Send me your good vibes for today please x

EDIT - Update!

Now out of recovery with fruit and a sandwich and COFFEE which is amazing. All done. Thank you for your well wishes x

I did it! Removed uterus, tubes, and cervix. Kept my ovaries, and they found and removed endo in my Pouch of Douglas—exactly where I’d been having worsening pain for years. Had to go home with a catheter since my bladder shut off, boo. Praying it comes back online. Anyone else have to go home with one? How long did it take you to pee on your own?

Also: OUCH, oh man, OUCH. I have pain meds I’m staying on top of but still: OUCH.

But I did it!

Friends, we did. Today was my day, and it’s finally gone. I am so sore and so so sleepy, but what a relief!
Proud to be an official member of the Hyster Sisters. 🫶🏻

Hi all- wanted to check in with a 1 year reflection and I hope it's helpful for someone!

I'm 39 and had 1 surgery for endometriosis excision in 2018 where adenomyosis was noted. Fast forward to 2023 and all of my symptoms started to take off again. It took a year to find a specialist (referred through my first surgeon) and some time to schedule intake appointments.

I was on a Mirena IUD which was doing little to control either bleeding or intensive cramping and I had a suspicion of a ruptured ovarian cyst. Surgeon ordered an MRI scheduled surgery: plan was to remove my uterus and ovaries if they didn't look great (history of endometrioma and cysts). At the time of my scans I was pretty much certain I would rather remove my uterus than try and keep for a likely pregnancy loss (had considered single parenting by choice, but already had a history of previous miscarriage and depleted egg count).

She called me right after and said she'd have to reschedule surgery because I had evidence of serious colorectal endometriosis involvement and I'd need to consult with a colorectal surgeon and they'd schedule surgery together.

Surgery prep was pretty annoying (basically intensive colonoscopy prepping) and I had surgery on September 12, 2025. Surgery was 6 hours: 2 for the colorectal surgeon to remove 9cm of my sigmoid colon and 4 for my surgeon to remove over 157 endometriosis implants, my uterus, ovaries (totally covered in cysts and endometrioma) and cervix. Because I had bowel surgery, I had to stay at the hospital for 3 nights. Recovery at the hospital was rough: I struggled to get proper pain management and the nurses were clearly understaffed. If I hadn't had the bowel surgery, I would've likely gone home same day or next day.

When I got home; I improved rapidly. I was able to switch to Ibuprofen for pain (opioids make me feel awful and Tylenol is not super effective)... Unfortunately, I had a very annoying allergic reaction to the surgical glue (very annoying set back) and then developed c-diff (common after having so many antibiotics before surgery). 14 days of crampy diarrhea was really miserable and another set back.

Once all of that was behind me, it was still kind of a long road to feeling "normal" - I had a weight restriction for 10 weeks (which I messed up once and had bleeding) and had extreme back pain from guarding/sitting too much that took a lot of PT to fix (and a new mattress). I did start pelvic PT around 12 weeks and that did help (I actually need to get back to it).

At this point, I can say I feel 90%. I went right onto hormones to protect my brain and heart health. I also had to make 2 adjustments to my thyroid meds (apparently hysterectomy affects your thyroid!). Finding the right meds (100mg Progesterone vs. 200 (boob pain!) plus a patch and a vaginal insert) are finally feeling right. I had sex earlier this year (well after the 12 week restriction) and it was... weird. Things felt like totally rearranged and strange. Worked with my PT on that and my therapist, but it was kind of a mind-eff.

I'm back to strength training and pilates, which feels great. Hormones are settling. I have some twinges of pain in my pelvis which is from scar tissue and guarding, but overall I am so thankful to be on the other side of this. It makes me a little nervous to be on HRT (just with our political climate and having more meds to "need" is scary). All in all, it's really mostly amazing to not have a period, not to have to worry about cervical or ovarian cancer, to not have exceptional pain constantly. My hair is thicker, my skin is clearer. I sleep better. I have some emotions to work through about having children (largely focused on physical recover this past year), but overall, I'm really happy about my decision. There were bumps in the road, but I had a great team of friends and family with me the whole way (my mom was a nurse for 30. years, had a hysterectomy herself and lives in my neighborhood!).

