I'm hoping to get my hysto in December, but I have a very narrow window of opportunity because one of my schools has a wonky academic calendar this year. I expect to have a laparoscopic procedure, one day in the hospital and then home. I keep reading about a two- or three-week recovery period, but I can't tell whether that means two or three weeks off from work. I haven't scheduled a consultation yet, and I'm getting conflicting information online.

If you have had this type of procedure, had no real complications, and have a job that isn't too physical, I'd be interested in your responses to a few questions. I know that my mileage may vary; I'm just trying to get the lay of the land. Thanks in advance.

1) What kind of job did you have, and how much did you work in a typical week?

2) When did your doctor clear you to go back to work?

3) When did you actually go back to work, and was your recovery period sufficient?

4) For how long, if at all, did you experience enough pain or fatigue (or other typical side effects) to make work a less-than-optimal experience?

5) For how long, if at all, did you bleed and need to use feminine hygiene products or the equivalent?

I was unemployed when I had my hysto this year, but I can tell you my experiences to give you an indication. My hysto was also laparoscopic, but I do have to add that I had a colpectomy ontop of that. So double whammie.

I could have gone back to work after a week if I had a sitting job. I was just tired, but that was it. No pain or anything. After 2-3 weeks I felt good enough to walk for a long while again, and do exercise (I wasn't cleared for that, but I felt like doing it) so surely I could have gone back to work then. I barely bled, even though I also had the colpectomy. Just a few days and that was it.

Hello,
I had my hysto (full hysto/oophorectomy, laparoscopic) in February 2015.

1) What kind of job did you have, and how much did you work in a typical week?
I am an IT manager. So essentially a desk job. Some walking, obviously have to drive to and from work. I work 45ish hours in a typical week.


2) When did your doctor clear you to go back to work?
My doctor authorized me for 4-6 weeks off. The recovery timing was a surprise to me. Everything I had seen online had quoted 1-2 weeks, but apparently either my doc felt differently or that is not wholly accurate. She did say that that was typical of her patients. I'm also unsure if it's because of having ovaries, etc, in addition to the uterus out makes it a longer recovery. 

3) When did you actually go back to work, and was your recovery period sufficient?
I had surgery on a Thursday.  I ended up going back to work just over 3 weeks post surgery (the Monday after I had passed 3 weeks post op). It was a bit iffy, I was still in pain but I was able to work just fine. Going back that early was my choice and the doctor was supportive of whatever I felt was best. The first couple days were the worst, after that first week, it was pretty smooth sailing.

4) For how long, if at all, did you experience enough pain or fatigue (or other typical side effects) to make work a less-than-optimal experience?
I would say the first week back to work was really all. By the start of that second week back, I was feeling much better, though not 100%. It definitely did not interfere with my performance at all.

5) For how long, if at all, did you bleed and need to use feminine hygiene products or the equivalent?
I bled for a very short amount of time. Only about a day. The only caveat is that if I did too much (like I wasn't supposed to), I would start spotting. About 2 weeks after surgery, I had an increase of blood for a day or so, and then it stopped for good. I had called the dr at that point and she said it could be due to stitches shedding and as long as it didn't continue or become very bright red, that I should just wait it out. It ended up resolving after a day or two and I have not had any blood or anything since. Total days (spread out since it was sporadic) that I had to wear any kind of pad or anything was probably 3 days over the course of those first 3 weeks.


Hope this is helpful! Good luck on your surgery!

Arch,

I can't answer personally, but I have a friend getting his done next week.

He works in retail and will be out of work for two weeks. No sex for six weeks. That is all the direction the doctor has given him.

I can send you an update after he's had it done if you're still in need of info then.

I will share my experience, if it might be helpful...
My procedure was about 2 years ago, and I was scheduled to have it done laparoscopically, however, I woke up about 6 hours later with a big abdominal incision!  (Plus the lap incisions, as they were all set to do that when they discovered the tumor after inserting camera equipment) Totally unexpected! I had a large tumor hiding in there that had to be removed intact for later pathology testing.  Turns out it was benign, so that was great...but the unexpected really put a wrench in my recovery plans.

