Lap recovery and questions

[gem1092]

So I've finally been told by my gynae that she wants to do a lap on me for suspected endometriosis.

Firstly, she has put me on the urgent list with no explanation as to why I am urgent....does anyone have any idea why this would be?

Secondly, will it be a day surgery or have some people had to stay in hospital overnight?

And lastly how long has it taken for people to recover and be back to normal activity??

[CE_88_14]

I had a diagnostic laparoscopy about 5 years ago. I was in and out in the same day and took me about 3-5 days to get back to normal. I took the full week off work thank god because I was uncomfortable after the procedure but could still function normalish

[Kieenha]

Hi I wouldn't say you should be panicked about being "urgent". The waiting lists are so long that maybe it's just because she wants to get you seen quickly - laparoscopy lists can be for all sorts I think!

My lap was so much less traumatic than I had expected! I was terrified but it was actually fine and the pain nothing like what I was working myself up for!

I took 2 weeks off work - although depending on what you do for a job you might not need that long! I was normalish within 5 days but my job (NHS employee) involves lots of heavy lifting and being on my feet so I didn't want to exacerbate any symptoms!

I hope you get your surgery soon xx

[gem1092 in reply to Kieenha]

I'm a nursery nurse in the baby unit so as you can imagine I have multiple babies clambering on me throughout the day sometimes all at once so I'm expecting going back to work to be slightly challenging

[Kieenha in reply to gem1092]

I'm a Therapy Radiographer in cancer care so I have a little more control over people climbing on me! But yes maybe take a couple of weeks then. My GP signed me off for 3 because of the manual handling in my job and said I shouldn't be ashamed of having time off to recover - I was glad of this advice I went back after two on lighter duties because I was so bored! But I guess everyone will be a little different depending on what they find/treat. Good luck!

[Becca_Lou_Too]

When I have a laparoscopy for treatment I'm usually kept in overnight (had three so far) - I was given the option once to go home the same day, but the other two times they wanted me to stay as I had a weird (but minor) reaction to the anaesthetic. I go to a private hospital, so I don't know if that makes a difference about whether you're given an option to stay overnight or not.

I'm usually signed off for two weeks afterwards, and have found that although I feel ok after a few days, I'm not actually able to do too much and feel pretty useless for a good 10 days afterwards. I think it depends on how much 'work' you have done during the lap, and how you react to anaesthetic. My advice would be to plan to take things easy for a couple of weeks, and just see how you go.

Oh and another thing that I wished someone had told me before my first lap is to expect to have shoulder pain afterwards - this really freaked me out when it first happened but it's totally normal and wears off after a few hours. There is a good factsheet available which will tell you exactly what is involved in the procedure: endometriosis-uk.org/your-l...

[Joannaf1990]

I had a diagnostic laparoscopy 10 weeks ago, I went into day surgery for it and can home the same day, also I had to have a week to two weeks off work with no driving for a week. You could be on the urgent list if you've got horrendous pain. I wouldn't drive for longer then a week as I felt very uncomfortable