Hysto experiences

yaka · January 21, 2015, 06:30:33 AM

Hey, I'm going for my hysto in about a week, and I'm looking for others experiences on theirs. What's the recovery time like for a laparoscopic surgery - how long in hospital, and when can you start lifting heavy/have sex/drive/run/swim?

Short and long term side effects? I don't know much about the prognosis for trans individuals (who take testosterone) only women who take estrogen as HRT.

I have asked my surgeon and hospital staff at my pre-admission but they've given me different answers...

Mackan · January 21, 2015, 07:43:34 AM

I had hysto with the da Vinci robot (robotic arms with cameras inserted at four places into my stomach) for minimal scarring, the scars the robotic arms left aren't visible today. And they then took out all the "stuff" from my then hole down below. When I woke up I was in alot of pain and was bleeding alot , the surgeon told me that it was because it was to tight down below to get it all out so he had to cut there as well.

The first 3 weeks I could only walk crunching down, hardest part was getting up and down from laying or sitting position to standing, one uses the stomach muscles for alot more in daily life than what you normally think about.

I wasn't allowed to lift anything heavier than a milk box for minimum of 6 weeks. At six weeks I lifted some heavy boxes and that was stupid of me cus it caused some heavy bleeding. I was bleeding a long time like of and on for 2 months.

I haven't had any issues after I fully recovered thou. But there's alot of complications that might happen if you google it you get a better picture.

HeyTrace19 · January 21, 2015, 08:00:28 AM

I was scheduled for a laparoscopic procedure, but instead woke up with a giant abdominal incision due to circumstances that you probably will not encounter. I was pretty laid up for about 2 weeks. Returned to work after 6 weeks. Tried to resume running after 8 weeks, but it was too difficult. I would say I did not feel truly physically repaired until about 6-8 months after my surgery...Hopefully you will have an easier time with your type of surgery.

My hormone levels continued to change for a full year, so you may want to keep close tabs on checking your T. I ended up having to increase my dose as the year went on, as my T level kept shrinking despite maintaining the same dose I had pre surgery. I did not experience hot flashes or mood swings or typical 'surgical menopause' symptoms. I maybe grow a little more facial hair now, but other than that...not much is different. My eyes and skin also tend to be kind of dry, and I am losing my hair...which may be a factor of age, time on T, and genetics...but it did worsen after the surgery.

I will say that I worry much less now about my future as far as gyn cancer and other issues are concerned. Health care in general is also much easier to navigate. I wish you well and have a speedy recovery.

yaka · January 31, 2015, 01:56:01 AM

Thanks for sharing your honest experiences guys. Just had mine, lap assisted vaginal, so far so good.

I wonder when it's possible to resume intimate activities with my partner (me penetrating), as 2 months seems so long

Felix · January 31, 2015, 04:31:29 AM

I'm having hysto in March or April. The surgeon wanted to talk about details re techniques and stuff, but the timing isn't ideal for me so all I can think about is safety. I'm going along with removal because my gp is concerned about how shriveled my uterus is and how long I've been on hormones. I've been on T for a few years at least.

I don't get recovery time. I have to lift/carry/parry/dodge/etc within 30 minutes of any surgery. It's stupid and probably doesn't give me info that could help most people, but I'll update after my surgery if anybody is interested.

It sounds like you are doing pretty good though. Congratulations

Regarding sex, if I were you I would follow your body and how comfortable you feel.

Eli_ · January 31, 2015, 10:54:50 AM

I had a laparoscopic hysterectomy with BSO about 3 weeks ago. I went home that day, and was tired and a little sore, but all in all felt fine. I didn't have much of any pain so I didn't use any of the painkillers they gave me (however, I also had no pain after top surgery which I've heard is not generally people's experience). I still haven't attempted any heavy lifting. My doctor told me to wait until 4 weeks out. When I went in for a 1 week post-op, he said that if I was feeling up to it I could try at 2 or 3 weeks since I wasn't experiencing any pain and appeared to be healing unusually fast. I've decided to wait it out anyways because I don't want to risk doing any damage and having to take even more time off from lifting.

The biggest (very unpleasant) surprise for me has been the amount of bleeding. I was told to expect a bit of "spotting" at some point after surgery, and that went away after a day or two. About a week post-op though, I started having quite a bit more than "spotting" and it hasn't stopped since. Last night it really picked up, to the point of soaking through my clothes and sheets after two hours in bed. I was also passing large blood clots and went back in to the hospital to get checked out. They said that this is apparently not uncommon and sent me home after running a few tests, telling me to come back in if things got worse.