1.  I had a very physically demanding job, so was unable to go back to work for about 6 weeks.  I had prepared to be out for 3 weeks.  If I had a less physical job, I may have been able to do it at 2 weeks, but I still ended up pretty sleepy by the middle of the day.

2. Doc said 8 weeks, or add more activity as I felt comfortable.  Originally 3 weeks with intended lap.

3.  I went back to work after 6 weeks, though was really not back to 'normal' physical capabilities for almost a year.

4. Felt fatigue for a few months, pain for a few weeks.  Really unable to do much for the first 7 days, then felt good enough to travel via airplane and spent some recovery weeks in the warm sunshine.  Was taking longer walks at about week 3.

5. No bleeding after I left the hospital (which was the day after my surgery).  Did not require any supplies.

I sincerely hope your surgery goes as expected, as that would be a much easier recovery!  Good wishes to you.

I just had a laporoscopic Hysto on August 26th. Removal of uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes and cervix. I went home the same day. Procedure was at 8 am. I was home by 5 pm.

1) What kind of job did you have, and how much did you work in a typical week?
I am a counselor so there are no physical issues with me going back to work. I am back to a typical 9-5.

2) When did your doctor clear you to go back to work?
Technically my doc sees patients go back after 3 weeks but I was told that most cis women are basically big babies when it comes to a Hysto. She called me tough.

3) When did you actually go back to work, and was your recovery period sufficient?
I went back to work Tuesday. September 8th. I could've gone back after 1 week easily.

4) For how long, if at all, did you experience enough pain or fatigue (or other typical side effects) to make work a less-than-optimal experience?

My fatigue was gone as soon as I stopped taking the heavy pain killers which was all of a day and a half. I did not have any pain from the surgery itself at all. My small incisions were sore but barely noticeable. They inflate your stomach with CO2 because it helps them see better through the camera. As a result I was extremely bloated and gassy for a week. The gas pain was really bad. Even with OTC simethicone medication like Gas-X. I mean it was really painful! My digestive system is always effed up after anesthesia so I was constipated too. You should take a laxative as soon as you get home.

5) For how long, if at all, did you bleed and need to use feminine hygiene products or the equivalent?

They warn you that you may experience bleeding for up to 6 weeks. This may vary from spotting to period like flow. If you find yourself changing a pad every hour or so you should get checked out. Not everyone bleeds. Unfortunately I am still. Sometimes it is a tad heavy, period like. My doc says if it continues by October to come back in. For some people the end of the cervical opening doesn't heal all the way and the scar tissue continues bleeding so they cauterize it in the office with silver nitrate. I cannot use tampons until week 3 if needed. I use pads. I started with thin liners but I have to use a medium pad to be safe. I hope it doesn't last long! I'm not very dysphoric about that stuff but who wants to be bleed? Even cis women hate that. They can't just put a band aid in internal wounds though so I get it.

Thanks for the replies, guys. I wouldn't mind more.

My job isn't very physically demanding, but I do have a long commute, and I will need to stand in front of a classroom a couple of days a week until after MLK Day, when my teaching load should increase to three days a week. I won't have a lot of grading until around MLK Day, either. But with classroom time, office hours, and the commute, I'm looking at ten-hour days for those first couple of weeks in January. Ouch.

I start teaching again the Tuesday after New Year's, so having the surgery after Christmas seems like very tight scheduling. It all depends on when the surgeon is available. So I'm hoping that I can get the surgery several days before Christmas and thus maximize my recovery time. I figure that I might still be okay with a later date because teaching two days a week is easier on the body than having a more conventional job five days a week. Also, I had an exam a year ago and underwent ultrasound less than a year ago, so I don't expect any unpleasant surprises. But more time off is obviously better than less.

