I Had a Hysterectomy — Here's What Recovery Was Really Like (+ What I Knit!)

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:00]Hey, folks, today I'm talking about my recent surgery and how knitting played a role in the recovery.

[00:00:12]Okay, so um, I'll try and break this up into chapters.

[00:00:16]So if you're interested in kind of like jumping ahead or specific topics, it's a little bit easier to find.

[00:00:23]Before I get into the details, though, I wanted to mention, I am wearing my anacortas tea, I will put details about it up here.

[00:00:31]Um, and I am working on the prospect T.

[00:00:36]Again, I'll put details about both of these patterns up here, and you can find them in my ravelry.

[00:00:42]Hey folks, welcome.

[00:00:43]I'm Dawn.

[00:00:44]This is Tangled Together, where I talk about my knitting hobby as well as the other things in life that get tangled up in it.

[00:00:50]I had mentioned in a previous, uh, video that I was going to be having a hysterectomy.

[00:00:57]I am now, um, four weeks, four, five weeks out.

[00:01:02]I'm a month out.

[00:01:03]Um, and I still have one follow up appointment, um, just to, like, fully clear me for everything.

[00:01:13]But I feel pretty much normal at this point, and, um, also just with schedule.

[00:01:21]This was kind of the best opportunity I had to, like, sit down and talk about this.

[00:01:26]So, if anything changes in the next couple of weeks, I'll add, like, a pin comment or something, um, to this post.

[00:01:37]Uh, but yes, as of filming this, um, I'm feeling overall pretty normal.

[00:01:43]a quick disclaimer, I'm not a medical professional.

[00:01:47]None of this is medical advice at all.

[00:01:50]If you were having a hysterectomy or you were having any kind of surgery, listen to your doctors.

[00:01:55]Take their advice, follow their instructions.

[00:01:58]I'm sharing my personal like experience with it.

[00:02:04]Just that disclaimer to start out.

[00:02:07]This is not medical advice at all.

[00:02:09]Listen to your doctors.

[00:02:10]First off, why did I need a hysterectomy and what was the procedure?

[00:02:14]So, I had a total laparoscopic hysterectomy with bilateral salpingectomy.

[00:02:23]I'm looking at my notes over here.

[00:02:26]My ovaries were not removed, so that should not affect like hormones and all of that.

[00:02:32]Um, and it was done laparoscopically.

[00:02:35]So that meant I had a much faster recovery time.

[00:02:38]The reason for the hysterectomy was I had a couple of fibroids that caused my uterus to be about 10 times the size that it should be, uh, it was, I had a scan back in January, like an ultrasound back in January, that estimated the odor size was about the size of a 22 week pregnancy.

[00:03:02]Um, and I had been diagnosed with these fibroids about 7 years ago, but at the time, like, I could feel there was something there, they determined it was kind of just normal fibroids, and because of where they were located, and the symptoms I was having, it kind of got determined to not do any treatment at the time.

[00:03:26]Now, the fibroids did grow significantly during pregnancy and actually caused some complications during my during pregnancy.

[00:03:34]Uh, but they shrank back down postpartum.

[00:03:39]And this was something that, like, When I had my C-section, we asked about, like, can you do anything about the fibroids, but for various reasons, um, it was determined not to do anything at the time, they were really hoping that, like, they shrink back down just as my hormones change postpartum.

[00:03:58]And that did happen, but then about maybe 2 years ago, I would say, it felt like they started kind of grow again.

[00:04:08]And, um, last fall, I really started noticing the size was significant.

[00:04:15]Like, I couldn't lay on my back, um, without having, basically that, like, Oh, what is it?

[00:04:25]What is the nerves?

[00:04:26]sciatic, sciatic nerve pain?

[00:04:28]It's something that a lot of people experience with pregnancy, and one of the reasons they tell you not to, like, sleep on your back when you're pregnant.

[00:04:35]Um, as well as I started having a lot of discomfort and pain and some, like, digestive and abdominal issues.

[00:04:44]I wasn't having like heavy bleeding, um, or anything like that.

[00:04:48]I had an IUD that caused me just to not have periods at all.

[00:04:52]But, um, so it wasn't in the like, oh, yeah, you need to have this because you're anemic, or you're bleeding too much, um, that a lot of people experience with fibroids, but I was starting to have issues.

[00:05:06]And so in talking with my doctor, we kind of determined that the best option was just to have a hysterectomy.

