First laparoscopy and so scared

[HarleyScott]

hi everyone I have my first lap booked for December 28th I’ve just found out and I’m scared. I don’t know what to take with me what to have for afterwards at home and what recovery will be like. My husband works away so I will just be on my own at home with our puppy when I’m recovering as our son will be at school. My puppy always jumps all over me and I don’t know what to do about that. I’m so scared it’s all happening so quick after waiting for 2 years. What clothing will I need etc will I be able to get upstairs? Oh god I’m terrified now. Sorry for rambling. Any advice would be so great xxxx

[Dee_EndoUK Moderator Endometriosis UK]

Hi HarleyScott

It's totally normal to be anxious before surgery - I know I was - but the staff in the hospital were so kind and really helped to put me at ease. Hopefully it'll be the same with you. You can find out more about what a laparoscopy involves and how you may feel afterwards on our website at endometriosis-uk.org/your-l.... Everyone's recovery times are different but if you have a puppy in the house, it would be worth seeing if a friend or family member could come over, at least for the first few days, so that you can let yourself start to heal. Whereabouts in the country are you? It may even be that someone else on the forum is in your area and could help out.

Just wear loose, comfy clothing including slippers and dressing gown (both before and after surgery!). Some people get pain in their shoulder afterwards from trapped gas from the surgery and find that peppermint oil or peppermint tea helps to ease this symptom. Be gentle with yourself - don't try to do too much afterwards and definitely no heavy lifting. You may find that a hot water bottle on the abdomen also helps.

Wishing you all the best for your forthcoming laparoscopy x

[courtneyhatts]

Hi Harley,

I had my first laparoscopy last year just before Christmas and it came round so quickly, I only had 12 days to prepare, unfortunately for my self I didn’t find anything like this until a few days ago so I was just basing everything off Google.

It’s completely normal to be worried and anxious, especially my self as I wasn’t allowed anyone to give me company before and after due to covid rules still in place.

Everyone’s recovery is very different but I will share mine with you so hopefully you get an idea of what to expect.

I went in baggy clothing and packed Pjs, dressing gown fluffy socks and slippers and left wearing my pjs. Even though I managed on my own I did struggle to get dressed.

When I left after having surgery my boyfriend picked me up I was struggling to walk but still managed on own, I got home and felt fine within my self and surprised at how well I felt in my self, I managed to eat and drink fine.

However, the next 2-3 days were such a struggle, my partner worked but luckily I had my partners sister throughout the day to help me. I wasn’t able to move by my self, I would struggle to even sit up, but I was determined to do it on my own but I just couldn’t which was so frustrating. I also got a bad water infection so had the urge to wee constantly which of course was so stressful because I wasn’t able to get up my self and go to the toilet, I had to keep relying on my boyfriend and sister in law to get me up and help me to toilet.

I was able to get up and downstairs on my own but would have to sit on my bum to get down for the first few days.

What I wasn’t aware of was how much you use your stomach muscles, things like coughing, sneezing, passing wind (which happened a lot as they pump your stomach with gas to bloat it) hurt so much. I also did get really bad pain in my shoulders as well after a few days.

In terms of the puppy, I would be extremely careful especially for the first few days, you ideally need someone with you to help you or to check in on you as the first 2-3 days I needed 24/7 support every movement I did I needed help or assistance.

After day 4 onwards I was seeing a big improvement and was able to get up and do pretty much everything by my self.

I hope this hasn’t worried you, but I think you deserve a realistic opinion as it’s best to know to expect rather than it turning out to be worse than you imagined.

However, this is what my recovery was and everyone’s recoveries are very different. I hope this has given you a bit of insight and hopefully put you at ease. Just to add they did find stage 3 endometriosis and they did laser some of this off (which could be a reason why my recovery was this way)

I really hope it goes well for you and you have a speedy recovery, if you have anymore questions please ask me I’m sure I will be able to answer them for you xx

[Weaver5251]

take comfy clothes

Extra pads and undies

Hospital should provide you with pads and things. You won’t be able to use tampons right away

Have someone else drive you home if you can. Bumpy rides suck and would be worse if you had to drive

Have lots of fluids at home - electrolytes, oj, etc.

take supplements

Prep food that you can easily heat up.

Good luck!

[Louna24]

Hi,

I had mine in November. I got it end of the day so I stayed overnight which was great not going to lie.

For the first week I had the loosest PJs I could find. Loose panties like the one you don’t care about during your period haha. Plenty of pads even if I didn’t use many in the end it was just less stress to know i had plenty.

Personally I don’t think I would have managed alone the first 2-3 days. I had gas trapped under my rib cage it was super uncomfortable and moving around as well. I could walk but was very dizzy and weak after few minutes. First time I had a shower and changed my dressing I fainted for a couple of minutes, thankfully my fiancé was already holding me bcs I could tell I was going to faint.

I have a very jumpy dog, if you let her go in the bedroom in the morning she will jump all over you so she was not allowed to jump on the bed for at least a week and my fiancé was always keeping an eye on her when i was downstairs. Was hard bcs she was happy to see me but if you can I’d say leave your puppy at someone’s house for a few days. My dog after a week put her paw on one of my stitches it was very painful.

Hope you’ll manage ok. We are all different remember.

Take care