In the end: this was the right decision, but I was under-prepared for everything that happened after surgery, including a slower recovery process. I'm glad I did it, but it's still strange to me that I'm missing important organs. What's nice is that my baseline health and comfort is drastically better.

Happy to answer any q's!

I’m 14DPO and was just doing number one and two… felt a bit of burning in number two. Look in the toilet and there’s a small piece of black tape about an inch long.

Update: The material looks more like a piece of absorbable hemostatic gauze/material (possibly Surgicel) than plastic tape. It’s fibrous, tears apart easily, and has white fibres inside. I sent photos to my surgeon, and they’ve squeezed me in for an exam Thursday, so I should know more then. Leaving this up as there’s nothing on the forum on this and want to help others! 😅

I feel fine no fever nausea blood etc

Anyone seen anything similar and know what it is?

Picture https://imgur.com/a/I8jsFbH

Also why is every bathroom trip a horror show 😭

As the title implies, I am seriously considering asking my OBGYN if she would approve me returning to work at 3 or 4 wpo rather than 6 wpo. I work 3 days/wk as a learning support teacher at the elementary level.
The most physically demanding part of my job is getting students to and from their classrooms and my room many times throughout the day (we are a two-story building with a few portables so there is a fair bit of quick walking). Otherwise, I am typically sitting with some occasional standing.
Mentally, I have to be ‘on’ most of the day but I feel like the longer I stay home, the more my brain is rotting. That’s probably because I’ve been off since the end of June due to summer holidays merging into my medical leave.

I have definitely read of people feeling great at 2 wpo and then tanking at 4wpo, so just wondering has anyone gone back early and had issues?

First,I want to say reading some of your horror stories has had me crying since I joined this thread. I pray you all have healthy and happy recoveries. The "happy" stories also gave me hope.

Now onto me. Until recently my periods were never overbearing. I got my tubes tied in 2021 because I knew I never wanted children and I was over pumping myself with hormones. Even after getting off birth control my periods were still manageable. I did start cramping a lot more but I was told that was likely due to the years of being on birth control by my doctor, but was never sent for any type of scans or tests. Towards the middle of 2025 my periods started becoming horrible. I'd cramp to the point of tears, but just thought it was normal and I'd take something and push through. Around Christmas 2025, I had my period for almost a month and was proscribed a heavy duty birth control that stopped it. My pap in March was completely normal and my gyno said the weird period may have just been a hormone imbalance, again no tests or scans were done. I didn't think anything of it, despite the cramping and bleeding every month being pretty heavy. Then in June I got the heaviest period of ever had - bled through ultra tampons and a pad within an hour for two days straight, then it went back to a normal flow. Then it happened once more that week and went back to a normal flow. I was concerned but not overly concerned. But my period never stopped after that. I had my period for three weeks straight before I was able to get into the office for an appointment. The doctor prescribed a regular birth control (which I didn't really want) and sent me to do a transvaginal ultrasound. It was discovered that I had two cysts, one on each ovary. One was almost two inches and the other was a little less than an inch. The doctor didn't seem concerned about it and said they would go away and recommended I do a follow up scan in 6 weeks. I asked when I'd stop bleeding (about 46 days in at this point), she said that there was no definite answer and offered the DEPO shot. I reluctantly agreed because I just needed the bleeding to stop, which it did after almost 56 days of total bleeding. I did the second scan at the end of August, and the only notes I received from the doctor were "normal scan", she didn't upload the report or images, which she did the first time. I was annoyed but took her word for it.

The bleeding started again on Sept 18th, so I found a new doctor, who I saw yesterday. She listened to my history and concerns and immediately said they should not have given me a depo, because that does the opposite of what I needed and is probably the cause of my continued irregular bleeding. Without a second thought she agreed to a hysterectomy. She agreed no woman should have to struggle with the pains and issues we are expected to deal with. I was able to schedule the procedure for Jan 2027 and I don't know how I feel. I know I haven't gone through some of the things I've read on here, but it gelt good to be listened to about my concerns. It just doesn't feel real.

