Hysterectomy update

[Guyot]

Just wanted to put this out there because I did try to read a lot about riders getting back to their daily lives post op laparoscopic total hysterectomy and I didn’t think I’d be out of the saddle so long. It was frustrating so thought I’d put my story out there for other riders/trainers to see.

First thing is I NEEDED this surgery and couldn’t wait to get it done in the end. I also had some complications arise that others may not have. I’m also a professional dressage rider so I ride a lot of horses daily.

Back to work teaching lessons in a lounge chair (reclined position) at four weeks. Started with two or three lessons for first week and by second week back up to five a day as long as I stayed reclined my back didn’t fatigue and go into spasms. 6 weeks full teaching schedule, starting to sit up more normally.

I was CLEARED to ride at 6 weeks. I tried to… it did not go well (bleeding and swelling/ pain), told to wait a week and try again etc. so it wasn’t until week 11 I could safely ride 1 horse without bleeding or intense pain. Week 13 finally back up to riding my typical 5-9 horses per day but extremely exhausted after.

My complications were I had a surgery (vaginal) prior to the hysterectomy for an aborting fibroid about four month before. (I did beg to have the hysterectomy at that time and the ER surgeon on call said too risky. This was later explained to me to be untrue by my surgeon. However if the ER surgeon who was a gyno felt unable to do the surgery im glad he didn’t attempt it) I was also run down due to anemia. I also developed an infection 2weeks post op after my total hysterectomy. Three rounds of antibiotics (one the IV during surgery, one that came home with me that I couldn’t finish the last day because I was throwing it up, and the last one that kicked the infection) I also, probably due to the antibiotics, developed a yeast infection.

My surgery itself was good, small wounds healed well and no pain inside and everything working as it should if not way better than before, but I had/have a lot of swelling and digestive issues. I’m on a lot of probiotics and a restricted diet which I think will be continuing for the next 6months to a year.

Released for everything week 11 and sent to PT for the swelling. Pelvic floor PT is amazing and I think every women should have the opportunity to go even if they don’t have issues! Super informative. PT really diminishing the swelling and is giving me a lot of confidence in my cuff. (This is of course not covered by insurance )

I’m expecting to be back to real life where I don’t think or know every day that I’ve had surgery, to be at the 6/8 month mark. This is shocking to me and has been extremely frustrated.

Luckily I have the best clients and they have been very understanding. Also so thankful that they are all well matched on their horses so other then progress a bit slower then if I had been riding, they all have been riding and lessoning and progressing their own horses extremely well.

I hope anyone looking for info about this reads this and if this outcome happens to them they are not as frustrated as I have been.

[trubandloki]

Glad you are doing better. Sorry to hear your healing is taking so long.

[cutter99]

@Guyot, all bodies are different, and require different amounts of healing, plus it sounds like you had some other complicated issues. Give yourself time to recover.

I had my hysterectomy over 4 years ago now, and other than fighting hot flashes due to discontinuing HRT, have had no other issues.

I have no regrets for doing it, and wish I had done it sooner. There are certain body parts I just do not miss!

[Guyot]

@cutter99 I am so grateful it was done and I’ve developed a lot of patience during the last three months … I just wanted to get my story out for other riders and trainer because most of those people I saw with my searches people were riding 4 weeks post op and it’s good to hear others do not have the same fast recovery all the time.

Trust me when I say I’ve taken my time and tried so hard to not push. In hindsight, My surgeon knew nothing about riding even tho I did mention rodeo type things and getting launched from height with force as a possibility, I think at week 8 I did ask if I could run and bike and he said no… and I was like but I’m cleared to ride… so not every dr really gets us.

[RMJacobs]

Would you please expand on the aborting fibroid? I’m assuming it’s a fibroid that the uterus is trying to expel–is that correct? What causes it, and what is the procedure to fix it?

