Sandra’s Hysterectomy Story

Type of Hysterectomy: Total Abdominal
Age at Hysterectomy: 46
Location: Ireland

I had a hysterectomy after being diagnosed with endometriosis, following some months of severe pain. I always suffered with my periods, weeks of bleeding, very painful periods. Following a laparoscopy my surgeon told me that my ovaries were completely attached to my womb, I had a lot of endometriosis, the pouch of douglas was totally obliterated with endo. I did not get a second opinion as I had total faith in my gynaecologist.

My hospital experience was OKAY. I think the only negative was the lack of information prior to surgery, I arrived the morning of the surgery and all the pre op etc was all done then. I had a general anaesthetic. I did not go home the same day, I had been told to expect to be in hospital for 5 days following surgery. I went home on day 3.

My husband was amazing, I just rested, I found it very hard to stay in bed, so I set up on the couch in front of the telly and this suited me perfectly. My recovery was pretty good, as I hear from a lot of women on this site, my patience with the recovery was not great. I would say on the whole my recovery was pretty easy. I did have worries and a lot of weepy days, I was worried that I wouldn’t feel like the same person, I was also extremely worried about surgical menopause as I had both ovaries removed. My greatest challenge was the psychological aspect of returning to ‘normal’ life. I was released by my doctor to return to work after 6 weeks I did not return to work until the 8 week mark, which was fine.

My health overall has been pretty good, I was starting to feel normal again and THEN I was admitted to hospital for a kidney stone in my ureter!!! VERY painful time, kind of set me back a bit. Overall I am glad I had the hysterectomy, I still have some niggles but now I am not sure if that’s to do with the stone or the hysterectomy.

I think definitely get a second opinion, I didn’t and I now find myself second guessing that decision. When faced with a hysterectomy the most important thing you should know is that once you have the hysterectomy you will get your life back and you can do all of the things you always wanted to but couldn’t because you didn’t know when the period would arrive or how much pain there was going to be!!! I think that the most important thing to remember is that you will get through it and when you come out the other side life is good. Let your family do as much as they want to help ( I know this is very hard) but everyone will benefit from this.