First Lap on Monday!

[Denised90]

Hey!

I am writing I think more for re-assurance.

I am absolutely panicking about my upcoming Laparoscopy. One for the general anaesthetic and the other incase I go through it all and they don’t find anything! I mean I know I am in pain but since cutting out all caffeine it has reduced considerably except my bowel issues. Now I’m wondering whether they are going to find anything because the pain isn’t there and if I’m going to have wasted time 😫

Also worrying about recovery as I have a 2 and a 4 year old who will no doubt be wanting to sit on my knees and cuddle me and I will feel really guilty if I can’t do that as normal 😭

[weekari]

Hey,

I remember feeling the same way about my lap. It was my first surgery so I was petrified. They can give you a sedative when you're waiting. The woman next to me asked for one but I was too scared. I waited such a long time to be taken and I wish I had taken something to calm me down a bit. You can wait for ages so its good to take things to distract you.

There is honestly nothing bad about the procedure itself though. You have no awareness of any of it. They give you the anaesthetic in 2 parts, the first makes you feel a bit woozy like you're drunk and so is not unpleasant at all and then they say could backwards and I think I got to 8 and the next thing I knew I was waking up in recovery. I was scared of so much but it was honestly not an unpleasant experience. I find getting dental treatment worse - I'm awake for that! Everyone was lovely to me and I felt so well looked after. A far as these things can be, it was actually a fairly pleasant experience!

I was scared I'd go through all that for nothing too. And in my case, that's what happened, they didn't find endo. I was disappointed as I had no answers but I found a way to get by after that and started using alternative treatments which have helped me so much. I have since been found to have severe endo so mine was missed in the lap (I'm meeting with my surgeon in a few weeks weeks to find out what's happened). So even if you don't have it, it's not the end of the road...it's just a bump in the road! In some ways I'm actually glad they missed as I've learned so much these 2 years and find all these alternative treatments, so I'm less dependent on just the medics.

As for the recovery. It depends on so much, what they do in surgery and in your health etc and it varies a lot. But it is likely you'll be struggling to move for a few days and you'll need some help. The kids can cuddle you but they'll need to be careful of your tummy area. Maybe have a pillow over you just to protect your and to remind them not to jump/sit on you. You won't be able to lift them. But a week or so of some different types of affection is not going to be harmful to them. Kids can be aware of these kind of things and explaining that you're going to be not well for a little time and they need to be gentle with you now, might help for when you're home.

You may have a sore shoulder too. It's just from the air they pump into your tummy to inflate it so they have space. It ends up trapped and can cause shoulder pain. I didn't get it too badly but some people can really hurt. If you get some peppermint pills and peppermint tea to be prepared for that it'll help it to release.

If you have a partner, you're going to need them to help you move around for a few days. It's likely you'll be pretty exhausted too. Just try as much as you can to rest and take it easy. If it's possible, could you have the kids stay with someone for a couple of days? Or even have someone stay with you to help a bit more?

Good luck with it!