First laparoscopy

[Jay_jay19]

Hi all, i am having my First laparoscopy and i am so scared. Not sure what to expect. Would they just check and confirm, also how much does it hurt. I do not have any children so before i start trying i want to make sure. Is it worth having it. What are the risk and ehat happens before the surgery with consultant and on the day and the recovery time afer?

Thank you all

[Camodo_Cat]

Hello,

It depends what your consultant plans and also expects to find so some of these questions can only be answered by them. If it's an exploratory laparoscopy then often they are looking and if they see any adhesions or endometriosis they will get rid of it. But you need to check that they intend to do this and decide whether you are happy with this. I would check whether they are looking to laser or cut it out as excising (cutting) is the more effective approach for endometriosis. Is the consultant a gynaecologist or a endometriosis specialist? As this generally determines how likely they are to find any endometriosis you have and also how skilled they are at removing it.

As for recovery, I am day 5 of my second laparoscopy. I'm healing well on the outside but it takes time before I will have my stamina back and not need pain medication. It's tiring on the body and you need help to recover but i haven't found it excruciating, just twinge like pain and discomfort. Mainly it's the exhaustion and soreness but in another week I expect to be much more mobile and hopefully back at work. I hope this helps.

The risks with laparoscopy is minimal but any surgery can cause new adhesions and takes a toll on the body so it's up to you as to whether getting the official diagnosis and hopefully removal of endometriosis is worth that risk. Keep asking questions and researching so you can help build your understanding, to help you make an informed decision.

[Jannie61]

I to was like you but honestly it was fiine , I opted to be put out and knew nothing about it I woke up and the procedure had been done and yes I would have it again if I had to so please don't worry

[Morty1984]

hello my dear. I had my first one 4 weeks ago and remember being scared too. I know everyone is different but mine was ok! I told the team I was anxious and I get sick with anaesthesia so they sorted me out with antiemetics. The procedure took 1.5 hours or so (but can be different depending on what they found). I woke up and wasn’t in that much pain. The worse pain was my sore throat (I’d recommend getting some throat spray in) and the shoulder pain from the gas (I’d recommend getting some voltorol gel in). Also have some spare dressings or ask for more than they give you on discharge as I left my wounds covered for 6 days but then cleaned and redressed them again. My stitches were small and healed well and weren’t painful. My best advice is to take time to recover and rest. I went back to work far too early. You need at least 2 weeks of really being careful and resting before you can start to slowly build up to your normal activities. Also have some co-codamol in for the first two weeks as that really helped with any residual pain. They did find stage 3 Endo with me and I had ablation surgery whilst under to remove it. Good luck. You’ll be ok. I was discharged that day after I drank some water and ate a some toast and went to the toilet. They let you go after those things pretty quickly. It was better for me than I imagined. We are all warriors xxx

[Avourneen]

I know just how you feel. I was so scared before my first lap that I was crying when the surgeon came for me. But the good news is the lap itself doesnt hurt you are knocked out so you won't feel anything.

When you come round you could be sick, not everyone is, some people don't vomit at all, but I did for a long time after waking up, but if you do, this will stop once the chemicals for the anaesthetic are out of your body.

You will feel very delicate and knocked around so you probably wont be able to move much, for a few weeks. Morty is right there is often terrible neck pain (but again not always, I had this at my first lap and not at all at my second)caused by theirritation of a nerve up there, by some gas they useto infate your abdomen.

This is like the worst cricked neck ever it is very painful but painkillers really help and it will just stop after a coupple of days.

After that it depends how much work you have had done. I had a big procedure that took 6 hours and a lot of endo taken out. I was on painkillers for about 6 weeks and with painkillers it was okay. The main thing is to realise that when you come home you shouldn't start lifting things or doing loads of house work.

I asume your surgeon and nurses will give you advice and a leaflet for when you get home saying dont have a bath til your incisions are healed and to not do anything strenuous for 6 weeks, but ask them and look for info online.

The stiff neck is the worst bit and not everyone gets that, but being prepared and knowing what to expect helps. It will be fine. XX