u/Cattywampus-1234

Yesterday was the day, and I wanted to share my initial experience here for those wondering what it might be like (with everyone being different, of course). Had my surgery for total laparoscopic hysterectomy. Ironically my uterus decided that it wanted the last laugh and I started a period two days before, despite not having had one for many, many years due to being on depo provera continuously. It was a good reminder of exactly why I wanted to move forward with surgery.

When I woke up, I couldn't speak full sentences and just kept saying "pain" and "hot" (had been running a slight fever before the procedure and must've still been running one when I came to). Not to scare anyone, but they maxed out the morphine and my pain level was still very high even after that and remained high until late in the evening. The pain felt like a very bad period cramp, the kind that has you curled up in a ball and vomiting. Except I couldn't do anything to make myself more comfortable or take more pain meds.

I was also very dizzy upon waking from the anesthesia. The nurse kept trying to rush me out as quickly as possible, which was super annoying because I was very nauseous and dizzy and not ready to stand up to try to get to the restroom. Could barely squeeze out a few drops and she insisted that was good enough and that I needed to go home. I was only in recovery for about two hours.

This morning the pain more of a mild ache and much more manageable. I am starting to notice the gas bubble pains more though, especially if I am standing up. I don't feel them when laying down. I am also coughing a bit of phlegm up this morning after the intubation, but surprisingly the coughing isn't causing much pain like I expected.

Aside from the initial pain, the worst part has been the constant feeling of needing to pee, but not being able to go more than a few drops or a small trickle at a time. I'm not sure if my bladder is really full or if it's just the result of organs shifting and putting extra pressure on my bladder. I really, really hope this part resolves soon.

Update: urinary retention continued all morning and was very uncomfortable so I called and was seen. Drained 750 mL of urine from me. I now have a catheter. Listen to your body after surgery!

Laparoscopic total hysterectomy is scheduled for just over a week from now. I'm an avid veggie gardener and it's still a few weeks too early to put plants out in an unheated greenhouse where I live. First week of June is usually the ideal timeframe. Is it realistic to think that I might be able to transplant seedlings into containers at about 2 weeks post-op? It would require kneeling, and I could pre-dig holes now.

Or should I transplant them early, risk a freeze killing everything, and also have to deal with keeping them watered out there? Keeping them watered inside in their seedling containers would probably be less strenuous.

I'll be asking my surgeon at my pre-op appointment this week, but also wanted to hear your experiences on whether or not some light gardening was do-able within a few weeks of your procedure.