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Old 10-03-2007, 11:27 AM   #1  
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Default Another hysterectomy question - exercise?

Ok, we've had the discusion about having one.

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123693

Now I'm wondering about exercise before and after.

Who exercised before their surgery? Do you think it helped recovery? Did anyone do a lot of pilates and core strengthening exercises prior or just work on general fitness?

How long did it take to get back into shape afterwards? (Yes, I know that round is a shape but it's not the one I'm looking for.)

I know that it's major surgery and I shouldn't expect to jump out of bed and run a marathon the next day. But in general how long did it take to be able to do something simple like walk, run, ab exersices stuff like that.

I'll ask my surgeon but I won't meet him until December-I work with the research nurse for the study now.

Thanks
Sarah in MD
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Old 10-03-2007, 11:36 AM   #2  
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Hi Sarah!
Are we really going here again???

Anyway, let me think. Since mine was 17 years ago and I'm old now, my mind doesn't register until around noon, but I'm trying! I didn't exercise before nor after but I didn't exercise at all then so it wasn't anything unusual. Since a lot of the surgeries are done with a laser now your recovery time would be really quick if done that way. In fact, a friend of mine's sister had a hysterectomy about a year after mine and she did have the laser back in '91. She recovered really quickly. It probably took me a few weeks anyway to walk normally and not stooped over like an old woman. I felt great after my 6 week check-up - As far as a shape goes, I pretty much lost mine 4 years prior due to my son being born so.........
And I haven't had one since!! But.....I'm working on it!
Lori
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Old 10-03-2007, 12:02 PM   #3  
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You noticed I started a new thread? I figured it would be safer.

Quote:
As far as a shape goes, I pretty much lost mine 4 years prior due to my son being born so......... And I haven't had one since!! But.....I'm working on it!
My dh once asked me what shape I wanted to be since I kept talking about getting in shape. He's the person who would yell across the store-"hey honey, they have 16 wides, just your size."

Sarah
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Old 10-03-2007, 01:44 PM   #4  
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Men are clueless sometimes. My husband is 165 pounds soaking wet and is 6 feet tall! We are like Jack Spratt and his big mama wife! My kids (the little ones) actually call me Big Mama but not to be mean. I'm their mama and am big. We love that movie too. But.......I will NOT tell them the number - they, like all kids, have big mouths and it will be all over school what I weigh - it's a pretty small school and town. So I tell them 170! I WISH! So.......we go on - trying day by day! I'm sure all the people they tell that their mom weighs 170 are thinking, "NOT!"
Lori
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Old 10-04-2007, 03:19 PM   #5  
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I had my surgery in July....I have been going to the gym 3-4 days a week for two years so contrary to what the scale says, I'm in pretty good physical shape. My surgery went well and doctor wanted me to stay home for 6 weeks but I was back to work after 4 with no problems. I felt really good after surgery, was up walking with no pain and no meds the next day. The only problem was I was very fatigued for the first two-two and a half weeks, but the third and fourth weeks before returning to work I felt great. I even went on a cruise during my fourth week of recovery and the only problem I had was I couldn't do a lot of the walking on the excursions. I got a little sore and really tired, but after getting back on the ship and resting for an hour, felt good as new. I did a little walking starting my third week, just around my neighborhood and went back to the gym the sixth week. I didn't have to have an incision though, surgery was vaginal.
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Old 10-05-2007, 05:17 PM   #6  
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I've been walking (it's been 7 weeks since my surgery) 30 minutes a day for the last two weeks. I just talked to my doc and my previous "cocktail" caused some swelling, which left me too sore to try ab exercises. I have a new "cocktail" (started today) and I plan to try the gym next weekend (when I have time to sleep it off!). My OBGYN was very honest- estrogen helps digest carbs so you really have to watch what you eat and she stressed that at least 30 minutes/day of walking was needed to keep muscle mass and help maintain a healthy weight.

I discovered that, if you are serious about making a full recovery, you're going to watch what you eat and exercise every day for rest of your life. I can live with that but it is certainly a change!

BTW girls, our former "esteemed expert" WAS a man... some Serbian guy who sells psychic readings and counsels women wholistically on their reproductive health. My personal fav was his claim that one of the risks of the surgery was that modestly endowed (I had to clean this up for the ladies!) men will stalk you... it's worth a read if you need a good snicker!

Last edited by Lafayette; 10-05-2007 at 05:21 PM.
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Old 10-05-2007, 08:33 PM   #7  
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I had an abdominal hysterectomy 5 years ago at age 45 for fibroids which caused extremely painful periods. My uterus was the size of a 4 month pregnancy and caused bladder issues also. I elected to have my ovaries left in although my Dr. said after 45 they usually advise to remove them. I was in the hospital 3 days and back to work after 6 weeks and have never regretted my decision to have surgery. I started going into menopause about a year ago. When it comes to menopause it's kind of hard to know what's going on when you don't have periods anymore.

I work on an OB/GYN unit at a large hospital and we have one Dr. that now does an abdominal procedure where the uterus is removed with a laparascope through the scope sites in the abd. wall. The uterus is removed in pieces (He compared it to peeling an orange) through the tiny incisions (three of them) and there is no big incision. This is an alternative to the regular abdominal incision for women who have too large of a uterus for vaginal hysterctomy. He said as long as he can view the blood supply well with the laparoscope, he is able to do it this way. These women go home the next day and have very little pain and a much faster recovery. I wish that this had been available when I had my surgery.

After my surgery, I was able to return to walking as soon as soreness was diminshed (a couple weeks) and after 6 weeks I returned to normal activities. I did have a little pooch there afterward for many months until my muscle tone returned.
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