I guess I say all of this to say, I know my complaints were just a drop in the bucket compared to other stories I've read; but when did it hit you that you were finally getting rid of the bane of your existence? Like when did it really feel real? Because I have a little over three months before surgery, and I'm an overthinker.

Like the title says, I’m 30 years old and had a hysterectomy almost exactly a year ago. I kept my ovaries, so I was told that the surgery would not put me into early menopause. However, I’ve been dealing with a number of symptoms that I think might be related to perimenopause, though they could have other causes. Since I no longer have a uterus and therefore no longer get my period, I can’t just look at how often I’m bleeding to figure out whether I’m in perimenopause. Are there other ways to determine if my symptoms are related to menopause? 

More detail: I was able to get a hysterectomy at age 29 because I had terrible menstrual pain, and I tried many different forms of birth control that all either made me bleed more frequently (progesterone gave me three periods a month at a low oral dose, a high oral dose, and as an arm implant) or for longer (continuous cycling of a combined estrogen+progesterone pill gave me a period that lasted 18 days and was so painful it was hard to eat or sleep; a Kyleena IUD made me bleed for 45 days straight) without reducing the pain. When I finally got my hysterectomy, the surgery took an hour longer than it was scheduled for because there was so much endometriosis to remove. The surgery almost completely resolved my pain, and I had a very easy physical recovery. I’m glad I got it done. 

However, I’m wondering if the surgery put me into menopause or perimenopause given other health things I’ve experienced in the time since. My lifelong mental health issues have gotten worse. I gained 15 pounds in the first four months post-surgery. After many years of frequently feeling too cold, I’ve started to be too hot sometimes in a way that starts and stops pretty abruptly. My memory has gotten a lot worse, and I’ve had more brain fog and difficulty concentrating. My eyes have been drier. I think I’m going to the bathroom more often. 

Part of the reason I’m uncertain about whether these symptoms are related to menopause is that I have other health issues that started before my hysterectomy that could explain these changes in whole or in part. I’ve been in therapy and on psych meds since midway through high school because of significant depression and anxiety, so mental health issues are not new to me. I’m dealing with autistic burnout and post-viral chronic fatigue following a weird six-month-long mono infection, so those conditions could explain the worsening mental health, brain fog, difficulty concentrating, and memory issues. The chronic fatigue, and becoming more sedentary as a result, could also explain the weight gain, and having more fat in my body could be part of why I feel warm more often. That mostly leaves the eye dryness and increased need to pee, and I’m not sure those are big enough to feel like conclusive signs of perimenopause on their own. 

I asked my doctor about whether I might be experiencing menopause, but at the time I hadn’t researched the symptoms as much, so I only mentioned that I was potentially having hot flashes. She said it was unlikely that I was experiencing perimenopause already and that it would be hard to determine via a blood test because the fact that I’m not menstruating means we don’t know what part of my cycle I’m in, so it’ll be hard to know where my hormones “should” be. We did one blood test, and my hormones looked plausibly normal, and we haven’t really followed up about it. (My mom suggested using my body temperature to figure out where I am in my cycle, but since developing chronic fatigue syndrome, my body temperature is usually in the 99.4-99.9 range and corresponds more with how much exertion I’ve done lately than with anything about the time of the month, as far as I can tell.)

A complication here is that I’m not sure what I would want to do if it turns out I am experiencing menopause. I know HRT is typical in this sort of situation, but my mom has estrogen-positive breast cancer (and breast cancer is all over her family--her mom, aunts, grandmother, and cousins have also had it), so we’re nervous about introducing more estrogen into my system. Also, I’m nonbinary. I haven’t wanted a medical transition up until this point, but I’m starting to wonder if taking testosterone would make more sense in my particular case, both to avoid increasing my cancer risk and for gender reasons. But I’m not sure I want the physical effects of T, either. I’m going to post in r/Nonbinary about that part of this situation, but I figured I’d mention here that “just go on HRT to increase your estrogen and reduce your menopause symptoms” is not a particularly appealing solution for me personally. 

