Alright, let’s just start from the beginning. Settle in because this is going to be a long post going over my personal health issues which led up to my hysterectomy, what all I needed for recovery and I will be answering a lot of FAQs as well.

The Beginning

Let’s rewind to when I was 14 years old. I was what they would call a late bloomer. I didn’t start my period until I was 14 which seemed like an eternity after all of my friends started. Little did I know it was a blessing in disguise to start your period later. I mean, who really wants to deal with everything that goes into having a period?! My periods started becoming pretty irregular over the course of that first year so we opted for me to get on the birth control pill.

Fast forward to about 7-8 years later. I decided I really didn’t like having a period at all so I consulted with my gynecologist and decided to start taking my birth control continuously without having a break. Which means, I didn’t have a period for many, many years.

Then, in 2008, I moved to Austin and changed gynecologists.

During the next few years I started having pretty sharp pain in my right side where my ovary was but every time I would get my yearly exam, nothing would be out of the norm. My gyno suggested I might have endometriosis but there was no way to diagnose that without having surgery. She said to stay on birth control or get pregnant and if it was endometriosis, my symptoms would go away during that time. My husband and I did not want kids so I opted to stay on birth control for the foreseeable future.

In 2016, I was ready to make a change in my life and see how I would feel if I got off of birth control. There hadn’t been a point in my life since I was 15 years old that I wasn’t on the pill. So, I stocked up on tampons and pads, things I haven’t needed, really ever, and then… I stopped taking my birth control.

Let me tell you, I felt amazing. I don’t even know how to explain it but I just felt so much better. More energy, better libido, just felt healthier overall, my periods were so light and regular, hardly any cramps; I felt so good. Everything was going so perfectly, I thought I was on the road to never needing birth control again. And then month 3 rolled around… The cramps started. I have a high pain tolerance and these were not like your typical period cramps. Then the bleeding got heavier. It wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t tolerate it at the time but I really didn’t think it would get much worse. And boy, was I wrong.

Month 4 off of birth control was pretty brutal when my period came. The cramps were so bad I felt like I was being stabbed constantly and the bleeding was out of control. I was bleeding through tampons and pads pretty frequently. Not only that, but I was bleeding what looked to be blood clots. The major cramping sent my IBS out of control so I was having major flare ups during that time. Anything and everything would set my stomach off so I pretty much stayed home during this time.

Month 5 was all I could take. I honestly didn’t think it could get much worse than it had been the last 2 months but I was so wrong. When I got my period, the cramps were extreme. Like I mentioned above, I have a really high pain tolerance and I was laying on the floor, curled in a ball because it hurt so bad. I have never experience cramps like this and I knew there was no way this was normal. I text my gynecologist and explained my symptoms and she said it’s probably endometriosis and that I needed to get back on birth control to control the symptoms. That was a sad day…

That evening I started back on my birth control again. And for the next 5 years my symptoms were pretty much under control besides that weird pain in my right side that I had been complaining about years and years ago. I also had a new symptom that was getting worse as time went on; pain with sex. And I mean extreme pain which seemed to be in the vaginal canal but every time the dr. would do an exam she would see nothing wrong. Everything looked and felt completely normal. But I knew this was not normal whatsoever. It literally felt like my insides were sandpaper and getting stabbed at the same time. I don’t even know how to explain it, but it was awful.

I will also add that during all of these years, from about the age of 30, I had asked to have a hysterectomy and every single doctor said no. Even IF I left my ovaries to keep getting hormones, they all said no, I was too young and I might want kids later. Let me tell you… I knew for a fact I never wanted kids. And if I wanted a hysterectomy because of proven health issues they should have performed the hysterectomy on me years ago. If I had found my current surgeon back then, I wouldn’t have had to deal with any of this!

In 2021, I finally had enough. I was getting absolutely nowhere with getting an answer on what was causing this pain in my abdomen and the pain with sex was nearly unbearable to the point I just never wanted to have sex. This went on for years… My gynecologist said that since they couldn’t see or feel anything it could, again, be endometriosis or it could be something gastrointestinal. I immediately made an appointment with a gastroenterologist to get a colonoscopy scheduled. This made complete sense to me since I have had IBS since I was about 4 years old. I’ve had stomach issues for so long maybe something was really wrong. But then… The colonoscopy showed… nothing.

