Post op recovery

[Fran95]

Hi there, I've not posted before but I'm a bit baffled by everything and hoping for some advice. I had a laparoscopy a week ago where they removed a cyst, found some endometriosis and removed with helica treatment, unstuck part of my bowel, did a hysteroscopy and put in the mirena coil. I was wondering how long the recovery is likely to be as I'm still in pain which I'm taking paracetamol and ibuprofen for and also needing to sleep a lot more than usual. There were some complications post op where I fainted multiple times which meant I had to be in hospital for 4 days despite expecting it to be a day case. I'm 21 and before this I was very active and I know it's impossible to put a time scale on these things but wondered if anyone had experienced similar and how your recovery went? I'm struggling to get hold of my gp but not sure if this recovery is normal anyway. Sorry for the long post, I'd be really grateful of any advice! Thank you ☺

[Hidden]

It's only been a week! Although the cuts on the outside are small you have to remember this doesn't reflect the work that has been done on the inside. Abdominal surgery is brutal. It took me over a month to recover from my first lap and they didn't even treat any of the endo. If you're managing your pain with ibuprofen and paracetamol you're doing pretty well - I took co-codamol for over a fortnight to manage the initial pain. I know it's hard, but try to be patient and give yourself time to heal.

[Fran95 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you so much for your reply! You've really put my mind at rest. Unfortunately I've not been able to take co-codamol as I reacted to it in the hospital. Think it's just going to take longer than I anticipated. Thank you for replying!

[Hidden in reply to Fran95]

If you need different pain meds the it's worth seeing the GP as there are lots of alternatives to ibuprofen that might help if you've got a lot of pain. I can only tolerate the over the counter strength co-codamol, the prescription strength codeine makes me throw up that's on my no list. I find diclofenac helpful (and they can give you this in suppository form which is really good if you're sick or having trouble with your stomach). I have to admit my first surgery was a bit of a shock and I still find it terribly difficult to get other people to understand that just because it's keyhole doesn't mean it's not major surgery. My mother still insists that because it's keyhole it's non invasive and you should be back to normal in a day which simply isn't true.

Hope you feel better soon.

[Fran95 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you, i will look at getting different meds. I'm having the same problem with people expecting me to be back to normal already so it's really comforting to hear that it's normal to take a while to recover. Thank you so much for putting my mind at rest!