How long to get your Mojo back after Hysterectomy?

[lauraelmore1033]

I've been out of action for a while after having a hysterectomy (kept ovaries) mid November. I was totally opposed to hysterectomy, but my doctor put the fear of cancer into me and also said my uterus was too scarred from a failed endometrial ablation to get a decent biopsy sample without doing a surgical procedure--which could result in an emergency abdominal Hyst. if there were complications . So I agreed to have the Robot assisted Laproscopic procedure since surgery seemed inevitable; Might as well just go for the perminent solution and completely remove the risk of cancer in the future.

The surgery went well and I was pretty pleased with the fact that I could go home in the morning and my pain was minimal (needed NO pain meds at home) and I was quickly able to get out and about. I have been following the Dr's orders about staying off the bike and taking it easy etc... I am almost 6 weeks post op, and have been disappointed with how slowly my energy level has been returning. I have worked up to walking 3 miles a day--from the starting point on day two of slowly toddling down to the end of my street and back. I am getting discouraged! last year I did the STP and a 400 mile tour in Montana. It seems like a lifetime ago. The possibility of getting in shape enough to do the stp this year seems pretty slim at this point. Is it reasonable to expect to start training as usual come spring and work back up to doing centuries and more by july?
My follow up Dr visit is this thursday and I'm hoping he will clear me to get back on the bike. I will start out on the old upright hybrid with a springy seat post and see where I can take it from there.

[girlontheroad]

With the caveat that everyone is different and you are clearly in better shape starting out than I am, i just had a total hysterectomy with one ovary removed on september 10. I had an abdominal so i had a big incision but know others who had laproscopic surgery and had about the same recovery time. The internal part of the surgery is still the same. it will probably take a few more weeks to get the energy back, but I found that I finally got my energy fully back around thanksgiving. So that was about 10 weeks. However I travel the country for work and was traveling from just after week 5 so that might have slowed me down. I was back on the bike after 6 weeks but because of the traveling for work my riding was limited through the thanksgiving holiday. After that it didn't take much time to get back up to speed to where I was before the surgery in terms of mileage. And I have added miles in the last 3 weeks so I now can ride farther than I could before. The one problem I do have is I still get swelling in my stomach at the end of the day but it mostly is if I sit at a desk too long or lift too much. Biking doesn't seem to affect it. I would say you could meet your goal in your time frame. I think you are really barely recovered at week 6 but after two months and then now I can tell you I am at least back to 90% if not more. You will probably notice a big difference in the way you feel after 9 weeks or so. Just. Make sure to rest now and follow dr orders as you have been which will improve outcome in the long run. Mine was also unexpected for much the same reason. Not at all what I had planned for this yer and had just been getting started on my road bike regularly, but I am now able to pick up where I left off. Hang in there. It does get better. Here is a link with some others advice to me when I posted a similar question before my surgery. http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=49255. Let me know how it goes!

[lauraelmore1033]

Oh, I did see your thread earlier and wondered how you were doing! The responses on that thread actually made me receptive to the notion of, say, following the Dr's orders instead of following my impulses (and getting on the bike 'cos I felt fine...). Your results are very encouraging, thanks for sharing them!
I do have moments when I THINK I feel like I'm back to normal,and can do anything, but then, I still experience that fatigue lag after I start doing...well,anything. I'm sure I will be thrilled that I went through with the surgery the riding season after this next one. I'm trying to keep it all in perspective, but it's hard...

[TrekDianna]

It was the fatigue that got me. I had the vaginal hysterectomy and I didn't need any pain meds post-op either. I thought everything was great. I felt much, much better than I did pre-surgery - every tiny change in hormones brought on a migraine that made me wish for death (haven't had a migraine since the morning of surgery 2009). Because I felt so awful before and so great after, I didn't exactly follow orders. I was trying things I shouldn't have tried at 4 weeks. My doctor did allow me to do what I thought I felt ok to do, but I would definitely get tired fast and need to take naps. I don't know if it made recovery longer or not, but I feel like recovery was pretty fast. I can say that I did feel tired for a few months. I think that's normal. Your body uses a lot of energy when healing.

[lauraelmore1033]

The fatigue is unreal! Scrubbing the tub last night felt like the equivalent effort of a long and hilly ride. Wrapping presents took half the morning and I was wiped out by the time they were opened. I am baffled by it all.

[tealtreak]

The fatigue is unreal! Scrubbing the tub last night felt like the equivalent effort of a long and hilly ride. Wrapping presents took half the morning and I was wiped out by the time they were opened. I am baffled by it all.

Hang in there! You will feel better ...it is so discouraging when you are in the midst of recovery......The fatigue is normal, I have experienced it not only with major surgery, but also when recovering from a bad car wreck. Maybe the body is yelling at us to conserve energy for healing. I do know the energy does come back! (:

[girlontheroad]

Ditto teal trek. It does get better. I am 3 months out and it is no longer a problem.