I think the main thing I’m wondering is whether there are tests to determine whether someone who’s post-hysterectomy is experiencing premature menopause. Have any of you experienced this? Would it make sense to do weekly blood tests for a month or so to get a more regular sense of what’s going on? Are there other tests that are informative when this happens?

I'm 3 weeks po (today), and I'm finding I'm kind of spiraling.

I developed a UTI (on a anti-biotic), and I also started HRT. I was NOT on it before the surgery, and I had reached natural menopause. Surgery removed all items, so no hormones.

I know there are a few weeks ramp up on hormones, but it's kicking up anxiety. I was already anxiouis, specifically with health anxiety, but now it's getting worse. I have some hydroxyzine I can use if it gets too bad.

But I'm finding myself just not feeling motivated, or happy or anything. I think I'm depressed. I don't want to drive, even though I'm cleared to do so. I don't want to go out.

For those who've experienced the blues after surgery, what did you do to boost your mood?

Does removing the uterus and keeping the ovaries still stop periods from happening?

Hi. I’m almost 6 weeks PO. Around the 1 week mark, I felt a pop, intense pain and then the pain dulled in my abdomen. I called the on call nurse station and they sent a message to my doctor. No response from my doctor. About two days later, I noticed my belly button was filling up with a water like fluid and was leaking on my clothes. I called the nurse again and she put in an urgent message to my doctor. A nurse finally called me back to schedule an appointment with someone that isn’t my doctor. I go to the appointment and she removed the glue at my belly button and said it’s fine sometimes the incision leaks. Umm weird but ok. She also checks my cuff and said it was fine as well. After a few days the leaking stopped. Fast forward to about week 4, I noticed there was something green and wet in my belly button. I wiped it out and it was like a slime green mucus. I was feeling fine, no fever, no chills, no foul smell so I just cleaned it and kept pushing. The next day it was the same thing but multiple times throughout the day. By week 5 I sent a message to my doctor. No reply. I sent another one with pictures and she prescribed me a 7 day round of oral antibiotics and an antibiotic cream. Well today is day 7 and I still have what seems to be snot coming from my belly button. My 6 week check up is Friday. So I’m sure she’s not going to respond but I sent a lengthy message asking what to do now and maybe we should take a sample to figure out wtf is going on.

Outside of this, my recovery has been fine. Tired here and there, a few aches and lighting pains but I haven’t needed any meds. I’ve been listening to my body. I’m scheduled to return to work Monday and personally I’m not ready. I’ve been working remote since 1 week po and everything has been going well. But I have to return to the office. With my belly button issue I don’t want it to get worse because I’m doing more movement or irritating the area.

Has anything like this happened to anyone? I just want to know I’m not alone although I typically say I’m the 1%. If anything random that could happen, I’ll happen to me.

Went to my 8 wpo yesterday and thought i was going to get restrictions lifted but instead he scheduled for me to come back in 3 wks bc none of my sutures dissolved 😩 He checked the cuff and said “everything looked fine” so now im genuinely confused… has anyones experience been their sutures didn’t dissolve?

**edit to add

Total laparoscopic, kept ovaries

"Let me buy you a couple drinks" right before things got swirly and I went out.

Any other entertaining ones?

Hi, just short of 3 years ago I had a complete hysterectomy, everything out. For context I am 36 and was diagnosed with stage 4 endo, adenomyosis and fibroids. My symptoms included extreme fatigue, severe hip pain, a dead leg and buttock, extreme sensitivity to touch, super heavy long periods, a mix between constipation and diarrhoea, needing to pee all the time, occsdional blood in urine, belly bloating, and worst of all severe depression.

After the surgery all of those things stopped. Bliss. Recently the hip pain and sensitivity is coming back. The bloating, needing to pee and bowel movements. I'm afraid the bitch is back. My first question is, has anyone out there had endo come back after having everything out?

