I need an idea on how long to expect the pain following my hysterectomy.
My story: I had a total hysterectomy/cystoscopy performed 5/8 due to endometriosis that decided to attach itself to various organs it didn’t belong on. It had been about three years of bleeding nonstop (this is not exaggerated-I should have taken up stock in pads) and horrible pain that no doctor believed. I saw five different obgyns before I found one who would listen to me and stay true to her word to give me a hysterectomy. Fast forward a few months and I got my surgery. They performed a cystoscopy in hospital with the hysterectomy and cleaned out my endo while inside. I was inpatient one night in the hospital to monitor pain/bleeding control. I can’t take NSAIDs so no ibuprofen for me- I am on blood thinners for a clotting disorder and history of several DVTS/pulmonary emboli.
I went home on Percocet because the norco was not controlling my pain. I used them sparingly after the first day or so home. I am not a big pain pill person. They upset my stomach & my dad was lost to substance abuse (started with script pain meds) so I avoid them like the plague. Started having signs of infection day 2 at home. Could not get past my triage nurse to get a note to my doctor. Day 5, 3rd try, after being told to take Tylenol and/or Benadryl, I ended up in my doctors office at her request. Immediately was directly readmitted to the hospital 5 days post op hysterectomy for a nasty, fast-moving infection-I said my pain was 7/10 initially but it only got worse from here. My initial liver labs were elevated so they wouldn’t allow anything with Tylenol. What does that leave? Something called roxicodone- oxy without Tylenol essentially-which gave me sleep paralysis and no pain control whatsoever. Was put on Vancomycin for the infection which then caused a systemic allergic reaction. Was given Hydroxizine to calm that down and Benadryl cream. It did not help much. Was discharged on day 10 post op, with clindamycin to take every 6 hours for 7 days for the infection. They sent home the roxicodone which I said did not help. Went home and began taking antibiotics. Had another allergic reaction, this time a full body, horrendously itchy and burning rash. Called my primary doctor and she took me off of it immediately. She sent me in Keflex. I’m allergic to amoxicillin so this should be a party as well. I have an appointment with the surgeon in three weeks. I have an appt with infectious disease this Friday. I have an appointment with GI for my liver problems (likely caused by surgery or the allergic reaction) Tuesday. I have no pain meds I can take, not even Tylenol or ibuprofen. They told me to take Benadryl and sent in a prescription for Gabapentin and told to use the Benadryl to “knock myself out”. Gabapentin isn’t working but I’m taking it anyways because I don’t know what else to do, hoping maybe it’ll build up some tiny amount of pain control in my system somehow.
I’m not on any weird registry for pain meds issues because I usually just flat out don’t take them, ever. Even when offered them. I don’t understand how this is okay.
So -here I am -2 weeks into this mess, rawdogging this hysterectomy and subsequent infection pain. I’ve been using ice packs and heat packs to do what I can, Zofran that my primary doc sent me in for extremely bad nausea (probably due to the pain), my third round of antibiotics, Benadryl for the leftover allergy rash, and I’m thinking about asking a wrestler to knock me out with a metal chair. I’m on day 13 with no pain relief in sight. I can’t sleep. I’m miserable. Please tell me the pain is going to diminish soon. Tell me what helped you with pain. 🙏

unitedstateshealthcare

So I had a nice turnover about 6 weeks, and pain level went down dramatically. I have still not gotten off my one half of oxy at bedtime. However, its the only painreliever I take at bedtime now. I use 1000 mg tylenol and a tordal at about 4 pm and the narc at bedtime. For reference I was 4000 mg tylenol/day, plus 2 tordal, (same as before surgery) and the 1/2 oxy was twice a day after the first few days.
Since I could not sleep without the little bit of oxy, and the tylenol and tordal didn't seem to do much at that point in time, I decided to give those up and see what happened. Its been fine.
For sure since that six week point I would say my pain is now less than pre-op.
I am quite mobile, and don't bother with the walking stick unless I am going for a walk and leaving home, around the house and in the yard I am good. Hip flexors are the most painful, more than my knee except at bedtime. When walking I now get an occasional twinge at the back of the knee, and I think that the swelling is going down a bit and I am hyperextending a little bit. I could not walk well before surgery except for water walking. Even with a brace, walking more than a block was very hard. I now walk 45+ minutes without problem, mostly I get muscle tired in both legs.
Flexion is good, but hard to estimate, I guess in two weeks when I see the surgeon one last time they will formally measure. I am going by my quad stretches and how bent my knee is and how far back I can reach.
Strength and stamina are really improving as well.
Evenings out are the hardest, as is sitting up for prolonged periods. Saturday night at the theatre was a bit hard, had to switch with my kid to an aisle seat to stick my leg out, LOL.
Every week can see improvements from the previous week.
Totally worth it, and I know I will continue to improve.

