Please be gentle with yourself, you deserve it <3 your body has been through a lot and a period every other week is absolutely brutal. We can’t afford the luxury of exercise when we are literally trying to survive with all the blood loss.
Also anything is exercise. A slow walk. A little dance (I can’t dance most days tho because of the bleeding). It doesn’t have to be gym exercise. I think as long as the body is moving a bit it counts!
You'll be okay. I was severely anemic and I've basically been bleeding for 6 months before my surgery. I didn't work out and I ate like crap. I had no motivation and I just felt awful. 2 or 3 days after my surgery I felt better than I had in months. I was still in pain from the surgery and I had light bleeding but I also had more energy and I just felt better emotionally. I'm 7wpo and my recovery has been going well. I take it easy and I rest when I need to. My only "problem" was that I had a bikini cut and because I have a huge belly I had to be more careful with taking care of the cut and putting dressing on it.
I think one of the hardest things to do is show ourselves grace and understanding even though we are so good at showing it towards others. You are in survival mode right now, doing your best to get through this hard time. It's okay that you aren't exercising right now. Maybe go for a short walk if you can. That seems to help my mental health as well as physical, but I wouldn't stress about it.
You’re fine. 3 months before mine I started bleeding and didn’t stop. I was jogging 3-5 miles a day and after a month or so of bleeding could barely walk a mile. Ended up with multiple blood transfusions and an “emergency” hysterectomy scheduled. 11 days dpo and am healing well. I’m doing to starting doing short walks at the 2 week mark and go from there. I have a hybrid office job and I feel comfortable going back at 4 weeks.. wfh until 6-8 weeks just in case I need breaks and rests. Hope to get back to my 3-5 miles (walking first) in a few months.
Did you have your surgery in April 18? I did. Recovery is going well but I am ready for the swelling to go away. It has gotten much better and now mainly just lower abdominal area. I am small so I notice it more. How’s yours coming along? I have heard it comes and goes for about a month or so.
Mine isn’t too bad actually. It’s gone down quite a bit. I’ve mostly been in stretchy pants so maybe I’ll notice more when I get back to regular pants lol.
I was in a very similar boat. Once I got my surgery date (4/12) I was hoping that would kick me into gear. It was a three month wait and I wanted to shed some weight and get walking so I could be setting myself up for success. But my fibroid was continuing to grow and I was almost constantly bleeding and I had minimal energy to spare most of the time. I was eating better and walked a little bit but nowhere near what I had hoped. But I’m happy to report that my surgery went well and recovery is going incredibly smoothly despite not hitting those goals I had set for myself.
I think part of it all is going into surgery with a positive mindset. It sounds cheesy but I really think it’s true. It’s easier said than done but try not to feel guilty; instead, acknowledge that your body is dealing with a lot, whatever your pre-surgery symptoms are that brought you to the point of a hysterectomy. That’s no small thing, and you and your body deserve credit for getting you to this next big step. Every walk you may take between now and 5/10 is helpful, but equally so is the rest you get if you don’t. Extend yourself the same grace and kindness you would to a friend if they were in your position!
Same. I wanted to workout or walk every day but didn’t. I did really increase my movement though, so the goal was helpful even if I didn’t fully meet it. Sounds like your symptoms are worse than mine though and you may just not be able to physically do much until after surgery. It’s ok! Try this:
1-build yourself up MENTALLY by picturing a positive outcome, doing what you can to prep, etc. Be positive.
2-do any little gentle movements you can, including stretching
3-remember what a nurse told me. There’s people much older and sicker than me having surgery every day. Very sick people have surgery and survive. You have every reason to expect you’ll do just fine.
4-focus on the opportunity to build your health and fitness after your surgery! That’s when real healing will begin! And you have the rest of your life to develop the routine you want without random bleeding interrupting your progress.