[00:05:17]It was kind of the procedure that had the least chances of having issues then just going in and removing the fibroids.

[00:05:28]I can't grow any new fibroids, because I don't have a uterus for them to grow in.

[00:05:34]And Ryan and I had determined that, even before this, that we were, our family was complete, um, for various reasons, and kind of, if we ever changed our mind on that.

[00:05:50]We would pursue other means of adding to our family.

[00:05:58]And going into the operation, I was in overall good health, really the main thing was, uh, the, like, discomfort and digestive stuff going on, but beyond that, I was in pretty good health going into it.

[00:06:13]which I think really did help contribute to like the speed of my recovery.

[00:06:18]Now, going in, my doctor had told me with this kind of procedure.

[00:06:21]Most people feel about 80% better, like about 2 weeks out, and close to normal, uh, at the, like, final post, like, month to 6 week post-op appointment.

[00:06:37]Um, and my experience has aligned pretty closely with that.

[00:06:43]Okay, so now that I've gotten the, like, what procedure I had done and why out of the way, let's talk about my actual experience.

[00:06:49]Um, so, you know, I had some pre-op appointments and some tests and blood work and all of that.

[00:06:55]But I'm gonna kind of talk more about like pre-op going in, day of, and through recovery.

[00:07:01]Um, so, yeah, it was a laparoscopic, and my procedure was one that I went home the afternoon after the surgery, which was really great to be able to go home and recover in my own bed.

[00:07:15]So yeah, I had to show up a couple hours before the surgery was scheduled and go through the pre-op stuff.

[00:07:21]I did bring my nating with me and I was very glad I had that for the pre-op.

[00:07:27]Um, timing wise, uh, Ryan dropped me off, um, at the hospital because, of course, the time for me to arrive was at the same time as drop off for our kids' school.

[00:07:39]So he dropped me off a little early, went and dropped her off, and then came back and joined me.

[00:07:43]Um, but yeah.

[00:07:45]For that little bit when I was in the waiting room without him, and then they took me back into the preop room, and initially he wasn't allowed back in when they were doing, um, like, getting me in the gown, and doing some of the, like, sanitation stuff, um, and some, like, initial getting the IVs in, and all of that prep.

[00:08:07]Uh, he wasn't allowed back there with me for probably about the first hour.

[00:08:11]So it was very glad that I brought my knitting, because it provided a really good distraction.

[00:08:16]It provided a really good, um, way for me to kind of work through and stay calm, work through some thoughts, and initial feelings, um, of like, oh, gosh, this is really happening.

[00:08:35]Um, and more than anything, it was just, like, a nice distraction, uh, because, like, there was a TV in the pre op room, but nothing, nothing was really, like, oh, yeah, I want to watch this, and this is going to distract me.

[00:08:52]Um, so, yeah, uh, and then, um, you know, they took me back for the surgery, and in the words of the doctor, uh, in post op, it was a routine boring procedure, which is what you want to hear about your surgery.

[00:09:10]Uh, yeah, and then we came home that afternoon.

[00:09:15]Um, I feel like I got released really quickly, you know, they needed me to, um, urinate, uh, after the surgery to make sure that my bladder was functioning properly.

[00:09:30]Um, I woke up as kind of once I became really conscious after the surgery.

[00:09:36]That was one of the first things that I asked about.

[00:09:40]Um, so, just, they had been hydrating me so much that I, my blounder was very full.

[00:09:46]And I think also because the fibroid had been taking up so much space in my abdomen.

[00:09:53]Um, my bladder was used to being much smaller.

[00:09:59]Uh, that has been something, I feel like, uh, has been a big change post-op, um, that I don't have to pee quite as much.

[00:10:08]So yeah, we came home after the surgery, very, very grateful.

[00:10:13]All right, if things kind of changed, the sun really went behind the cloud, so I had to bump up the brightness.

[00:11:24]The 2nd day was really when I started picking up my back up, my knitting.

[00:11:29]Um, I was really sore, and I did need to get up quite a bit.

[00:11:36]Um, because, because of the procedure they did, they filled my abdomen with, uh, gas to allow them space to get in and see what they were doing, and they got as much of the gas out of it, but I was warned by a nurse, like, hey, they often aren't able to get 100% of that, so you might have some gas that kind of takes some time to work its way out of your system.

[00:12:00]If that, and you might feel it as shoulder or back pain, um, it's a, oh, what's the term?

