What was your lap after care instructions?

[Peachii]

Hi all,

Hope you're well.

Just had my second lap, had excision this time. The hospital I went to is connected to a private hospital, and nhs arranged for my surgery with them (was v unexpected but I loved having my own room instead of being on a ward haha). However, it's caused some confusion with the after care.

After my surgeon spoke to me, he briefly mentioned about a leaflet on the RCOG website but said that the nursing team would be with me soon to go into detail about the after care. When the nurse did come round to discharge me, I said what the surgeon said and asked about after care, but they weren't too sure what I was talking about. I think the surgeon wasn't aware I was technically an NHS patient, so I didn't qualify for that hospitals after care? I'm not 100% sure tho so this is only a guess.

The nurse gave me a quick run through, and said not to get my wounds wet/have a shower for up to 5-7 days, and gave me some dressing for my wounds to change after a couple days if they get gross. But nothing was written down and I was still very out of it from the surgery so I can't remember what they said. And from my first lap, I'm pretty sure it was 3-5 days for a shower, but I can't remember.

I've also checked out the online website/leaflet my surgeon told me, but it says I can shower 24hr hours after my surgery, which is conflicting to what the nurse told me, so I'm left pretty confused. With my discharge letter the hospital also gave me a note saying that as they are a private hospital and I was with NHS, not to contact them regarding after care 😂 and to call 111 if needed, but that seems a little extreme for this, so I'm not too sure what to do.

Can anyone tell me about your after care info from your laps? General timeline for washing, changing dresses, can I use soapy water on the wounds or just pain water etc. Or anything in general I should be aware of.

Also, how long do I have to wait before having sex, swimming, cycling, yoga etc? I did ask but the nurse wasn't too sure.

Thank you all in advance!

[EndoSuckss]

I just had a lap on Wednesday! I was told I could shower from the following day (but I have glue over my stitches, so not sure if that helps!) and they can get wet but just pay them dry. 1 week before a bath, 2 weeks before sex, and 2-4 weeks before excercise (depending on how you feel).

Oh.. And no heavy lifting for a week or 2.

Hope thay helps x

[Clara12]

I showered the next day. Told to dry my incisions carefully and to use a hairdryer on low heat on belly button to make sure it dried properly as easy to get infection. Changed dressings after 2 days then took belly button dressing off after 3 or 4. I kept the lower incision covered for 2 weeks as they were catching on clothes and took ages to heal. Was told to get stitches out after 5 to 7 days by nurse at doctors surgery but when I went after 7 days they weren’t close to being ready and nurse said they’d come out on their own anyway. I guess that depends on what stitches you have. I couldn’t lift for 2 to 3 weeks or do any stomach exercises for about 6 weeks but other exercising fine after 4.

[Peachii]

Thank you both!I had my surgery Monday afternoon, and been sink washing since 😭😂 so I might give a shower a go later and change my dressings and fingers crossed it all goes well!

Hope you're both doing well after your laps 💕

[FlowerDaisy1]

I have had two laps now - One was private and one NHS and I had really different recommendations for after from each! Privately I was offered to be signed off work for 1 month to recover and on the NHS they offered 1 week! I work from home and after a week with each could have my laptop in bed etc so that worked for me. I think if you had a more physical job they would sign you off for longer.

At the most recent NHS lap I was told I could shower the following day whilst wearing the waterproof dressings. Then to take them off after 3-4 days. I left the bikini line one on for a few more days as it was catching on clothes and just wore loose dresses so nothing was touching that one for a few days. I'm nearly 2 weeks post my second lap and the stitches are still firmly there - they are dissolvable which just means they will fall out on their own. I believe mine fell out about week 3 first time around. Also I was told I couldn't bath or swim for 2 weeks both times. And I wasn't comfortable to cycle and exercise for about 4 weeks last time around. Hope that helps a bit and you recover quickly! xxx

[Peachii in reply to FlowerDaisy1]

Hi there! That's interesting you got different advice depending on if you went private/nhs! At first they offered me a week off, but I tend to get the post surgery blues/trouble with my throat after so I requested 2 weeks to see how I go. Luckily so far I'm feeling a lot better than my last lap, fingers crossed this continues! Thank you so much for providing all this info and I hope you're recovering well from your lap 😊😊