POST-OP PREPARATION
When you awake post-surgery you will be groggy and sore. Asking your nurse for warm blanket to help soothe your sore stomach can help manage pain as you awake. Once in recovery you will be monitored closely. There is a checklist of tasks to complete before you will be allowed to go home and recover. The reason for this is your reproductive organs are in close proximity to other very important bodily structures. So being able to walk, urinate, and pass gas without trouble is the ticket home. Those with laparoscopic surgeries or vaginal surgeries usually stay in the hospital a day. If you had a large abdominal incision you may stay up to three days.
Post-op at home:
Once you are home do not lift anything over 10 pounds, and driving is usually avoided for a minimum of two weeks. Be sure to follow instructions on how to care for your incisions. Have a clear understanding of what is normal and what is not normal for incision healing. You are going be groggy and fatigued so get plenty of rest. Keeping track of your medication schedule on a notepad by your bed, is a good way of keeping your pain under control. It’s very good to take short walks around the house and gently stretch your legs, this prevents post-surgery blood clots.
Post-op discomfort:
If you had a laparoscopic or robot assisted surgery you will experience shoulder discomfort. The gasses from surgery rise in your body and this causes shoulder pain. After removal of the ovaries your body may start to feel the estrogen withdrawal, such as a racing heart or hot/cold flashes. Many women say healing from this surgery reminds them of PMS symptoms, such as an aching back and cramping where your ovaries were. You may notice a small amount of hair shedding which is a normal side effect of anesthesia. You are at risk for constipation so stay very hydrated. This surgery will reach every system of your body. Your body will try to repair itself on many fronts while drastically losing its hormone reserve. Even though you are doing the bare minimum physically, your body is working very hard. And that may present itself through exhaustion and fatigue through this first year. Be patient with your body, and give yourself some grace to not function as you previously did during this time. It’s a transition.