[00:12:10]If I don't use the right term, I'll put it up here.

[00:12:13]But it's a, like, transferred pain where the gas is actually pushing on your diaphragm, and because your brain's, like, this doesn't make sense, we're there to be pain here, uh, it oftentimes, like, your nerves and the nerve that it's connected to, you'll feel it in your shoulder or upper back.

[00:12:34]To the point that, especially for women, someone women can think that they're having a heart attack.

[00:12:40]So yes, the nurse said, if I do feel this, um, this kind of pain, getting up and moving around often can relieve it.

[00:12:48]I also was told to take, like, gas X and, um, in addition to some of the other medications to help get rid of that excess gas.

[00:12:57]So over the next few days, um, I spent a lot of time knitting, I was kind of in bed the first three or four days, uh, post surgery, and would, like, get up to use the bathroom.

[00:13:11]I'd get up to, um, go downstairs and get something to eat, or some water, and be like, Great, I did the thing.

[00:13:21]Now I'm gonna go take a nap, 'cause I was just so tired.

[00:13:25]Day two, I feel like, was the most pain I was in.

[00:13:29]Um, and then it kind of slowly got better.

[00:13:33]There were definitely, like, ups and downs to that.

[00:14:40]And me using knitting as a distraction and from the pain, uh, turns out to actually have some science behind it.

[00:14:50]There's been a couple of different studies that have shown that creative endeavors, including things like knitting, needle pointing, crafting, um, can help with pain management.

[00:15:05]Basically, it, um, activates brain regions that also modulate pain processing, and it competes with your brain's attention, and often can, like, win against the pain uh, element.

[00:15:25]And I feel like especially, like, with the gas pain, it did not cut through that.

[00:15:32]But with the overall soreness, um, and as long as I wasn't having pain from, like, moving in a way it, like, sharp pain, it did not distract from.

[00:15:44]But the kind of dull ache that I was experiencing, especially that first week, it did provide a good distraction from that.

[00:15:52]The 1st few days I did not have much of an appetite.

[00:15:55]My husband was home the 1st week.

[00:15:58]He was working from home.

[00:16:00]So he was regularly like, making sure I had plenty of water, bringing me tea or coffee, making sure I had food, and just kind of generally checking in, doing whatever he could to help out.

[00:16:14]Um, but those first few days, I pretty much stayed in bed, and knitted when I was awake, dozed quite a lot, and made it through, um, almost all of shrinking in that first week, and, uh, also listen to some critical role.

[00:16:35]I had to wait, I think it was 72 hours after surgery to shower.

[00:16:41]Uh, taking shower, felt so good.

[00:16:44]Um, like, it was exhausting.

[00:16:48]I was like, cool, I took a shower, now I'm gonna lay down and take a nap.

[00:16:52]Um, but it was just so nice to like rinse everything off.

[00:16:56]And also like, the warm water felt nice.

[00:17:01]That evening, I was actually able to sleep, like, on my side, not just, like, sitting up, um, and was able to get, like, a full 6 hours of sleep that way before needing to, like, wake up and move around and take more medication.

[00:17:18]And so I feel like day 4 kind of, that was the turning point for me for, like, really starting to feel better.

[00:17:27]Now, something I did also experience those 1st couple of days is my throat was really sore, and I actually lost my voice.

[00:17:36]Like, I think it was day three.

[00:17:38]Um, as Ryan was like, Oh, my gosh, are you okay?

[00:17:43]I was like, yeah, I feel fine.

[00:17:44]I just have no voice.

[00:17:45]And I think that was because of the breathing tube that they put in during surgery.

[00:17:51]Around day 4 and five, I started experienced some, like, itching, uh, I think that, like, healing, itching, um, and I did find the 1st couple of days, I did use an ice pack, and by that point, I could start using, like, a heating pad, um, to, for, like, relaxing and relieving pain and discomfort.

[00:18:16]Um, I still used the ice pack a little bit more than the heating pad, uh, just because things still felt sore and swollen more so than like, sore in the muscle area.

[00:18:31]The 2nd week after surgery, I was no longer taking, um, the stronger pain medication that was the like, don't drive when you're on this.

[00:18:40]So I was able to do a little bit of driving, just to drop my kid off at school and pick her up, because at that point, my husband needed to be, like, back in the office and doing some in-person meetings, and I was feeling well enough to be able to do that.