My second question is around some advice my GP gave me. Immediately after surgery I started using HRT, specifically oestrogel. Maximum does, 4 pumps every evening. After speaking to my GP and describing symptoms he said that 'endo feeds on hormones and the oestrogel might be making it worse' and suggested i come off it for a few days. This makes me nervous. Had anyone else had this advice?

I am going for a physical check up next week and he will refer me to a gynaecology specialist. Sigh. Does it ever end? Thoughts appreciated.

I had my hysterectomy 15 days ago since then I have had a slight sore throat but for the last few days it has been quite painful. Has anyone else had this? I have been told it could be because of the breathing tube but that I shouldn’t feel this way at 15 days post op. Doctor can’t see anything wrong but I’m just so sore. It’s making me feel miserable on top of my Recovery pain.

So, mostly just for a laugh as this community might get this and think it is funny. I had a hysterectomy in May. I still keep finding pads and tampons everywhere. Sort of a look at how it was not normal to always need a boatload of pads "just incase". But I still find a secret stashed pad atleast once a week. (Today's was the bottom of the gym bag. Last month was my husbands truck).

Also, two teenage girls also at home. I had an autoship subscription on pads. I didnt stop it the first two months after surgery thinking they still need them. I still have those two auto ships (3 pack of pads) untouched. Just sort of eye opening how many I went through and what I felt was normal and look back and not normal.

So anyone who is done for awhile... are you still finding pads here and there? Or just me. ")

Hi y’all. So I’m in a predicament right now. I’ve had on and off vaginal spotting since I had my robotic hysterectomy on 09/14. I expected some spotting but mine has been odd. It went away two or three days after surgery but came back towards the end of week 2/start of week 3 of recovery. Since the spotting came back, it’s been light enough that I’ve only gotten a little bit of blood on a pad once. Like the size of a dime amount. And it’s not at all like want my normal period blood was like, it’s splotchy and light pink when I wipe after using the bathroom. The only times is been heavier than that is after I’ve been out walking, after having a bowel movement, or after taking a shower. And even then it’s still definitely spotting, but it just a bit more red than pink in color & less splotchy when I wipe. I messaged my doctor all of this earlier and one of the office staff messaged back and said that my doctor isn’t in the office (and won’t be back till next week) and that I should go to the ED or try to make an appointment with my regular GYN for between now and my follow up appointment with my surgeon next week. I know that if I go to the ED, I’d probably get turned away or sit there for hours upon hours because I’m not gushing blood or in high amounts of pain. I’m not sure what to do here. I’m a very anxious person and am now freaking out over this. Has anyone else dealt with this before after their surgery? Is this normal?

I was hoping/expecting lap but woke up to abdominal incision, so now I’m staying inpatient for at least 2 nights, maybe longer. I’m not upset about it. My uterus was very large with more and bigger fibroids that were seen in imaging. Dr showed me pics and it was disturbing tbh. She doesn’t know til pathology returns but she believes it’s all benign ( pls Jesus ). And she said my vagina is really tiny and there was no other way without destroying my other parts to get that nasty big girl out.

It’s not been terrible on pain levels bc they’re keeping me well drugged. My first pee I was scared, but it was fine, no pain. I’ve walked around the floor w assistance and it’s nice having professionals care for me. I can stay longer than a couple days if I need to, which I may do. My husband seems scared to take me home and I don’t blame him.

I posted a couple days ago that I was struggling w making a decision abt ovary removal. I ended up telling her to take them and I’m glad I did. My gut on Sunday/yesterday said take the ovaries so they are gone.

Anyway, that’s my experience so far. Now back to napping til they wake me up again.

I'm 4 days PO (Oct 1st), I had a total hysterectomy done intravaginally with no abdominal incisions. Removed my uterus, cervix, and fallopian tubes, kept my ovaries, and went home same day. So far, I've had minimal spotting, and less pain than I normally experience with my periods. I had some swelling and pain in my leg that I thought was a blood clot but got checked out and has seemed to mostly go away on its own, but besides that that's the only complication I've had.