I apologize, the reason this is so long is because 1.) I suck at summarizing 2.) backstory of some sort is needed to understand this excuse of a man and/or human being. 3.) I’m not a good storyteller, but you are, Charlotte, and I know you can take this mess of info and turn it into a beautiful, long-time-coming, petty revenge story for your channel. Because what is more petty than an herbal, flowery Trojan horse no one knows about?
Cast: OP-me Swister- my older sister Mom - mine and my sister’s mom, grandmother to Trish/Patty BIL- exactly who it says, and a huge butthole. Patty/Trish - the same person, a four year old little girl, product of union between BIL and Swister.
Some (bit rambling to explain some stuff) backstory:
Last winter, to get out of the horrible, freezing, painfully striking sleet (it would not pass over our town, was just there, stuck in a vortex, for what seemed like eternity) of January in our hometown (we were always just a couple degrees away from it being snow, and quite a few times we got lots of hail, some as big as softballs, and could damage cars and punch through windshields, etc. I know this sounds like ‘The Long Winter’ by Laura Ingalls Wilder, but both me and my mom (I’m disabled and have to live with someone to help in every day life, I’m not a high school dropout living in mommy’s basement playing fortnight or assassin’s creed and have memorized cheat codes. The only video games I’ve ever played were duck hunt, which my grandpa actually got for himself bc he loved to hunt, so I only got to play it in turns with my five other cousins when we visited him); and N64’s Zelda:Ocarina of Time. I hope those titles illustrate for you the last time I played a video game. Oh! And the Oregon Trail, but I always died of some disease that doesn’t happen today or is curable with fluids, rest, and maybe some penicillin. But I digress.) but both me and my mom and my older sister (who was pregnant at the time) and BIL moved about 15 minutes down a little used two lane highway. And when my niece was born late 2019, we named her Patricia after my grandmother. (Patty or Trish for short).
My BIL claims he can smell everything ten times better than any other human, ‘probably because I’m an Alpha Male, and I need heightened senses to protect my pack, my family.’ Okay, I won’t deny he is sensitive to scent, but if his food doesn’t come out smelling right (almost always made special order bc of his ‘allergies’ (that’s what he tells the waitress; in reality, he just doesn’t want stuff he doesn’t like on his plate, and is too fucking lazy to just take the single pickle chip off the McDonald’s cheeseburger. If half of America can do it, why not him? ‘I might smell and taste it with my superhuman olfactory senses.’ He said with a very sincere, serious tone and face, like I was in special education and couldn’t understand it was 1,2,3, not 1,3,2. He is an arrogant misogynistic asshole. My sister could have done sooooooo much better. Idk y she chose him to marry (for a general idea of all what he looks like, speaks like, and sounds like (minus the slight lisp) is the video of the ‘dating coach’ who took the video in his car, opening it with ‘you do not have to accept her rejection, say things like I’m the best, why wouldn’t you want me, you should see my basement with ropes and pulleys and hooks, and do you know what a did with her that night? Well, it’s not appropriate to talk about on this platform”… yeah, that guy, except for the lisp, could be my BIL IDENTICAL twin. Anyway, now you know BIL is a creepy, asshole, bastard with no sense of boundaries or personal space, who think women are lesser than him. Moving on.
I also suffer from anxiety, insomnia, and a few other things that require me to take meds that can slow down your breathing, so if I can take care of my pain, anxiety, and insomnia without having to take a narcotic or benzo, and it works, I choose that path first. Some of these ways are ice packs, heating pads, a special herbal tea, aromatherapy, yoga, sleeping surrounded by pillows like I were in a nest, making sure to do a little bit of some exercise and always taking my daily walks (I don’t want the pain to get so bad from being sedentary I will require a wheelchair before I absolutely have to) and don’t always want to be popping clonapen or oxy or morphine all day and falling asleep, especially around my niece. I don’t want her to ever believe pills fix problems.
So to escape the horrible winter in our new home environment, my mom decided to use her saved-up reward points and book us all a ten day trip to Disney Aulani Hawaii, specifically Disney bc of my niece. My mom and I had been there before, in 2020, right when resorts opened back up at much less than capacity because of COVID rules, and we had gone for a week, so I knew they had an awesome spa I could spend my saved vacation money on.
The minute we step into our two bedroom, two full bath (each with both a shower and separate tubs!), an ok sized but capable kitchen, and a nice, big, comfy furniture filled common room/living room. All of my stuff I put in the room I’d be sharing with my mom, then took my niece to go and get her first Shirley Temple (they are a virgin cocktail I have loved as a kid, still do, that are super easy to make the ghetto way - diet 7up (diet taste better in the cocktail, idk why, it just the way the Gods have decreed it so), grenadine, and maraschino cherries (as many as you want, but kids usually get two and adults one. I think this is unfair) and tada! You have a Shirley Temple.
So I’m walking back to the room, both of us holding our reusable drink cups for our stay (if you bring the cup with you, you get any non alcoholic drink for free during your stay. Coolcool.) And I open the door and hear my mom and sister begging BIL to just stop it, let it go, just enjoy the ten days here. BIL is in MY room, going through MY things, yelling at mom and sis to leave him alone, he has to find it, it reeks, etc. I’m like, GTFO of my stuff, this is extremely violating, sister, are you not concerned and pissed he is pawing through my bra and panties right now, ‘looking for hidden pockets’?
Finally, he grabs this 15 or 20 mL vial I have, a pain relieving roll on I use for my migraines and tension headaches, about $55 after tax, not including S&H. I had left my almost empty one at home, and this was a brand new vial, safety wrapping still on. He blames me, said I was trying to ruin ‘his hard earned vacation’ (he has no job, only looks after my niece enough to feed her (most of the time) and my sister had to find a high -enough paying job so she could work from home so she could do every job like she were a single mother. The only chore he does, and only like 65% of the time (they love to eat out and/or order in) is cooking, and as much as I hate him, sometimes his dishes are good. Not phenomenal, like he practically requires everyone to praise it as, even if he just added sage basil and oregano to a frozen pizza.
So I ask, “how the hell can you smell that? There is the outer plastic seal and the inner lid seal?” And he goes off on being an Alpha Males and olfactory nonsense. Then he takes the vial and runs out of the room with it. He takes it to a housekeeping services cart several doors down and spikes I into her trash can, which by the thunk sound the vial made told me not only was her trash nearly or almost nearly empty, and that he had broken and wasted a valuable medical tool because he is batshit crazy and doesn’t see me as a person outside of how I interact with his everyday life, like I’m a NPC who doesn’t exist or say anything until a real person player comes into my field of awareness. He pawed through every item I owned, including underwear and opening my tampons one to sniff (I especially bought no scented for this trip, and he went and ruined a whole box of them (I’m not putting a previously opened and practically stuck up my BIL’s nose tampons! It’s not just unsanitary, it’s gross on so many levels! I also save up what little money I have leftover from my SSDI monthly checks, so over several months, I had saved up to buy that, bc it worked where others just smelled good but didn’t take the tension headache or migraine away. He has never had to pay for things with his own money, so has no concept of it, of saving money, of worth.
I stewed and stewed and I knew I had to be as petty as possible and still not get caught. I was still thinking these thoughts on our third to last day while I got an unusual massage at the Aulani spa. First is usual deep tissue massage, but then they rub your back and skin with tingly oils and take what looks like the contents of a bag of tea (very heady and fragrant in that small room) and rub it all over you, wrap you up for 15 min, scrape it off you, also taking excess body oil and dead skin cells with it as it goes. And then, smelling all those wonderful scents, I had a genius thought. As she scraped the herbs and stuff off my skin into a bowl, I asked for a to go bag for the herbs, and pretended I wanted to put them in a foot bath I was giving myself tonight in my room. Shockingly, they agreed, and gave me all the scrapings, herbs, essential &body oils, and dead skin cells, in a linen drawstring bag they said I could just toss the whole bag into the hot water.
Now, when I travel, I always pack duct tape in my checked baggage. To make sure shampoo, conditioner, lotion, stuff like that, wet and messy? So it will stay in the bottle with the top duct taped both on shut and to the top of the bottle. Nobody was in the room; they were taking a hike my physical disabilities made very challenging (like an 7-8/10 for me, and a 3.4.5/10 for them) over broken terrain and off trail a bit to climb to a waterfall, so I had said ‘I’m going to the spa. Peace!’ So nobody was back from the hike yet, but I had no idea when they would be, so I acted fast. I grabbed my duct tape and went into sister and BIL’s room and squished and squiggled my way as far under the bed as I could, an duct taped the linen bag of herbs and scrapings right under where he would lay his head to rest at night (according to his ‘Alpha Wolf’ status, he was always on the side of the bed between the door and the rest of his collectables in his room.
We had that day, two more days, and three nights left. BIL did not sleep a wink during that entire time - he had housekeeping change the bedding (including duvets and their covers) several times in that small frame of time, and demanded of my mom to rent him (on my moms dime, not this 40 y o mans money, the mooching leach, but her carefully budgeted money and visa card points hoarded over years.) his own, just perfectly sanitized room, obviously something had been left here by a former guest that was rotting. Finally, FINALLY my mom and sister had HAD IT. He whined and moaned more than my four yo niece. They finally ripped him a new one, saying he had been acting like an entitled baby man with delusions he is more important than he is, that we as women should fawn over him, and that he had already ruined all of ours, but especially my vacation by tossing my personal property and screaming at me for wearing perfume when I didn't even pack any. At one point I even piped up, ‘I didn’t put up with my father treating me like this, what makes you think I’m gonna take it from you?’ (AN/OP: my father abused me and mom and sister our whole lives. Lots of verbal, emotional, psychological abuse. Sister had it pretty literally; mom had it worst. But when my dad had 100% custody of me at beginning of divorce, my sister went away to college and moved out within the following two weeks, and I was his sole remaining target. For three years straight. Other, even more horrible disgusting things he did to me I’ve only just started to talk about, and don’t want my whole life blasted online while I deal.
So i got my silent, sweet-smelling revenge. For those 3 days and 3 nights, he didn't sleep a wink, which meant he couldn't keep his 'good guy' image up, and everyone saw how he treats me, and I'm no longer a liaexaggerating. I hope some act of God, or him driving around while completely wasted, as he does every single freaking day. He a waste of space, a waste of oxygen.
Again, the reason this is so long is because 1.) I suck at summarizing 2.) backstory of some sort was needed 3.) I’m not a good storyteller, but you are, Charlotte, and I know you can take this mess of info and turn it into a beautiful, long-time-coming, petty revenge story for your channel. Because what is more petty than an herbal, flowery Trojan horse type thing?
PS: he never did repay me for the OVER $300 worth of MY STUFF he upped and just tossed, or first broke then tossed, because it either offended his nose or him, personally, even though he begrudgingly promised to do so, and my sister promised he would. I only had like a 10% belief he would, but he has no money of his own, how was he gonna do that? Yes, I admit, I keep a record of anything I hear about him doing something negative, so one day if my sister even starts to consider divorce, I can whip out journal/notebook and show her his patterns, and he has always been this way, and he won’t ever change.

Feel free to ask me any questions and I’ll do my best to keep this concise but I can be known to ramble and want to make sure I cover some things I haven’t seen talked about before.
Scheduling: Got new insurance in January. Discovered the insurance covers female sterilization at 100% so I went on the doctor list here, did some research, and picked out my doctor. Called mid January to book, had my consult end of February, surgery was May 15th (last Wednesday).
Consult: I was worried because I’ve heard so much about people getting rejected but the entire time my doctor assured me this was my decision to make and she just wanted to make sure I’d thought about every consequence. I was honest with her that while I was positive this is what I wanted I originally had planned to wait until I was in my 30s to make sure but due to the current political climate I felt I didn’t have the luxury of waiting. I was concerned if I didn’t get this done pre election I’d never be able to or I’d have to travel to get it done. She approved me and we had planned to do a Pap smear while I was there but their computer system crashed so we decided to combine it with the surgery and just do it while I was under.
Pre procedure: Pre-op stuff was super normal. Got a call with instructions around a week out. I can go into more details if anyone has questions but the big thing for me was I was told to not smoke 24 hrs prior and I’ve been trying to quit vaping so I decided to throw out my vape 24 hrs prior to the procedure. The lead up to the surgery was terrible and I regret quitting so close to it because it meant I could drink alcohol or caffeine to try and distract myself since those were also banned so close. But post surgery with me being high on oxy the first few days I completely made it through the worst part of quitting without any problems. I’m only a week clean but highly recommend using surgery to quit addictions it’s a great time to utilize your body being distracted by other stuff.
Surgery: everyone at the hospital was great and nobody tried to change my mind. My surgeon did say I could change my mind up until I was put under and that nobody would be mad. I assured her I was totally hyped and ready to go and that was that. I’ve never had a surgery before so I wasn’t sure how I’d react to anesthesia but I woke up before theyd even finished rolling me into post op. I heard the nurse rolling me in talking about her dog and just was instantly awake and asking her about her pupper. I think I scared her slightly because I was just immediately coherent and mostly just really annoyed because my throat hurt and my mouth was dry. She gave me water and asked if I wanted something for nausea. I didn’t feel any nausea but said yes just in case and I’m glad I did because shortly after she gave it to me I got super nauseous. It kicked in pretty quick and I didn’t throw up so a win. When I first woke up my pain was around a 3 but was quickly ramping up so they gave me a 5mg oxycodone. It took a bit for it to kick in but once it did it completely wiped out my pain. I was able to get discharged within an hour of waking up because I immediately was eating and drinking and was able to get up and walk on my own and go pee which checked all their boxes.
Recovery: I was given 8 oxycodone 5mg and then told to pick up Tylenol, ibuprofen, and stool softener. Alternate the Tylenol and ibuprofen so I’m taking something every 3 hrs and then oxy as needed. I mostly used the oxy to sleep as every muscle in my body felt like I’d run a marathon starting day 2. My back was extremely sore and my skin was tender EVERYWHERE. Also thanks to doing the Pap smear while I was under my vag was sore as fuck too. I must’ve bit my lip while I was under because my lip was all swollen and the absolute worse pain I was feeling was how sore my throat was from the breathing tube. My throat is still sore, back still hurts, muscles are still tender as fuck, but I’m fully off oxy and overall feel fine. I haven’t had a good bowel movement yet so hoping for that soon but I’ll be going back to work tomorrow and overall this surgery recovery hasn’t been any worse than being sick from the flu or something.
Also make sure you have plenty of comfy loose dresses. You will want the comfiest of lounge wear during this recovery. I have my post op this Friday but I’m so happy to finally have this done. It’s a giant weight off my shoulder.

