Hi ladies,
Scheduled for a laparoscopy in 3 days, and I feel really anxious about it.😞🙏🙏
I was wondering if you could share any pre-op and post op tips? Anything that might make my recovery a bit more comfortable?
What should I expect post op? Will I get my results then?
Thank you ladies. Xx
Hi Illy-lory
It’s normal to feel nervous and I hope your team at the hospital are supportive. I’ve had three laparoscopies and found what helped me to recover was a lot of rest, peppermint tea to expel the gas they pump into your stomach during surgery and a hot water bottle for your back and shoulders. They should send you home with some pain relief to take the edge off.
What should happen is the surgeon should come to speak to you after the surgery to explain what was found and you should be given a copy of discharge notes with this explained. I asked for mine from nurses as I left after my second laparoscopy so I could research it more myself.
Good luck and message if you have any other questions x
Hi D1245,
Thanks so much for your reply, all the info is so useful!🙏
How long was your recovery?
After how many days your were mobile so to speak?
Were you in a lot of pain post op? Were you able to eat the evening after?
How about driving?
How are you feeling now? Why did you have 3 laparoscopies?
Thank you😘
My first was around a couple of weeks, my second about 6 weeks as I had a lot removed and some piece of my tube removed also, my third was to clip my tube so I was back to work after a week. I was mobile pretty instantly so around 2/3 days but I didn’t lift anything or do anything strenuous for about 3 weeks but they’ll tell you how long you shouldn’t post op. I was in pain but mainly from the gas being trapped, it’s more discomfort than pain I’ve found. I was able to eat more or less the same day/morning after but did feel a bit sickly due to the medication I was put on the second time as this was a lengthy op for me as they removed a lot but i knew that going in.
Generally they say no driving for a week so I’d say give it a week minimum, but you may need longer depending how you feel.
I’m feeling ok now, I’ve had fertility treatment so this has made me a bit more ill than normal but I’m managing the pain with heat patches and medication (when I’m absolutely in agony which is maybe once every 4 months- I find my pain tolerance is pretty high with endometriosis).
1st lap- to diagnose endometriosis and remove cysts from ovary
2nd lap- remove endometriosis and remove part of tube
3rd lap- tube clipping for fertility treatment.
Hope this helps? 😊 X
Hello! Firstly it is ok to feel anxious!! I wish i had seen this forum before my surgeries because it has been so helpful! I'm guessing you've had tests done and they suspect endo? Do you know whether they've spotted any endo areas already?
I had my second laparoscopy 4 weeks ago and was signed off for 4 weeks. I'm going back to work tomorrow for a couple of hours and will see how i feel. I was in overnight for this surgery as i had more excised than my first (in Jan 2020). I had an MRI before this one which, although doesn't show some endo clearly, was able to give my doc some guidance about where to look this time. On the day after my op the nurses made sure i could walk round the corridors of the hospital and could pass urine before i was let out. I would say that as you are likely to be on pain meds (probably morphine/codeine) these tend to block you up so maybe try eating more fibrous foods afterwards - that helped me! Peppermint tea is a godsend for the gas. Also recoveries are different for everyone and mine certainly has been a rollercoaster of emotions. You'll likely feel pretty good pain wise after 1-2 weeks but listen to your body and don't push yourself and it is ok to feel frustrated and disheartened. Also, heat pads are my best friends! :)Are you doing bowel prep for your surgery? I had to do that as my uterus was tethered to my bowel.
Pre-surgery I downloaded some audiobooks and easy things to watch on netflix so that i could listen to these while drifting in and out of sleep after surgery which was really useful as i was too tired to focus on anything. Throat suff like soothers are good as you'll likely have a bit of a sore throat. I came out of surgery and general anesthetic tends to make me feel drowsy, sick and have a dry throat so i didn't feel like eating much until later on that day when the nurses brought me lots of ice cream as that was really helping with the sore throat and easy to eat with the dry mouth (plus is very tasty).