Next step, schedule exploratory surgery to check if I had endometriosis. I also opted to have my fallopian tubes taken out as well since they wouldn’t do a full hysterectomy on me at that time. Even though I was 36, wasn’t planning on having kids and just wanted this pain to end, they still refused.

The real kicker here is that no one at my previous gynecologist office suggested getting an ultrasound done or an MRI to see what could be going on with me… They just immediately opted for surgery without doing any other checks. At the time, I thought that was normal. I didn’t know they should have done other testing prior.

Exploratory Surgery

This next part of the blog really makes my blood boil. BUT I want to share my experience so you can be prepared and to also find the best surgeon you possibly can. DO NOT SETTLE. Advocate for yourself!

Finding a new surgeon

After that experience I said a big fuck you to my last gynecologist and went on the hunt to find someone new. Finally, in 2024, I found someone absolutely amazing who immediately took everything I was saying to heart and started helping me find answers.

I met with another doctor in the office to talk surgery options and we ended up settling on an ablation. I had to go in to get an ultrasound (finally, someone doing their job!) to check my uterus for fibroids, see if I might have adenomyosis and while they were in there they noticed the cyst in my left ovary. They seemed a little concerned about the size but from what I knew, it was a small cyst when they checked 2 years ago. The office contacted my urologist to compare the size of the cyst back in 2022 to 2024 and it had grown.

After a lot of thinking, I opted to consult with another surgeon to talk about a hysterectomy. My main concern with having another abdominal surgery were the bladder spasms I was pretty much guaranteed to get. If you have never had bladder spasms, they are absolutely debilitating and so painful and uncomfortable. I wanted to avoid spasms at all costs. When I met with the next surgeon she pretty much reiterated the fact that your bladder gets beat up during a hysterectomy and there was nothing she could do to prevent that.

I talked with my new gynecologist again and she said if she were to do it over with her hysterectomy she would go with a surgeon named Devin Garza. She said he was the absolute best. He is an endometriosis specialist and has also performed over 3,000 hysterectomies with the DaVinci Robot. In February, I started the process of trying to get an appointment to see if he would be a good candidate to perform my surgery.

I finally got an appointment with his nurse practitioner to go over a ton of details. That was the most thorough doctor’s appointment I think I have ever had. It was over an hour long and we went over everything to make sure I was a good fit and candidate for a hysterectomy. She immediately ordered a mammogram for me, which is huge because I had been denied for years from my last gyno even though we have a family history of breast cancer… Thankfully, the mammogram came back negative but I do have extremely dense breasts so she suggested I get ultrasounds or breast MRIs in the future. Another reason to advocate for yourself. Do not take no for an answer!!

She also scheduled me an abdominal MRI to get a more exact measurement of the cyst in my ovary and to see if there was anything else going on in there. The MRI did show the cyst had grown but didn’t show anything else concerning. MRIs do not always pick up endometriosis either, so I looked to be in the clear.

At the end of my appointment with the nurse practitioner, she was like I can almost guarantee you have endometriosis. I’m like, No, I really know that I don’t have that because I just had surgery to specifically check for endometriosis and they said there was none. But she just knew that is what was going on with me. I laughed it off, like ya ok… we’ll see!

I then got scheduled for a telehealth call with Dr. Garza to go over details of my potential hysterectomy. I explained how terrified I was about getting bladder spasms again and he gave me so many options and ideas to try during surgery so that my spasms would be at a minimum. Did I hear that correctly!? Did someone actually listen to me AND give me suggestions to help!? I knew I had found the right surgeon at that moment. I also told him about the pain I was experiencing on my right side, the pain with sex and where exactly the pain was and he said you probably have endometriosis. So again, I’m like ya, whatever, they would have seen that 2 years ago!

We agreed that I would have a radical hysterectomy taking my ovaries, my uterus and my cervix. Since I opted to have my cervix removed my recovery would be 8 weeks instead of 4 weeks.

Fast forward to Oct. 21; surgery day! Finally, I am going to get some answers on what is going on with my body! Hopefully I will get some answers to show that I’m not crazy and actually have legitimate pain. My poor husband probably just thought I never wanted to have sex so I would just say it hurt.