That stuff about women's being babies...I assume that the emotional component is hard on women because they ARE women and have a connection with those body parts. I'm hoping that since I don't, I'll be ecstatic to get rid of them. Surely, my positive attitude will help my recovery.

I wish my case manager would get back to me...this is starting to get old.

You need a manager to manage your case manager.

A manager for my manager! So true...if I don't hear from her soon, I'll send her an update and see if I can get a reply that way. This is ridiculous.

I just heard from my preferred surgeon. He's the one who isn't fully covered, but my case manager did say that she would look into getting him fully covered. Of course, I haven't heard from her since...

Anyway, my doctor says that he can accommodate my preferred date range for the surgery. This is a tremendous relief. I replied and asked him whether he would be willing to get in touch with my case manager and ask what needs to happen for him to be fully covered. Since it's Friday, I don't expect a reply for several days or a week. But he's a great guy, and he does want to make a living, so I expect that he will help me out.

My base copay for this doctor is double what I would pay for a fully covered surgeon, but the additional copay is supposed to diminish based on how much I've paid into the system so far this year. Even so, I anticipate that I will have to pay an additional $800-1000 to have him do the surgery if my insurance does not upgrade him. That's a helluva lot of money to me. If I can't get him fully covered, I'll have to think carefully about the situation. But he knows me, and I do trust him. I don't want a stranger to do the procedure. These factors will influence my decision.

At least I'm making some kind of progress.

I have a surgery date in December! It's the first day I am available, so I'm glad to have a reasonable recovery time. I still have a lot of details to iron out, but it's finally happening!!!

I wasn't expecting to be so excited because, unlike the situation before top surgery, the people around me can't see that I have these body parts; this surgery won't affect my social life or the way people look at me. But now I'm really stoked.

I had to overcome a lot of pointless fears and worrying to set things in motion, so I feel as if I have accomplished something, and I haven't even had the surgery. Weird.

I just found out today, so I'm still rather in shock.

Congrats Arch!

December will arrive in no time!

Congrats sir! My doctor and therapist are writing my referrals for bottom surgery & hysto at the beginning of December to line up with my one year on T. Hopefully I will be following shortly after you in terms of hysto scheduling.

Glad you finally got it sorted out!

My case manager finally got back to me. She says that she wrote an e-mail and never sent it. This week was so busy that I haven't even written back. Yikes. Better get on it.

For a little while, I considered having Crane do my hysto as part of the bottom surgery process. I would probably save myself an expensive copay, and the recovery time wouldn't be significantly affected. But I'm having some physical problems with these parts NOW, and the emotional toll just gets worse and worse. Waiting another eighteen months (or more) just isn't a good idea.

Now all I have to do is get through the next three months. I have several large tasks to accomplish. Plan courses, finish cleaning my house and yard, get my financials in order, see an attorney and draft a will. I will feel much better once I accomplish these tasks.

Gah, things keep changing. My surgeon can't do the surgery when he originally planned it, so I've been moved to a later date and will have less recovery time--barely two weeks from the operating table to the classroom. I hope it's enough.

My case manager is dodging me again; I asked for a cost update weeks ago. It suddenly matters because I had a run of bad luck and spent oodles of money on my car. I'm a "freeway flyer," so I cannot afford to skimp on my vehicle. I needed to do a lot of scheduled maintenance, but I also needed one major and one minor repair on top of that. I also bought a laptop that I don't even want. It's a job necessity, not a luxury.

Plus, the raise I am supposedly getting at my main job is looking to be half what they said it would be. I haven't even verified that the raise will go through, but I was counting on the money to help pay for my surgery.

My therapist still hasn't written my letter or arranged my referral to the second letter-writer. I guess I'd better say something next week. I had to skip therapy this week. At least that's a bit of money saved, haha.

To add insult to injury, the medical transport people I was going to use on the trip home from the hospital have double-billed me for services rendered this past summer. I paid cash, and I don't think I got a receipt because I was out of it from fasting and being doped up. If I have to pay twice, I won't be using THEM again. I'll have to vet another service.