I had my L5-S1 arthroscopic discectomy and nerve decompression, pre op main symptoms were searing burning pain down my outer leg to foot and ankle, and deep shocking pain when any weight was put on the foot. I was completely NWB on my right leg and walking with a walker and did PT for 4 weeks, got an epidural, had 2 weeks of relief, and then was 10/10 pain regular visits to the ER and had prescribed dilaudid while I waited and still was wailing in pain at all times while I was awake. I live in rural Alaska so everything had to line up for the specialist to come do the surgery. My nerve roots were so compressed my surgery took about 3 hours instead of the estimated 1.5-2hrs.
I’m one week post op and was feeling amazing until I squatted down to scoop a litter box yesterday and now my back is angry again. I had to take an oxy last night to get rest. I feel like an idiot.
Anyway, my leg feels great and walking feels good, but my lower and mid back are hurting so bad. I see my doc in 5 days for my post op visit.
Anyway.. of course because this is how my life is.. we have huge summer plans the 2nd week of June with the kids out in California that I absolutely cannot bail on. I’m going to talk to my surgeon and I’m NOT GOING ON RIDES but I am wondering if I should start day on scooter, move on to walking, or walk until I’m in pain and then switch to scooter? I’ll be brining my own electric scooter since I’ve heard they sell out early in the morning at universal and Disneyland.
Before this injury I was super fit and strong but I was basically bedridden for 8 weeks total so I’m working on building up strength again
Just wondering if there’s any chance in hell of this not being a complete nightmare. I’ve squirrel stashed some pain meds and am going to talk to my surgeon.

I had the most amazing experience in a medical setting, and I wanted to share it with a group that will be excited for me.
I went in yesterday around noon to check in. My boyfriend came with me, and they gave him a number to track where I was at on their giant tv in the waiting room. After an hour of waiting in the waiting room, the called me back to pre op. Got changed and climbed under some blankets that had warm air blowing under them. I answered some questions for the nurse, talked to the some other folks who were going to be assisting in my surgery.
I usually have terrible anxiety when it comes to needles. I mentioned to by surgeon that IVs are really scary for me and have had painful experiences both times I’ve had them. I was offered a shot to numb the back of my hand for the IV and it was so easy! The other nurse who I spoke with earlier popped her head in after and said “oh wow! That was quick!” And then looked at me “I’m so sorry. I should have been there to hold your hand!” Which I thought was super sweet. Then they grabbed my boyfriend from the waiting room while I signed all my forms, got my meds, went pee, and he got to meet my surgeon.
Finally, it was time for me to be wheeled back to surgery and him to go back to the waiting room. Once we started passing by other operating room, I started to feel the nerves. The operation room was huge with a big monitor with my all my relevant health info and bright lights. I scooted on to the table while they hooked up my arm and leg blood pressure cuffs, put a heart rate monitor on my earlobe, and gave me some oxygen before I got knocked out.
When I woke up in recovery, they gave me back my glasses and once I was more alert, the grabbed my partner. I was so happy to see him and cried a little bit. They gave me some oxy and gave me my meds to go home with and went over the discharge/home care info with my partner. They even sent me home with a couple of pictures! (My surgeon/OBGYN said it’s never too early to plan out the Christmas cards). The post op nurse had my boyfriend pull his car up while I got dressed and then I got wheeled out to his car. Of course the loading zone was packed so he had to park in the furthest end. Getting wheeled over there was the most painful part, going over those lines in the sidewalk felt like going over super tall speed bumps. But as we were driving home, the pain meds kicked in and I felt fine.
My boyfriend dropped me off and then got us some food and we relaxed on the couch. I could definitely feel my pain meds wear off, and kept timers to rotate and remember my rotation of meds. Other than that, my pain has been very well managed. Slept pretty well, even with the round the clock medication wake ups.
I definitely feel more tender today and have some good brushing around my incision below my bellybutton, but compared to my cramps I’m used to, this is a walk in the park! I notice that walking around and moving feels better on my incisions, and getting out of bed is probably the most “painful” part, but not too bad.
I am still in awe that I got this done finally! No more pregnancy tests or plan B if I forgot my birth control. I’ve opted to continue my birth control pills to manage my horrible never ending period, but now I don’t have to worry so much if I forget a pill. I truly thought this day would never come. I requested 3 weeks off dispute the recovery time typically being 2 since my job is so physical and mentally draining (ironically enough, I run a child are program) and was approved! I’m going to enjoy the next three weeks laying in bed with my dogs and not doing a whole lot else.
ETA: already reached out to the mods about adding my OBGYN who preformed my procedure. When we were going over the procedure, she asked me if I heard about this subreddit and the list of doctors (she had heard about it on TikTok) and I told her I actually tried to find a doctor on there that took kiaser but couldn’t find one that was taking patients and when I was trying to find an OBGYN off of the list. She mentioned that everyone in her practice would be more than willing to sign off on the procedure as long as they had thought it out, knew that it was permanent, and wanted it. She also joked about how she didn’t want to be on a list because she’s super busy, but whoops! She is truly the best doctor I’ve ever worked with, so I can’t not recommend her. Even my boyfriend thought she was amazing.

I am 4-5 days post op at time of posting (no drains, dissolvable stitches, glued shut). I have had a really rough recovery so far, and honestly if I’d known ahead of time exactly what this was going to be like, I think I would’ve backed out (I purposefully did not do a ton of research because I knew I would be a coward if I had thorough details). So I am thankful I didn’t know, because I don’t regret it and I’m so happy it’s said and done.
I am not trying to dissuade anyone from going through with it, I just want anyone who’s only heard “it was easy” to know there’s potential for it to not be easy (I could just have had a particularly bad time, this may not be representative of other people’s experiences).
I do wonder if people post their postop experience 5-10 days later and by then they’ve kinda “forgotten” how bad the first few days were (like with childbirth kinda). I wrote it all down the second day and the whole thing is just “horrible pain, I am taking all my meds and still it hurts, I can’t move, I was sobbing and shaking during my first shower, I am horribly bloated and uncomfortable, I can’t get comfortable at all, I wish I hadn’t done this.”
The first day after surgery I was weeping uncontrollably in pain, I had a very weak voice and couldn’t call out to ask for help from a nurse. One gave me meds that helped but they wore off and no one checked on me for so long I couldn’t get more help. I was alone in pain for a while and it was horrible. I also tasted nothing but plastic for almost two days I assume from a breathing tube or something.
My nips felt like I had a screwdriver poking in and being twisted, my core and arms were horribly sore, my stomach was bloated beyond belief, I could barely move. I had to sleep (and still am) basically sitting up, because I couldn’t lift myself up well from a full lie-down position without hurting my incisions. I am so frustrated that I am stuck in that same position all the time, I desperately want to lay on my side or my stomach and I cried last night in the discomfort that I couldn’t do anything but be half propped in bed or a chair 24/7.
I feel a lot better now, I’m able to get comfortable, the pregnancy pillow was a 10/10 purchase and helped by supporting my arms while I slept. I have one Oxy left and I am scared of running out, but it’s time to fly the nest. I still am shuffling around, nauseous a lot, very uncomfortable in my chest, I feel like I can’t take a full breath. My chest feels tight from the sutures and the bandages and the bra. But there’s much less pain which I am so happy for.
I am not trying to just complain and be “nasty”, I am very thankful to my surgeon and to the people helping me, I just felt everyone on my medical team said it was easy recovery and that totally felt untrue. I have no infection, it’s all “going to plan” so I don’t think it’s from an abnormal body issue.
I guess my point is beware, be prepared to handle the pain, but more so the discomfort which I think was worse. It wasn’t the incisions being horrible, it’s the bloat and the nausea, the discomfort of being stuck in the same position, the swelling, that’s the worst of it.

Let me preface that I’ve stopped taking Oxy since day 3 post-Op. I’m no longer experiencing pain when standing. That being said, is it okay to operate an automobile?

I crossed the post-op bridge yesterday, and figured I’d share my experience.
I was self-pay so my pre-op process was pretty short, just a month, which included 2 appointments with the surgeon (including consult), one with a dietician, and pre-op labs. I had my surgery date when I walked out of the consultation. My surgeon required a 3-day pre-op liquid diet, which was surprisingly easy except for maybe the last half day.
I did the robotic sleeve gastrectomy and my surgeon offered it as an outpatient surgery. I was a little wary of that, but he said he had done a ton of them with no issues and it saved a significant amount of money vs staying overnight in a hospital, so I went with the outpatient option.
They did the surgery and their only requirement to let me go home was to walk to the bathroom and pee, which I did within a couple of hours of waking up. I had one wave of nausea in that couple hour period that was dealt with with IV drugs and I was able to get and keep some ice chips and room temp water down. Due to family history with narcotics I tried to avoid them for pain but it was too much so I did have some fentanyl and oxy to help. I slept most of the rest of the day when I got home, but did make sure to get up and walk around as much as possible otherwise.
I was also equipped with a couple catheters in the upper incision site connected to a pain pump containing local anesthetic, which was to help with the incision site pain for all incisions for 72 hours. Unfortunately, they turned the flow on the pump to max and it was empty in less than 24 hours before I even realized it had adjustable flow. I was wondering why I wasn’t feeling any pain after I got home and that answered it lol. I had to remove the catheters myself and that was an…interesting… experience that was making my squeamish wife who unfortunately witnessed it shudder all day. The good news is, the pain hasn’t been all that bad anyway, I haven’t needed even Tylenol in over 24 hours. I think the real test will be tomorrow when undoubtedly there will be no more residual anesthetic in my system.
Things that haven’t been as I expected: -All the gurgling in my stomach. It’s just non-stop (well, drinking water helps some) -the (what I assume is) gas pain in my right shoulder. They told me that it would more than likely be in my left shoulder due to the liver blocking the gas on the right side, but no, I definitely feel it on my right. -a slightly painful pulling sensation inside the right side of my abdomen. This one has me worried enough I may call my surgeon tomorrow. Maybe I’m feeling some stitches where they stitched something to keep my sleeve from twisting? But then the pain still has me worried like maybe it’s tearing at something? I don’t know.
All in all I’d say that while the surgery hasn’t been easy per se, it has been a lot easier than I expected. Here’s hoping the rest of my journey will be the same!

