Just read the other posts - forgot to add my hysterectomy experience. I had a total hysterectomy (left my vagina intact) in June, found cancer, no more treatment needed. I had some serious allergy issues with pain meds during and after previous surgeries, so I had a pre-op consult with the anesthesia department a week before the surgery to develop a safe anesthesia / pain control plan before I got to surgery. Worked out great! I had good bowel sounds not long after surgery, and I faithfully did the breathing machine exercises several times an hour, every hour I was awake which kept my oxygen level up and helped prevent pneumonia. I also was able to get up and move about without pain which I'm sure helped get my bowels going again -- I had an epidural for pain meds started before they put me to sleep and they left it in for the first 24 hours post-op. They sent me home with prescription-strength Motrin but I didn't need it - the minor discomfort wasn't worth risking constipation. I just kept walking a couple of times a day, up and down the driveway, to the kitchen, etc, but I also RESTED a lot. I'm a pretty compliant patient - they told me to just "chill", read a long book, take leisurely strolls, but rest, rest, rest -- listen to my body. And no lifting of anything over ten pounds (that was easy - no sweet babies to carry!) and stairs as little as possible for the first two weeks - one round-trip a day - don't know if that's an issue for you. I had great support from my family, and friends from church, one of whom is an ovarian cancer survivor and a veteran of abdominal surgeries who spent the day and first night with me. When I got home, people brought food, did errands, etc. Sounds like you have great support from your hubby and mom-in-law. Lining up people to help with your sweet little ones shouldn't be hard! As for food, I just ate extremely safe foods for the first couple of weeks - applesauce, rice milk and Rice Chex, chicken broth, sourdough bread, etc. And LOTS of water!! I definitely didn't want to have to strain with a BM!
Hope this helps.
Blessings,
Kaybee C
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PS to my above post
