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Sadly I have found out that I need to have a hysterectomy (never rains but it pours) and the consultant has said I can do NO TRAINING for 3 months. Nothing.
Now I'm not about to take that at face value as having had lots of previous ops I can see no reason for not having a gradual increase: walking further, static exercises, turbo trainer???
Nothing at all for 3 months will drive me insane.
Anyone any experience or knowledgeable?
Hi Flopsy,Quote:
Originally Posted by Flopsy
A hysterectomy is a major op and you should take it easy afterwards.
I had a C-section 11 months ago which is also a similar major. I started out 2 weeks later with short and slow! walks. It was painful! I started running at 7 weeks post op...again very slowly. I should also have waited until 3 months post op but I was naughty!
You will need your rest afterwards....enjoy it by relaxing with a good book or listening to music. You need to give your body chance to recover and tissues to knit back together. I think you should wait until at least 6 weeks post op and see how you feel, then have a chat with your doctor before starting anything. 3 months is not that long in the grand scheme of things and best not to do any damage by overdoing it!
All the best for a speedy recovery.
First of all, do you absolutely have to have this op? Of course, for some conditions it is mandatory and a life saver, but others can be treated by non-surgical conservative methods. I have some health problems which COULD be addressed by a hysterectomy plus other allied ops, but after researching extensively I have good hopes I will be able to manage my problems myself indefinitely, with the help of specialist physios etc. I have learned how to do this over the past year, and am much much more relaxed about it than I was.Quote:
Originally Posted by Flopsy
Once you have had the op, you are really in the hands of the surgeon, though I would also research other surgeon's opinions as to what you can do post op. It is major surgery and I think impact, lifting and tensing your abs would have to be avoided for quite a long while. Also. many surgeons say you may not lift more than a few pounds for the rest of your life. However, I think opinions are perhaps moving on in that respect, as it is realised how impossible that prohibition can make women's lives.
You should ask your surgeon about possible complications arising from removing the uterus - many women go on to have further surgery to deal with these. The figure of 1 in 4 in the first 5 years is often quoted. Because this is such a real possibility, disobeying the surgeon's instructions is high risk.
Do pm me if you think you would like to discuss this further with me, I would be happy to email you or give you my phone number. Very best wishes.
Flopsy,
I'm not a doctor, surgeon, consultant or even a women. But, if you do need the op, then 3 months is not an especially long time. I've lost more with a serious spinal injury and the fitness came back in about 6 weeks. In fact, having gone through the depressing 2 months before diagnosis and almost 2 months of treatment and hospitalisation and losing over a stone in race weight to 10st 3lb, I found the re-gaining of fitness and weight very life-affirming. Ask your consultant about walking first, there may be scope for long, slow exercise there. I wish you good luck.
Thanks for the replies.
Yes I do need to have the op, this is the end of the line after years of failed attempts at other solutions. I may not be in a life threatening situation but quality of life is also important. I've had to give up work.
Also at this stage they are hoping not to have to cut my abdomen open. I won't go into further details but lets just say there are other ways.
I know in the big scheme of things that 3 months is not a lot.
I'm not wanting to go off and do big stuff just keep the body ticking over. All the stuff I can find on the internet suggests no lifting or strenuous activity but that a gradual increase is benefical, inluding pelvic floor exercises and walking. Some even suggest more strenuous exercise (just not lifting).
I also have no idea when I can return to horse riding for example. Is that considered strenuous? What does it mean by walking is good. My idea of a walk is a 10 mile hike. I guess that is too much but what would be a rough guide.
I asked the consultant whether I would get to see a physio for advice and she said that physios were in short supply. They come round the hopsital on Fridays but my op is on the Thursday before Easter and so they won't be coming round that Friday. So basically I would get no advice on anything.
I'll happily pay for a physio if that's what it takes to get information but I only know of sports physios not rehab from such an op. Would paying to see a physio for advice be the best course of action?
Like I said I just want to know where to get advice as I don't think that doing nothing for 3 months and then returning to full on exercising would be sensible either.
Thanks again.
Dear Flopsy,
Had a couple of further thoughts today:
First, have a look at the LDWA
http://www.ldwa.org.uk/index.php
They do social walks and challenge events over various distances. They are cheap, friendly, and there's food and drink. You don't have to join. There would be scope for starting off gently and building up gradually. The challenge events attract runners who use them as useful training runs, so you may well see people you know. I'm thinking walk steadily and not too far, walk further, then switch to running. There's loads of events and you could easily plan a gradual programme over several months.
Second, my wife was chatting to a lady runner today who is post op, several years ago. We don't have her details, but I possibly know someone who does.
I'll try and see if she's interested in contacting you on the PM side of the house.
Thanks for the responses and PM's. A bit of an embarrassing topic but one many many women face. Something like a third of us have one for varying reasons.
It all seems to be such a minefield, with an 'everyone is individual in their recovery' general philosophy. Which is true I guess.
Extensive enquiries has led me to the belief that doing some exercise gradually is actually good for recovery. Walking mainly to start with, then swimming when the wounds have healed. Running and horse riding sadly seem to take the longest to return to at more like 3 months.
I have been given a few information sheets with post operative pelvic and adominal exercises, which is good. Already starting them as pre-op, which is also of benfit apparently,
Any further advice would still be useful though and I still feel like I may need some one-on-one advice from a physio at some point.
A couple of weeks to go and getting pretty scared by it all really :eek:
Thanks again.
Thanks for all the responses everyone. To update. I spoke to my doctor who said that I should indeed be doing exercises post op and that a physio is the best person to speak to. She suggested that I phone the hopsital physio dept.
