Hysterectomy. I might need to have this operation. I'm over 50 and already in menopause anyway. How long

might I be out of action after the op? Do you have to stay in bed a lot and not do much? I would worry about the housework and not being able to go to work or do the garden, cos my hubby's not used to housework, bed making,cooking, cleaning etc, but he does the washing up after meals. He's also retired, and I'd need to keep my job to bring in some money. Someone told me 3 months is how long I'd not be able to do any of these things, is that right?

hi love i had a hysterectomy 2 yrs ago, well firstly you cant do anything for 6 weeks after your operation, dont lift anything heavier than a cup, [ the most you can do is make a cup of tea] get yourself up and walking about as soon as you can rest when you need to, you wont need to lie arround all day, you will need a minimum of 8 weeks off work, i think your husband will manage to look after himself for a few weeks, it wont hurt him to put the cleaner, washing machine and lawnmower to good use will it,if you do too much your body will tell you. IT HURTS rest when you need to dont do anything that could cause you harm, because if you do the 8 weeks off work will turn in to 12 weeks off work, after about 3 wks,you can do some general tidying up, dusting etc, after 8 wks i was really able to do most things 4 myself, cooking washing ironing, as for doing the garden that will take a little longer, as your scar needs to heal inside dont risk serious injury by lugging the mower around, as far as your husband goes, most men however useless they may appear, will rally round when they see that you really need them, you will manage just fine GOOD LUCK xx

It depends on how they perform the operation. If you are having the cut then, you will need at least 8 weeks recovery time. You are not allowed to lift anything heavier than a kettle for the first few weeks, you can do 'light' housework but nothing more dusting. You cannot drive for 6+ weeks or until you have your post op check.

Get your family to help our as much as possible and do exactly as the hospital advises otherwise your recovery could be a lot longer.
Remember the housework can wait, it is not important at that moment in time.

If you have the internal hysterectomy your recovery is a lot quicker, but you still have to be careful and do what the hospital tells you.

Most hospitals don't perform a hysterectomy unless it is absolutely necessary, so take the advice and let things happen for the best reasons.

Nurse Soozy has very good advice.A vaginal hysterectomy is much better than the incision. I had the incision. It is better to get up and move around. Drink plenty of fluids and do not get dehydrated. You do not have to go wild with the exercise, but do not lay around. The more you move the sooner you recover. Follow your doctors advice. Remember too that if you are taking pain medication be careful. That may make you feel like doing more than you should. Before you have surgery, as you were told, you will have a pre op exam and tests. If you have questions,ask. If you want, write them down so that you will remember what you want to ask. Yes it is quite painful but Im sure hopefully that you will be just fine. You will find also that the nurses are very informative and will be very helpful. Take care.

i had this op 4years ago and yes take it easy and do not rush things i tried to do things to quickly and ended back in hospital for a week so please follow advice given to you instead of 3 months it took me 4 months to recover from being stupid

You won't be able to do much for the first 6 weeks. Three months off work if you have a sedentary job. If you have a job that includes lifting, you may be off as long as 6 months.

You're looking at around 6-12 weeks for heavy chores/lifting but you have to get up and mobile pretty much straight away to help prevent complications like blood clots in the legs/lungs. You will be able to do light housework (dusting) about 4 weeks afterwards, but you have to give everything a chance to heal inside. It is possible that you could have a vaginal hysterectomy thereby avoiding an abdominal incision, but your gyneacologist would be the best person to discuss that with. You should get a full pre-op assessment a couple of weeks before the op which includes a full health check and them giving you lots of written and verbal info.

You will be hospitalized for anywhere from 1 to 4 days. Your full recovery after that will take anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks.

I had a vaginal hysterectomy and was up doing light activities 4 weeks post-op, by light I mean walking and cooking - do NOT pick anything up before at least 2 months post-op. Laying in bed will only lengthen the recovery time, get up and walk when you feel you're able. I tried to do mopping/sweeping 6 weeks post-op and immediately wish I'd not done that, I was down for a week after that. Take it super easy and slowly increase your activity, and please don't over estimate yourself and wind up hurting yourself.

Abdominal hysterectomies will take longer to heal from and extend the time needed before you can resume normal activities.

You may want to consider some work things that you can do from home because you'll be down for a while hunny.