Laporoscopy recovery

[tofutofu]

Hi everyone

Firstly I am SO glad to find this site. Thank you in advance for reading. This is a bit of a therapeutic rant... its been a really hard year...

My question is how long is laporoscopy surgery recovery?My doctor (I dont live in the UK) estimated 1 week in hospital and one more week but I have no idea if this is realistically. Can you walk after surgery? can you sleep ? (I imagine post op is very painful)

Backstory

I have known I have some issues for years, over a decade.... I saw a doctor very specifically in 2012 and said I think I have PCOS or endometriosis, nothing was done but 4 years later she did find some "stage 4 pre cancer" (I live in Asia but am from the UK) and at that time I had laser ablation (2016).

SInce then I keep having lower right abdominal pain. After a miscarriage in June the doctor told me I had two cysts likely from endometriosis. I suddenly then had a horrendous summer where right before a trip to the UK (I hadnt been able to see my family for 3.5 years and was so excited ) I had stabbing lower right abdomanal pain, I saw two doctors before I left to rule out appendix stuff and was told it was "entero colitus" and given antibiotis. In the UK I was really sick (vomiiting and pain) and had to spend a night in A and E and then the following 2 - 3 days seeing different doctors. After tests they told me it was likely the cysts and that they were quite large, and told to see the gynacologist. On returning suddenly at the end of september I was having severe pain, 3 doctors later I was admitted to hospital, they did a ct scan and were telling my colon was "inflammed" but no cause, it was in the appendix area but an appendix surgery was ruled out. I was told it was the ilieus / cecum area.... That hospital nurse infiltrated the needle (I was on no food) and I felt really unsafe and ended up writing a complaint letter about the situation. I was there for a week but left early as I did not feel safe or that they knew what they were doing. A month later they called me saying I needed to be checked for cysts even though I had mentioned this....

Immediately after getting out I had a sinus infection and two weeks later when I was up to it I went back to the gynacologist and was immediately told I have endometriosis chocolate cysts and need surgery. This was a huge shock they had grown much larger in only 2 months . It was also a relief to know this was real, I had been right....

but I am in so much pain from back issues (ongoing for 4 years I had a herniated disc in 2021) and worried that the diagnosis is not complete, the doctors have told me the pain in the right could be from adhesions but were a bit dismissive of my concerns about other possible causes. I was due separately of my own volition to go to see a gastroenterologist and possibly get a colonoscopy to rule out problems in the cecum/illieus but in the end I decided they would probably see more in the surgery, I am terrified of them not having the proper surgeons, I asked if it was possible to also have a gastro surgeon present as I feel like there may be other issues. He said they could not guarantee it but that its possible it might be more comolicated than just cysts.

Honestly not being able to work due to my back issues/ this pain and having just lost a baby had my uk holiday majorly effected (it was a miracle we made it) I am just feeling absolutely overwhelmed. Medical care where I live is heavily subsidised but is not free so on top of this pain and grief we have financial struggles...

with all these sudden more symptoms in the summer, if I have crohns on top of endo and back pain I just don`t know how I will cope. I just want the right diagnosis, its taken years and years to be listened to so I am grateful for this surgery and am trying to take it one step at a time, if the surgery shows no bowel/colon adhesions then I guess I might need a colonoscopy., or maybe not,,,,I have seen 12 doctors since June but maybe 20 since 2020 and honestly they have been really variable,

I miss the outgoing person I used to be, due to being in so much pain I cannot see people much , I moved during Covid and no longer live near anyone and some people I have expressed my honest feelings of anger and hopelessness have abandoned me. I dont want to be all poor me but its been so so much and I am trying to muster up belief that the surgery will help... Just a really hard year, thanks 🥲

[KlP28]

Hi,

I had extreme stage 4 endo. 1 night in hospital , but I’d say atleast another 3-4 week recovery at home. It was 6 months atleast until I saw baby benefits & relief from the surgery.

Take care x

[SeventeenNineteen]

Hi Tofu-

I had my first laproscopic surgery in Europe and I stayed in hospital for a week. I had a 16cm cyst that time but they saved the ovary. In Germany where I had the procedure they don't like using a lot of pain relief and the recovery in the hospital was very uncomfortable and not very nice, but when I got out I don't remember being very compromised at all. I was pretty much going around very well once I left the hospital. It seems that they went in, removed the cyst and patched it up very quickly and effiicently.

My next surgery this summer in the UK was very different. I had a smaller cyst this time, only 10cm but they had to remove the ovary, fallopian tube and did a lot of tissue removal on the womb wall, uterus, bowel and elsewhere. They were scraping and cleaning and apparently it was very bad and took 5 hours to do. Subsequently, my recovery was terrible. I left the hospital the next day and the wound sites did get infected and took forever to stop bleeding. I was basically in my room watching disney movies for about 4 weeks and not doing much of anything. I couldn't believe how different the experience was. I am normally very active and moving about but this time I just could do nothing. It is 2 and a half months later and I still feel nerve tissue damage and phantom pains in my tummy and the surgery sites have healed very poorly.

My experience shows how varying the laproscopic surgery can be depending on how much they remove and their approach to the surgery. I wonder sometimes the amount of time I was under this summer, and the scraping what it could have damaged in there. You don't know how long it takes to heal on the inside. At least thats how I felt.

I hope your experience is good and you are feeling better soon. Its an awful thing to go through but take heart that there are so many who feel much better after the surgery is over.