I’m one day post op (grade 3 ACL tear repaired with quad autograft) and wouldn’t have made it through the night without an ice water circulation machine. I dislike taking narcotics but was in so much pain when the nerve block wore off that I took one oxy pill to sleep around 10pm. Fewer than two hours later I was in tremendous pain and almost crying. NB I’ve got a pretty high tolerance for pain (left the hospital two days after my c-section and went straight to - restaurant) and am terrified of narcotics due to their addictive nature.
I reluctantly took a second pill four hours after the first one (2am) yet woke up after barely sleeping an hour bc of the pain.
My friend had dropped off a Polar Products cooler (I’m not pitching the brand at all, just sharing info about what she gave me) earlier that day of my surgery and told me they it was a life saver for her. So, I had frozen eight bottles of water and filled the cooler with four of them (lids still on, basically just like a cylindrical ice pack) plus additional water. That was around 3:30am. As soon as the knee was numb I slept like a baby until 7am. Just wanted to share this tip with y’all! Hopefully it will help someone out there.

Following up on on my latest post TLDR: had failed a hysterectomy in February and second surgery was successful.
34 y/o, high BMI, stage IV endo, suspected adeno, (not confirmed in biopsy)dense adhesions and scarring. Had my LAVH, robotic assisted on May 7th. I found a super compassionate doctor who reassured me and gave me hope after I lost it when my first surgery had to be aborted. Surgery went better than expected, with no complications. It took about 6 hours and took forever for me to wake up. I went home the day of the procedure, only took oxy twice and been managing pain with over the counter meds and gabapentin before bed. Hot water bottles and heating pads. Bloating is annoying, I am lonely and bored but I am happy to be done with it. I felt immediate relief, pain peaked on day 2 - gas pain is no joke. I wanted to thank this community for the advice and support provided, it has been crucial for my journey and I am grateful 💗
My hysterectomy was the culmination of more than 13 years of seeking relief from my discomforts that only worsened over time.
It started with anemia on the verge of blood transfusion that had no explanation other than hypermenorrhea. Each menstrual cycle became more tortuous with the passage of time, heavy bleeding, clots, leg cramps, lumbar pain and chronic fatigue.
I will have seen more than a dozen gynecologists and various doctors.
Blood studies, ultrasounds, resonances, endometrial biopsies, colonoscopy, contraceptives, hormonal IUD that ruined my mental health, I tried absolutely everything. I even went to the middle of the Amazon rainforest to seek relief in the medicine used by the Shipibo people.
I came out of many consultations crying, medical gaslighting and gordophobia were 98% of my experience.
They sent me to the psychiatrist because my pain seemed to have no other explanation than to be psychological.
Since I knew about endometriosis I KNEW that surely it was what happened to me, but finding a doctor who would take me seriously and believe me cost so much. It cost time, money, energy, tears, mental health, putting the body.
First they confirmed fibroids, then suspicion of adenomyosis (waiting confirmation of the biopsy), in February I was operated on for 3 hours without being able to remove my uterus due to the intensity of the adhesions and the advanced endometriosis (phase 4 that was confirmed in said failed surgery)
I had my second operation with a specialist and an interdisciplinary team of gynecologists, urologists and general surgeons.
They took out my uterus, cervix and fallopian tubes. The uterus was attached to the abdominal wall, bladder, intestines and basically everything around it. They drained cysts in the ovaries that I keep. I was cleaned of endometriosis of the sacrous ligaments and mainly of the bladder that was very compromised. They took adhesions from me and I'm sure I forget more.
I feel like I was born again and although this disease is chronic and has no cure, I already hope to see improvements and have a better quality of life, make up for lost time ❤️‍🩹 I can’t wait to see if I can ride a bike again.
Now slowly recovering and feeling very emotional and tired, otherwise happy and excited for my new healing era.
Will include surgery notes, biopsy report and pictures for the curious ones, Hope everyone is having a lovely pre surgery or recovery journey, it’s not easy, but we got this 💪 we are stronger and more resilient than we give ourselves credit for, we fight relentlessly and we show up for each other, our bodies are amazing and can do incredibly things. Sending lots of love your way, internet strangers ✨ 💗
Surgery notes:
Surgery
Findings: Laparoscopy: Smooth diaphragmatic peritoneal surfaces and liver without gross lesion. No injury under site of injury at umbilicus and no umbilical adhesions. Intraabdominal adhesions in the right lower quadrant at the site of prior appendectomy, with bowel and omentum adherent to the right abdominal sidewall. Once this omentum and bowel was taken down, there was a divot with a small amount of fat seen in the RUQ. Dr. Kim evaluated this did not require intervention. Similarly, no clear indirect R inguinal hernia seen without bowel and omentum involved, so Dr. Kim similarly did not recommend intervention. Omentum, bladder adherent to the lower uterine segment anteriorly. Extensive pelvic adhesions and evidence of endometriosis. Thickening of the bladder peritoneum and tacked up to lower uterine segment. Fallopian tubes and ovaries adhered to pelvic side wall, with left hematosalpinx noted in the setting of tortuous left tube. R ovary with small ~1cm functional-appearing cyst. L ovary with hemorrhagic ~2-3cm cyst. Rectum free, no posterior adhesions but extensive serosal endometriosis between the uterosacral ligament and on R posterior serosa overlying R uterosacral. Due to the ICG and use of firefly technology, the course of the ureters were well visualized. Procedure Details: After discussion of risks, benefits and alternatives to the procedure, written consent was obtained. The patient was brought to the operating room. The patient was positioned in the dorsal lithotomy position in yellowfin stirrups with arms padded and tucked at her sides. An exam under anesthesia was performed with findings as noted above. Urology completed a cystoscopy (no endometriosis) and placed ureteral stents with ureteral indocyanine green dye placement. See their operative note for further details. The cervix was dilated with tonsil forceps. Paracervical block was placed. The Rumi uterine manipulator with medium Koh ring was secured to the cervix. A Foley catheter was placed to drain the bladder intraoperatively. A 0.8 cm incision was made at the umbilicus, kocher used to elevate the fascia, and a Veress needle was inserted. Intraperitoneal placement was confirmed. The abdomen was insufflated until an adequate dome was achieved. A 8 mm robotic port was placed and the robotic scope was inserted. Under direct visualization, 3 additional ports were placed, two 8 mm robotic ports to the right of the umbilicus and one 8 mm robotic port to the left of the umbilicus. The patient was placed on steep Trendelenburg and the bowels were swept into the upper abdomen. The Da Vinci robot was then docked in position. The filmy adhesions in the RUQ were taken down with combination of cautery and sharp technique. The omentum was taken down off of the uterine fundus with bipolar and monopolar cautery. The left fallopian tube was followed out to the fimbria. The salpingectomy was then performed, starting at the distal fimbriated end of the tube and sequentially coagulating and transecting the mesosalpinx adjacent to the fallopian tube and well away from the ovary. The fallopian tube was left attached at the cornua. The procedure was repeated on the contralateral side. Good hemostasis was noted. The bladder was noted to be densely scarred to the LUS/cervical junction. The junction was incised with monopolar cautery and the bladder was meticulous dissected off of the underlying uterus/cervix to the level of the KOH ring as marked cephlad traction was placed on the Rumi device. Due to the anterior compartment scarring, round ligaments were not clearly identified. The thickened tissue in this area was grasped, cauterized with bipolar and divided with monopolar. Both ureters were seen using firefly technology. The left utero-ovarian ligament was ligated with bipolar cautery and divided with monopolar. The same procedure was performed on the right side. Marked cephlad traction was applied to the KOH ring. The uterine vessels on either side were skeletonized and ligated with bipolar cautery. The remainder of the cardinal and parametrial attachments were ligated with bipolar and divided with monopolar. The vagina was opened over the Colpo device circumferentially. The fibrotic uterosacral ligaments with overlying endometriosis was incised below the implants and fibrosis, taking care to avoid the ureters. The endometriotic implants over the right uterosacral ligaments were excised. The uterus and fallopian tubes were then removed through the vagina. Given the extensive adhesions and fibrosis, this portion of the surgery took an additional 60 minutes longer than expected. After that, the vaginal occluder was placed into the vagina to maintain the pneumoperitoneum. Dr. Kim then came to assess the inguinal hernia. He deemed no intervention was necessary for the R inguinal hernia or the RUQ divot. The functional ovarian cyst in the R ovary was drained. The 2 cm hemorrhagic ovarian cyst in the L ovary was felt to represent hemorrhagic corpus luteum. Two <1cm nodules on the R uterosacral were excised using cautery, taking care to avoid the right ureter. The vaginal cuff was closed using 0 V-lock in a running fashion in 2 layers . The area was irrigated, and hemostasis was evident. All instruments were then removed under direct visualization. The skin was closed with 4-0 Biosyn . Sterile dressings and Tegaderm were applied to all port sites. The ureteral stents were removed and inspected by urology and noted to be intact. A foley catheter was placed for routine voiding trial in PACU. Sponge and needle counts were correct times x2. The patient tolerated the procedure well and went to the recovery room in stable condition. There were no complications to the case.
Pathology:
Final Diagnosis A) Uterus, cervix, bilateral fallopian tubes, hysterectomy and salpingectomy: - Myometrium with leiomyoma. - Serosal/subserosal endometriosis. - Early secretory endometrium, negative for neoplasm. - Bilateral fallopian tubes and cervix negative for neoplasm. B) Peritoneum, right utero-sacral, biopsy: - Fibrotic squamous epithelium-lined tissue with scattered lymphocytic inflammation. - Negative for neoplasm and no definite endometriosis. Clinical Information Pre-op diagnosis: Adenomyosis [N80.03] Dysmenorrhea [N94.6] Menorrhagia with regular cycle [N92.0] Pelvic peritoneal adhesions, female [N73.6]
Gross Description A. Uterus, with or without tubes and ovaries, other than neoplastic/prolapse. Received fresh labeled; 1)Uterus,cervix,bilateral tubes" is a uterus with attached bilateral fallopian tubes.. The uterus alone is 105 g, 9.5 cm cervix to fundus by 6.0 cm cornu to cornu by 5.0 cm anterior to posterior. The cervix is 3.3 cm long by 3.0 cm diameter with a 0.6 cm diameter os. The ectocervix has punctate areas of hemorrhage. The serosa has scant fibrous adhesions anteriorly and extensive cautery and disruption posteriorly. The endometrium is ragged, hemorrhagic, 0.1-0.4 cm thick. The myometrium is up to 2.6 cm thick and is mildly trabeculated with cysts up to 0.1 cm greatest dimension filled with hemorrhagic material, suggestive of adenomyosis. There is a 0.2 cm diameter intramural well-circumscribed nodule with a whorled cut surface. No areas of softening are identified. The right fallopian tube is slightly serpentine, congested, 5.3 cm long by 0.5-0.6 cm diameter and has attached hemorrhagic fimbria. The left tube is 5.0 cm long by 0.5-0.6 cm diameter, purple-tan with attached hemorrhagic fimbria. Representative sections are submitted: A1-anterior cervix A2-posterior cervix A3-anterior endomyometrium A4-A5-posterior endomyometrium with possible adenomyosis (A4 with leiomyoma) A6-right fallopian tube and entire fimbria A7-left fallopian tube tube, entire fimbria. (MUA) B. Soft tissue, OTHER. Received in formalin labeled, ; 2)right utero-sacral biopsy" are 2 tan red rubbery tissue fragments, 0.7 and 1.0 cm, that are entirely submitted in B1. (AA) Case Report Value Surgical Pathology Report Case: SU24-15696 Authorizing Provider: Chiang, Seine, MD Collected: 05/07/2024 03:42 PM Ordering Location: UWMC Main Operating Room Received: 05/07/2024 05:21 PM Pathologist: Garcia, Rochelle Lorraine, MD Specimens: A) - Uterus, with or without tubes and ovaries, other than neoplastic/prolapse, 1)Uterus,cervix,bilateral tubes B) - Soft tissue, OTHER, 2)right utero-sacral biopsy
Surgery pics