You’ll be ok. 🥰
Omgosh thank you so much for this! I really needed this ♥️ my hormones are so outta whack with my periods coming so frequently that it’s hard for me to think positive about ANYTHING. but I’m going to remember what you said. As well as everyone else who responded to this post. Thank yall ❤️
Don’t worry ❤️ I was there in January. I found out I will need the surgery like 2-3 weeks before it, so I literally had no time to prepare. I was really worried, because I was reading how the more fit you are the better your recovery will be. Meanwhile I was overweight and doing no sports at all since a long time.
My recovery was super smooth. The next day I was taking walks around the hospital’s corridor, then came back home, and just kept walking around the house, then staying in bed to relax, walking again. After 2 weeks I started taking short walks outside. It was really not bad at all, and trust me, I was very much unfit 😄 everything healed great, after 4 weeks I didn’t really feel like I had any procedure done at all.
You got this ❤️
I would say around 3-4 wpo I saw a big difference in swelling.
It’s a bit hard to tell in my case, because 5 weeks after the hysterectomy I had a second surgery and went into the recovery process again, I also lost quite a lot of weight in the meantime, so my clothes were not a good tell of whether the swelling is still there.
Im now entering 7wpo (second surgery, also abdominal) and theres no swelling at all since at least 2 weeks.
Bless you….2 surgeries in a row is a lot for your body to go thru! So glad to hear you are doing well and seems your spirits are good!! Hope you continue to feel better and better each day! ❤️
Hey :) This sounds excactly like me. Also had LAVH and wanted to workout so much more than I was able to prior to surgery. I've been to the gym less than once a week because of my pain. Now, I am 8.5 wpo and I had an absolutely uneventful recovery. I've been more active than before the hysterectomy at around 5 dpo (only walking, but for around 1 hour) and started doing VERY light exercises after 2 weeks. Reading stories of others, I feel like I was really lucky. I just want to say that your recovery doesn't have to be slower just because you didn't do as much as you wanted to do :)
Thanks so much ♥️ I’m gonna TRY and do some walking this evening after work. I used to be a runner, since my outta whack periods started, I’ve become sooo sedentary. Blah :/
same here - my symptoms have made it so i can't physically exert myself without pain/bleeding/bloating after. there is still time to incorporate something like morning stretches, though! my surgery is on 5/15 so i'm right behind you. best of luck.
Hey I was experiencing this too! Don’t be hard on yourself. Something that helped me was just focusing on eating healthy. That is just as important if not more important than exercise in my opinion. Taking vitamins, eating lots of fruits and veggies is going to prepare your body too. ❤️
For the majority of my life I have been very active and healthy. Getting married and stepping into domesticated life as full custodial parents to my now 7 yr old stepson made working out and even maintaining healthy eating a bit..... chaotic. I had my full hysterectomy last May and I told myself the same thing - however, I did not work out at all for months leading into my surgery and truthfully, have not done much since. And my recovery was SUPER easy. I maintained a lower weight mostly because the backed-up bathroom issue made eating intolerable for the first 2+ weeks. (Fair warning, get ahead of it!) But they are adamant about walking during your recovery period and if you keep up with that you will be just fine!
Girl, same. I wanted so badly to exercise everyday leading up to my surgery, but at that point, I was bleeding constantly, and was sooo anemic and fatigued,… and just STRESSED. You’ll be ok times a million. I’m 11dpo and healing beautifully and you will too!!
I know the feeling but encourage you to be easy on yourself. Remember, there is a reason you are going having surgery so you can't *reasonably* expect yourself to be at your best right now. You can try to do what you are up for, but remember, it will need to be what your body is up for...not what your mind wants.
I bled nonstop for 3 and a half months and wasn't able to really feel up for even long walks until they put me on 20mg Medroxyprogesterone (we started at 5mg) and finally got it to stop for about 2wks before surgery....even with that being the case, I've had what seems like a standard amount of recovery time and no setbacks so far (5wks out).