I guess the bottom line is still good. I have some money saved, so I can afford the copay, even if it's the maximum. And my surgery date hasn't been moved so far into December that I can't have the procedure at all. But still . . . gah. I discovered in sixth grade that I'm no good at jumping hurdles, but I keep encountering so many in my life.

Hey, Arch!  Congrats on getting this set up.  Sorry to hear the date had to be moved, but I am glad that you have at least two weeks.  I just had mine two weeks ago.  For what it is worth, I am glad that I had it separate from my meta.  One less traumatic thing my body has to go through all at once.

I don't know if you are still interested, but I will answer your questions:

1) What kind of job did you have, and how much did you work in a typical week?

I have a desk job.  I work typically 50 hour weeks.

2) When did your doctor clear you to go back to work?

His standard is to clear people for 6-8 weeks for hysto, in general.  He has no opinion about when I actually go back.  It is up to me.

3) When did you actually go back to work, and was your recovery period sufficient?

I had my hysto 17 days ago.  I had lapro.  However, my surgery lasted for 6 hours (instead of the typical 2-2.5 for hysto lapro) because of the amount of scar tissue he had to cut through from a past abdominal surgery.

I feel fine and want to go back (and actually considered that I would next week, part time), however, I do still sleep 10-12 hours a night and have minimal energy during the day.  I do get drained if I go out and do things.  It is kind of strange because mentally I feel ok and since I am not in pain all the time it seems like I should go back.

However, my job can be intense and stressful.  I want to go back to work because I need as much vacation and sick time that I can get for my metoidioplasty in March, but I don't want to go back too early, only to create a situation where my body ends of healing more slowly due to going back.  I need to take into account that stress in itself can delay healing, not just physical exertion.  I need to go into my meta in tip top shape so that I heal well and quickly from that.  I feel stuck to be honest with you.  As of right now, I am going to take a third week off.  I need to keep reminding myself that even if i don't have a huge incisions, my guts were chopped into.

4) For how long, if at all, did you experience enough pain or fatigue (or other typical side effects) to make work a less-than-optimal experience?

I do think it would be hard for me to work 8 hours in a day at a desk at this point.  Not being able to be in a recliner or lay flat would be hard.  Honestly, Arch, I think it would be easier to stand and teach, then sit.

5) For how long, if at all, did you bleed and need to use feminine hygiene products or the equivalent?

Bleeding was off and on for the first 12 days or so.  Only one day, for about an hour I needed a medium pad due to a decent amount of bleeding (about a week after my surgery).  Otherwise, a little spotting for a couple of days (in the middle of that 12 days period), where I wore a liner.  I had a clot of blood (2x3 inch oval) come out into the toilet, too.  My surgeon told me this wasn't normal, but it wasn't a problem.

My doctor said the reason that I was still having pain at 1.5 weeks was because I had 6 hours of cutting through adhesions (scar tissue).  He said that otherwise with lapro, I typically wouldn't be having much pain to speak of at that point.  On the whole, I really am improving faster than I should based on my particular situation.

I do think that what physical shape you are in before surgery and what we eat after surgery plays a big part in recovery.  Make some really healthy meals (lots of brightly colored vegetables at every meal!) and freeze them.  I also took VitaMedica's Recovery Support Program (vitamins/supplements) for this surgery, just as I did for my top surgery.  I know we can't do links here, but you can find it through google.

I really do think you will be ok at two weeks, Arch.  Just make sure you are as healthy as possible before you go in, and that you have good healthy fuel (food) for your body for quick recovery afterwards.

Congrats, again!!

Thanks for the update, Bimmer. I will have long days when I go back to teaching, but at least I teach only two days a week for the first couple of weeks. Let's see...three hours of commuting, six hours of teaching and office hours, slush...I'll be lucky to get away with nine hours a day, and it should be more like ten. But it's only two days. Only two. I should be fine by the time my second job kicks in three weeks later.

