need info re: hysterectomy

[Babywhite]

My sister-in-law needs to have a hysterectomy. She is trying to decide when..

She has 3 kids (8, 5 and 3) and her husband works A LOT. Basically, she will have little to no help after the surgery.

Does anyone know what the recovery is like? When can she drive again, stand up and clean, cook,run errands, etc. (She is one to push the envelope, so she'll definitely do it earlier than most...)

She would like to do it over the Thanksgiving holidays, but DH and I think she will need more time and should consider doing it during the Christmas holidays.

(She lives in a different state, so we can't help out either. :( )

TIA for your help..

[JBaxter]

depends on what type she has. If its done vaginally her recovery will be much quicker if they cut her then she is looking at weeks of recovery. My cousin had a vaginal one doen at 24 ( yes 24 ) due to cervical cancer and was back to work in 2 weeks. DH's boss's secretary had a standard type done due to massive fibroids ( she also had all 4 of her children but was still in her mid 30's) she was off for 8weeks.

[niccig]

My mum had standard hysterectomy due to large fibroids and it took her several weeks to be back to normal. I was at college at the time, and my sisters and I went home on weekends to help and Dad was on duty during the week. She'll need some help, can another family member go stay for 2 weeks or so?

[tarabenet]

She will be restricted from lifting anything over 10 pounds for a few weeks. She may be restricted from driving for a while too. Her body will be recovering from a major operation, which will require her to rest. These are things she needs to consider when scheduling.

She needs to talk through this with her doctor, to find out what her medical restrictions will be, as well as what her own personal limitations are likely to be. Then she and DH will need to go step-by-step througgh the daily demands of the kids, to figure out which ones he will do, which ones they will jut have to skip, and whether they need to arrange for more help. Family help is the obvious solution, but if it is not an option, maybe a nanny or at least a mother's helper?