Like I had mentioned above, I have major PTSD from my previous surgery in 2022. The 2-3 weeks leading up to this surgery were absolutely brutal for my anxiety.

What helped me prep for surgery

Before I get into surgery details I wanted to talk to y’all about a few things that I did that really helped going into this surgery and definitely helped with my recovery.

2-3 months prior to my surgery I put myself on a very strict diet. I cut out all processed foods, sugar, gluten and only ate chicken breast, broccoli and white rice for lunch and dinner. For breakfast I would have a Ka’Chava shake with a banana and for snacks I would have an apple with almond butter (without palm oil). I ended up losing 9 pounds of fat and felt amazing going into surgery!

Also, if you are having a hysterectomy, ask your surgeon to do bowel prep the day before. I had never heard of this before abdominal surgery but it gives the surgeon more room to work with if you aren’t filled with poop and gas in your intestines.

If you aren’t doing bowel prep, start taking Miralax before your surgery. If you are doing bowel prep, start taking Miralax after your surgery and every day after until you poop. That first poop is tough… and you don’t want to have to strain after you’ve just had a hysterectomy. Pushing, laughing, coughing, sneezing, etc. is painful!

What to pack for the hospital

Make sure to pack an overnight bag, even if they say it’s outpatient. I packed a day hospital bag with essentials.

Change of clothes, pads, granny panties, shoes with tread, portable phone charger, a book (didn’t read mine), hard candy to eat when your throat is dry and itchy, crackers, bottle of water, peppermint oil for the toilet bowl (helps you pee), all paperwork. I packed the hysterectomy pillow but it stayed in the car for the ride home.

My overnight bag consisted of underwear, overnight clothes, toothbrush, phone charger, brush, any medications, deodorant, wipes, peri bottle.

Surgery Day

Ok, back to surgery day. I was so freaking nervous. I had to get to the hospital at 5am for a 7am surgery time. I was hoping I would actually have a room instead of a little area in triage with a curtain like last time. I get all checked in and they walk me into a PRIVATE ROOM! Praise the lord, my mind is at ease already. The nurse comes in and I immediately ask her about my permanent bracelets and she assures me they can just tape them down. Again, thank god I have a nice nurse who didn’t make me cut them off.

We get my IV in and I’m resting a little before the anesthesiologist comes in to talk to me. He comes in and I explain all of my concerns from my last surgery and he’s like oh ya, it sounds like he didn’t taper the propofol off; he kept stacking it on so your liver couldn’t process it fast enough. No wonder I couldn’t wake up. I told him I didn’t want the versed prior to surgery either and he looked at me like I was crazy and said, “That is literally everyone’s favorite part!” I’m weird, I know. I love being rolled into the operating room and putting myself on that cold, metal table, being fully aware of everything.

I finally get to meet Dr. Garza in person prior to surgery. He was so nice and caring and we went over the plan of not using a foley catheter if at all possible to help with the spasms. He said the surgery would be about 2 hours long, maybe a little longer if they found endometriosis but he would talk to Grayson once everything was done.

It was time! I get rolled into the operating room and it is literally the biggest, brightest room I have ever had surgery in. And there, in the corner, was the DaVinci Robot. SO COOL. And Huge! And then, I was told to count to 10 and I was out.

I woke up in recovery to the sweetest nurse giving me ice chips. I could already tell I was waking up way better than I was with my 2022 surgery. They planned to keep me back there for 30-45 minutes while I woke up a little more before they rolled me back into my room. I was so afraid that once I got into my room they would be rushing me to leave. This was technically an outpatient procedure so I knew they wanted me to go home that day.

I get into my room and Grayson is there waiting for me. The surgery was a little over 2 hours long and went exactly as planned. And guess what Dr. Garza tells Grayson… He found a ton of endometriosis hiding behind my uterus that was on my colon and rectum. Literally, in the exact spot I had been complaining about for YEARS. Over 15 years!!! The cause of the pain on my right side and pain with sex was because of the endometriosis. If this surgeon had just done his job 2 years ago I could have had some relief… I am just baffled at the fact that I went in specifically for endometriosis surgery 2 years prior and the surgeon claimed he didn’t see any… Like, did ya even look??

