Ensure Your Body Is Prepared For Anything

Posted July 11, 2016

Bula Bulalicious Ladies,

I elected to have a partial hysterectomy via an abdominal incision in May 2014. Many women in Fiji opt for this invasive surgery for myriad reasons but whatever they are, the thought of being cut open and having bits of you removed is enough to make many of us baulk at first.

I was fortunate to be able to prepare for surgery over three months; mentally, spiritually and especially physically and this is what I want to share with you today. Believe me, you want your body to be ready for surgery.

After I decided in January of 2014 to have most of “my plumbing” as I like to call it, removed, my mum advised me to get as fit as I could so I could recover quicker from the surgery. So I trained harder and ate better

My mother, a retired Nursing Sister, and I worked on boosting my immunity by drinking the juice of chlorophyll-rich leaves from our garden; pumpkin, kumala, uci, soursup, botebotekoro, totodro and guava to name a few. I drank a table-spoonful of virgin coconut oil every morning and upped my cod-liver oil intake.

I increased my knowledge of the procedure; read up on it, and had many helpful conversations with other women. I even watched hysterectomies on YouTube.There is very little blood, ladies so the videos are suitable for your husbands. ?

So here are some of my lessons I learnt and that I feel every woman about to have a hysterectomy or any other major surgery, and her husband, partner and family need to know; you must;

*Look after yourself; be as well as you can be before surgery. Eat healthy and stay active. If you have enough time, get fit. The healthier you are the quicker you recover. Do this anyway surgery or no surgery. I was lucky in that I was not sick and that the surgery was planned so I had time to prepare for it.

*Find out as much as you can about what will happen to your body during and after surgery. There are many misunderstandings that can arise from ignorance about some of the side-effects of a hysterectomy, in particular one where both ovaries are removed.

*Don’t leave things too late; if you feel something is wrong with your body, get medical advice. You will be no good to your kids, your partner/husband and your family if you’re seriously ill or worse, dead.

*Don’t be scared! I found a lot of strength and comfort in my faith and in knowledge.

*Have the support of family and/or friends before, during and after; depending on how long you take to recover you will need just about everything done for you…shopping, cooking, washing, cleaning, looking after your kids, pets, farm, business. Even getting from your bed to the toilet might require a strong shoulder to lean on now and then.