@phoenix444 Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect and to our support group.

Living with pain. There are many others, including women in our support group, who have lived with the kind of pain you described. As women, I feel that our pain is often minimized. And yet, everyone’s tolerance for pain is different as well are all individuals.

The recommendation for surgery from the gyn/oncologist must be incredibly frightening for you and your family. When I was scheduled for a radical hysterectomy it was because endometrial cancer had been diagnosed with a D&C. While I did not know the extent of the cancer (it was localized to the uterus so was Stage 1a) I was shocked at the diagnosis and very frightened going into the surgery.

Fortunately, when I arrived at the surgical center I had empathic and informative nursing and medical staff. I have a rather long prep in pre-surgery - at least I thought it was long as it was a few hours. I went back to my hotel later that same day. My surgery was robotic and laporoscopic. Still, my surgeon told me that the internal healing would be the same as if I’d had an open abdominal surgical procedure. I followed all of the cautions and instructions from the medical staff and I’d say that I was back to 100% in about 3 weeks. For the first week after surgery I was fatigued and somewhat foggy. I took it slow and didn’t lift anything heavier than a light grocery bag. I also didn’t drive my car for about one week.

Your description what has led you to the surgery is different than mine. I imagine that you and your family will be very anxious awaiting the surgery and then the outcome of the surgery and wondering what the pathology report will show.

You mention family. Do you have a partner/spouse? Children? Who is supporting you through this? Will you have other appointments prior to surgery?