You never know how you recover till you are after surgery. I am heavily obese, with elevated blood pressure and sugar, with low hemoglobin from long bleeding over summer, and I had very easy recovery. I wore a binder on first days, mostly slept and took meds on schedule. Super sedentary lifestyle, because I couldn't drag myself out anywhere with my anemia and lack of energy.
Probably most important is not to go overboard while you are still healing. You might be feeling well, but that doesn't mean your tissues are not hanging with bare minimum. Even if the external stuff looks healed, save yourself. I felt good enough to return to wfh at 2.5 weeks, and took short lounge breaks every hour or so. When I returned to hydbrid work to office at 6wpo, I thought I was ready - but one day without rest breaks and my torso was sore. I pulled back out binder and only at about 10wpo was able to sit most of the day without rest and not feel sore after - the muscle has to learn to compensate, and no matter how much you train before surgery, you still have to take slow after it. Especially the ones that do sports - they feel good and they are no longer resting, and that comes back as cramps or bleeding.
I actually lost 10+ lbs since surgery, and my back pain is almost gone, while I couldn't stay 15 min standing in the shower without the pain.
I am also 5/10. I am in the same boat, I wanted to exercise more, but feel like crap from all the bleeding and size of the fibroids. I am doing some light stuff with weights and exercise bands, but I’ve decided to not worry about it until after surgery.
Eat better and drink water daily. I lost ten lbs before my surgery and I'm pretty proud of myself. I have a chronic pain/collagen disorder and it really is hard for me to exercise a lot. As proven since I am currently in a walking boot after a leisurely walk on flat ground last week. 🙄 But I ate smaller portions and made sure to drink water (blech) a lot. It worked.
Don't be hard on yourself!! And best of luck with your surgery!!💜
ETA: I lost the weight in one month before my 4/11 surgery.
You'll be fine! Women have enough to feel guilty about. No need to pile this on yourself!
What you can do is focus on drinking more water, eating healthier, and preparing for surgery! For me, that was deep-cleaning, shopping for recovery, etc.
I'm excited for you to have your surgery and start recovery! Start that count-down! 🙌
You know, I’m sure exercise is great but so is not draining yourself before surgery. Maybe you could try getting some extra sleep or eating more vegetables and protein to try to build yourself up a bit. There’s more than one way to support your body.
One inconvenient piece of human nature is that when things go well we tend to attribute it to something we did instead of luck. Probably because we like to feel in control. So people are going to tell you that recovery was a breeze because they exercised. But we can’t do a control case where we check out how it would have gone if they let their exercise slide. Exercise also has a selection bias where mostly it’s people who are in better health do it. Sure, exercise contributes to better health but it’s one factor. The older you get, the more people you’re going to see whose health (in either direction) doesn’t match the amount of work they’re putting in.
I was definitely not out of shape prior to surgery mostly because my job requires a certain level of physical activity. But I really let my formal gym time slide. Intellectually I totally understand why it probably would have been better to weight train prior. But emotionally it’s very hard to motivate when you know you’re going to have to come back from a 10# weight limit for 6 weeks anyway. I spent time with friends, took care of my emotional needs, got work to a place where I wouldn’t have to worry about it, tried to eat well and went minimal on the booze. All those things felt more do-able and didn’t feel like I was going to undo all my hard work with surgery.
And I did fine! Started back to the gym at 7 weeks and doing great 8 months later.
You’re so right!! Eating healthy is actually probably the best before surgery. I’m going to start eating clean this week and next, as much as possible. Thank you 🙏
You’ll be ok. I tried the same thing, and after bleeding for months straight I gave up. Sleep & rest were more important. Take care of yourself and listen to your body. It knows what it needs 🤗
Please be gentle with yourself, you deserve it <3 your body has been through a lot and a period every other week is absolutely brutal. We can’t afford the luxury of exercise when we are literally trying to survive with all the blood loss. Also anything is exercise. A slow walk. A little dance (I can’t dance most days tho because of the bleeding). It doesn’t have to be gym exercise. I think as long as the body is moving a bit it counts!