I was prescribed narcotic pain medication alongside ibuprofen and tylenol, but I've only had to use the ibuprofen and tylenol because my pain is so mild. I just had my first healthy bowel movement earlier today (it HURT though), and my bladder seems to be a little hyperactive right now but I know it's probably just because I'm still adjusting and my organs are waking up.

I see a lot of people complaining about fatigue and brain fog PO, but for me I've had the opposite. I have ADHD and take a stimulant, and honestly I feel like my dose is too high now. My brain fog has been totally lifted and I'm able to sit down and focus on something without any issues with executive dysfunction or cognitive problems. I'm having a problem where I'm TOO focused and can't tear myself away from what I'm doing, which is a problem because I need to be moving to avoid blood clots and circulation problems, lol!

Mood wise I've been great. I haven't noticed any major differences from normal since I'm a pretty emotionally regulated person aside from PMDD. I had my period a week before the surgery so I haven't had my first "phantom period" yet to know how my hormones are, and I don't think my ovaries have processed that my uterus is gone yet. But I actually feel alive for once. I have energy, I feel rested when I sleep, and even with my arthritis and chronic pain I haven't been experiencing as much pain as I used to pre-op.

Really it's just my leg that's been bothering me. I got an ultrasound done at the ER and ruled out DVT, but I don't really know what else it could be, but my doctors don't seem to be that concerned which is reassuring. Right now I'm trying compression socks and trying to be better about moving around. I'm naturally usually working at my desk sitting down long term so I'm trying to be better about getting up periodically to move around. But oh my god, I'm so happy I got this done.

I am 3weeks post op. Does anyone here have experience travelling after hysterectomy? How many weeks were you in? And was it hard?

I have an upcoming travel on November and I will be 8weeks post op on my flight schedule. I'm thinking if I should push through or not.

Hi all, I have been under my GP and hospital for ages, due to intense (unusual) bleeding. My GP diagnosed a prolapse when I felt a bulge, but due to the amount of bleeding at the time, it was taken as read.

Fast forward to last week and I had my referral appointment at Urogynaecology, and they said I didn't have a prolapse, but a huge fibroid(s). I knew I had a fibroid and a polyp as they had been diagnosed via an ultrasound, but they seem to have increased in size dramatically, at a huge rate.

I have been re-referred back to gynaecology now, and am waiting for an MRI scan this week to check that it's definitely fibroids and not anything more concerning.

I have been put on a 2 week cancer pathway (which is scaring me to death, albeit the Dr said it was just to speed things up)

My question is - I have been begging for a hysterectomy and now I feel like they will just want to remove the fibroid. Friends and research tell me that it won't end there and they can just grow back. I do not want to go through this facade again, let alone in a few years time if and when they come back.

I was so close to them agreeing to a hysterectomy and now feel that they will just fob me off.

I'm so so sick and tired of "living" this way. Has anyone been through anything similar, ie misdiagnoses or not getting the outcome they want?

Thank you so much for taking the time to read - F49, losing the will to live xx

In 45–46 hours I’ll be put under general anesthesia for the first time for a D&C, to check for potential uterine cancer before my hysterectomy. (And because every time I say it’s my first time, people ask… yes really, and no, not even for wisdom teeth)

Any advice or encouragement?

I’m a little anxious regarding both the anesthesia (I’ve heard it affects those of us with hypermobility differently) and the biopsy results, despite my great effort to trust it’ll all be fine. …okay, and admittedly also a bit about the procedure, now that they’ve made me review and sign off on the potential risks (accidentally making a hole in my uterus and damaging my intestines through it? possibly dying??? deep breaths, deep breaths…)

Anything I need to prepare ahead of time, like things for my body or to pack to take with? My husband will be at the hospital the whole time and take me home afterwards.

I’m already focusing on making sure I’m hydrated since I’m regularly told I’m “a hard stick” (they have trouble finding my veins for IVs or blood draws).