Phoned the physio dept and they have a womens health physio dept. They said that of couse I should be seeing a physio, I don't have to pay as it's not my fault that it's an Easter operation and of course I should be doing exercises.
I am seeing the physio next week for a 3 month recovery plan, including exercises, based on my level of usual fitness. She will then give me a follow up call after the op to make sure that the operation went as planned and she doesn't have to revise the 3 month recovery plan.
I can't tell you what a relief it is to sort it out.
Thanks again.
Wish me luck!!!
good luck flopsy!!
bike or an exercise can be a good low impact way of exercising (and good leg benefit for running later).
exercise bike though dull can be especially good - as you can stop whenever you like, ie you haven't got to get yourself back like you might have to if you'd walked or ridden somewhere then realised you needed to stop.
hi i had my opp 4 weeks back i cant wait to get back on my horse everyone is saying 3-4 months im hateing it help
Hi Jane, I'm 8 weeks post op now and 4 weeks to go. I am sooooo bored.
Physio and doctors and specialist all said 3 months for riding a horse (I ride too) and 3 months for running, biking, circuits....anything remotely impact or with excessive movement.
Bummer.
Thanks for pointing out title of this thread Flopsy! :)
Flopsy, I realise you wrote this years ago, but if you still have the exercise plan I'd really appreciate seeing it (email?) I am going to have a hysterectomy because they have found cancerous or pre-cancerous cells (not sure yet) and I'd like to start preparing. Thanks - I hope your op is now just a distant memory.Quote:
Originally Posted by Flopsy
Best of luck with the Op’ Alex.
ATB
Tahr
Thanks very much. I love your signature!Quote:
Originally Posted by Tahr
Thanks it is my motto:o, if I get to a race and can’t decide what shoes to wear Talons? Rocklites? or Mudclaws ? I always think if in doubt get the mudclaws out, can never have too much grip.:thumbup:
ATB
Thar
I feel like that about grip too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tahr
Yes, good luck Alexandra.
Please could you also send the plan to me? My op is scheduled for 6th feb, i have struggled with coming to terms with it tbh, as ive spent the last 12 months building my fitness up to enter L100 (which i have) i did L50 last year and saw that as a stepping stone to my ultimate goal, this now looks doubtful for 2013, totally gutting!
Thanks Mike.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike T
So sorry about the disappointment on top of all the other distress around the op. Your super fitness won't be wasted, as you should stand up to the stresses of the op. and recover much much faster than other women. As for your plans for 2013, I have been scouring the internet, including the FRA Forums, for info & views on getting back to running. Sadly, I have come to the conclusion that running is one of the last forms of exercise allowable, on pain of damaging oneself permanently inside before healing is complete. I have accepted that I will be healed externally far sooner than internally. I am trying to shift my ambitions for the next year away from any sort of race, speed or training goals. I just aim to arrive at the anniversary of my op. in the best possible nick and ready to build on that (cancer permitting).Quote:
Originally Posted by are we nearly there yet?
However, walking seems to be universally recommended for recovery. I am hoping to maintain as much fitness as possible that way.
If you would like to chat more about all/any of this, do pm me. I'd be glad of the company.
Anyone who has a hysterectomy needs to check what is appropriate for their type of op as there are several different ways for the op to be performed and different bits that can be removed and these affect the rate of recovery. I think that type of op I had has the slowest recovery but was the least invasive as I did not have insicions at all.
The main risk of doing too much too soon is prolapse and once you've prolapsed it's very difficult to reverse that damage (so I'm led to believe).
For me the op changed my life. Gave me my life back. So it was worth the risk.
It was a long time ago that I has the op. 3 years this coming April and so I don't have my recovery outline anymore. This is what I remember: I was in hospital for 5 days. Not allowed out of bed for 48 hrs I think it was, then I was encouraged to pootle around - I went for pootles down the coridoor to the lifts and back each day. But very slowly. When I got home I wasn't allowed to leave the house for the first 5 days I think it was but I had to keep mobile round the house in between resting. Then I was on increasing duration of walk. I can't remember exacty. I think I started at 5-10 mins round the block for the first week and then built it up from there every week. By the end of 3 months I was walking briskly for 3 miles every day. Personally I was very nervous about running again so delayed it longer than I needed to probably. But there is no reaosn to think you will lose all your fitness that quickly. I didn't.
Key things are: you absolutely must to the pelvic floor exercises; no lifting not even a kettle of water for 3 months I waas told (tedious!!); and don't do too much too soon as the consequences could be worse than boredom. The key thing as well as keeping mobile is to rest. You can't underestimate how much the body needs time to recover form major surgery, which is what it is. And personally I was quite shattered from the op and my body wanted to rest a lot.
I really would suggest talking to someone who knows what type of op you are having. I know some women were told they could do much more much sooner following their ops but like I said it depends how the op is done and other factors such as what they remove. So I stuck to what I was told was right for me. You might need to really badger them but so what, you pay your NI so why not get some return on it.
Good luck to all.
I have just had a call-back from a Macmillan nurse, very well-informed & helpful. Highly recommended to anyone with diagnosed or possible cancer. 0808-808 0000
thanks for your reply, and tbh it puts me to total shame that you are offering me support, im moaning about loss of fitness, im not having the op due to cancer or possible and you are, i wish you well and hope to follow your successful progress. Meanwhile ive accepted-i will be patient to avoid becoming a patient!Quote:
Originally Posted by Alexandra
Nonsense! My every 2nd thought is about my fitness & how soon I can possibly hope to win it back. My every 3rd thought is whether I will have to cancel my next walking holiday in France. Only 1 thought in 3 is about possible cancer, possible treatments, possible death. That's how we are (fortunately). I'll pm you.Quote:
Originally Posted by are we nearly there yet?