[00:18:57]I'll get more into, like, how we handled things with our kid in a little bit.

[00:19:02]But that did take quite a bit of effort.

[00:19:05]Um, but by that point, I was able to get around quite a lot better.

[00:19:09]So I would usually like drop the kid off at school, come home and kind of doze, slash sit on the couch.

[00:19:15]It was also nice to, by that point, feel well enough to not need to be in bed, but to be actually, like, sitting on a couch and in a different position.

[00:19:27]After that point, it was a lot of, there was still some soreness.

[00:19:31]I still have a little bit of tightness and soreness when I move.

[00:19:37]Um, I did get cleared, uh, after, like, I think was a 10 day appointment, for lifting things over 10 pounds, but not over 20, and, um, for most activity, kind of, like, going back to most things, um, because I was at that, like, 80% feeling better.

[00:20:01]Now, the big thing that I experienced, that was a bit of an adjustment, was endurance.

[00:20:09]Um, I would do, like, regular household chores and be like, Okay, great.

[00:20:14]I need to lay down and take a nap.

[00:20:16]Um, and so, for me, it was a lot of pacing myself, um, asking for help, asking for support, uh, from my husband, sometimes from my kid, where I was like, Hey, can you pick this up and hand this to me so I don't have to bend over?

[00:20:35]Um, adjusting how I did some things.

[00:20:41]Like, I was doing a lot of squats instead of bending at the waist to get down and up, um, to reach things.

[00:20:50]Um, I found twisting.

[00:20:54]I had to be very careful with how I twisted.

[00:20:57]And, uh, there are definitely some clothing options, clothing that I have slowly been reintroducing.

[00:21:06]As far as, like, how I'm feeling now, I was so surprised by, and, like, the physical difference, my husband commented several times about, like, oh my gosh, you look different.

[00:21:23]Because, like, by the couple weeks before the surgery, I was starting to look pregnant.

[00:21:30]There were definitely some clothes that I was like, I can't wear this because people are going to ask if I'm pregnant.

[00:21:35]Um, And I didn't realize how much discomfort I was in until, like, the last week or 2 where I was like, oh, I'm sitting on the couch in positions that, A month, 2 months ago, I would not be able to sit in because it was uncomfortable.

[00:21:57]Like, I just felt bloated and uncomfortable so much of the time, and I didn't even necessarily realize it.

[00:22:07]And also, like, now my clothes are fitting better.

[00:22:11]Um, I have pants that I can wear again.

[00:22:14]Uh, although it has been slow introductions.

[00:22:18]So, which I'll get into that in a moment when I talk about things I found helpful and things I wish I'd done differently.

[00:22:25]Okay, before we get into that, I do want to just address like how we handled this with our kit.

[00:22:32]So, um, we have a preschooler, and luckily, the surgery occurred during her school year.

[00:22:41]She's she's in a pre-K program, um, and so that was really great to have that for, like, during the day, during the week, she was at that, that was a normal routine.

[00:22:55]So leading up to the surgery, we kind of talked to her about it.

[00:23:00]Um, like, I think we, about a month before we started introducing the idea, and then talked a little, in a little bit more detail as we got closer and closer.

[00:23:10]She was so sweet and told me, like, I could take one of my stuffies with me because she asked if I needed to get a shot as part of it, and I was like, yeah, because, you know, Ivy's pretty much like getting a shot.

[00:23:23]And she was like, you can take a stuffy and hold it and cuddle it so you feel better.

[00:23:27]Um, and then we had a friend who went and picked her up from school that day, because just timing wise, we weren't entirely sure if I was going to be out of surgery or out of post op, and released, um, in time to pick her up from school.

[00:23:49]And I'm very glad we did because I think I was out of surgery by that point.

[00:23:54]I was not aware, but we, I wasn't released to go home, um, until, like an hour, hour and a half after her school released.

[00:24:03]Uh, and my husband had to be there or I had to have another adult there to take me home.

[00:24:10]Um, and he certainly wanted to be there just to know what was going on, to be able to make decisions if the surgery had had any complications or anything.

[00:24:23]Um, so, yeah, we had a friend who, what the plan was, and this is what actually happened, was that, like, she picked our kid up from school, took her home, and they spent the afternoon and evening, doing fun things, um, she even stayed, and did pretty much all of bedtime, uh, because I did get home before our kiddo, went out for bed.