I’ve been keeping a journal about each day and how things are going. From an objective standpoint, today has been the most successful by far. I was able to use the bathroom (the constipation advice was no joke truly), I finally had an appetite and ate somewhat normally, I was able to get up and move around a bit, I was able to go almost the full day without needing to take any oxy, and I even got to sit outside for a bit to get some fresh air. It was also my parent’s anniversary, so it was a bit celebratory too.
But even with all these positives, today felt like the worst day. I feel gross because I haven’t been able to shower since the op yet. I feel useless on my own. I feel like a burden to my family. I feel like im a disappointment to myself. I’m really trying to be positive about this recovery, but all the things that went well today that I listed above just made me feel worse. Because I shouldn’t have to look at daily life activities and see them as this groundbreaking success. I never knew how demoralizing it would be to think “I finally managed to take a shit, yay!” And then realize how pathetic that sounds. It was fine during the day too, but now that its night and I’m just stuck alone with my thoughts, it’s really hitting. And quite honestly, I’m just scared.
I’ve managed to stay pretty positive overall, but again, it’s just the nights. Each night has gotten worse. I’ve been crying for at least the past 2 hours and I couldn’t even give you an exact reason. There’s just so many thoughts swimming around and I’m so overwhelmed with them and really just done with it. And I’m scared. I keep telling myself that I’m doing good and I’ll be normal again soon, but that one seed of doubt in the back of my mind is just eating me alive right now.
How have you guys been dealing with the negativity? A part of me thinks I should just let it happen and let the emotions out, but the other part tells me I should try to distract myself or ignore it. I just don’t know how. Any positive thoughts or advice would really go a long way right now <3

hello! sharing my story because it was *super* encouraging reading other positive stories during my recovery. firstly, I am 21F. i had my tonsils removed because they were very large after I had covid in the summer of '23. sometimes they caused me pain and sometimes they didn't. they were always uncomfortable, just got used to it. i was def questioning whether or not I needed the surgery because my situation wasn't exactly dire. now that I'm 25 days post op, I'm relieved I got the surgery done sooner rather than later.
day 1 (surgery day) - I had my surgery in the morning, so I'm counting it as day 1. this was the worst day for me. surgery was a breeze. , got adenoids out too. was given liquid hydrocodone at the surgery center. was prescribed oxy and tylenol for the pain. i absolutely could not handle the oxy. i felt too nauseous to eat anything. threw up twice, slept, woke up for a drinking alarm at midnight and pretty much instantly threw up two more times. this def freaked me out, a lot. i had a moment of regret during these hours. my stomach is typically pretty strong. before this surgery the last time I had thrown up was in 2021. so I think that says something. i was worried that throwing up would cause for hemoraging- my biggest fear throughout the healing process.
i stopped taking oxy after day 1. took tylenol only and drank ice water CONSTANTLY. i had an alarm *every* hour throughout the night to remind myself to drink water. the most physical activity I did each day (day 3-6) was a ten minute walk outside.
days 2-6 - i started trying to talk on day 3 because i heard the sooner the better. it hurt to talk a lot. but i did it whenever i could. i was eating barely anything because most things were uncomfortable and a hassle. cold things were preferred here. smoothies with peanut butter, banana & plain yogurt were good for a bit, til bananas started to suddenly burn my throat terribly. could not handle applesauce at all. a lot of popsicles. scrambled eggs were uncomfortable but worth it because they actually made me somewhat full. ramen the same.
day 7 was when things started to look up. i remember i kept trying to make certain things to eat because i was so hungry, but i would try and it would fail over and over again. tried making tofu... i was able to eat it, but it made me burp a lot so i had to stop. tried making ramen, again, kept bothering my throat. oatmeal, which was good before, was now awful. i was losing hope on a meal, until i had the sudden glimmer of hope in a pasta side (those cheap half premade sodium filled things). That pasta side was the best thing. Ever. i was somehow able to eat ALL OF IT. and boy did i. i continued to opt for pasta sides and pasta dishes for the rest of recovery.
day 8-10 was taking 30 min walks each day. talking more but it was def still uncomfortable/sometimes painful. hurt to laugh, tried to not laugh as much as i could. definitely did laugh at times. extremely concerned about hemmoraging. i never looked at my mouth to see the scabs, hurt too much to open my mouth and i was also afraid i would make matters worse by doing so. i never felt any scabs come off. they must've dissolved. i continued to drink insane amounts of ice water and barely sleep throughout the nights because i was so worried. thankfully my dad was taking care of me throughout recovery so i didn't really have to worry about being tired throughout the day, because, well, there was nothing for me to do except rest.
day 10- post op appointment. dr looked at my scabs and told me they look normal and my uvula is still swollen, which i had no idea about. seriously felt no discomfort there.
day 12- went out into the world for a concert. Yep. i had already bought my ticket months ago and decided it was worth going to because of how easy of a concert experience it was. it was an outdoor venue, sat on the lawn with two of my friends, we saw the opening act (the only one we wanted to see, i know, strange) and then left. we were probably there for an hour and a half total. i did accidentally shout once, but to my surprise it didn't cause any pain. i was certainly more tired than i expected to be from the whole experience. like, really tired.
day 15- went out into the world again. got my hair done. felt SUPER dehydrated after not constantly drinking water for two hours.
day 16- i would say i was 75% normal now. i went to a friends house to prepare for the next FOUR DAY music festival. slept through the night with no alarms for the first time since surgery, it was amazing.
day 17- music festival all day (we camped too). i danced and jumped around for probably 6 hours straight. i had alcohol- just one twisted tea, which was all i needed. was able to talk completely normally with no pain. was able to sing as well. was able to shout, laugh, ate a beautiful peanut butter sandwich (first time having bread since surgery).
day 18- i was super tired throughout the day because of lack of sleep from previous night. danced a bit too hard and started to suddenly feel nauseous/overheated. was super worried i was going to have a sudden hemmorage, felt really silly for not exactly taking it easy. i did not have any alcohol. considered going home, but i found ice and chomped it down and slept early instead.
day 21- went back to work. i work 13 hour days where I'm on my feet constantly, so I'm glad i took time before going back.
yes this was a super long recovery story, but these are the posts that allowed me to sleep while i was on day 7-12. so i'm hoping this will help someone else out there in need for a good story!
random notes:
i had no problem brushing my teeth (i read that others had issues)
the weird smell from my scabs was gone by day 7. never really bothered me too much either.
yes it was painful when i would wake up from my alarm to drink water, but after a couple gulps the pain would go away. i think because of how cold the water was, it almost had a numbing affect.
i stopped taking tylenol completely by day 10.
tongue was numb until day 12 or 14.
was able to speak full sentences beginning day 5 or 6.
for me, the pain was honestly never that bad. i don't think anything ever came close to the discomfort/miserableness i felt on day 1 after throwing up so much.
pancakes were AMAZING. had pancakes on day 6 and they probably changed my life because of how good and easy to eat they were. dipping the pancakes in honey was perfect. i ate pancakes every single day from day 6-12. Not kidding.
i lost 6 pounds from recovery lol.... prob all back now tbh
right after the surgery I stopped snoring, stopped sleeping w my mouth open. also, i frequently have sleep paralysis episodes. before surgery it would be especially scary because i always felt like i couldn't breathe during these episodes. but now, since surgery, i had sleep paralysis recently and i could breathe just fine throughout it. a lot less scary when you can breathe.
pasta was also super easy to eat, surprisingly.
welp that's all i got. ketchup still burns my throat lol. let me know if you have any questions at all.