My two experiences at the hospital differed greatly - when I went in for surgery, the surgeon and all the nurses were very respectful and helpful. They gave me a whole package of pads to take home with me as well. When I went back this time, I was constantly misgendered and when it was time to leave, they refused to give me more than two pads, even though I was going through them at a rate of almost 2 every hour. When I asked if I could buy some at the hospital, they told me to go to a drugstore, failing to see how that would be a problem for a stealth transman living in a small area.

None of this is intended to freak you out - but I wish I had known going in how rough this was going to be (and yours may go much smoother, and only have the "spotting" they warned me about). I've had to really remind myself that it will be worth it in the end, because the recovery process has been terrible for my dysphoria.

williamkeith35 · February 02, 2015, 10:03:22 AM

I had my hysterectomy in May. My surgery was at 10:00 a.m. on the 14th and I was in the hospital until 1:00 p.m. on the 15th. The two things I had to be able to do before being discharged was eat something (I only managed three bites of a muffin but it was enough apparently) and to be able to pee a certain amount without the catheter in.
After I was discharged I had to travel about four hours by car and ferry to get back home. The next few days I spent mostly in bed watching Netflix and going for short walks around the block at about 5 days post-op. I found most of the pain to be from the gas they put inside of you so drinking ginger ale helped because it made my burp a lot.
By 1 month post-op I felt 100% normal and was working. They tell you not to lift anything over like 10 pounds for 6 weeks. At four week I carried a table because I forgot and did have some bleeding. By the six week mark I was completely ready to go. But you'll probably feel better a lot sooner than that.

yaka · February 04, 2015, 11:13:42 PM

Quote from: Felix on January 31, 2015, 04:31:29 AM
I don't get recovery time. I have to lift/carry/parry/dodge/etc within 30 minutes of any surgery. It's stupid and probably doesn't give me info that could help most people, but I'll update after my surgery if anybody is interested.

That doesn't sound right man... is there any way you could get out of that? You need to rest after major surgery.

Eli_, I heard that the clots are related to the sutures passing (had that happen earlier today) so unfortunately it is to be expected. Shame no one warned you about it before. There are mens incontinence pads that are similar to womens, Depends I think, which you could consider if you want to be stealth. Best of luck, and hope everything works out well in the end.

sam1234 · February 07, 2015, 07:08:07 PM

I had the histo through the vagina. No scars and faster healing. That was along time ago though and I'm sure there are more options now.

Mine was kind of a nightmare, not because of the surgery itself but because of the Dr. During the pre-surgical exam, he told me point blank that he "didn't believe in treating mental illness with surgery). He went on to say that he had to do it because the hospital wasn't giving him a choice. At the time, he was the only person doing the transgender hystos, so I tried to let it go.

After surgery, he had no orders for pain meds and I honestly believe that was on purpose. A couple days after I got out of the hospital, I started to bleed a little and called his office. His secretary asked, "what have you been sticking up there?". Looking back, I should have lodged a complaint, but I was just so glad to have those useless organs removed that I didn't think about it.

Good luck with your surgery. It will free you.

Sam1234

makipu · February 08, 2015, 10:46:20 AM

Reading your experience made me mad Sam1234. By the way, I am now wondering about the post op bleeding and it's making me feel uneasy. Is this the samething as a period (same location and the amount)?

sam1234 · February 08, 2015, 11:44:19 AM

Yeah, it really p..... me off at the time, but I had to keep my cool.

In my case, it was a capillary bleeder. The bleeding was more spotting than the kind one would experience during a menstral cycle. The Dr., if you could call him one, cauterized it with silver nitrate. Any post operative bleeding should be looked into. Especially if you can't see exactly what is bleeding. Its easier to fix if caught early than letting it go and having it turn into something serious.

A few years ago, I had radiographs taken of my spine and oddly, there were hemoclips present on only one side of the abdomen. It really made me wonder if both ovaries had been removed or he had left one in. I am not very familiar with the procedure as he didn't explain it at the time, but there was no trust between Dr. and patient.

Sam1234

Felix · February 21, 2015, 02:43:41 AM

Quote from: yaka on February 04, 2015, 11:13:42 PM
That doesn't sound right man... is there any way you could get out of that? You need to rest after major surgery.

