Hello all,
Smear found high grade CGIN 3 & HPV, colposcopy confirmed. 1st loop was solely CGIN with no clear margin. 2nd uncovered a 1cm Adenocarcinoma 1B2. Cue MRI and CT, which raised no concerns, but I have a duplex on a kidney (two tubes, 1 leading to bladder and the other to the uterus) and it’s also flipped, so I’m Hugh risk for surgery and docs want to avoid if possible. Anyhoo 3rd LLETZ showed only a 1mm clear margin and docs aren’t happy with that, so Hysterectomy it is, but they don’t know what type until they get in there. I’m 37 with 2 kids (19 & 15) and have no plans to have anymore, so that’s fine by me.
Im booked in Monday 27th Feb, so not long now. Plan is to remove what’s left of my cervix and Uterus, fallopian tubes as very high risk of turning cancerous due to the cancer found in the glands, centinal lymph nodes too. Docs plan to check ovaries and the rest of the Lymph nodes when they get in there, so there could be more taken. I’m having a robotic laparoscopic surgery, which in theory, should reduce recovery time.
I feel very in the dark in terms of recovery, I have no idea what the expect and I don’t want to Google, because that could be a deep rabbit hole to fall into. I’m Autistic and ADHD, so I’m going to find it extremely hard to stop in general, but I have a lack of impulse control, coupled with sensory difficulties and a brain that never sleeps. What are your tips to get through this?
Hi Spicydisaster
I see you must have had your op by now- I hope it went well and you are being well looked after.
I had a radical hysterectomy and lymph node clearance at the end of January. My advice is to accept all the help you can and take each day one step at a time. Each day things will get a little easier. I had constipation so I would advise laxatives / suppositories to help with this!
Best of luck with your recovery xxx
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Hey,
I hope you’re recovering is going well.
My hysterectomy was 7 years ago and I recommend to absolutely take it easy day by day.
For me, I had keyhole surgery, so it was potentially less intrusive but even though you feel ok, your insides are still healing and sometimes you might feel some weird pulling and discomfort, even months later. Realistically I wasn’t fully healed until a year later when everything had settled down to miniscule twinges.
So the first few months are critical to having a speedy recovery. Definitely avoid and heavy lifting, or twisting. Even things that feel easy like putting a kettle on still use those muscles, so only fill up enough for 1 cup.
My worst pain was usually going to the loo so improve your diet however you can and drink lots of water.
Getting out of bed was tough the first week. I was propped up slightly with pillows and would roll onto my side to push up rather than using my stomach muscles to do the work.
You might also experience shoulder pain, this is pretty common and weird because you don’t expect it. It will go in time.
In terms of walking, maybe think of it as a game, adding a tiny little movement each day, this could be walking a bit further. I had visual markers as guides for how far to walk each day e.g walk to the first lamp post, next up to the post box etc.
If I think of anything else I’ll let you know.