I drove for about ten mins the other day but haven't tried it since. I found it was really tiring for me but everyone is different. They told me i shouldn't drive for 3 weeks but then if i feel like i would be ok should i need to emergency stop, i could drive. Since my main symptom now is fatigue, i'm easing myself in slowly to driving as i'm finding that concentrating on things, like reading, can be difficult.
If you want to chat more feel free to DM 
Really obvious stuff here but make sure you've got comfy clothing for hospital, I took low pjs (don't take anything with a waistband over the belly button).
You're nil by mouth beforehand and may not feel like eating for a bit after - but if they're keeping you overnight keep some food in your overnight bag/ make sure you've got stuff you fancy at home.
If they're planning on keeping you in overnight, and you have any, take noise cancelling headphones. Even on the ward it was like rave.
Post op experience - I woke up and was immediately told they'd found it - luckily my mum was with me because I was so unbelievably off my head on fentanyl I couldn't remember.
There was a injection in the leg a little bit after I woke up, didn't know that was going to happen. Not painful but just a surprise!
My surgery went really well so they were planning on letting me out the same day aslong as I could pee and eat... which I couldn't. If you can't eat or pee after they'll keep you in until the following day.
GOOD LUCK!
Hi Evuckery,
Thanks a million for your reply, you ladies are awsome❤ how are you feeling now? How long ago was your lap? How soon did you recover? Also, where did you purchase low pyjamas? I'm battling to find any😑😘
Stole my boyfriends PJ's didn't I! He's a medium and i'm a 6 - I stole his drawstring jogger pjs so I could just tie them up low 😅
Had my final lap two years ago now! Will be three this year. Hasn't come back for me luckily. Took me a good month to recover fully.
That's a great idea😁 I shall do the same🙈Glad to hear that you've been well since your last lap, that must be such a relief 🙏 Hopefully mine will go well too🤞🙏🙏
Yes! I had stage 3 exstensive scarring on my bowel, bladder, cervix and tubes and happy to report i'm currently 3 months pregnant! So it's not all doom and gloom... Hope it all goes great for you lovely.
I'd second the suggestions above! Just to add, the one thing I didn't do beforehand which I should have was to make sure I had some granny pants - high enough at the waist not to rub on the stitches. I had to send my husband out for some the next day!
I found that for recovery it really helped to get mobile. In the first few days it was just a shuffle round the garden or round the block but it really helped me. I had quite an extensive op but felt pretty much back to normal after 12 days.
Thank you for the tip RedA28 . I'm hitting the shops shortly to search for granny pants.😁 do you mean Bridget Jones like ones, or two size up huge briefs? I normally wear seamless thongs which you can't feel on at all, but I guess I won't get away with them🙈
I was really very, very worried about me daughters lap surgery, but it went well and actually seems to have helped a bit with her pain. You’ll be OK.
I think pretty much everyone has covered what I would have said. I had my surgery Dec.
I was signed off for 6 weeks, should be going back to work next week. I'm still very tired all time and in some pain only now feeling more myself. So may look at WFH another week. I got an infection in my belly button insicion so keep an eye on them.
Seatbelt and travelling in the car was worse you don't realise how uneven the main roads are! For me recommend cushion to help manoeuvring and another or blanket to put as extra padding for seatbelt.
They told me 6 weeks for driving, 8 weeks for core ,cardio fitness and 12 weeks for weights
Suckable sweets were helpful for me as I was so thirty and such dry mouth afterwards.
Wishing you well. It's ok to feel a little anxious
Tells Swan,
Thank you for the driving reccomendations. I suffer with my back alot, so I know how uneven the roads are, as I can feel any bump. However, I never thought of using a blanket/ cushion , so I'll try it.
Glad to hear that you've started to feel like yourself, I guess the recovery period, is so different for all of us, and I am looking forward to mine.
Fingers crossed it will all go well on Saturday for me, trying so much not to panic, but my anxiety is really setting in😫
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