Sorry I'm slow in keeping up with stuff. My daughter is seriously mentally ill or developmentally delayed or whatever, and I can get respite care through her insurance but she's large enough that I'd rather deal with her violence myself. If she hurts me and I heal badly or need revisions or surgical stabilization, that's still better than if she hurts a stranger. I'm trying to keep her out of the criminal justice system.

I still haven't had my hysto yet but will soon. I'm mostly worried about anesthesia. My daughter wakes up and gets crazy during surgeries, and I tend to go under too hard and have trouble getting my head straight in time for discharge. Also I have an adult guiding me but we leave by bus or taxi, and sometimes the hospital gets combative about that and insists I have a car and driver.

I'm glad your procedure went well and I hope it didn't require you to be celibate for too long.

Arch · February 21, 2015, 03:54:41 AM

I'm extremely interested in reading about other guys' experiences. I'm hoping to do my hysto during winter break at the end of the year. I'm worried that I won't be able to schedule things exactly right and won't be able to pull it off. I don't even have an academic calendar for one school, so I'm a bit worried about that. I think I would have to be back teaching full time after three weeks at the most, and then I would add the second job a week after that.

I would need to bring my cats home from the kennel after surgery. Both weigh over ten pounds, plus the weight of a carrier. I'm also worried about the bleeding aspect. In addition, I needed to take daily naps for two and a half weeks after top surgery; I'm assuming that the anesthesia and system shock were just hard on me--and I hope that hysto isn't more invasive, but it involves the removal of internal organs instead of just external tissue, so I dunno.

I have read that recovery time is supposed to be two to three weeks. I guess I'll have to do more research and make sure that winter offers me enough time for a reasonable recovery. I do not want to jeopardize my ability to teach in winter/spring, but I also do not wish to give up any summer classes; I need summer income and am actually hoping to teach extra that summer, not less.

It looks like my GYN can do the procedure, and he's cool, so at least I don't have to worry about that...unless, of course, he is unavailable when I need to schedule the procedure.

Sigh. I am already worrying about EVERYthing.

LordKAT · February 21, 2015, 04:06:51 AM

I had a vaginal hysto. Within a couple days everything felt totally normal, within hours I could walk comfortably and had a 10lb restrictions for only a week. Pain was minimal, more of discomfort than pain. I was back to work within a week although they recommended half days for the first 2 weeks.

Felix · February 21, 2015, 04:53:45 AM

LordKAT and others have shown how everyone is different and how chill this can be. My surgeon told me she will be using a robot and making a few tiny incisions and pulling the bulk through my vagina, and that there will be almost nothing in the way of lingering pain or scars.

Still. I know I'm throwing anecdotes into the wind, but my cat is 12ish pounds and likes to jump on my torso. When I had my first mastectomy procedure, there were a couple times I got spooked by my cat landing on my chest before any other dangerous things happened. I took a hard right hook to my left breast from a human at some point, and that got blamed for everything, but I felt more subjective pain from cats jumping on me than from anything else.

I think everyone should be careful what they disclose and what they plan for.

Expectations for me are currently tempered hard by triggers and even harder by real logic and practicalities. The best advice I'm finding is from ciswomen online who are getting hysto, and from that I can mainly assume that I should make sure I have heavy pads, and that I should round up in any vocal numerical assessments of pain so I don't go too long without medication. If being decently functional is a big deal you might want to work towards that ahead of other goals.

Other than anesthesia concerns I am putting a lot of thought into being graceful about pronouns. When I got my tubes tied I had a hard time with self esteem and dignity. I don't want to feel bad like that again.

Dex · February 21, 2015, 01:01:57 PM

I just had my hysto on Thursday (2/19). . I had it done laparoscopic. I have 4 small (less than 1 inch) incisions in my abdomen.
I was in the hospital one night (I came home yesterday). My doc is having me take off 3 weeks from my office job to recover. So far, it has been going pretty well. I am pretty sore though and any pressure in that area increases the pain (including having a fuller bladder). I can't imagine I would be in any condition to do any dodging or parrying at this point and I'm on day 2.