Left foot surgery. I had the Kinder Procedure (recision of Accessory Navicular Bone) on May 7, 2024. I took notes about my pain so I could communicate my experience effectively to my surgeon and anesthesiologist during recovery.
I will be 2 weeks non-weight bearing, then have a follow-up appointment with the surgeon to remove stitches and switch me from a splint to a boot (to begin weight bearing).
2 weeks non-weight bearing, then follow-up appointment with surgeon to remove stitches and switch from splint to boot (to begin weight bearing)
5/7/24
7:30am surgery takes place this day. They gave me one Promethazine in pre-op and then the anesthesiologist performed a block from two nerve points (each side of the knee) to numb my lower leg and foot completely. I was completely asleep from the Promethazine by the time the block was being administered. Then general anesthesia was then administered for the surgery.
11:30 in post op. Was given two Percocet and due to pain felt through the block. Surgeon was surprised I could feel pain. Pain was at an 8 right in my arch. Went home shortly after.
Was at the hospital for 4 hours total. Surgery takes about 45 mins.
*4:30pm took 1st oxy. Pain is at an 8
*11:30 pm took oxy
5/8/24
*4:30am took oxy
Woke up with feeling in my toes and I could move my toes. Foot and leg under outside of knee feels asleep
*11:30am took oxy. Started taking toradol.
2:00 Notable shooting pains from navicular for a quick second then tingling sensation
*5:45 Concerned I was taking the oxy too fast, I tried to spread out interval. Took 4:30p dose at 5:45. It’s very painful. Icing it. Pain scale 7
6:00 Shooting pains intensified. Feel it in the arch as well as in the inner thigh. Mostly feel it in the arch. Feels like pressure and aching pain with periodic shooting pains. Toes still mostly numb from block. Feel tingling in my toes.
6:15 increasingly very painful. 7-8 on the scale. Hoping for oxy taken at 5:45 to kick in soon. Hard to get pain back under control.
6:55 finally have some pain relief. Pain level down to 4
7:20 pain going back up to 5-6. Pulsating and shooting pains. Aching pain with tingles.
*7:35 icing it. Pain is 8. Feels like the navicular bone is pressed against the cast. Very tender. Taking another oxy. Restarting 6 hour cycle. Next oxy dose to be at 1:45am
7:40 shooting pain that made my body jolt. The jolts are a 9-10 and only last a second.
7:55 tmj flair up. Need to use bite guard. Pain is at 8.
8:15 feeling pain relief. Pain is 7-8.
8:35 pain down to 6
8:50 pain is under control but fluctuating from 6-7
9:20 5-6 pain scale
10:00 pain is down to 3-4
5/9/24
*1:45am took oxy
*7:45am took last oxy
*1:45pm started tramadol in place of oxy. Have been taking Tylenol and toradol in 6 hour intervals. Moving Tylenol/toradol intervals to not be at the same time as tramadol (e.g. taking med every 3 hours - Tylenol/toradol one 3 hour interval, then Tramadol the next 3 hour interval)
Pain managed well the rest of the day and thru 5/10. Pain level 4.
5/11/24
Woke up with (new) heel pain from splint. Its bearable. Pain from arch is well managed and at a 4.
5/12/24
4:15am Tried to skip tramadol dose in the middle of the night but woke up in pain 1.5 hours after the time I was supposed to take it (continuing to take toradol and Tylenol on schedule). Took 1 tramadol at this time.
10am Woke up with a pain level of 3-4. Took a shower today for the first time since surgery. It went well, but afterwards it caused my pain level go up to 5 once I propped it up and iced it. Continuing to keep it elevated and iced as much as possible.
1:45 in pain of 6 so am taking tramadol. Most of the numbness in my toes and knee is gone. Can still feel numbness when I squeeze my big toe. Can move toes pretty well now. Can lift big toe up. Couldn’t do that yesterday.
3:00 tmj pain when eating
3:25 pain in arch is tingling. Pain level 6-7. Hasn’t been back under co trip since my shower.
4:15 pain back down to 5.

I've never really done this before so let me just start from the beginning, I'm 16 and currently going through my second ACL injury and I have been diagnosed with MDD, GAD, bipolar, and ADHD and I know that doesn't really mean anything to the whole ACL stuff but It could've made my experience seem more overwhelming I guess you could say but anywho, 8/31/2021 I was running around in P.E and we were playing this like freeze tag game and I tripped and fell chasing after a really fast lady and landed on the front of my left knee and I heard 3 pops in my knee as I hit the floor it sounded like cracking your knuckle, but I didn't feel any pain at first and everybody was asking me if I was fine and I was like "yeah i'm fine just let me get up real quick" and as I tried to straighten my knee to readjusted to get up and my knee just wouldn't move from the bending position and I told my P.E teacher and he called the school nurse and ofc the wheelchair got stolen so they had to wheel me to the nurses office on an office chair which sucked because I couldn't lift my leg and my foot kept dragging on the floor for like 10 minutes until I finally got to sit on the couch she had and I found it really annoying that my dad wouldn't pick up his phone for 30 minutes while I was spam calling him at work but when he read the message that my nurse was gonna call the ambulance then he called back and she had the nerve to say she thought I was faking it but would have to call the ambulance because I couldn't move my leg and it was so embarrassing having to be pushed out to my dad's car in a office chair while the whole middle-school watched but what sucked more was the wait at children's, We got done with the sign in at 2:35 and didn't get seen till almost 4 and when I got to the back it was packed with crying toddlers which made the whole experience so much more sufferable and we had to wait an hour for x-rays then after they took 5 pictures they took us back to the room to wait another hour and when the doctor came in he told me about how I probably wouldn't need surgery but I would have to set up an appointment with orthopedic's and my appointed surgeon would tell me if I needed surgery or not and I was scared because I didn't want to use crutches and I thought that people would judge the knee brace so I didn't really go to school much except to tell friends and staff that I was probably gonna need surgery and that I would find out the next day and on September 1st 2021 hearing my surgeon say that my ACL would need a repair so that it wouldn't rip more and that it'll only take one screw was like heaven because it meant that the recovery time was less so I agreed and my dad said yes to the surgery and it was sent for 9/8/2021 and it went great but they didn't warn me about how hard it was gonna be to take a shit so like when I finally had to go for the first time after surgery it was rough asf because I had to rest my leg on three books and had to take off my brace just to get comfortable enough and It just sucked for the first 3 weeks post op, shaking in my leg, throbbing pain, couldn't sleep comfortable and I had to help myself do everything because my dad was at work and my brother's went to go live with friends because helping their younger brother in a hotel after surgery wasn't worth it, so that sucked being in a hotel constantly with nobody to talk to but the people on mw 2019 in SnD lobbies but that was Life for me in that moment and after 4 weeks I was able to hobble again and at about 5 and a half weeks I could walk again so I immediately dropped the crutches and started walking around, since my dad wasn't taking me to PT or any orthopedic appointments I thought It was normal and that I would just have to wait a few more weeks till I could run and jump again and my 14 year old brain was okay with that and it wasn't till about june of 2022 almost a year after my surgery I was talking with my friend and when he heard me talk about how I didn't go through any PT for my leg his eyes got wide and he sat me down and we talked for 3 hours about how important PT was and I disagreed with him because my knee felt great and I could run and jump and do anything every other kid could do and I never trained my knee and just left it alone all the way up to December 8th 2023 and I was running to my bus at school and while I was running I swiped to the left and when my foot hit the ground I felt my left knee rotate and a loud pop and I went from running to limping and at first I was thinking that everything was fine until I continued walking and noticed that the pain and limping didn't go away so at that point I was freaking out because I didn't want my knee to be injured because my buddy and I had plans for the 3 week winter break I was gonna get and after about 15 minutes all I could hear in my head was a voice go from "please don't tell me I tore my ACL" to "I tore my ACL" and all of the sudden I was sobbing on this really nice lady's shoulder and at this point I was at a point in time where I was just lost, I called my buddy crying about how he needed to pick me up and take me to the hospital because I messed my knee up and I knew forsure that I tore my ACL and he didn't believe me at first and parked down the street at the Advanced auto to roll a wood so that my neighbors wouldn't see and get mad and I ofc limped up the road instead of having him drive out front because I could still walk and after I got in his car he told me "If you had really tore your ACL you wouldn't be walking" and I told him he was wrong and that I had forsure tore my ACL and we agrued for about 2 hours while waiting on my dad to get off work to go to hospital and I knew something happened to my ACL but my buddy was forsure that "I had just dislocated my knee and it would need popped back in place" and I didn't even care who was right I was so sad about everything I had just lost because of the injury and my buddy we'll just call him De for now he tried to reassure that if I did injury my ACL and needed surgery, he would be my slave and that just made me depressed because I didn't even want this shit to happen and now I got to deal with it a second time and it just sucked the whole 2 and a half hours at children's just for x-rays and MRI, ace bandages and crutches and this time they told me that I had fully tore my ACL and that they would have to do another surgery but this time use my hamstring as a graft and that they would have to take the screw out from my first surgery and I was okay with that because I want to straighten and bend my knee fully again so we set the date for the first surgery on 2/14/2024 and I was okay with that but the wait felt so long and the fact that everytime I tried to do anything that involves with activity I couldn't do because everytime I tried I felt my knee rotate and that started the downfall of my mental health again and I decided to make the very poor decision to slash my left arm again because of it and since I had hit this point my mind just completely stopped thinking about taking my meds so I completely stopped and soonly after was just going to school without my psychic meds or antidepressants and decided to go into the school counselor's office because I was ready to just die I didn't care how I just didn't want to live and I told him that if I was going to talk to him that he had to promise that if I walked into school the next day and told him I didn't want to talk he wouldn't make me and he promised so I told him about how I hate talking to children hospital counselor's because it seems like they want to immediately have you come into the ward so I told him that if he tried to make me talk to them I would get pissed and he said " don't worry I'll give you numbers to private counselor's not children's" and I was okay with that but I found it weird that he gave my roommate the phone numbers and had her call then hand me the phone so when I picked up I asked "who's this?" and the lady responded with "Hi I'm a counselor at Big lots behavioral health, My name's Patty" and I lost my shit and cussed her out then hung up pissed and waited till the next day to cuss out the counselor if he tried to make me talk to him and sure enough 2/01/2024 I walked into school and at my first period desk was the counselor and he tried to hit me with the "after what you told me yesterday we gotta talk downstairs" and I just turned around and Walked started walking to the stairs and all i hear behind me is "Logan don't leave" "logan you can't leave school" and I turned around and cussed him out like who the fuck is gonna walk an hour home on a torn ACL and I told him I wasn't gonna talk I didn't want to and he had the principle come up and he walked to my desk and said "Logan you got to go downstairs to the office and talk with Mr. Morale or me and the deputy with have to take you," and I told him he wasn't gonna do shit to me because I already said I wasn't gonna talk to him so I walked out again and this time got followed by 4 staff members and I yelled at them to stop following me and they didn't and when I walked into the west wing of the school Mr. Morale tried to reach for my shoulder and I told him if he touched me I would lay his ass flat on the ground and continued walking to the restroom in the west wing and while I was washing my hands the principle Mr.P tried to lean up on the door frame and look stupid while telling me I got to go to the office and I went like a dumbass and they locked me in the front half of the office and I proceeded to have a mental breakdown screaming, crying, and cussing at the main principle because I didn't do anything and just wanted to continue the rest of the day and he told me "Just calm down and you can return to class" and I screamed back saying "I can't calm down if I gotta stare at the mf who's pissing me off" and he gave me 10 minutes I won't lie to calm down but the second I asked to go back to class because I was calm he said "I can't do that" which made me blow up and start cussing and screaming again and they tried to call my roommate in to pick me up and I told her that I wasn't leaving because I walked into school with a smile on my face I'll go home with a smile on my face and 5 minutes after I said that an ambulance showed up so I knew they were gonna try to put me in the ward so I told the firefighters that if they got close one of them is gonna catch a right hook and they didn't move and tried to talk to me but I wasn't listening and 10 minutes after they showed up 6 fucking sheriff's walked in like come on are yall so bored you need 6 officers for one bipolar 16 year old and I had two officers on each arm pulling them back trying to get cuffs on and about 4 minutes into resisting all I hear is a quick "stop resisting" then my legs got kicked off the floor and all of the sudden i was on my stomach on the floor and I was still resisting till an officer pressed his knee into my injured knee and I started screaming and crying in pain, begging even for the officers to stop and he did after the cuffs were on and two of them started to drag me and say "are you really not gonna walk" and I stood up started walking and passive-aggressively said "would you want to walk after getting your injured knee crushed?" and never got a response until they informed me about getting pink slipped from school and getting transported to Big Lots behavioral and come to find over after getting another x-ray done before surgery turns out the officer that crushed my knee also ruptured my meniscus so when I had to go in for surgery on 2/14/2024 I had to get the screw removed then the ACL reconstruction with meniscus repair and after the surgeries it was the worst, they prescribed me 10 oxy 5's for after surgery but I didn't take them because I was scared of being addicted so I decided to smoke pot instead and it didn't help at all, the first day after the nerve blocked wore off my leg muscles were moving and my knee had a shaking, throbbing, kind of like a pounding pain and no matter what I did nothing helped which caused me to fall into another depression because it felt like the whole world around me stopped but I got to watch everybody do want they want and walk around doing whatever and I felt so useless and worthless having to have someone hand me my crutches to get up or ask them to get me something to drink or ask them to make me something to eat and it sucked because I didn't get that luxury the first time so getting it the second was unfamiliar and made me feel like shit because I was used to having no help and doing shit by myself and now having that help made me feel like I was a bother or an annoyance, I am still very appreciative for my friends and my surgeon, but the fear of "what will happen if this happens again?" Still haunts me

