Worried newbie needing advice about first lap

[Hanny101]

Hi everyone,

I am feeling worried about my firsts lap and I'm hoping to get some advice.

I'm 26 living in Surbiton and this is my first post so excuse the length!

I have always had heavy & long periods (7-8days) with bad cramps. In the last few years I have been having pain during sex, sometimes where I jut get some discomfort and tenderness and other times it's much worse and have a pain going up into my tummy and it feels like a burning hot poker inside. I can sometimes feel nauseous during sex and have experienced some after cramping on a few occasions. This is affecting my relationship as he is terrified of hurting me.

I have noticed my bladder urgency and frequency has been bad the last few years and now during my period it can hurt to pee especially towards the end. Sometimes this happens when I'm not on my period too but when it started it was only during.

I have had times where my stomach bloats and I can't find any pattern or reason why and recently I get sharp sudden pain in my stomach and have to go to the loo which then after the pain subsides. I don't know if any of this is connected but I usually am either constipated or the opposite, and on the second day of my period always have a sudden looser than normal bowel movement it's like clockwork.

My period itself I have been regular as I'm on combined pill Cilest but is still a week long and getting really big clots about the size of a 50p sometimes and my cramp severity varies monthly. I get central lower stomach cramping, worsened back ache( I have chronic pain) and sometimes get vaginal pain that radiates into my bum and legs. What has been the worst part is In the last year or so I have started getting pain in my lower right side of my abdomen which began as a pulling feeling when I moved to now often being really achey and sometimes stabbing pain during my period.

When I had my first smear I nearly kicked the nurse in the face it was so painful so she recommended a transvaginal scan. This didn't show any abnormalities and neither did my smear. I had spoken to my gp previously about my periods and endometriosis has been mentioned but even after the smear nothing progressed as the scan was normal. I then had a suspected hernia as I was having severe discomfort like a ripping/tearing sensation in my right lower side/groin area and I thought I could feel a lump. I had an ultrasound and again came back clear. The discomfort and pain lasted about a month then settled down. My gp referred me finally to gynaecology after I went during my period when my cramps in my right side were excruciating and she was worried about eptopic pregnancy, after another transvaginal scan which showed all clear endometriosis was brought up again so I was referred to consultant and I have now been put on the list for a lap as urine tests sti swabs were all clear also.

I am a model and am worried about going through with the surgery as the scars will affect my work as I do a lot of swimwear and fashion work. I would be devastated to go through with it to then find nothing but equally terrified they will find endometriosis and the problems of that. Can anyone advise me on how it looks after a lap?I have also read on here that a general gynaecology department isn't a good idea for lap and seen BSGE mentioned. I am currently on list in my local hospital with general gynaecology department and am worried it could be missed by someone without specialist experience. I have had a long road of being fobbed off by doctors in relation to my back pain and period issues and don't think I could handle if I was told it's all clear when actually may not be. Can I ask my GP for a referral to somewhere on that list on the NHS or would it be private and cost a lot? I have bupa but only a local area membership and I think Guildford Croydon or at George's are closest to me but wouldn't fall into my covered area (surbiton/Kingston)

Any advice would be hugely appreciated, I really would like to had we kids someday so want to get it investigated so I can atleast know to prepare for possible difficulties.

Thanks

[LM1989]

Hi I'm also 26 and just recently had my first laparoscopy. The reason for my lap is infertility so it was to find out why we haven't conceived in over a year.

It was then that I was diagnosed with endometriosis. I had also had scans beforehand which showed nothing and looked 'normal'

I was told I have endo all over my womb area, bladder and bowel. I was surprised with the diagnosis as my periods really aren't all that bad in my opinion I have one or two heavy and crampy days however that has got slightly worse in recent months but still I thought it was normal. Since my diagnosis things have slowly started to make sense. I have suffered with UTIs and constipation a lot in the past and loose bowels during period like you have mentioned. I also suffer more with right side cramps before period and my endo was worse on that side.

The operation itself went fine and I was in surgery for three hours while they lasered off what they could around my reproductive area. It was in a general gynaecology department and they left my bladder and bowel alone as I do think you'd need a specialist to do that, it's so delicate in there and the slightest mistake can result in a colostomy bag or catheter. They made three incisions one to the left of my belly button, one just above my pelvic bone and the other is in your belly button. I just took my dressings off today (5 days later) and whilst there is bruising the scars are sooo small. Much smaller than expected so I wouldn't worry about it affecting your modelling career I fully expect them to be practically invisible within a couple of months.

Good luck and I hope you get some answers soon x

[KSvedenmacher]

Hi, sorry you are struggling so much. GPs are useless. Your symptoms sound very similar to mine and I have endometriosis on my utetosacral ligaments, on my ureters and in my Pouch of Douglas. These are places where general gynecologists tend to miss endometriosis, so it would be worth going to a BSGE centre. You can get a referral on the NHS, just bring the list to your GP so he knows where to refer you.

With regards to the scars, they are very small. Of course they will be visible initially, but they fade really soon and for me I couldn't see them at all anymore after 2 years.