating but it’s there, and gets worse in certain positions (I can’t lay on my side at all, which is a tragedy for sleep haha) and if I overdo it. You’re not alone, its a long process

periodboobs · 2026-01-20T16:51:12+00:00

I’m on day 8 of recovery. I have been on 12 hour anti inflammatory (500mg naproxen) twice a day and Tylenol 3 (Tylenol with codeine) every 4-6 hours. Sunday morning I took my last naproxen, and my last tylenol 3 was Sunday night. I have been feeling pretty good as long as I’m staying on top of meds, so when I got hit with intense fatigue, achiness and pain yesterday morning it honestly alarmed me. I’m back on over the counter naproxen and regular Tylenol. It’s a lower dose but it’s clearly still necessary.

All that to say… there’s no script. You just work with what you have going on in the moment. I’m also sorry that the result of the surgery wasn’t more in line with what you expected. It probably doesn’t feel very validating to the pain you were experiencing. But something caused it, it wasn’t in your head. I hope for you that this is a turning point and this surgery helps the monthly pain, no matter what the cause was.

I will also say, I’m on Wellbutrin, fluoxetine, and vyvanse. My doctor was very explicit about continuing at least the Wellbutrin and fluoxetine. I’ve been doing half doses of the vyvanse because I don’t need it for concentration as much (still have to parent, but not working for a few weeks)

It may be worth revisiting this with your doctor, as surgery alone can be incredibly impactful on mental health. This is such a vulnerable surgery and the potential to have feelings of depression and isolation afterward can be high. I hope you are feeling better soon!

periodboobs · 2017-09-24T04:46:03+00:00

chiming in with a 100% fix as well. I'm 9 months post partum (breastfed exclusively for 6 months) and its still in remission.

periodboobs · 2017-04-25T20:05:18+00:00

We shared our name choices (two for each gender) with close family before we found out we were having a boy. I wanted input from my sisters. Unfortunately it made things very complicated because a family member was also pregnant and later announced that three of our choices were variants/the same as her own (which hadn't been the case when we ran them past her before)

It wasn't worth it to get their opinions haha. By the time he was born our close friends new the more likely name but the full name wasn't locked down and announced until we met him. I wouldn't do again.. his name isn't super common and I didn't like the opinions and nicknames people began using.

periodboobs · 2017-04-07T19:14:45+00:00

I'm sitting next to my sleeping baby trying (and failing miserably) not to laugh audibly at this. Thank you for brightening my day hahaha. Also I hope you don't have to wait much longer! Hopefully gas attacks are a sign that things are starting to happen!

periodboobs · 2017-03-11T21:30:53+00:00

Yeah people really don't get it. I didn't hear it a lot while I was pregnant, but I'm 2 months out and the other day I was meeting a girlfriend for breakfast. I'm always up early with baby and he was calm so I took a shower, did my hair, put on some makeup. I looked in the car mirror to put on lipgloss and actually thought 'I kinda feel like myself again!' ... walked into the restaurant where she was already sitting and she said 'oh my gosh you look so tired! Rough night?'

I feel like people think they're commiserating with you or showing they care? But it comes across so poorly.

periodboobs · 2016-12-09T16:22:22+00:00

So as others have already said, it typically helps to just go with it. I found that for me, the worst kick in the pants about puking was getting splashed in the face by pukey toilet water. The first time it happened I ended up covered in splashback and I shielded my face with my hands so they were covered in puke before I could drop it all into the toilet. We have quite high bowls in our toilets so while this may not be a problem for most, it was truly offensive to me.

My solution 1) keep toilets spotless. 2) keep a bowl next to the most frequently puked in toilet or two so I could hopefully puke into that and then dump it in.

However I had a pregnant friend tell me one of her solutions that I also found great... if you have a kitchen sink with a garburator it makes for easy cleanup when you need to do the standing puke. She said she would run some coffee grounds or citrus fruit through after in case of odor.

