Potential for water introduction - post op

[MorgannaLeFey]

I am having an incredibly hard time finding anything that specifically addresses this question. I did do a search on the board, and while the women's health while diving thread is suggestive of an answer, I'd really appreciate it if I could see some discussion about it.

I am due to get an hysterectomy on July 29th. My husband and I are going to Italy (the Amalfi Coast) on September 12th. So I'll be around 7 weeks post op. The procedure I'm getting is the least invasive possible ("robotic assist" laparoscopic, they call it), and generally has a recovery time of two weeks, assuming everything goes well and I recover at a typical rate.

My doctor has told me that I am not supposed to insert ANYthing into my vagina at all, including water (no sitting in a tub, no swimming) for ten weeks post op. The reason for this is that he doesn't want water flowing into my vagina and risking infection while I'm healing. Honestly, I'm down with that. I get it. The thing is, I'll be on the Amalfi Coast, and part of the reason we are going on this vacation (non-refundable tickets purchased months before hysterectomy was even on the radar as necessary) was because we wanted to swim in the Mediterranean.

So I'm trying to figure out if there's something I can wear while swimming that will drastically minimize the risk that there would be any water flowing up inside of me. I've been trying to find information about neoprene shorts that I've seen for sale online, or about latex shorts, or other options, but it seems like this question isn't even one that's ever come up before (maybe I'm not asking it in the right way or thinking about it in the right way). I won't be diving (and I am sorry, I know this is a diving focused community but I could not find any other forums that were even close to being an appropriate place for me to ask about this). I just want to float around in the water. And I just want some sort of garment I can wear that will provide me with a reasonable level of confidence that I won't have water slipping up inside of me while I do that.

So I guess my question to you all is... I know wetsuit shorts aren't intended to keep you dry, but are they enough that you're not getting water up inside?

Thank you all in advance for any light you can shed on this for me.

 

[TSandM]

The possibility of water entering the vagina exists whenever water can surround the introitus, which it certainly will do in anything short of a dry suit. However, I really wonder about the surgeon's time of 10 weeks for absolute prohibition against swimming. The mucosa will close over the defect where the cervix was excised within a few days to a week -- the suture line may be tenuous with respect to mechanical disruption (eg. any solid object introduced into the vagina) for several weeks thereafter, but as far as being watertight, the suture line should be solid very quickly post-op.

 

[MorgannaLeFey]

The possibility of water entering the vagina exists whenever water can surround the introitus, which it certainly will do in anything short of a dry suit. However, I really wonder about the surgeon's time of 10 weeks for absolute prohibition against swimming. The mucosa will close over the defect where the cervix was excised within a few days to a week -- the suture line may be tenuous with respect to mechanical disruption (eg. any solid object introduced into the vagina) for several weeks thereafter, but as far as being watertight, the suture line should be solid very quickly post-op.

I have been doing a LOT of reading about this over the last several days and I haven't seen any sites, medical ones, doctor's sites, etc, that suggested anything like a 10 week moratorium on swimming. Most I've seen suggest 4 weeks, others say you can swim in a pool at 4 weeks but not in a lake until after 6 or 8 weeks. I have started an email conversation with my doctor, and I will be asking him about the specific reasons he wants a 10 week recovery before swimming.

The other interesting thing about this is that the intention is to leave my cervix intact. I have been under the impression that the cervix prevents infectious agents from getting further up into the body, but perhaps in his opinion the major surgery in some way impairs that ability? Another possibility is he feels that the strenuousness of swimming could increase the risk of more scar tissue developing in the early stages of healing, or that I'd get adhesions inside that could lead to complications later? I will be asking him, but I'm starting to wonder if I might not just go AMA and swim anyway, or at least purchase some latex or neoprene shorts for a modicum of protection while I swim.

I appreciate your response a great deal.

 

[TSandM]

It occurred to me this morning . . . you haven't had radiation for anything, have you? Or chemo? That would definitely slow healing.

Otherwise, I simply don't understand the length of the prohibition.

 

[MorgannaLeFey]

Nope. This is not a cancerous removal and I have never had cancer of any kind. I have fibroids that are making me bleed a LOT (I can't WAIT to get the damn malfunctioning muscle OUT). They say there is a small chance there could be cancer in the uterus and they'll be checking it when they take it out to determine if they need to grab some lymph nodes while they're in there. My gyn (is not the one doing this procedure) says that since I've been taking birth control pills for such a long time and they have a protective effect, the chance of uterine cancer is incredibly small. I am in otherwise fairly good health. I am 47 years old. I don't drink alcohol or caffiene, and I have never smoked. I have very good blood pressure, a good resting pulse, I am obese (but due to a gastric bypass I am 100lbs less than I was four years ago), but I am no longer diabetic (the gastric bypass resolved that). I don't get colds, and I have had two other laparoscopic procedures (gall bladder removal and gastric bypass) from which I recovered reasonably quickly. In both cases I was pretty much back to normal within four weeks.

My husband just mentioned that he wonders if some wires weren't crossed somewhere and if maybe the 10 weeks was if they had to go to an open incision. I'm sure my doctor will mention that when he responds to me (not expecting him to until after the holiday). I really don't think that's the case, but I'll ask him to be sure.

 

[coralcruiser]

I would give DAN a call and ask them since they can direct you to the best specialist to answer your question.

 

[MorgannaLeFey]

I would give DAN a call and ask them since they can direct you to the best specialist to answer your question.

Please forgive my ignorance, but what is DAN?

 

[TSandM]

DAN is Divers Alert Network. It's an organization focused on dive safety. They maintain lists of physicians in various places who have some experience or knowledge with respect to diving. However, I think it would be unlikely that they would have a dive-savvy OB/GYN, as diving rarely results in women's health issues.

 

[MorgannaLeFey]

AHhhh I see. Thank you. I'm still waiting to hear back from my surgeon. I'm also going to call my regular ob/gyn and see what she normally recommends as the amount of time to stay out of the water, and why. I think latex/rubber/neoprene shorts would probably keep enough of the water out that it would be totally fine. I just wish I could find some plus size things that weren't so expensive. We had to replace our leach field to the tune of $14,000 this year, we're not going to have a lot more for spending on the trip to Italy. So before I shell out (what seems to me to be) a lot of money, I'd like to be more confident that it'll serve well enough to be worth it.

Anyway, you've been very helpful and I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to me about this.

 

[coralcruiser]

DAN is Divers Alert Network. It's an organization focused on dive safety. They maintain lists of physicians in various places who have some experience or knowledge with respect to diving. However, I think it would be unlikely that they would have a dive-savvy OB/GYN, as diving rarely results in women's health issues.

You would be surprised at the various specialists on their referral lists, including ob/gyn especially since there are many women out there with questions concerning diving during various stages of pregnancy and other related female issues.