I will be 4 weeks post op this Friday. I found out my pregnancy was ectopic after 5 days of bleeding and intermittent pain, i thought I was having a miscarriage as I’ve had 2 previously. They found out it was ectopic and 5 hours later I was waking up from surgery, it all happened so fast. I ended up with a wound infection as well which has now healed.
I was8nitially given 2 weeks off but my GP then gave me until this Thursday. I have been having these terrible headaches and a lot of fatigue. I did some blood tests for anemia last week but it seems that is ok. I tried on the weekend to do normal day and I got through Saturday alright but then intense headaches and exhaustion Sunday and today. I feel a bit better this even8ng after hav8ng done almost nothing all day.
I’m a physiotherapist and I have 3 children already so I can’t come home after work and just lay down. I am feeling very guilty about being off work as I broke my wrist in the spring and was off a while then too. I’m reluctant to ask for more time off but worried I’m not going to cope well…
How long will it take to feel normal again?? Any advise?
Please try not to feel guilt… focus on yourself and healing at your own pace.
I was feeling guilty about work and was trying to rush into work… This is my 7th week off sick and I have next week too… only now I’ve managed not to think of work…and focusing on getting better … so take your time …
I had an ecoptic left tube removed … 26th September …
I had a ectopic three years ago was very poorly went to the dr as was constantly tired aches all over and head aches. Turns out I developed and vitamin d deficiency. I now take regular vitamins to keep it up. If I stop taking them I go back to being exhausted and it’s horrible. Go see you gp it’s worth a blood test to check all your vitamin leavels are ok after the ectopic. Good luck let us know how you get on xxx
Thank you both for your replies and I’m so sorry to hear about your losses. I just went to the GP and she suggested a phased return to work over at least 3 weeks. Now I just need to speak to my manager and see how I can arrange that. Hopefully it will be successful
I am so sorry to hear of your ectopic pregnancy and loss,
Surgery is an immense ordeal for the body to go through. In general, after about six weeks you should be able to return to most jobs from a physical point of view. However, if your role involves manual handling, we suggest that it would be sensible to have a phased approach as you have managed to arrange, gently building up to the usual extent of activity. I would suggest avoiding a rapid return to strenuous activities as it is important to build up strength after recovery.
Many women experience pain after surgery and this can be the case weeks or months after the trauma. Pain is the body’s sign to rest and it is important to be guided by this and taking it easier if you experience discomfort.
In addition, it is worth bearing in mind that experiencing ectopic pregnancy is a very frightening experience and many women need to take time to help them deal with the psychological/emotional impact of the loss of their baby, being diagnosed with a life-threatening condition and undergoing major surgery. Please speak to your GP again about having further time off work if required.
Sending much love,
Karen x
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Let me know how you get on. Hopefully they should be supportive of this. I think this is a great idea. You need to look after you and everything else will fall into place. This is your time to do what’s right for you! Don’t feel pressure of that your letting anyone down. One of the hardest things I faced was even though my life was at a stand still the rest of the world was still spinning. Take your time and keep me informed xxx
Thank you so much for your support, I have spoken to my manager and they will be supporting my phased return. Hopefully it will go well and I will be able to get by on lower hours. It’s good to have somewhere I can go to discuss things. Thank you again
That’s excellent news and even if you find it’s hard at first I promise time dose help! Always here to support you. And for what it’s worth I think your doing brilliantly you have other little ones to care for as well as a very busy job. I know your heart is broken for the baby you lost. Just remember we hold them in a heart forever when is your first day back? Might do you good getting back some normality Xxx
I’m back tomorrow for a few hours and then a few hours on Friday. I’m not sure yet how the next weeks will look but it looks like I will be able to ease into it. I think it will be a good way to go back
It went well. It was good to spend few hours having dinner one thing else to think about but I was exhausted after 3 hrs so very glad I wasn’t staying all day!
I had told everyone why I was off and actually I think that was better as everyone was very understanding and nobody asked me what happened…