Myomectomy recovery week by week: what to expect after fibroid surgery

Step by step

1. 1

   Days 1 to 4: in hospital

   Pain relief, walking from the first day, the catheter and drip out, eating again. Home once you are moving and comfortable, usually after a few nights.

2. 2

   Week 1

   Rest at home but walk short distances several times a day. Shower normally and pat the wound dry. Lift nothing heavier than a full kettle. Expect tiredness and some spotting.

3. 3

   Week 2

   The wound is checked, and any stitches or clips are removed if they need to be. Walk a little further each day. Light tasks such as folding clothes are fine. Still no lifting buckets of water or children.

4. 4

   Weeks 3 to 4

   Energy slowly returns. Many women with desk jobs feel ready for short spells of work from home. Do not drive until you can brake hard and turn to look behind you without pain, and check your car insurance.

5. 5

   Weeks 5 to 6

   Most women feel close to normal. The six-week review checks the wound, your blood level and the histology result, and is where your surgeon advises on sex, exercise and, if relevant, when to try for a pregnancy.

6. 6

   After six weeks

   Return to work if you have not already, build up exercise gradually, and avoid heavy lifting until your surgeon says it is fine, which is often a little longer.

In hospital: the first few days

You wake with a drip, often a urine catheter, and pain relief. The nurses will help you sit up and walk on the first day: it feels hard, but walking early is what prevents blood clots and chest infections and gets the bowel moving. Some vaginal bleeding is normal. Most women go home after a few nights, once they are eating, passing urine and moving around.

Before discharge, ask for your blood count result, your operation note, your medicine list and the date of your wound check.

Food and drink while you heal

Eat normally once the ward says you can. Your body needs protein and iron to heal and to replace the blood you lost. Pepper soup with fish or chicken, eggs, beans, moi moi, ugu and efo all help. Drink plenty of water and include fruit and vegetables, because painkillers and lying down cause constipation, and straining is uncomfortable on a fresh wound. Take any iron tablets you are given.

Who should be at home with you

Arrange for someone to take you home by car, not by okada or a crowded bus, and for a relative or helper to stay for at least the first week or two. They do the cooking, the water-fetching, the children's school run and anything that means lifting or bending. If you are a mother of young children, plan now who will carry them.

Warning signs: call your surgeon or go to hospital

• Fever, or shivering
• Heavy vaginal bleeding, soaking a pad in an hour, or large clots
• Pain that is getting worse instead of better, or a swollen, hard tummy
• The wound becoming red, hot, swollen, or leaking pus or smelly fluid
• Vomiting, or not being able to pass stool or wind
• A painful, swollen calf, chest pain or sudden breathlessness
• Feeling faint, dizzy or very tired, which can mean your blood level has fallen

Common questions