Laparoscopy - all done

[Nix123]

I thought I'd share my experience of a laparoscopy for those of you waiting and who may have been as nervous as I was! I'm 44 years old and have suffered problem periods for years, particularly with period pain throughout the month and severe ovulation pain that could go on for up to five days. I suffered terrible bloating and constipation and spent several months back and forth to the doctors with a diagnosis of IBS. I've had IBS for years and this felt different so I pushed to see a gynaecologist. After an internal scan by a very experienced consultant I was told I had endometriosis on both ovaries and in pouch of douglas. It was such a matter of fact diagnosis that I couldn't quite believe it. I'd suspected I'd had endo for years but nobody had listened to me. After a very long wait on the NHS, I eventually had my lap on Wednesday and the endo has been lasered off. I'm not sure how much they found as I really wasn't with it when the consultant came round, however I know the op went well and it was treated.

Now for those of you who are nervous, please try not to be. I was in a complete state of anxiety for a week beforehand and the day before it was all I could to do to stop bursting into tears! I was lucky in that I waited so long on the NHS, I actually had it done at a private hospital so my surroundings were lovely, however the procedure is the same no matter where you go. When I came round from the anaesthetic I did feel a bit nauseous and my incisions were a bit sore, but painkillers soon sorted that. For the next couple of days I didn't feel great, very sick and the gas pains in the shoulder were quite strong. But it's true that if you move, even if you don't feel like it, the gas pains do eventually dissipate. The soreness from the incisions was very minimal, I only took one dose of ibuprofen and the rest of the time I just took paracetamol. The hospital also gave me antibiotics to prevent infection.

It's now day 4 post op and I'm getting there slowly. Yes I have felt a bit down at times but I don't react well to anaesthetic and I've had to remind myself that I need to give myself time to heal. I'm very tired but I suspect I used up a lot of energy in the week beforehand worrying about it all!

Just wanted to send my warmest thoughts to you ladies who are experiencing the pain of endo and who maybe nervous of the laparoscopy procedure. Please try not to be.

xxxx

[Ktk86]

Hi, so glad to hear things went well and you are on the mend now 😊

In regards to the nhs waiting list how long are we talking? I was in hospital Saturday morning and the next step is for me to have an Laparoscopy not too worried about just wondering how long I will have to wait.

X

[Nix123 in reply to Ktk86]

Hi, sorry to hear you were in hospital recently.

I had to wait quite a while, I was referred by my doctor in end of Oct 2015 and I didn't get the pre-op apt until March. However, I think they lost my original referral as when I visited the doctor at Christmas and mentioned I'd not heard anything I then received an appointment a few days later. Mine was not an emergency though and yours maybe different. Once you're referred, I'd give it a couple of weeks and then chase up if you've not heard anything. Good luck, hope you don't have to wait too long x

[Ktk86 in reply to Nix123]

Thank you 😊

I really hope it's not that too long I take it any longer I actually collapsed yesterday because of the pain.

Thank you so much for your quick reply and hope everything is ok and you are getting all the right help. X