UKC

Hi, I've been climbing indoors and outdoors for 18 months and have just had an hysterectomy, at the age of 51.  Any support welcome on how long I should wait until I start to climb again, much appreciated.  Thanks Lesley 

Not quite the same (!) but i had a chunk of my small intestine chopped out a few years ago, via a laparotomy.  The immediate issue as regards climbing was core stiffness, due to having my tummy pumped up with CO2  (as part if the operation).  It took about a month before i was properly mobile and felt like doing any physical activity.  It was a further month before i was mostly 'back to normal'.  Full recovery was rather longer, may be six months.

Good luck and don't rush it.  You don't want to end up with a hernia while your core is still a bit weak.

My mum had a hysterectomy in 2018, though she was a couple years older than you.

From memory, she took about 18 months to really get stuck back in. Though a lot of that was rebuilding the confidence more than physically healing; I imagine it's extremely common experience that getting the head back into it takes a while. She had some kind of ovarian cyst (melon sized according to the surgeon!) which meant that her op was pretty intense, so depending on your situation you might be a fait bit quicker.

Since then she's done 150 Munros, learnt to lead at the age of 55 and has come back even stronger than she ever was!

Lesley what does your surgeon advise?

That's a good starting point