As for the procedure itself, it went pretty well and straightforward despite my history of bad endometriosis and pcos. The doc said it all went very well. As for the staff, with it being a hysto, I was concerned about pronouns and such. My name is legally changed and I am almost 15 months on T and have facial hair so I was a little concerned about how uncomfortable it might be with nursing staff and such. I do live in an urban area but not in a very liberal area by any stretch of the imagination. I have to say that I was blown away by the respect and care that I was given. Several of the nursing staff went above and beyond to make sure I was comfortable and supported. So much so that my preop nurse noticed they had me going to the OB floor after my surgery (as is typical for surgeries the ob/gyns do as it is most convenient for the docs) and asked to have me roomed on the general med/surg floor instead so I would not be uncomfortable being on the "ob floor". Honestly, I could not have asked for a better, more respectful experience.

makipu · March 25, 2015, 09:13:14 PM

I thought when the ovaries were kept the hysterectomy was called 'partial' but in my case it will be the removal of the uterus and the cervix which is actually considered "total"? I was just searching for information of what to expect and what I also read from nontrans patients is that they STILL bleed? Sam I understand that the bleeding is much less but does this happen to EVERYONE? I mean here I am about to have this procedure just so I don't bleed so why would I even put up with the slightest blood down there (from whatever hole).

Does it stop as time goes on (after recovering) or does the bleeding always occur?

SWNID · March 25, 2015, 09:37:22 PM

Quote from: makipu on March 25, 2015, 09:13:14 PM
I thought when the ovaries were kept the hysterectomy was called 'partial' but in my case it will be the removal of the uterus and the cervix which is actually considered "total"? I was just searching for information of what to expect and what I also read from nontrans patients is that they STILL bleed? Sam I understand that the bleeding is much less but does this happen to EVERYONE? I mean here I am about to have this procedure just so I don't bleed so why would I even put up with the slightest blood down there (from whatever hole).

Does it stop as time goes on (after recovering) or does the bleeding always occur?

I believe hysterectomy itself only means remove the uterus, so even the ovaries are kept, it can still be a total hysterectomy, as long as the cervix is removed. A partial hysterectomy usually means keeping the cervix.

MacG · March 25, 2015, 11:02:51 PM

Some heartbreaking experiences and situations here

I had my hysto six years ago, before I decided to transition. It was due to horrible fibroids. I had just my uterus removed, and kept my ovaries and cervix.
The surgery was a vertical open incision. I think I was out of work for six weeks, partly because I developed a small infection that caused part of the incision to take its sweet time closing up. Surgeon would not let me return to work before the incision was completely healed closed on the outside.
Surgeon warned me I may experience monthly spotting. This happens if they don't get all the (endometrial?) cells and you've kept ovaries. (Bleeding after surgery should be checked out in case it's from something not healing correctly).
I was lucky and never had monthly bleeding again. By the age of 43, I had not had menopause yet (needed to verify with bloodwork, as I don't bleed). If you can bear it, the giant forum on hystersisters has so much info.

I've also had three abdominal surgeries that were done laparoscopically. These required between 2 and 3 weeks off work.
In general, healing internally takes longer than healing the external part of the incisions. You may feel good enough a few days after surgery to do more stuff. Keep being a little active, but do not overdo it. You are still healing on the inside.
It may take longer than you think to get your energy back.
It can itch and burn when nerves are healing.
Anesthesia and pain meds can make you constipated. Ask your surgeons office ahead of time about what you can do about this.
Ask your surgeon all your questions about driving, lifting, showering, swimming, sex, etc.

Listen to your body. Don't hesitate to ask your surgeon's office if you have concerns after surgery. They should give you this info upon being discharged.
Bonus tip: ask for any needed prescriptions (probably just pain meds) at least a few days before surgery, so you can get them filled and not have to stop at a pharmacy in the way home.

Mr.X · March 26, 2015, 05:03:28 AM

I had my laproscopic hysterectomy + vaginectomy about a month ago.
As for the bleeding, I only bled for a few days. So bleeding does not always occur for weeks afterwards.
The surgery itself was a breeze. I never had any real pain. I do remember the first day I had some stomach cramps, but I was still under the influence of the surgery meds so that never bothered me. After that, no pain. The first week I was rather tired and rested a lot, but after two weeks I felt back to normal. The surgeon told me no sports for 6 weeks, which sucks. But because I feel back to normal I slowly started to jog again. Compared to the mastectomy these surgeries, regardless of the fact there were two of them, were a lot easier.

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Hysto experiences