[lauraelmore1033]

Ack! Went in for the 6 week follow up and the dr cleared me for physical activity, but not sexual. He then revealed that I'd had a huge vaginal tear when my Episiotomy (from pregnancy 30 years ago) "popped open" due to the size of my fibroids being removed. Claimed that he'd already told me, but I am pretty sure he didn't. DH says he was apprised of the"huge" fibroids, and that he had been told that the operation had taken so long because the fibroids were so large, but that the dr had definitely not said anything about a "huge vaginal tear". well,that explains why I am still so fatigued! Wish I'd known about that 6 weeks ago... Dr ran his finger along a disturbingly long line of still intact sutures and it felt like I had fish bones in there.

[girlontheroad]

Ack is right. Give it time to heal and you should be good as new before too long.

[AppleTree]

lauraelmore1033, oh my goodness. No advice, but wanted to send you good wishes for continued healing and recovery. How frustrating for you at this point! You still have lots and lots of time before bike riding season though to get stronger and feel better.

I was THIS close to having a procedure myself last winter...and opted out at the last minute (chickened out?). But in my case it is not so serious to wait (basically endometriosis)...I may still do it eventually, but feel I can wait for now. At 55 I wasn't sure I would be recovered in time to do the STP last summer and RSVP and I so badly wanted to do both those rides.

Good luck on your healing! Please let us know how you are getting along, I in particular, am really interested to hear how you do.

[lauraelmore1033]

lauraelmore1033, oh my goodness. No advice, but wanted to send you good wishes for continued healing and recovery. How frustrating for you at this point! You still have lots and lots of time before bike riding season though to get stronger and feel better.

I was THIS close to having a procedure myself last winter...and opted out at the last minute (chickened out?). But in my case it is not so serious to wait (basically endometriosis)...I may still do it eventually, but feel I can wait for now. At 55 I wasn't sure I would be recovered in time to do the STP last summer and RSVP and I so badly wanted to do both those rides.


Good luck on your healing! Please let us know how you are getting along, I in particular, am really interested to hear how you do.

Appletree, I saw your thread about Hysterectomy while I was searching for info on getting back into biking and really wanted to ask you if you went through with it, and if you expected to be able to do STP this year. I think I also saw a post of yours on Hystersister. Didn't really find a lot in my search to give me hope that I would be ready this year, but I'm going to give it until march or april to decide. I did get out on the bike yesterday. Dh told me that his old hybrid with the squishy seatpost was ready for me out in the garage. I grabbed it and did the hardest 3 miles of my life--but later found out the Dh did not mean that by saying the bike was "ready" that he had pumped up the tires. So I was riding on flat tires! No wonder it was hard. I'm waiting for the rain to stop so I can see if air in the tires makes riding any easier...
Thanks for all the good thoughts

[AppleTree]

Appletree, I saw your thread about Hysterectomy while I was searching for info on getting back into biking and really wanted to ask you if you went through with it, and if you expected to be able to do STP this year. I think I also saw a post of yours on Hystersister. Didn't really find a lot in my search to give me hope that I would be ready this year, but I'm going to give it until march or april to decide. I did get out on the bike yesterday. Dh told me that his old hybrid with the squishy seatpost was ready for me out in the garage. I grabbed it and did the hardest 3 miles of my life--but later found out the Dh did not mean that by saying the bike was "ready" that he had pumped up the tires. So I was riding on flat tires! No wonder it was hard. I'm waiting for the rain to stop so I can see if air in the tires makes riding any easier...
Thanks for all the good thoughts

Three miles with a flat tire???? I can't believe you made it one mile, you must be doing better than you think! I think I'd have to clonk DH over the head with a bike pump too... ha. Well, maybe a mini-pump.

Yes, I called off the surgery one week before it was scheduled. Between this forum and Hystersister, I decided I was being way too optimistic about recovery and training...but everyone has such a different experience with these things. You basically had two surgeries too, because of the episiotomy tear, so go easy on yourself for a good while..

Keep us posted!

[lauraelmore1033]

Man, oh man! it is about a thousand times easier to ride with the proper amount of air in the tires! I went out and rode the route I did yesterday and added a couple of laps around the block (although I really wanted to do a lot more). I am feeling a lot more hopeful about being able to train for all the long rides I want to do this next year.

[lauraelmore1033]

Definitely feeling more optimistic about getting back to normal. So optimistic I'm going to sign up for STP and RSVP tomorrow. Managed a fairly hilly 15 miles over the weekend and today, was able to make it through a spinnervals dvd (Sweating Buckets) with plenty of steam left to spare.

[AppleTree]

Definitely feeling more optimistic about getting back to normal. So optimistic I'm going to sign up for STP and RSVP tomorrow. Managed a fairly hilly 15 miles over the weekend and today, was able to make it through a spinnervals dvd (Sweating Buckets) with plenty of steam left to spare.

Terrific lauraelmore, so good to hear! I was thinking about you the other day and wondering how you were getting on... and you signed up for BOTH STP and RSVP?? You must REALLY be feeling postive about things, wow!

Alas, I didn't sign up for either one this year...debated back and forth about doing STP again, and then decided to not... DH wants to do 140 miles the first day. Not me! I barely survived doing 120 to Winlock. Well, maybe next year. I might try to volunteer to help out on the RSVP though, so maybe I'll see you on the road to Vancouver anyway, ha...

Don't push it too hard though, ease back into the big mileage...one of the warnings I kept reading about was trying to do too much too soon, even though you FELT more energetic... Anyway, take care!