[00:24:47]I'm really glad that I did, just because then I got to, like, see her, she got to see me and see, like, everything's okay, everything's fine.

[00:24:56]But then, most of bedtime was taken care of so that, like, my husband could focus on making sure that I was okay and then he went up and, like, read a book and did the final, like, bedtime stuff, but, like, all of the getting in the PJs and brushing the teeth was not something he had to worry about.

[00:25:14]Uh, and then he was home, he worked from home for that first week, so he took care of school drop off and pick up, um, she, most afternoons would come up and, like, lay in bed next to me, and we watched, like, some episodes of Bluey and, um, some, like, PBS kids shows together while I kind of dozed off.

[00:25:38]Uh, and then my sister-in-law very, very kindly came and, uh, spent the 1st weekend here.

[00:25:47]And then there were just quite a lot of those 1st few days, reminding her, be gentle, and I can't, you know, pick her up, um, and all of that, but she, she's gotten it, and she still even now is like, oh, Mama can't do this, because she's recovering.

[00:26:08]I want to close out by talking about the things that I found really helpful for the recovery process as well as things I kind of wish I had done differently.

[00:26:17]Um, so I did talk about knitting, being very helpful to the recovery process.

[00:26:24]Definitely suggest if you're going through any kind of recovery from surgery where you're able to, like, move your arms around and stuff, like, I had a friend who went through another procedure that was, um, took a much longer recovery process and also affected, like, she couldn't move her arms quite as much.

[00:26:45]And so she was not able to do her crafting.

[00:26:49]I'm very glad I was able to keep doing my crafting.

[00:26:52]Um, But if not, have, or if you don't like knit or something, like, coloring books would be super useful, video games, um, something that takes your attention, I would say even more than just like, listening to a podcast or reading a book or watching a TV, like, I feel like something with your hands is going to be a better distraction, and I think I think that is something that helps with that, like, pain management element is that it's not just distracting, but it's activating your brain.

[00:27:31]And I'm glad that I was working on projects that didn't require too much thought, and I had a couple of different projects, if I got tired of one, which I did.

[00:27:43]I did switch between projects.

[00:27:45]Um, I wouldn't try and pick up a new skill, um, but having different levels of, Attention that you need to pay to the projects was helpful to be able to switch between those and also just like, oh, I've been knitting this shirt for 12 hours.

[00:28:08]I want to do something else.

[00:28:11]I'll knit this sweater.

[00:28:13]One thing I found super helpful, and I would recommend anybody who's getting a hysterectomy, is a hysterectomy pillow.

[00:28:20]Uh, so, yeah, I just got this off Amazon, and it has a strap to go over your neck, and then another strap that you can use to go around your waist.

[00:28:32]And it's got a pocket in the back here for heating or cooling pads, and then there's place you can put your arms in, and this also has, like, pockets in the front.

[00:28:45]I would put my phone and small stuff in this front pocket.

[00:28:49]This was so helpful because after a hysterectomy, any kind of abdominal surgery, um, Being able to put some pressure on it, actually helped, especially, like, getting up or moving around, sneezing, sneezing.

[00:29:06]This also was very helpful in the car right home because it provided a buffer for the belt strap.

[00:29:14]Um, that it wasn't putting as much direct pressure, it distributed the pressure a little bit more.

[00:29:21]Um, and then I also had like a nice spot for there's ice and heating packs.

[00:29:27]I had this on pretty much constantly that 1st week.

[00:29:32]And then I continued to use it at night, um, for the next 2 weeks after that until just fairly recently.

[00:29:44]Um, Less at night because I necessarily needed it.

[00:29:51]Like, it was certainly helpful to have it, like, if I needed to roll over to put some pressure, but also to keep our dog from punching me in the stomach, um, and also just to make sure, like, If my husband rolled over, he didn't bump me or something.

[00:30:06]Like, it was just a nice little, like, Force field.

[00:30:11]of protection.

[00:30:13]am conflicted on like, it is a little bit of a one use and now I'm like, what do I do with this?

[00:30:19]Because it's so specific.

[00:30:21]I don't feel like it really works well as, like, we can just use it, uh, for other things, but would highly recommend, uh, having some kind of hysterectomy pillow.

[00:30:31]The other thing that we got that I'm so glad we did is a wedge pillow.

[00:30:37]So this allowed me to recline or sit up.

[00:30:41]Um, we got one that kind of Velcros together has four pieces and you can, um, put them together in different combinations.