My left ovary was pretty large compared to the right. The cyst was taking up the entire ovary and they found smaller cysts in the right ovary. In addition to the endometriosis, they also found chronic inflammation and fibroids as well. This all explains the symptoms I was experiencing for years and it’s extremely frustrating it took this long to figure it out.

UPDATE – Just had my 3 week post-op call with my surgeon to go over pathology and their findings. I mentioned my left ovary was almost double the size of the right ovary from what they thought was a cyst. BUT it was a huge tumor that was growing and growing and growing and wouldn’t stop until it was removed. They did not see adenomyosis which is something they were concerned about. He also said the pain I was experiencing with sex was most likely due to where this endometriosis was growing near my colon/rectum.

Back to recovery. I slept on and off over the course of 4-5 hours. The nurses were amazing and didn’t rush me once. They were so accomodating and caring! My main concern was having to pee before I could leave. This is a requirement before they will let you leave for any hysterectomy since the nerves around your bladder need to learn how to work again. I’ll explain this a little more in the recovery portion of this post.

Around 3pm I decided I was ready to go home. I slowly started trying to sit up to make my way to the bathroom to pee. Gah, that was a scary moment. I had no sensation to tell me I needed to pee but I had to try. One thing I fully expected was to stand up and see blood all over the place (again, PTSD from my other surgery) and there was hardly any! I was completely shocked. I sat on toilet and the pee started flowing! Praise the lord!!!!! It wasn’t a comfortable sensation whatsoever but my bladder worked and I was peeing!

I finally got changed into my super cozy teddy bear outfit, which everyone loved! And they rolled me out to the car and we were off. The drive home was a blur but I was able to walk inside and get straight into bed.

This experience compared to my surgery in 2022 were night and day. This really taught me to do my research and find the best and most qualified surgeon who actually gives a shit about ME.

HYSTERECTOMY RECOVERY

I bought so much stuff for this recovery which I will add in a collage below. I am only adding the items that I actually used so you can skip over anything else. Definitely stock up on granny panties and oversized dresses or shirts. I hardly wore any clothes during recovery. Literally just underwear and a tank top that didn’t touch my incisions. I didn’t want anything touching my skin. It was also hard to wear much of anything with that pain pump! I had to carry it around in a bag and couldn’t get the cord tangled, so it just made more sense to wear as little clothing as possible.

Definitely buy a pregnancy pillow and hysterectomy pillow. I couldn’t live without those! The hysterectomy pillow was amazing for the car ride home so the seatbelt didn’t dig into my stomach. It was also great to have on my stomach when I was at home so the dogs didn’t jump on my stomach and I could rest my hands or a book on the pillow without putting pressure on my stomach. The pregnancy pillow was a game changer. I don’t think I could have gone through those first 2 weeks without it. I can’t even express to y’all how comfortable it was!

Stock up on Gas-X!

I also bought a belly binder that I just started wearing at week 3, once my incisions healed. I have this weird sensation that my organs are moving around and wearing it really feels like everything is held into place. I’ve heard some hospitals give these to you after surgery but mine didn’t so I ended up buying one and love it.

A weighted heating pad is also a must have. Since I had to sleep on my back, which I’m usually a stomach sleeper, I would rest this on my stomach to sleep. Not to mention I used it pretty much all day everyday!

To shop the collage below, simply click on the item and it will take you to the site to shop. 

Alright, let’s talk recovery. As I am writing this I am currently 3 weeks post-op and I feel so damn good.

First things first. I was sent home with the On-Q Pain Pump installed in my abdominal cavity. HIGHLY recommend this if you have a hysterectomy. It made a world of difference and I am so grateful to have had one! It disperses non-narcotic pain meds straight to the location of your pain through a small soaker tube. This way the rest of your body still feels normal but the source of the pain is targeted and taken care of.

The pain pump has a dial that you can change the amount of medication being dispersed into your body. How mine was set up would last me about 5 days and then you pull the tube out yourself. Talk about weird haha!

The first few days after surgery I fully expected my bladder spasms to start, but they didn’t… Recovery was going so well, I was shocked. The first day back home I rested a lot with the dogs in bed. I slept pretty amazing the first night and the next day I was sitting up in bed, slowly walking around, eating a decent amount. I honestly felt pretty damn good considering. It felt like I had done about 5 million sit ups.

