* Update (November 2020): I started a number of Hysterectomy Recovery groups that you might want to check out on Facebook from check-ins, to depression, sex, health, weight loss, surgery types (abdominal, laparoscopic, vaginal) – even weight loss partners and a group for men to understand the surgery.

My reason for creating so many different groups is because I found that since there are so many different types of surgeries at varying levels of recovery, some conversations were really confusing. For example, there could be a question about how long one should wait before exercising, and the answer for those recovering from abdominal surgery is different (by weeks) than those who had laparoscopic. In fact, premature exercise for those who had an abdominal hysterectomy could put you back in the hospital!

Hence, I made different groups for different topics and different types of surgeries. Hope you have a chance to check them out.

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When I found out that I was going to have surgery, I knew that I had to get ready physically and emotionally.

I also signed up for a number of hysterectomy groups on Facebook – look for Hysterectomy Sisterectomy, Hysterectomy Sisters 2.0, Hyster Sisters, etc. which helped a lot. I was able to read the Q&A of how others were managing their recovery so that I knew what questions to ask my doctor, etc.

From the groups above, I read that a lot of people had difficulty recovering because they were doing the following (against doctor’s orders, I might add):

1. Didn’t rest enough. They were too eager to start exercising, cleaning their house or run errands.
2. Not healthy. A lot of them looked overweight or didn’t know how to mind their diet or exercise.
3. They had a lot of stress in their lives – family, friends, etc.

So, I reached out to my personal trainer to develop a nutrition plan so that I’ll heal quickly and have enough energy while recovering. I stuck with the plan and also worked on doing core strengthening exercises

I knew that I can’t really worry about the unknown so I was actually looking forward to the surgery. The doctor said that my pain would be better than the pain I experienced during my period so I felt okay about that.