2nd Laparoscopy in a month and catheter fears

[LFriend45]

Hi everyone

Just looking for some advice please. I had a diagnostic lap 2 weeks ago where stage 2 endometriosis was found. Some fibroids in my ovaries but apparently nothing to worry about but the endometriosis has caused my left ovary to fuse a little. Biopsy was clear.

I’ve got private health cover with work and my consultant can get me in for my second laparoscopy for excision in another two weeks time, so there will only have been 4 weeks between ops.

Has anyone else had laparoscopy’s so close together? The consultant is happy to do it and my recovery for the first lap has gone well.

I’m naturally a bit scared as I would imagine I will be in a lot more pain after the 2nd lap as they will be removing endometriosis. It’s about a 2 hour op with an overnight stay.

The other issue I have is that other than intramenstrual bleeding I haven’t had any of the “traditional” symptoms I.e pain. The consultant isn’t worried that there is any reason to be concerned about for the bleeding so that’s good, but it might not have been caused by endometriosis anyway! The reason why I want the second lap is down is to give myself the best chance of getting pregnant especially as I’m 34. I also suffer with vaginismus which means sex is painful and always has been. I suspect this is as much psychological than physical but maybe, along with physio, the excision of endometriosis will also help. I’m just worried that having the operation seems like a sledge hammer to crack a nut and with my vaginismus problems I’m not even sure I will be able to get pregnant anyway, but I feel like I would regret not giving my body the best shot.

I’m also really scared about having a catheter. Apparently they put one in and take it out the next day when I’m awake. I can see myself having a meltdown when that happens and I think that’s worrying me more than the op at the moment. Was anyone else in the same boat?

Sorry for the long post - thanks for reading. Just a lot going through my mind at the moment.

[Hannah0091]

Hey, Iv never heard of havving laps so close together. My ovary was fused to my bowl, my surgeon was able to infuse it diagnose endo remove it and removed adhesions and a few other things all in one lap that only took a bit over an hour. So I would enquire as to why you needed to have two if you don’t already know.

In terms of a catheter again Iv never heard of this needing to be done for a lap but maybe they need to do it with it being more than 1.5hrs op. I have had one fitted previously for a different op. And removed a couple days later with no pain killer while I was awake and whilst it wasn’t pleasant. It was okay. I didn’t feel it loads and was more uncomfortable than painful. They will just take it out but I completely understand the fear cuz I was too. Maybe ask them to explain what they are going to do before they do it. Hope this helps x

[LFriend45 in reply to Hannah0091]

Thank you. The consultant said that they would have done minor excision on my first lap if they could but because they found more than they were expecting (and it would be a longer recovery time, time off work etc which they hadn’t got my consent for) then he wanted to do a second one.

I found out yesterday from my consultant that I had a catheter in for my diagnostic lap but they took it out before I woke up from anaesthetic. Comforting in a way I.e that physically there is no problem getting one in and out, it’s more the being awake and knowing it’s there/ it’s got to come out that I’m stressing over. And I got a UTI after my first lap which I think must have been as a result of having one as I’ve never had one before.

[Hannah0091 in reply to LFriend45]

Oh I see, ohh bless you. Would it be possible to maybe request them to take it out while still under. I completely get your stress it’s not a pleasant thing at all. Bless you x

[Angel71]

Hi,

Sorry to hear you are going through such fears.

Many years ago I had a first laparoscopy for diagnostic purposes and as the endo that was discovered was stage IV and pretty much everywhere, they couldn't remove it then. So they had to refer me to a specialist in endometriosis and I had another laparoscopy to have excision of endo just 4 weeks later. It wasn't a problem for me to have the ops so close to each other.

I have 3 surgeries for endo and due to have one again next week and each time I had a cathether. I didn't have any problems with it at all and didn't find it particularly painful.

Also as you don't have bad endo pain and your endo is not that advanced, I am sure your recovery will be quite quick. I hope this can help to reassure you a bit and best wishes for your op. x

[LFriend45 in reply to Angel71]

Thank you. That’s really comforting to hear. I feel ok after two weeks so will hopefully feel even more healed after 4 weeks, and knowing someone else had two in the same timeframe is good to hear. How long was your recovery from the second lap? I’m thinking I need to give myself 2-3 weeks maybe, judging on how I felt after the first one (I was ok-ish after a week) Good luck for your surgery next week. Hope it goes well x

[Angel71 in reply to LFriend45]

Hi,

I am glad that it has reassured a little bit. In my case as the endo was so advanced and on my bowel ( which hadn't shown on mri) I had to have the second lap to have a gastrosurgeonon standby in case of any issues with the bowel. As my endo was quite advanced and I had lots of adhesions the op lasted for quite a while and it took me 3-4 weeks to recover.However I am sure recovery will be quicker than that.

Thanks for your good luck wishes and all the best of luck for your op too x