diagnostic lap advice and anxiety

[Bea0503]

Hi everyone,

just looking for some advice please - I have a diagnostic lap booked in for 13th and I am so anxious about it, as the date gets closer I am so worried about the actual operation and also the outcome.

I’ve never had an operation before and also quite worried about the recovery time and feeling awful after. Does anyone have any advice on what to expect for the lap and also recovery as I haven’t been given much from the hospital?

For background I have been going back and forth with drs on this for 10 years now and my pain has got significantly worse over the last 4 years when coming off hormonal contraception. scans have shown I have adhesions around my ovary attaching it to my womb so they know something isn’t right but not sure of the cause of that and hoping the op will at least give me some answers.

thank you x

[strawberrysunset]

Hi Bea,

I’m sure there are people who give you more experienced advice but I’m currently 20 days post op so it’s all very fresh in my mind! I was exactly the same as you and relied on this group after lack of info from the hospital.

I was taken down quite quickly so didn’t have much time to wait but I know other people did so make sure you have some entertainment with you to keep you occupied. After the op the worst part for me was reaction to general anaesthetic and then the gas pains - definitely take mints with you and some peppermint tea bags. I took polos and ended up sharing them, I don’t know why they work but when you get the shoulder pain pop one in and it will help!

My bag for the hospital had: polo mints and mint tea bags, a book, spare (big and comfy) pants and pads for any bleeding, some baby wipes just to give myself a quick wipe if I needed it. I’d recommend going in either a baggy dress or loose tracksuit bottoms/clothing and some shoes you can slide your feet into easily for going home like sliders or crocs!

I also packed an overnight bag I left at home in case I needed to stay in.

Make sure whoever picks you up has a pillow in the car, you can pop this on your lap to cover your incisions from the seatbelt

Then once home, I set alarms for my pain meds and stayed on top of these religiously and my pain from the surgery was manageable I think because of this. I also ordered an electric heat pad to have over my stomach particularly at night time as I found hot water bottles too heavy for near my incision sites.

The main thing I can say is keep getting up and moving. Rest is importsnt but the only thing to get rid of the gas which can cause shoulder pain and discomfort is movement, I would walk round my living room or bedroom sucking a polo to help get it gone!

Try and eat light meals, and lots of fibre too. If you take stronger pain meds it can obviously cause constipation which is uncomfortable so eat lots of fruit - I found drinking smoothies really helped!

Overall before my procedure I was extremely anxious, but following all these tips I read on here really helped. Be kind to yourself and get as much help as you can from a partner/family/friends as it’s not just a physical procedure but an emotional one after fighting to have it for so long - I waited 10 years too to get to this point so I sympathise with you.

Good luck and you’ve got this!

[ForestChase]

I'd second what Strawberrysunset has said! I had my diagnostic lap yesterday morning, went in for 7am and was taken down to theatre at 8am, so not too much time to work myself up. The whole process was so efficient and the staff were amazing at keeping me distracted when going under etc. Surgery itself took about 30 minutes, they found endo between my rectum/bowel and uterus and some cysts on my ovaries. Couldn't remove all of it as I'll need involvement from a bowel specialist in the future.

Luckily i dodnt have a particularly bad reaction to the anastetic, the gas after the operation was the most noticeable thing for me, but i was up to empty my bladder about an hour after surgery and i started burping it out straight away lol! Moving around (but still taking it easy) made it a lot better and I only had a little pain in my shoulder, peppermint tea helped lots too. I left the hospital about 3 hours after surgery as had been able to empty my bladder and was drinking lots. Unexpected side effect from the anastetic was that I was super thirsty!

A pillow for your stomach on the way home is a must, and I made sure to put fresh bedding on before I left for the hospital so I was comfy when home.

Go easy on yourself and make sure you have someone there to support you, I was given stool softener when I left also as the previous poster mentioned the pain meds can make you constipated, I'd definitely recommend something like this!

Hope all goes well and you get some answers and clarity 😊 xx