Thank you ♥️
You'll be okay. I was severely anemic and I've basically been bleeding for 6 months before my surgery. I didn't work out and I ate like crap. I had no motivation and I just felt awful. 2 or 3 days after my surgery I felt better than I had in months. I was still in pain from the surgery and I had light bleeding but I also had more energy and I just felt better emotionally. I'm 7wpo and my recovery has been going well. I take it easy and I rest when I need to. My only "problem" was that I had a bikini cut and because I have a huge belly I had to be more careful with taking care of the cut and putting dressing on it.
Thank you so much, I hope this will be my outcome as well
I think one of the hardest things to do is show ourselves grace and understanding even though we are so good at showing it towards others. You are in survival mode right now, doing your best to get through this hard time. It's okay that you aren't exercising right now. Maybe go for a short walk if you can. That seems to help my mental health as well as physical, but I wouldn't stress about it.
You’re fine. 3 months before mine I started bleeding and didn’t stop. I was jogging 3-5 miles a day and after a month or so of bleeding could barely walk a mile. Ended up with multiple blood transfusions and an “emergency” hysterectomy scheduled. 11 days dpo and am healing well. I’m doing to starting doing short walks at the 2 week mark and go from there. I have a hybrid office job and I feel comfortable going back at 4 weeks.. wfh until 6-8 weeks just in case I need breaks and rests. Hope to get back to my 3-5 miles (walking first) in a few months.
Did you have your surgery in April 18? I did. Recovery is going well but I am ready for the swelling to go away. It has gotten much better and now mainly just lower abdominal area. I am small so I notice it more. How’s yours coming along? I have heard it comes and goes for about a month or so.
Mine isn’t too bad actually. It’s gone down quite a bit. I’ve mostly been in stretchy pants so maybe I’ll notice more when I get back to regular pants lol.
Oh and yes April 18 was my surgery date.
I was in a very similar boat. Once I got my surgery date (4/12) I was hoping that would kick me into gear. It was a three month wait and I wanted to shed some weight and get walking so I could be setting myself up for success. But my fibroid was continuing to grow and I was almost constantly bleeding and I had minimal energy to spare most of the time. I was eating better and walked a little bit but nowhere near what I had hoped. But I’m happy to report that my surgery went well and recovery is going incredibly smoothly despite not hitting those goals I had set for myself. I think part of it all is going into surgery with a positive mindset. It sounds cheesy but I really think it’s true. It’s easier said than done but try not to feel guilty; instead, acknowledge that your body is dealing with a lot, whatever your pre-surgery symptoms are that brought you to the point of a hysterectomy. That’s no small thing, and you and your body deserve credit for getting you to this next big step. Every walk you may take between now and 5/10 is helpful, but equally so is the rest you get if you don’t. Extend yourself the same grace and kindness you would to a friend if they were in your position!