[00:30:51]It had the, like, triangle piece that you can go put under your knees.

[00:30:54]Especially those first few nights where I could not lay down.

[00:30:58]So helpful.

[00:31:00]I know some people said like, oh, if you have a recliner, try sleeping in that.

[00:31:06]I think maybe if you have a recliner, that might work because you can adjust like height and everything.

[00:31:13]But for me, the wedge pillow actually was better because there were times where it was like, I could kind of, lay on my side a little bit, but being elevated helped.

[00:31:24]Um, I could move, how, where my knees were, the support for that, it allowed me to, like, sit up a little bit or times where it was, like, okay, sitting up fully is not comfortable, but I couldn't recline, I could also be in my bed, which I knew was comfortable and, like, have my pillows and all of that.

[00:31:45]Having some kind of, like, nightgown, moo moo, oversized, so helpful.

[00:31:54]Um, I had a, like, night, t-shirt, nightgown thing, um, that I wore for the 1st couple of days, uh, and that was really great because you're not going to probably want to have anything around your waist.

[00:32:09]And um... Yeah, I kind of.

[00:32:16]The one thing with that is, I wish I had thought a little bit more through the post op what I was wearing.

[00:32:25]I was planning on like, okay, I'll just wear that.

[00:32:28]post op and head home from there.

[00:32:31]But the day of my surgery, it was abnormally cold for the end of April.

[00:32:38]Um, so I ended up having a, like, oversized sweater on top of it and had leggings, the leggings I wore to the hospital.

[00:32:48]I wore those home because the, like, pajama pants, like, sweatpants.

[00:32:58]I knew the waistband was going to put too much pressure on my abdomen.

[00:33:02]Um, so I just wore the leggings and, like, didn't pull them up all the way, essentially.

[00:33:09]All of the dresses I could have worn were short dresses.

[00:33:13]I didn't have any long dresses.

[00:33:15]Um, so that's something I would keep in mind, like depending on the time of year and the weather.

[00:33:20]have something that's long enough to cover your legs.

[00:33:23]Um, when you're leaving the hospital.

[00:33:26]Elastic waistbands.

[00:33:28]This is something I wish I had done differently, because I had, like, pajamas and one pair of sweatpants that I felt like, we're fine at home or fine for, like, school runs, but, uh, in the couple of weeks where I was post-op and, like, feeling well enough to start hanging out with friends and going about more of my daily life.

[00:33:57]But still, you know, sore and recovering.

[00:34:02]I found it really difficult to wear normal pants and jeans, and I'm also not, like, a person that has a whole lot of dresses, so maybe dresses would be a good option here.

[00:34:14]But the reason I didn't want to wear a lot of normal pants and jeans is because the button fell kind of right around the main incision site, because the laparoscopic, they went in through my belly button.

[00:34:32]So that has a scar there that's healing.

[00:34:36]And there was a certain point where it was like, Okay, it's healed enough that I don't have to wear a bandage on it, and I want it to, like, breathe and all that, but I kind of had to wear a bandage, because the very top of it was right, like, at the curve of my belly button, kind of stuck out, and it would catch on my pants.

[00:34:57]And that felt so weird and, like, weird nerve zingy.

[00:35:02]Um, so I usually would wear Band-Aid over that, just as a buffer.

[00:35:07]And I found that the elastic waistband, didn't bother it quite as much, and also allowed me to, like, adjust where my pants were sitting, like, standing would often be fine, but I'd sit down and be like, oh, this is, now the waistband in my pants is pushing in, or sitting at a spot that's not really comfortable, and with elastic waistbands, I was able to, like, adjust that when I sat down, or move it around, like, if it had just been sitting on one spot for a while, and that was starting to feel sore, could kind of, like, scooch it down or scooch it up a little.

[00:35:42]Um, and not look too weird.

[00:35:46]Another thing that I'm so glad my doctor suggested, and I started, I did it was, I started taking the Mirror Lax, the like, um, stool softener, a couple of days before surgery.

[00:36:00]Um, and so glad I did.

[00:36:03]It made things so much better.

[00:36:05]It was still not comfortable the 1st couple of bowel movements, but I feel like was much, much better, and, um, kind of got into my system ahead of time ahead of all of the other things that could cause constant patient.

[00:36:20]Now, one thing I wish I'd started taking sooner is gas X.

[00:36:24]I was told like, hey, go pick up some gas X.