Hi friendos. I read a lot of recovery stories here and have noticed that so many of you are off opiates after the first few days and just onto over-the-counter meds.
I feel like a bit of a recovery failure; I’m 4 weeks post-op on Monday (subtotal hysterectomy, abdominal keyhole — I kept my cervix) and I am still not there yet. Don’t get me wrong, it’s absolutely improved from my initial nightmare recovery (I was hospitalised for 8 days) and I’m no longer taking oxy every 4 hours, but it’s still at least one every 12-18 hours. I am trying so hard to go as long as I can, but it seems it isn’t linear at all.
Today I’ve turned a huge pain corner backwards; my pain feels deep and feels like my poor cervix is screaming where it was severed from my uterus. The pain is deep and about half an inch underneath my lowest incision, but slightly off to the left (sort of where my ovary would be.) It just feels… wrong for it to hurt like this so far into recovery. I’m taking buprenorphine, oxy and paracetamol and I’m at a 7/10 in pain. I am also so emotionally scattered and feel like crying constantly; not from pain, I just feel overwhelmed.
I’m just fucking frustrated (and I’m scared.) I’m scared that I got this surgery to improve things for my endometriosis and I’m scared that I’ve made things worse. I had an adhesion removed near my left ovary (my bowel and my abdomen were “glued”, and I keep trying to reassure myself that maybe this is the pain, but that doesn’t reassure me, cos that would just make me worry that’s it’s grown back!)
My boss keeps asking when I’m coming back to work and I’m due back in 2 weeks. I can’t even comprehend working yet, I can barely make dinner.
Can anyone relate? Am I just being too hasty with expectations? Is there a sudden “I feel great” surprise on week 5 or something, or is this cause to go back to the doctor? I have an appointment on Friday (6 days away) and I am hoping to discuss what to do about my pain management. 🤞🏼

