The traditional method of performing a hysterectomy can be painful. Medical College of Georgia is offering a less invasive surgery.

Watching Teresa Mills walk around the park, you'd never believe she had a hysterectomy just three weeks ago. At first, she wouldn't have either.

"I wasn't looking forward to it because I had my daughter by C-section and I remember all the pain I had with that and I remember my mother having a hysterectomy," she said.

Teresa wasn't a candidate for vaginal hysterectomy, so she went to Dr. Sean Francis who performs laparoscopic hysterectomies at MCG.

"Her only other option would have been an incision through the abdomen or this, so to me she was the perfect candidate," Dr. Francis said.

The laparoscopic hysterectomy involves four tiny incisions, one through the belly button where a tube with a camera on the tip is inserted. The camera magnifies the organs making it easier for doctors to operate.

"That's basically how it came to be in that search to find a less invasive, less painful, easier surgery to recover from," said Dr. Francis.

Instead of 2 to 4 days, patients only stay a night in the hospital. Mills says she was amazed at the results.

"I was continually waiting on the pain and I kept saying well it must be this pump thing they got me on, must be good drugs, and I had a little discomfort but nothing major," said Mills.

Dr. Francis says other benefits are less loss of blood, quicker recovery and less scarring.

"It was a piece of cake, I mean nobody wants to have a hysterectomy but if you have to have one, laparoscopic surgery is the way to go," said Mills.

For Mills, it meant getting back on her feet.

Doctor Francis says laparoscopic surgery is not an option for women with an unusually large uterus.