Surgery yesterday

[Bluerock7]

I had my laparoscopy and hysteroscopy yesterday and feeling very sore and bloated today. They’ve prescribed me codeine and told me to take paracetamol and ibuprofen too when needed. What can I do to help relieve the pain from the bloating?

All my gynaecologist has told me is that I have a lot of endometriosis, what does that even mean? He told me this when I was in recovery so wasn’t really aware enough to ask any questions about this. They are sending me a follow-up appointment in the post for 6 weeks time. The nurse was great and checked my notes for me - she said they took biopsies and unstuck and drained a cyst I had on my right ovary, apparently the cyst was stuck to the wall of my uterus.

What do I do now I know I have endometriosis? Bit confused and upset that I’ve not been told anything else.

[Misss_r3d]

Hi

I'm sorry to hear you are feeling so rough :/ Was it a diagnostic operation or was it to remove endometriosis? (or both?)

The bloating is a bit horrific I'm afraid. It does get better but things that help include drinking water, finding comfortable position to sit/lie, very gentle walking (when you can - and I mean VERY gentle like up and down a short road!). Some people find comfort using charcoal tablets.

I'm sorry the consultant has been so uncommunicative. I would hope at the follow up s/he will provide details. The main thing will be how to manage symptoms of endo and whether further surgery would be of us. There are lots of ways to potentially manage the disease (hormones, pain relief) but it's an individual choice about what helps most. My aim was to get pregnant so I had surgery to get as much removed as possible to make conception more likely (I now have a 4 mo!).

If you haven't already , there's lots of info here - endometriosis-uk.org/inform...

One more thing - you could call back the hospital and ask for a more detailed update. I absolutely HATE how they give you loads of info when youre coming round from surgery - how on earth is this a good way to convey important information?!

Best wishes with your recovery. Take pain relief. Rest. Eat whatever feels nice. Don't do anything too soon. x

[Bluerock7 in reply to Misss_r3d]

It was initially a diagnostic but then the consultant said if he found anything he would remove it but then hasn’t actually told me if he removed anything! I have had my follow-up through the post today for 17th March so will be glad when that comes around so I can get some more information on how it went, what was done and the results from the biopsies taken. I have a 4 year old but would love to have another baby so my plan is to keep off contraception in the hopes that we can conceive (assuming the endometriosis was treated). I’ve been off contraception for over 3 years now and think I had 1 early miscarriage/chemical in all that time. How long did it take you to conceive after the lap?

Thank you so much for all your experiences and information, it’s a great comfort to have someone’s personal experience, makes you feel much less alone in the diagnosis. I’m still finding it tricky to get my head around it at the moment and what it means for me and my family’s future but I’m sure I’ll be able to make sense of it all in time and work with knowing I have endometriosis instead of constantly guessing what’s wrong with me!

[RosieLou94]

Try peppermint tea and ginger tea. You can also get peppermint tablets. These are all really good at helping with bloating x

[Bluerock7 in reply to RosieLou94]

Not a fan of ginger but will definitely try the peppermint tea, thank you 😊

[Jane884]

I second the peppermint tea, and I also found that lying down with my knees up and my feet flat on the bed for a while helped x

[Bluerock7 in reply to Jane884]

Thank you 😊 I will try and get some peppermint tea and see if it helps alleviate some of the discomfort x

[Horses2019]

Try some Rennie Deflatine. I had loads of these after surgery. The shoulder pain and bloating was horrific. Turmeric with black pepper is good for inflammation too x