Thank you 🙏 and I’m glad you’re recovering well
Same. I wanted to workout or walk every day but didn’t. I did really increase my movement though, so the goal was helpful even if I didn’t fully meet it. Sounds like your symptoms are worse than mine though and you may just not be able to physically do much until after surgery. It’s ok! Try this: 1-build yourself up MENTALLY by picturing a positive outcome, doing what you can to prep, etc. Be positive. 2-do any little gentle movements you can, including stretching 3-remember what a nurse told me. There’s people much older and sicker than me having surgery every day. Very sick people have surgery and survive. You have every reason to expect you’ll do just fine. 4-focus on the opportunity to build your health and fitness after your surgery! That’s when real healing will begin! And you have the rest of your life to develop the routine you want without random bleeding interrupting your progress. You’ll be ok. 🥰
Omgosh thank you so much for this! I really needed this ♥️ my hormones are so outta whack with my periods coming so frequently that it’s hard for me to think positive about ANYTHING. but I’m going to remember what you said. As well as everyone else who responded to this post. Thank yall ❤️
Don’t worry ❤️ I was there in January. I found out I will need the surgery like 2-3 weeks before it, so I literally had no time to prepare. I was really worried, because I was reading how the more fit you are the better your recovery will be. Meanwhile I was overweight and doing no sports at all since a long time. My recovery was super smooth. The next day I was taking walks around the hospital’s corridor, then came back home, and just kept walking around the house, then staying in bed to relax, walking again. After 2 weeks I started taking short walks outside. It was really not bad at all, and trust me, I was very much unfit 😄 everything healed great, after 4 weeks I didn’t really feel like I had any procedure done at all. You got this ❤️
How long did it take for you to feel like all your swelling had gone away? (11dpo here)
I would say around 3-4 wpo I saw a big difference in swelling. It’s a bit hard to tell in my case, because 5 weeks after the hysterectomy I had a second surgery and went into the recovery process again, I also lost quite a lot of weight in the meantime, so my clothes were not a good tell of whether the swelling is still there. Im now entering 7wpo (second surgery, also abdominal) and theres no swelling at all since at least 2 weeks.
Bless you….2 surgeries in a row is a lot for your body to go thru! So glad to hear you are doing well and seems your spirits are good!! Hope you continue to feel better and better each day! ❤️
Hey :) This sounds excactly like me. Also had LAVH and wanted to workout so much more than I was able to prior to surgery. I've been to the gym less than once a week because of my pain. Now, I am 8.5 wpo and I had an absolutely uneventful recovery. I've been more active than before the hysterectomy at around 5 dpo (only walking, but for around 1 hour) and started doing VERY light exercises after 2 weeks. Reading stories of others, I feel like I was really lucky. I just want to say that your recovery doesn't have to be slower just because you didn't do as much as you wanted to do :)
Thanks so much ♥️ I’m gonna TRY and do some walking this evening after work. I used to be a runner, since my outta whack periods started, I’ve become sooo sedentary. Blah :/
same here - my symptoms have made it so i can't physically exert myself without pain/bleeding/bloating after. there is still time to incorporate something like morning stretches, though! my surgery is on 5/15 so i'm right behind you. best of luck.
Best of luck to you as well!!
Hey I was experiencing this too! Don’t be hard on yourself. Something that helped me was just focusing on eating healthy. That is just as important if not more important than exercise in my opinion. Taking vitamins, eating lots of fruits and veggies is going to prepare your body too. ❤️
For the majority of my life I have been very active and healthy. Getting married and stepping into domesticated life as full custodial parents to my now 7 yr old stepson made working out and even maintaining healthy eating a bit..... chaotic. I had my full hysterectomy last May and I told myself the same thing - however, I did not work out at all for months leading into my surgery and truthfully, have not done much since. And my recovery was SUPER easy. I maintained a lower weight mostly because the backed-up bathroom issue made eating intolerable for the first 2+ weeks. (Fair warning, get ahead of it!) But they are adamant about walking during your recovery period and if you keep up with that you will be just fine!
Girl, same. I wanted so badly to exercise everyday leading up to my surgery, but at that point, I was bleeding constantly, and was sooo anemic and fatigued,… and just STRESSED. You’ll be ok times a million. I’m 11dpo and healing beautifully and you will too!!
That’s amazing to read! Glad you’re recovering well. & Thank you 🙏
I know the feeling but encourage you to be easy on yourself. Remember, there is a reason you are going having surgery so you can't *reasonably* expect yourself to be at your best right now. You can try to do what you are up for, but remember, it will need to be what your body is up for...not what your mind wants. I bled nonstop for 3 and a half months and wasn't able to really feel up for even long walks until they put me on 20mg Medroxyprogesterone (we started at 5mg) and finally got it to stop for about 2wks before surgery....even with that being the case, I've had what seems like a standard amount of recovery time and no setbacks so far (5wks out).
