My background: 50 years old with a history of endometriosis, adenomyosis, fibroids, hemorrhage, and hyperkinetic gallbladder pain. Other health issues include hypermobile EDS and a genetic tumor-predisposition syndrome. On 4/15/26, I had a single surgery to address all of these issues–hysterectomy with BSO, endo excision, and removal of gallbladder. And they sent me home the very same day!
Here’s an overview of my experience…
Day of surgery, 4.15.26:
3am: wake up and chug a 20-oz yellow Gatorade. I think this is great. I showed up hydrated and it wasn’t a total nightmare to get my iv going. Thank you to the ERAS protocol!
5:30am: arrive at the hospital.
Pre-op: Many, many nurses and doctors check in with me and go over various procedures and medications. More than one is incredulous that I’m supposed to go home that day but both surgeons agree it’s likely. I am given tylenol, the first of 2 iv ports, and a heparin shot. The CRNA tells me that I’ll be given 2 antibiotics during the procedure, flagyl and augmentin. I’m allergic to the amoxicillin portion of augmentin but they say it’s ok because they’ll also dose me with benadryl. It makes me nervous but I realize they must feel pretty sure about it. Because of my morphine allergy I’ll be given fentanyl and dilaudid. I’m told I’ll be in surgery for 4 hours and under observation for 4 more hours.
I’m wheeled back to surgery at 8am. I pass out within a minute of getting on the table.
Surgery takes about 3.5-4 hours.
I wake up very groggy and shocked by how much pain I feel. What have I done, agreeing to both a hysterectomy with endo removal and gallbladder removal at the same time? I cannot imagine getting out of bed, let alone going home that day. I’m given my phone but am so blitzed on drugs my eyes can’t focus for a while.
I’m visited by some nurses and one of my 2 surgeons. What did they say to me? Who knows. Again I was totally whacked out on goofballs.
I have a new nurse, who takes me to a recovery room where I’m given crackers and applesauce and a ginger ale.I feel suddenly alive. She then reminds me that we’ll be doing a bladder voiding challenge and I am dreading this very unpleasant sounding task. She pours about a cup of liquid into my catheter. Fortunately, it doesn’t hurt. In fact, I barely notice anything. She escorts me to a bathroom where I almost immediately pee a satisfactory amount and am congratulated. I passed and can go home! I have only just stood up for the first time since surgery and here I am graduating already. It feels rushed but also, who wants to stay in a hospital?
The drive home is 30 minutes. They’ve given me a memory foam pillow, which comes in handy. I remember very little.
When I get home, I try to watch tv but am falling asleep and waking every few minutes. I hear my voice and it sounds like someone else’s–weak and druggy.
I sleep in my bed with a foam wedge that proves helpful with getting in and out of bed. I get up 3 times during the night to pee and take pain meds. The oxycodone is really the only thing that brings relief.
Day 2: I feel surprisingly well though exhausted after a shower. I start to eat light foods–toast with jam, chicken soup, crackers.I poop and it doesn’t hurt much. And I feel a lot less pelvic pain afterward. Small victories!
Day 3: In the morning, as I am walking across the kitchen without my abdominal pillow, I cough and see stars the pain is so bad. I think the pain is where they removed the bulk of the endo. Today, overall, my pain worsens. I realize that the hospital drugs and nerve blocks have worn off and I’m feeling it all now. Oof. I move from couch to bed and back again. It is a restless day.
Day 4: Similar to the day before but with a new one: I become faint on the toilet. If you’ve fainted before, you know that the feeling leading up to it is awful. I make it out of the bathroom and back to bed but still feel weak and shaky. Google tells me this is a vasovagal response that can be brought on by pooping–my body is a wonderland, truly! I didn’t realize vasovagal responses happened beyond blood draws but here I am. Fortunately, I have a 15-year-old son who leaves half-drunk Gatorades all over the house. The Gatorade fixed me, a miracle!
Day 5-10: My husband is back at work and I’m on my own while my son is at school. I’m up and down in terms of recovery. I run out of oxycodone on day 7. I know a lot of people say they don’t like oxycodone but it really took the edge off my pain and let me rest. I feel new pains each day that come and go–a burning skin-deep pain in my lower right quadrant, a dull ache in my navel, soreness in my lower left ribs. I’m tolerating foods better and am almost eating normally again. My hot flashes, which were numerous and terrible before surgery, are now nuclear grade. My doctors say that some experts feel that women with endo should wait 6 weeks before starting HRT to possibly kill off any residual endo but others think it’s fine to start right away and that it’s up to me. I try to hold out a little longer.
Day 11: I experience some spotting I only notice when going to the bathroom. I’ve had no spotting otherwise.
Day 12: I break down and start HRT–the Combipatch.
Day 13-15: I reduce the dosage of acetaminophen/ibuprofen to OTC levels. I have a history of gastritis, esophagitis, and ulcer and fear what two weeks of round-the-clock ibuprofen are doing to my gut. My pains are roughly the same as they’ve been over the past few days, mostly in the same spots described above and more noticeable later in the day. My incisions remain covered in the blue surgical glue and I’m in no rush to peel it off. While the hysterectomy was done vaginally, my gallbladder was removed through my bellybutton and you’d never know. There’s no evidence of a cut and there’s no bruising. In fact, the umbilical hernia I had from a previous endo surgery looks like it might have been reduced.
Pathology: I had a 4cm fibroid plus several smaller ones and adenomyosis. I had endometriosis on my uterus, tubes, and a clump of it adhered to my side abdominal wall that they previously thought may be an ovarian remnant from my last surgery a dozen years ago. My remaining ovary had cysts and the tube was adhered to the cervix. My uterus was completely adhered to the anterior abdominal wall and had to cut away (I think this is the source of my most persistent post-op pain). My gallbladder had chronic cholecystitis, polyps, and a cyst.
So, overall, I know my experience is a little different because of the bonus gallbladder procedure, but I wanted to share this in case it helps anyone. I have spent A LOT of time on r/hysterectomy these past couple of weeks and found it so helpful. Thank you to all who have posted their experiences! Now, I just need to cool it and not stress over every little new pain and the what-ifs.