I had a hysteroscopy and D&C to remove fibroids nearly two weeks ago. I have a follow up appointment on Thursday to go over pathology (which I already know was benign) and to clear me for resuming having sex. So far, it looks like the procedure is successful for stopping the occasional bleeding I was having, some of it severe.

Rebecca

[Guyot]

@RMJacobs I don’t know much about them either but will do my best to explain what happened to my body, which basically went haywire during my first bout of covid last August and I started bleeding and just couldn’t stop…

so many drugs and hormones… even ended up getting ambulance ride to ER from blood loss, was a complete mess. I think it all just fed my fibroids because we had been monitoring their growth and before and after Covid it was very rapid changes.

About 7 weeks after covid the bleeding finally stopped enough to send me for biopsy and get started to get a hysterectomy. When I showed up in my gyno office she couldn’t complete the biopsy and said I needed emergency surgery. The fibroid was prolapsed or in my cervix for lack of better understanding… clearly it couldn’t fall out because they are attached by a stalk. I wasn’t even home yet and she called and told me to go straight to the ER.

Had my surgery after being seen in the ER where they agreed I couldn’t leave. from my understanding I was 5cm dilated and they cut the stalk to remove the softball sized fibroid. Also had a D&C while I was under.

Also had 9 iron infusions to get my anemia back under control, one while I was in surgery evidently.

When I had my surgery the fibroids had grown back inside and I also had external fibroids. The whole uterus and fibroids was the size of a large cantaloupe (the examples of size are from my surgeons and not my language…)

[cutter99]

Just to make you laugh @Guyot! I can still remember the first time I squatted to pee out behind the barn a couple weeks after I had the surgery.

I could not get up. I was pretty sure I was going to die out there!

[Guyot]

@cutter99 I feel your pain! I got stuck in my recliner and no one was here and I had to pee so bad… flopping around and “leaking” to get the recliner to release was so bad

[RMJacobs]

Wow–what an ordeal! I was so glad that my gynecologist thought he could stop my bleeding with a D&C. A hysterectomy is not an option for me unless I develop uterine cancer and must have it. I am on peritoneal dialysis, and would have to change to hemodialysis for months if I had a hysterectomy. I would put up with a lot of dysfunction before doing that.

I had one fibroid completely removed and one partially removed in that procedure. The doctor said he could only get what was inside my uterus. The whole situation was frustrating because I’d had fibroids removed back in 1993, when I had a C-section to deliver my daughter. I wish they would have stayed gone.

Rebecca

[Guyot]

@RMJacobs yeah it sucked. I just had heavy periods from my fibroids and they were controlled with hormones (birth control pills) prior to getting Covid.

Unfortunately for me Covid sent me round the bend and into a huge long messy ordeal. Literally started hemorrhaging while I was sick with Covid overriding my birth control and it just never stopped and the hormones wouldn’t touch it after. The first surgery made it better for aboit 4 months but they came back with a vengeance. And the second the birth control couldn’t maintain me I was in for surgery within 2 weeks.

[RMJacobs]

I was still on birth control three weeks ago, even though I’m 67. It was the only thing that prevented fibroids from bleeding uncontrollably. My PCP sent me to a gynecologist to try to resolve this. He had me stop birth control, so of course I started bleeding a lot. But the D&C stopped it, at least for now. I hope it’s a permanent fix.

Rebecca

[Guyot]

@RMJacobs praying for you that your body stay stabilized.
I was ok for about 3 to 4 months after my surgery and D&C before it all started up again.

[RMJacobs]

Thank you! Things are definitely better, but I’m still having problems being off hormones. I’ve been getting headaches pretty much every day, and I had not had a headache for years and years until now. My uterus still feels just a little tense, but no cramps or bleeding, not even spotting now. I have my followup appointment with the gynecologist tomorrow, and I expect that to be uneventful.

Rebecca

[SpicyPRE]

WOW that is crazy. Hopefully you have the worst behind you. Its hard to be a woman!