I was napping every day for two and a half weeks after my top surgery, and I'm concerned that hysto will make me more tired. After all, I'm older and heavier, and (as you note), hysto is fairly invasive as compared to top surgery.

I can't do anything about the aging, but I have managed to lose almost ten pounds in the past two and a half months. I can't exercise due to some injuries, so I'm losing weight by diet alone. Seven years ago, I was losing two pounds a week. Now I'm losing about 3/4 of a pound per week, and I seem to be plateauing. I suppose it could be worse...I could be as heavy as I was in July. Still, I hate that I put so much work into losing and maintaining, only to have it all taken away by a body that is breaking down. Sigh.

Hey! I should be lighter after they take out all of that crap!! I'll take it.

P.S. Can you go on disability for meta?

Hi again, Arch.

I don't know who commented about hysto being more invasive than top surgery, but it wasn't me.

However, you mentioning top surgery made me think about it.  I would say that my hysto (again, remember I had some serious cutting and cutting of tissue going on in there, which is different from most guys) was more painful than my top surgery.  With that said, I was more fatigued and fatigued for a longer period of time during my top surgery recovery and moving about was much more difficult.  I could have easily cooked for myself a few days after hysto.  Too, I was actually in better cardio shape prior to top surgery.  I was working out regularly prior to top surgery, but not at all prior to hysto.  So, in a nutshell I would say that hysto has been easier to recover from than top surgery, even though the pain has been greater.

I am of average weight.  I am, however, 45 years old.  I think you are in your late 40's?

I have long term disability, but it doesn't kick in until 90 days.

I did count every second of vacation/sick time I have and will accrue through the time I return to work from meta.  By my count, if I take off this whole week and never miss another hour of work until my meta surgery (which is pretty pie in the sky), I will actually have 8 weeks total.  You are supposed to be out for meta for 6 weeks.  But, as you probably know, it is not uncommon to have complications (fistulas/strictures), for both meta and phallo, so I could be out longer.  Meta of course has less complications than phallo, but hopefully if I have any it will happen during that 6 week window and will be corrected by the end of that 6 weeks when I am supposed to return.  One thing I am not looking forward to is walking around like a cowboy when I return to work!  Not that everyone won't guess why I am out of work, anyway (I transitioned in place this past year), but I don't need it to be super clear which type of trans surgery I am returning from!  Ugh.

Quote from: Bimmer Guy on October 19, 2015, 01:37:54 PMI don't know who commented about hysto being more invasive than top surgery, but it wasn't me.

Guess I'm getting mixed up.

Your surgery sounds very onerous. I wonder how much longer each hour of surgery adds to recovery time. I'll bet that people have studied this phenomenon.

I'm fifty-three. (Part of my mentality is still stuck in adolescence, but my body is solidly in my fifties.) I had top surgery when I was nearly forty-seven. I hope that my hysto recovery will be no worse.

I haven't asked how disability works at my job. I'm assuming that my disability options would be much like yours since state-run programs tend to be very similar, but I don't even know whether other options exist. At any rate, even if I could get some disability, I would not take time off from teaching in the academic year because I would lose the little bit of seniority I have over two other people. My department has been hiring very few full-timers, so that seniority would be gold if we ever had serious budget problems again. As it is, I would be the fourth person to get the ax. If I lost my marginal seniority, I would be the second to go.

The other day, I was envying people with "regular" jobs because of the possibility of disability coverage for phallo. Now I'm not so sure. If I am fortunate with scheduling, I will be able to take six to eight weeks off every summer until my phallo is completed. Unfortunately, I will have to give up gobs of summer teaching income. Still, I might be able to take on an extra class here and there at strategic intervals to make up for some of the loss. It's a question of distribution. I'm much better off if I can spread the extra teaching over the entire calendar year instead of bunching it up in nine or ten months.

At least I *have* the option of extra work. I know that some people don't.

The amount of saved time you are talking about sounds pretty good, but I feel the same uncertainty you do when I look at my summer surgery window. What if it isn't enough...it HAS to be enough...what if it isn't?