Hello, I'm a 20f who just got a septoplasty, bony spur removal, turbinate reduction, polyp/cyst removal, and then pretty much every reduction possible in all my sinuses, all the total -ectomys or however you spell it. Thought I'd make kind of a big surgery recovery post that I'd keep adding to as seeing some other similar posts set up like this have really helped me before and after the procedure! Also I kind of just want to complain to a space with people who fully understand my suffering / I also really need something to do lol.
Day 0 pre-surgery -
Blergh. It was daunting to say the least going in to the surgery clinic knowing the not-fun-at-all recovery process that laid ahead of me. Was so anxious I didn't sleep and then had a full mental breakdown by the time I was in all the full hospital gear laying down on that uncomfortable patient bed. If you suffer from health anxiety much like me I'd recommend asking for some anti-anxiety meds before going in because I was a nervous wreck. After the IV was in and I was calming down thanks to the cocktail of drugs they gave me, both the anesthesiologist and my ENT surgeon came in to do a final run through of everything. The anesthesia kicked in and I was soon knocked out.
Day 0 post-surgery -
Woke up what felt like a minute later with burning pain everywhere in my sinuses and throat. Not fun! Begged for pain meds and took my first oxy pill. I couldn't keep my eyes open because the bright light in the hospital room really hurt my head. Once I was at a more comfortable pain level, I was sent home. I kept my head back in that passenger seat with my eyes still slammed shut super sensitive to light. My family tried to show me some of those medical pictures the surgeon took of the nastiness he removed but my post-anesthesia nausea was NOT having it lol. I pretty much laid in my bed the rest of the day, towels over every single part of my bedroom windows where light was coming through. I just sat there, sleeping in 20-minute increments because I was sitting upright in the dark and waiting for my next dosage of painkillers. Nothing painful after leaving the hospital, just uncomfortable and boring.
24 hours after, Day 1 -
Woke up (didn't sleep much.... by "woke up" I mean sat up in bed around 6 am) feeling not terrible. Much like yesterday, nothing really painful, just uncomfortable. Like many others have said, mouth breathing makes the throat hurt and my lips are so dry. It's hard to eat/drink because not only do I have a reduced appetite, sipping or chewing anything is kind of suffocating when you can't breathe through your nose at all. I've been able to smell and taste just fine though, so that's a win. This was also a slow, boring day. In the increments of time where I wasn't actively super sleepy on painkillers, I was just kind of laying around watching videos on my phone with low brightness thanks to my eyes still being kind of sensitive to light. My day slowly passed me by as I used all my antibiotic alarms as little checkpoints as well as changing the gauze under my nose every two hours or so. As I used to joke pre-op during my countless failed sinusitis antibiotic courses, life is just what happens in between amoxicillin doses.
Day 2 -
Didn't sleep at ALL during the night. Woke up feeling pressure in my nose because scabs/clots/something is starting to form in there. It's SO annoying I just want to blow it out, but per the doctor's instructions, I can't do anything about it. While the active bleeding out of my nose has stopped, today has just experiencing different unfortunate symptoms. I've been coughing up gross bloody mucus stuff. Every time I swallow my ears pop because of how clogged my nose is. Kind of gross, but my nose has been popping and making liquid-y bubbling noises all day... In terms of pain, I haven't felt any really *knock on wood*, just the obvious discomfort of nastiness backed all the way up in whatever they packed my nose with post-op. The only thing that can get me to sleep is honestly the painkillers just to get me to ignore the annoying sensation of what feels like water balloons up my nostrils, so I'm only going to take them at night if at all anymore. Kinda wishing there was a time travel option to skip past not only this boredom and discomfort, but the debridement post-op appointment which I hear can be painful😓. My sensitivity to light has pretty much gone away now, so I've been at least passing time quicker with movies and such. Man I wish I had an edible right now.
Day 3 -
Started off pretty promising. Woke up after considerably better sleep I've gotten the past few days. Drainage is still annoying, nastiness bubbling in my nose still, and there's still a feeling of gunk in the back of my throat, but overall painless. Towards the end of the day I got an AWFUL headache. Took some Tylenol and I'm currently hoping it goes away, if it continues getting any worse I will definitely be a little concerned as I believe my dr. told me to look out for horrible headaches. Other than that, I'm still just waiting around for the post op appointment. I suspect by the time Tuesday rolls around I'm gonna be so over the stuff in my nose that I won't even care about the pain of removing it anymore lol.
Day 4 -
Woke up with a little blood on my pillow. Gross. Apparently leaked through my gauze when I was sleeping because it fell off halfway through the night. In other news, I'm not bleeding as bad and I'm able to remove the bandage from under my nose for most of the day. I've noticed my cough is picking up too, half of the time it's normal congestion/phlegm, and then bloody variations. Feeling MUCH better compared to day one and two though, and again, eagerly awaiting stent/packing removal. Honestly feeling quite normal.
Day 5 -
Very much so up and moving today, pretty much back to feeling exactly how I was before surgery, save the stuff draining in my throat and coming through the little holes of the dried bloody nastiness stuck inside my stents 🥲. I left the house today for the first time since surgery, so that was great, too. Not much to report today thankfully! I'm feeling much much much better. I've got plans to load up on painkillers before my slightly nerve-wracking post-op appointment tomorrow, but honestly, thank GOD it's here. I can not only see the dismal state that is the inside of my nose, I can absolutely feel it all, too. My nose squeaks and bubbles with every movement and I'm extremely over it, as well as curious to see what's gonna be sucked out ...
Day 6 (post op)-
took a painkiller before going in for the appointment today as advised by my dr, and honestly, thank GOD for that because it helped with my nerves too keeping me pretty calm. my dr removed surtures from my nose (ouch) and it felt like getting a piercing, but it was over pretty quickly. the stent removal was weird, just uncomfortable. MAN those stents were huge no wonder my nose was so puffy! I also got blood and mucous vacuumed out too which didn’t hurt at all, very comparable feeling to when they scope you with that long tube going up your brain. kinda like everyone says, more uncomfortable than painful, but then again i was on a painkiller lol. definitely take pain meds before going whether it’s tylenol or something similar. alright when i tell you i RAN out of that office like the lepers after jesus had healed them….. this is the clearest my nose has felt in years. there’s SO MUCH AIR it hurts it’s wonderful!!!! cried tears of joy a little bit, partially because the worst is now behind me lmao. anyways I’m feeling SO GLAD i did this. still can’t smell anything but I can still taste, apparently it should come back soon once swelling goes down.

My story is kind of long so I don’t want to banter and bore over ALL the specifics but I’m a mom to an 11yo and in my 30s with endo, adeno, adhesions and retroverting along with ovarian cysts but they left my ovary inside… and it took over a decade of me doing everything they wanted me to do like pelvic PT, pain management (steroids and opiates), pudendal nerve blocks and hormone shots to mimic menopause etc. Just alot. So finally this year I got referred to a new surgeon at my OB office after having a consult because before when I got my initial laparoscopy they told me I was too young and would be condescending (ie: what if you find a man one day and he wants kids etc) and to wait til I was in my 30s to decide I nstead. Took a while to get everything with insurance approved but it finally happened and I got a total hysterectomy March 22. Since I was already tolerant to opiates because I take oxy every day for the pelvic issues and also my back and pancreas problems they had agreed to up my dose and give me dilaudid pills to take home after too. And Xanax. Well I never saw clots or stitches come out like I was told i should see after 4 weeks. In fact I haven’t had any discharge at all. I only bled for one day while I was still in the hospital (was only there for 2 days) I saw my surgeon twice for follow ups and to address my concerns and she basically said it’s normal and take my meds and wait and that my external incisions were healing good (they were just bruising a lot and painful and I also told her using the restroom to pee and poop and even pass gas was painful and felt like electrical shocks up my back. She said it was the nerves and I just needed to heal more) so I go to my 6 week post op appointment, where I’m getting my first post pelvic exam and was hoping to get a letter for work to go back early because I’m not getting paid for my fmla time off. I took meds before so I could be as relaxed as I could but she is audibly concerned and tells her assistant to bring her silver nitrate. Then tells me not to clench because it will hurt me more but that something is wrong and I’m not healed inside like I should be and also have granulation tissue and that the stitches for the vaginal fold are still there (no wonder why I never saw them come out lol) and that she hoped I wasn’t planning on having sex etc because I have weeks of healing to go (and that most people and their partners are excited for the 6 week appointment because usually it’s the clearance to be sexually active again) and the SN she put inside while the speculum was still in burnt and stung so bad for hours which her assistant told me was normal and I have to use that and now do estrogen gel too with an applicator for a few more weeks and go back again to check it out. My vaginal walls and hole has not stopped burning since then and using the applicator has been very very hard. I haven’t had regular periods for almost a decade and I’ve been celibate since 2018 so even this little applicator hurts and feels like I’m trying to force it through elevator doors that are wired to stay shut. I don’t use dildo sex toys. I’ve only tried dilators from pelvic PT but had to take a break with them. I feel broken. Then pulling it out feels like a dry tampon so I just cry… and then I went #2 and had to push and in the toilet it looked like I also pushed all the cream out too???!!. And I’m stuck with the burning sensation for so long. Has anyone else experienced this? I’m sorry if it was a long post. I am very glad my pelvic pain has been better; in a way, since surgery as in I haven’t had one cramp or anything like I was before… now it’s just different and I know I’m still healing it just seems so slow.
Oh and by the way I was able to keep my organs. So I have my uterus and cervix etc in a jar if anyone is interested in seeing that too. I asked for it back and got it. Looking at it face to face gave me a sense of power and it felt indescribable but I know many people will think that’s gross and crazy lol.

Hey all,
I’ve been amazed at the diversity of everyone’s experience with this injury and have benefitted a lot from reading your stories, so I thought I’d give a one month update.
28F ACLr with Achilles allograph. Skiing injury.
Pain: - First week was fine. Fair bit of pain on the first day, but managed with oxy. Switched to Tylenol and Asprin from the second night. - After week one, I haven’t consistently needed pain killers. Kept up with aspirin to help with the swelling. - Sleeping is the hardest. You have nothing to distract you from the discomfort/strangeness of your leg. - Still icing and elevating like a mad thing.
Walking: - Post surgery, I was weight bearing as tolerated and found I could put a substantial portion of my weight on the leg almost straight away. On crutches and in the very sleek full-leg brace locked at 0. - Got off crutches week 1.5. Had to demonstrate >90 flexion, 0 extension, and control over and strength in my quad (for example, squats without shaking). - Out of the locked brace week 2 (first post op visit). Freedom! - Cleared by PT to ditch the flexible brace week 3. Had to demonstrate full ROM and weighted control (weighted squats, heel lifts, on the bike). Today was the first day I did a big long walk without the brace and it was terrifying but amazing. So excited. I keep giggling with glee every time I walk up stairs. It’s freaking strangers out. - I have this strange resistance at the front of my leg when I walk. Not (always) pain per se, more like tension. Apparently there is a point at which this clears (with a relieving pop). Waiting for that glorious day.
PT/exercise: - ROM exercises from day 3. Heel slides are the worst! But very helpful. - First PT session day 10 (despite my asking my surgeon if I could go earlier). Had >90 flex and 0 ext thanks to those horrible heel slides. Started with more ROM exercises and getting full quad activation. - Gradually moved on to weight bearing exercises. Jumped (not literally) on the bike week 3. Magical. - PT 2x per week for the foreseeable future (or until the insurance runs out). Will move back to one when I focus on strength building and then come back to 2x when I move to dynamic movement (running, jumping, etc.). - Gym every other day but I’m taking it slowly. Enjoying being on the bike. I sometimes get the sense that I’m overdoing it and move to stretches/ROM exercises. My motto is: don’t be stupid.
Scar management/complications: - The surgeon did a brilliant job: the scars are fine and minimal. - Using Mederma daily. - At around week 3 I got some angry red rashes around the incisions. Very itchy. I was worried they were infected, but it’s an allergic reaction to the surgical glue. This is common, so worth keeping an eye out for. Over the counter antihistamines have helped immensely. - Asking my PT about scar tissue management today thanks to you all.
Lessons learned: - I wish I’d done prehab. I didn’t know to do it and was following the clinic doctor’s advice, but it would help this post op process so much if my leg hadn’t atrophied so much. - I wanted to start PT earlier. I’ve been fine, but I think that would have been good. - You don’t need all the gadgets. They help and can make your life more comfortable, but they can be expensive. For this injury, I bought an exercise strap and two ice packs. I had an exercise mat and access to a gym. A husband is also very useful. - Everyone’s timeframes and experience will be different. I was so, so lucky to do no further damage to my leg. All of you with meniscus tears: holy moly.
Goals: - Ultimately, I want to be back skiing in February next year. My PT says I’m on track. - For now, taking this lad for a trail walk would be delightful.