Every single day got better and better. I had heard a lot of people say they felt so good after their surgery they felt pretty much back to normal after a couple of weeks. I was hoping that was going to be my case. I couldn’t imagine being stuck in bed for weeks or over a month!

Each day that went by I was walking around the house more and more. You really want to try and walk as much as you can to move the gas around. That is always the most painful part. Once the gas pains subsided I felt so good. I really didn’t have much pain in my abdomen. The only area that hurt was where he cut all of the endometriosis out and that specific incision was very sore and very bruised unlike the others. I ended up having 4 incisions, one being in my belly button, and then I had a 5th area where the Pain Pump was installed.

Day 5 rolls around and my pain pump is almost empty… And I can tell it’s not dispersing much of anything anymore because the pain is getting worse than it’s been this entire time. We planned to try and remove it once Grayson was done with work. Shockingly, it was a breeze but so freaking weird. The tube itself was about 18″ long inside my abdomen. It didn’t hurt coming out but it was a weird sensation!

As soon as that pain pump was out the pain got worse and the bladder spasms started full force and boy, were they bad. I didn’t realize the pain pump was preventing them! I thought I was in the clear but that was wishful thinking. I should have known better. I wasn’t really taking pain meds prior to the pain pump but I definitely needed them afterwards. At about a week and a half I was able to get off the Tramadol they prescribed and started taking Tylenol.

Almost forgot! I had fully expected to be bleeding through pads the first week or so. I bought a variety of pads and even had a little cart set up with pads, my granny panties and a peri bottle. Shockingly, I hardly bled at all. Like, it was pretty non-existent. Compared to how much blood there was with my tube removal I was sure it would be a blood bath after a full hysterectomy! This goes to show you that when you have the best of the best operating on you, your recovery is going to be much easier.

One of the weirdest things about this entire recovery was my bladder. Not only the spasms, but the fact my bladder is learning how to function properly again. For the first 2 weeks I didn’t get the little tingle sensation in my bladder to let me know I needed to pee. I was having to just guess and make myself go every few hours. A lot of nerves get cut around the bladder during hysterectomies so this is completely normal. Leaking and incontinence is also normal since your bladder is learning how to do it’s job again.

If you have experienced bladder spasms or are currently experiencing them I have a few things that I took and still take that really help. First, go to your urologist and get a prescription for Gemtesa. My urologist also prescribed me Valium to use as a suppository in your vagina. This will relax your pelvic floor and relax your bladder. CBD has been a game changer for my spasms. I take multiple droppers a day of Equilibria’s Daily Drops along with Daily Soft Gels and their new Tipsy Gummies. My urologist said I need to take THC however I can get it and I will tell you I’ve been taking Tipsy Gummies multiple times a day and it’s been a game changer. If you order from Equilibria use code DTKAUSTIN for 15% off your order.

Everyday is getting better and better. I was able to take my steri-strips off my incisions and they look really good. The right side incision is still really bruised, even after 3 weeks. I’m pretty much back to feeling normal at the 3 week mark. I am able to run errands, get around the house, walk outside with the dogs, but I am still taking it very easy. I do not want to over do it and set myself back even more but I know getting around and moving really helps.

Let’s talk hormones and menopause. Dr. Garza said I would probably go into menopause within 2 days after surgery. I’ve had hot flashes for a few years so I expected to have some new symptoms in addition to the hot flashes. He prescribed me a low dose of Estrodial but as of now I haven’t had any new symptoms besides hot and cold flashes. I will be seeing a hormone specialist and pelvic floor specialist once I am cleared to do so. I have been taking Hormone Balance in the meantime and think it’s been working really well to keep the symptoms at bay. DTKAUSTIN should get you 15% off of the Hormone Balance as well.

If you want to read thousands of hysterectomy experiences along with having more resources, check out the HysterSisters.

I also have more real time recovery posts saved on my Surgery Highlight on Instagram.

Lastly, if you are in or around Austin and are looking for an amazing surgeon, I highly recommend Dr. Devin Garza. My experience has been exceptional with them and I couldn’t recommend them more.

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