[00:36:26]This might be helpful for some of that trap gas as well as just like, My bowels and everything after the fact.

[00:36:34]Um, and I kind of didn't take it until I started having that gas pain, and I think if I had maybe taken it a little bit sooner, You know, not necessarily like preempting anything happening, but if I had stayed a little bit more on top of like, okay, when can I take it?

[00:36:56]How frequently can I take it?

[00:36:57]Let's just take that as a regular interval along with some of my other, like I was with my other medications.

[00:37:04]I think that might have helped some of that like gas pain.

[00:37:08]That was really the main thing that I was getting woken up because of that.

[00:37:14]It was, like, really disruptive to being able to, like, allow my body to rest and was the pain that, like, even when it was on the strong painkillers, it was cutting through.

[00:37:26]As far as, like, eating goes, I'm so glad that I'm meal prepped.

[00:37:31]Um, my husband did cooking and bringing me food and everything, but it just removed an element of, like, stress for both of us.

[00:37:42]And I knew there were going to be some things that I liked, that we could just heat up whenever I wanted them.

[00:37:50]We did some ordering.

[00:37:53]He made a few things, um, but I meal prepped a couple of things, including a split pea soup, that I had so much of that split pea soup, because I was like, okay, there's a lot of really good nutrients in this.

[00:38:07]It's soft, which those first few days, my throat was really sore, and that was the main thing that I ate.

[00:38:14]Um, and so it was like, I'm getting some good nutrients in here, and, um, it's also just something that I really like.

[00:38:26]And the other thing I'm really glad I got as far as, like, food wise goes is Jell-O.

[00:38:31]This was something that I kind of got last minute on a suggestion from one of my friends in my knitting group, uh, who had also undergone a surgery and she was like, get Jell-O because, um, of, you know, dealing with throat irritation after the surgery and breathing tubes and all of that.

[00:38:51]She just said, that made a huge difference for her of, like, getting some hydration, because she didn't even want to, like, drink water a couple of times.

[00:39:01]And I had that, too.

[00:39:02]There were a few times that, like, I woke up and I was like, I... No, I need to hydrate.

[00:39:07]I know I need to eat something and get some, like, calories in me, but the thought of, like, eating food or drinking something did not sound appetizing, but, like, the Jell O was a good consistency, that felt good on my throat, and kind of, like, I don't know, conditioned, like, warmed things up, that it was, like, okay, now that I've had this, I can have something to eat, that has more nutrients in it, or I can drink some more water.

[00:39:35]To the point that, like, my daughter would bring me up a thing of Jell-O and a spoon after school, because she knew it, it helped me.

[00:41:07]So there you go.

[00:41:08]I hope that this wasn't too rambly.

[00:41:11]I hope there's stuff that in here that helped you.

[00:41:13]Um.

[00:41:15]Hey, I was able to get a couple of rows in on this tea.

[00:41:19]Did I go too far?

[00:41:20]No, I didn't go too far.

[00:41:22]Uh, and hopefully you got some knitting done.

[00:41:25]Um, if you are having a hysterectomy, I hope this provided you some help, uh, some experience of, like, seeing somebody's perspective, who's gone through it, and, um, you know, I certainly, like, I've got some feelings about it, and some things I'm, I'm working through, like, mentally and everything, but overall, it's so, I'm so glad that I did it, and, um, it's not something that I feel like I'm going to regret, because I already, like, I'm still dealing with some restrictions, and some things are uncomfortable, not necessarily painful, but uncomfortable, but overall, I already feel so much better.

[00:42:12]Thank you for watching this far.

[00:42:14]I'm going to get back to kind of normal knitting focus stuff in the future.

[00:42:20]Um, But yeah, I'd love to hear, like, if you also had a hysterectomy, what are the things that you found super helpful.

[00:42:28]Um, Were you working on?

[00:42:30]Were you knitting something while I was while watching this video?

[00:42:34]What were you working on?

[00:42:36]Um, And yeah, do you also find crafting helpful for recovery?

[00:42:41]I think it's great.

[00:42:42]I'm so glad that I had this as a resource.

[00:42:46]A quick thanks to all of our patrons.

[00:42:49]If you want to directly support the channel, make sure you're subscribed and consider heading on over to our Patreon page.

[00:42:55]If you want to follow along with more of my day-to-day stuff, uh, you can follow me on Instagram and check out my projects on rivalry.

[00:43:05]Okay, bye.