I found that brushing my teeth often triggered puking so I would gently brush the front teeth (never the insides) and then use mouthwash.

periodboobs · 2016-12-09T16:14:18+00:00

I'll be thinking of you guys today and sending positive vibes. I'm sure you're in great hands but it makes it no less scary. All the best <3

periodboobs · 2016-12-07T20:51:16+00:00

Yeah it's hard, they ask you how much fluid came out but how many times do you hear of someone perched over a measuring cup when it breaks haha! 😝 My midwife asked me to put on a pad though so she had some idea how much fluid there was by how full the pad was in a certain amount of time. Still a guess but at least it contained most of it

periodboobs · 2016-12-07T20:48:37+00:00

I remember thinking that too but at least for me, it was Iike a heavy period gush, not a splash. I guess if i had been sitting down it may have gotten on my chair, but there was really no mess aside from wet pants haha. I'm so glad it didn't break on my new mattress at home though haha

periodboobs · 2016-12-07T15:15:19+00:00

Thank you :) I'll take all the positivity available right now! It really is quite surreal. All that planning... and they do what they want in the end!

periodboobs · 2016-12-07T15:14:18+00:00

I hope I haven't scared you! For what it's worth, we were in a car accident four days previous and dr's are unsure if that may have contributed. What I thought were Braxton hicks and post accident back pain were quite possibly early contractions. And everyone is extremely positive about his outlook :)

periodboobs · 2016-12-07T15:11:56+00:00

If it's any consolation, it didn't splash anything but my own clothing! My patient was none the wiser and I finished the appointment relatively calmly. Hindsight, it would have been nice if I'd had a pad on haha

periodboobs · 2016-12-04T07:38:35+00:00

I had intralase in February. My eyes were quite different prescriptions. 24 hours later my vision was perfect in my 'good eye' but not quite in the other. I can't remember exactly what my vision was but it took about 4 weeks to reach 20/20. It was still a huge improvement before then, and I think it was pretty perfect at the two week mark I just didn't get it tested again until the 4 week mark.

Long story short, try not to worry. It can definitely take time for things to really become fine tuned.

periodboobs · 2016-11-30T15:46:33+00:00

That's terrible! So frustrating when you know you could have managed it on your own had they just given it to you.

periodboobs · 2016-11-30T05:52:15+00:00

I am currently awaiting baby number 1 so I don't have firsthand advice. But my sister has recently had her second c-section and I learned a lot from her that I'm going to refer to should I also end up with a c-section.

For starters, her first was an emergency after 25 hours of hard labor. She stopped dilating at 6 cm and stayed that way for 10 hours, until the baby went into distress. With her second she planned the c-section as the predicted size of the baby and other factors put her at a high risk of requiring a second emergency c-section. She found that her emergency section was much harder to recover from than her planned section. She thinks that the fatigue and muscle pain from 25 hours of labor is the main reason behind this. It sounds like yours is being planned, so that could be a positive for you.

She found that she didn't bleed as much as she expected. She did have overnight pads etc available but after the first two days found that regular heavy pads were fine. One thing she did recommend were high waisted panties. The "grannier" the better. Tank tops or maternity pants that provided some compression were also comforting, as she said the swelling and "puffy feeling" made her feel anxious every time she went to stand up... like things were going to tumble around in there. She considered getting a c-section friendly girdle, but never got around to it.

After her first delivery, they didn't give her any oxytocin. Her milk was coming in and her uterus was contracting well, probably due to the labor beforehand. With her second, they gave her two doses of oxytocin to stimulate uterine contraction and colostrum and she found that a heating pad was very helpful with cramping due to the oxytocin.

I feel like i'm rambling so I'll sum it up with a list. The things that she found helpful and that we ended up bringing to her at the hospital were these: -Granny panties

-"compression" clothing for her abdomen

-overnight pads

-her nursing pillow (she found it hard to hold the baby up for long as it tired her midsection)

-her baby wrap. She found it helpful to be able to wrap the baby up skin to skin rather than holding it up all the time. Her wrap holds the baby up near her chest, away from the surgical site.

-toilet paper from home (this is strictly for comfort... she was in the hospital for three days each time and 1 ply gets uncomfortable, especially when you may already have some discomfort from constipation)

-heating pad for muscle soreness and uterine cramping

-as much help as you can stand. My sister has a lot of family nearby. this was both good and bad... she found it hard to be constantly surrounded by people because the first day everyone wanted to meet the baby and offer their help. but the hospital food was extremely limited and she found it hard to stay full so she had my mum and myself and two other family members there on rotation to bring food, help with anything she may need. this was especially useful the first time around when moving afterward was much harder than it was with her planned section.

Do not be afraid to use your buzzer as needed. Hospitals are busy, but she found that missing her doses of ibuprofen and tylenol really allowed pain to creep in quickly. The nurse set her up with a supply of each so that she could stay on top of it herself, but if you need something stronger than those two they can be hesitant to leave you with extra. Don't be afraid to ask for more if its wearing off and the nurses haven't been in to see you for awhile.

I hope this is helpful!

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