I just wanted to share something, hoping that it may help or give a little guidance to other ladies after their laparoscopy.
I had my lap on 1st May (2 and a half weeks ago). Leading up to my procedure I read pretty much every bit of information I could lay my eyes on. I felt that the more I was informed, the calmer I would feel. I wanted to know about recovery after my op. How much pain would I be in? How long would I take to recover? When could I go back to work? I thought that being more informed about my recovery would somehow mean I could control it!?! I read about some ladies feeling ok after 3 days and other ladies going back to work after 8 weeks. I was pretty sure I'd be signed off for 2 weeks, so, I started to make a recovery plan and set myself little goals. By day 3 I'd be able to go for a little walk. By day 7 I'd be able to start getting out and about. I even started to make plans in my mind to visit friends during the second week. However...I soon learnt, it didn't matter how much I read, how informed I was, my body was going to do it's own thing, no matter what!!
My recovery plan was soon knocked on the head however. It's taken me a little longer to do the things I wanted to do, and I needed every day of those two weeks off work to recover. My body was doing it's own thing, in it's own time whilst whistling it's own tune. And I then realised...there are such vast differences in recovery from lady to lady. There's no guideline here, no hard and fast rules, no better or worse recovery. Your body is unique and aside from doing your best to keep healthy and stay positive, there's not a lot you can do at all to control the pace at which you recover.
You may recovery quickly, or you may take longer to get your energy back and heal. You may go back to work and feel absolutely fine, or you may feel ready to go back then need more time to recover again once you do.
Whatever happens to you, happens because you're uniquely you. Don't feel pressured or guided by what happened to others. When I left the hospital on the day of my op, I'd already started mentally rating my recovery by comparing myself to others - of all the girls having laps, I was the last one of us to leave hospital that day, and for some crazy reason, I let that affect how I felt. I've learnt so much since that day......and want to share it as we all deserve the time to heal individually in our own way. No two lap recoveries are the same, the same person can even recover differently each time. So be kind to yourselves and patient with your recoveries. Listen to your bodies and if you read up to be informed, just be informed, don't be guided or pressured by what you read. Be guided by your body and nothing and no one else. Don't let anyone make you feel you should be doing something by a certain time. Use your recovery time to really tune into your body so you can wisely judge what is best for you and when.
We're all beautiful unique individuals and we owe it to our bodies and our future selves to recover well.
I hope this may help someone who may feel the same way I did. Lots of love and positive thoughts to all of you xx