Laparoscopy Excision & Endo Belly

[Krithika]

Hi all,

I’m planning to get a laparoscopic excision surgery soon and have so many questions! Can anyone take a moment to explain their experience with what happens to endo belly after the surgery, recovery process, days and months following the procedure? I’m terrified of invasive procedures as most of us are naturally but after ~ 20 doctors I think I’ve found one I trust to do this.

I’ve been suffering with bladder and digestive issues (severe bloating and discomfort after consuming anything) and left side pelvic pain, to say the least. He was the first one to find that my uterus is tilted 45 degrees to the left, squeezing my left ovaries, bladder, and rectum. I never thought I would consider surgery until I saw how my anatomy is impacting my organs.

Has anyone had a similar problem or know if surgery will correct any or all of these issues? Thank you for your time, any thoughts/advice are greatly appreciated.

[Sfr204]

Hello, it does really vary person to person but firstly don’t worry. The medical team will take great care of you.

I had my laparoscopy with excision 2.5 weeks ago. The first few days are hard with the gas the bloating and the belly just being in the way and needed to heal. Walk around in little bursts to move the gas, drink hot drinks, eat well and nap. Sleep on your left if you can to help the gas, make sure people look after you. My blood pressure went very low, it’s usually quite low anyway, and I felt lightheaded which wasn’t fun, I personally had 3 wounds all very clean, and minimal bleeding. My stomach was huge though! After about 5 day I was making my dinner myself, left on my own in the day etc (protective other half) and wasn’t needing to nap quite as much. My bloating started to really die down after probably 8 to 10 days but it’s still bigger than it was before the op.

Get yourself lots of. Omfortable loose pjs, primark was my go to, and high waisted knickers, m&s my choice. Stay warm, watch tv, listen to audio books. Be patient with your body.

I didn’t drive for a fortnight as didn’t feel Capable and I’m glad I waited. I go back to work to,Oreos on a phased return so can let you know how that goes.

If you have other questions or anything is worrying you just say, I could waffle for ages but I hope the above helps somewhat. Good luck. Xx

[sydney00]

Hi Krithika, I had Endo excised 5 days ago and yeah, I went in with a flat tummy and now I feel like a hippo, but the bloating has come down a lot from day 4 to 5 and I'm feeling like my organs have stopped 'swooshing' around inside me!

I am inspired by the other responder above and look forward to day 10 when a lot of the swelling has gone down. The way I look at it is that when I injure myself in sport, the limb usually swells massively and takes a couple of weeks to get back to normal - it's probably the same but longer for all the holes drilled through the stomach muscle not to mention the organs healing.

I'm also using the healing time as an enforced diet - only healthy food, heaps of mint tea, limited carbs, no sugars, alcohol etc.

One note: after the op you may feel constipated. Prune juice worked for me, looks horrible, but trust me, you don't need a lot!

I'm happy to chat more if you like.

TT

[Krithika in reply to sydney00]

Hi, Sydney thanks for your comment! I did have the surgery in December and all of my other symptoms have been resolved but unfortunately I’m still experiencing the same bloating problem. Every day for 1.5 years I wake up with a flat tummy and as I eat or drink anything, I swell up and expand up to 6 inches each day, and somehow through my nights sleep it deflates and repeats every single day. My post op swelling went away within a few days and I wasn’t concerned about this swelling at all as it was part of the surgery process and it was actually less severe than my everyday bloating. I’m now about to take a stool test to find out what is going on because my surgeon says that this isn’t endo belly since it hasn’t resolved with surgery. It sucks

[sydney00 in reply to Krithika]

Ack good luck, it sounds like you've got the investigation underway, I hope they find out why so it can be solved.