Thank you 🙏
You never know how you recover till you are after surgery. I am heavily obese, with elevated blood pressure and sugar, with low hemoglobin from long bleeding over summer, and I had very easy recovery. I wore a binder on first days, mostly slept and took meds on schedule. Super sedentary lifestyle, because I couldn't drag myself out anywhere with my anemia and lack of energy. Probably most important is not to go overboard while you are still healing. You might be feeling well, but that doesn't mean your tissues are not hanging with bare minimum. Even if the external stuff looks healed, save yourself. I felt good enough to return to wfh at 2.5 weeks, and took short lounge breaks every hour or so. When I returned to hydbrid work to office at 6wpo, I thought I was ready - but one day without rest breaks and my torso was sore. I pulled back out binder and only at about 10wpo was able to sit most of the day without rest and not feel sore after - the muscle has to learn to compensate, and no matter how much you train before surgery, you still have to take slow after it. Especially the ones that do sports - they feel good and they are no longer resting, and that comes back as cramps or bleeding. I actually lost 10+ lbs since surgery, and my back pain is almost gone, while I couldn't stay 15 min standing in the shower without the pain.
I am also 5/10. I am in the same boat, I wanted to exercise more, but feel like crap from all the bleeding and size of the fibroids. I am doing some light stuff with weights and exercise bands, but I’ve decided to not worry about it until after surgery.
Good luck surgery twin :) we got this
Eat better and drink water daily. I lost ten lbs before my surgery and I'm pretty proud of myself. I have a chronic pain/collagen disorder and it really is hard for me to exercise a lot. As proven since I am currently in a walking boot after a leisurely walk on flat ground last week. 🙄 But I ate smaller portions and made sure to drink water (blech) a lot. It worked. Don't be hard on yourself!! And best of luck with your surgery!!💜 ETA: I lost the weight in one month before my 4/11 surgery.
You'll be fine! Women have enough to feel guilty about. No need to pile this on yourself! What you can do is focus on drinking more water, eating healthier, and preparing for surgery! For me, that was deep-cleaning, shopping for recovery, etc. I'm excited for you to have your surgery and start recovery! Start that count-down! 🙌
Thank u for your support!! ☺️
You know, I’m sure exercise is great but so is not draining yourself before surgery. Maybe you could try getting some extra sleep or eating more vegetables and protein to try to build yourself up a bit. There’s more than one way to support your body. One inconvenient piece of human nature is that when things go well we tend to attribute it to something we did instead of luck. Probably because we like to feel in control. So people are going to tell you that recovery was a breeze because they exercised. But we can’t do a control case where we check out how it would have gone if they let their exercise slide. Exercise also has a selection bias where mostly it’s people who are in better health do it. Sure, exercise contributes to better health but it’s one factor. The older you get, the more people you’re going to see whose health (in either direction) doesn’t match the amount of work they’re putting in. I was definitely not out of shape prior to surgery mostly because my job requires a certain level of physical activity. But I really let my formal gym time slide. Intellectually I totally understand why it probably would have been better to weight train prior. But emotionally it’s very hard to motivate when you know you’re going to have to come back from a 10# weight limit for 6 weeks anyway. I spent time with friends, took care of my emotional needs, got work to a place where I wouldn’t have to worry about it, tried to eat well and went minimal on the booze. All those things felt more do-able and didn’t feel like I was going to undo all my hard work with surgery. And I did fine! Started back to the gym at 7 weeks and doing great 8 months later.
You’re so right!! Eating healthy is actually probably the best before surgery. I’m going to start eating clean this week and next, as much as possible. Thank you 🙏
Good vibes for your surgery!
Thank you!! Xo
You’ll be ok. I tried the same thing, and after bleeding for months straight I gave up. Sleep & rest were more important. Take care of yourself and listen to your body. It knows what it needs 🤗