Hay guys been to see gyna today and he does suspect endometriosis!
Waiting on a lap but from what I can gather there's so many risks involved!
How long does it take to recover and how does it feel afterwords etc? Pain wise and activities and all. Any info would be great as this is all new to me. Thanks xx
Hey, I’m waiting for a lap and I’m petrified as it’s my first surgery. Anyways I can’t offer advice but you’re not alone in feeling a little scared etc.
My doctor told me that recovery depends on the person, I’m only 19 so I may recover quicker plus I’m quite fit and go gym. My problem is being able to rest for so long as I’ll try and go gym and play golf straight away haha which would probably prolong recovery and pain. Xx
Hey, glad to hear your gynae is following up with what he suspects 
A laparoscopy isn't all that bad, it is still an invasive surgery and so will require time to recover. Are you having a diagnostic lap or diagnostic with removal of endo lap? I went for the latter as it mean one op rather than waiting for it so I knew I could look at starting to get better sooner.
You'll be booked into a pre-op appointment a few weeks before where they take bloods, check any medication, what to expect, they'll run through anything you're worried about. You can also email your gynae or book an additional appointment directly if you want to know more.
The next part, depends on how much is done during surgery; day case or a few nights. Plan for an overnight; change of clothes (baggy), pjs, slippers, mini shower gel and shampoo, face wipes, baby wipes, pads (some women bleed after), peppermint tablets for the gas.
You'll be put under, and then they do the op; make 3 holes (usually or just one for diagnostic) in the belly button, on the bikini line and infront of hip (about a cm length). They put the instruments through these including a camera and lights). Youre abdomen will be inflated a little so they can see better, at the end of the op they'll take the gas out and either stitch or glue the incisions, and the nurses will put plasters on them. As they can never remove all the gas that's what the peppermint is there for; it helps shift gas reducing pain. You'll come round but wont remember, that's when they take the tube out, quite often we wake up a little and hear people muttering, bleeping machines, then drift off again. You'll wake up fully in recovery where they'll keep an eye on you before taking you back to your ward / room where you can rest. No one told me that your bladder is slow to respond due to the anaesthetic so it takes a while to wee!
Your surgeon should come round later or the next day to explain what they've done. The nurses will let you know what you can / cannot do and give you a leaving pack (mine did). Then it's up to you.
Recovery wise, a lot has been done even though it doesn't look it, so expect to be in pain the first few days directly around the op sites and inside. You should try to move around as much as you can bear, moving helps flush out the antibiotics (can take up to 48 hours to get out of the system) it speeds recovery too; so even if its from the bed to the sofa and then potter around the house, doing some moving helps. But take it easy, stock up on painkillers, you can take ibuprofen and paracetamol at the same time if you're okay with them. Hot water bottles help but use it after 2 days; the drowsiness from the antibiotics can cause you to fall asleep with it and possibly burn yourself. Have a shower on the second day after the op; you can get extra plasters; I got hypoallergenic non woven ones from amazon (I just looked up the brand I was given in my post op pack) Change your plasters once a day for about 4 days. If they're healing fine then take them off and let them air dry - I have colloidal silver spray (amazon) that I use for all wounds as an antimicrobial as I find the creams like savlon make the scab soften and so it opens, this stuff doesn't do that. If any cuts look like they're red / weeping white / yellow then see your doc. Any dissolvable stitches can take a few weeks to go. Keep plasters on any cuts you think will catch on your clothes.
On the note of clothes, wear baggy ones, I wore leggings, and nighties, or size up jogging bottoms and pjs. Expect bloating as your insides are healing, this can take up to a week to go. You should be able to move around normally after about a week, but take it easy as some stuff may still hurt. In the second week start doing more exercise, yoga I found helped with stretches and breathing. The second week you'll feel more drained and annoyed with yourself; if you have removal of endo the pain may feel like it's back, it isn't, the body can't tell the difference between removal of endo pain and endo pain. Two weeks is the usual for time off work, but you may still feel tired. It may take up to four months to be back to 100%. You should have a check up apt 2 weeks after op and another 4 months after (not all places do these)
I had a diagnostic and removal (excision) of endo lap, was back at work on the third week after op, I went back to full exercise and sports clubs 5 weeks after, and three months later I'd say I'm almost back at 100%.
My pain from endo has almost gone, the lap allowed me to work out my cycles, when the pain and other symptoms were happening so I could better plan around it.
My specialist said he expects to see most women present with recurrent endo symptoms bad enough to mention two years after their lap, and most needing a second lap three to 5 years later. He didn't pressure for hormones as he understood the idea of seeing and dealing directly with what's wrong then looking at how to deal with the remaining symptoms: I'm not having any additional treatment, I'll just see how things go.
Wow that's a long post, sorry!
This is so so so so helpful, thank you!!
Please be aware that sometimes you don't have a choice with regards to what is done during the lap. It depends on what the consultant finds. It unfortunately is a case of wait and see, and as every lap is different, it's very difficult to give you a set idea of how long recovery will take or what will happen next. So for example, although a time scale of 2 years for a second surgery is given here, I had 3 surgeries within 14 months because my treatment was difficult and could not be completed in one go. No-one had warned me that this was possible and I went into my first surgery naively thinking everything would be sorted, but it wasn't, and that was very hard to come to terms with. Try to keep an open mind if you can, it really helps. x.
Joreilly thanks for the extra info; my reply was specific to my case, so hearing about others is always good
I am waiting for my second surgery as they need a bowel surgeon present, so I understand how you feel - that many surgeries close together is tough. My specialist meant re-occurences when he's removed all of the endo with excision, and it's only specific to his patients and his records, obviously he can't speak for other specialists!
Thank you so much this info is amazing xx
Thank you so much for this reply xx
Laparoscopy aftercare...?
Laparoscopy - yesterday
Laparoscopy booked 
First laparoscopy scars
