post surgery

[Catlady1978]

Hi. 1st post here. I’m 8 days post first laparoscopy- removal of endometriomas on both ovaries, adhesions (including those sticking bowel/ovaries to abdominal wall, some on my bladder). I have very limited info post surgery other than there was a lot more than they thought there would be, my womb is abnormal and heart shaped, if this doesn’t work then hysterectomy. I read I ‘should be back to most activities’ by now, but I’m still exhausted, in some discomfort- paracetamol makes it manageable , haven’t driven yet (I’m feeling anxious about it) and today I’m tearful and anxious about just about everything. Continual bleeding since the op- and my period was 21 days long just before my op. How do I know how far to push it? Feel I should be doing more but my body is not cooperating. I live alone and am struggling.

What are other people’s experiences of recovery post surgery?

[MrsPaddingtonBear]

Hello

No way are you going to be back to normal by now. It takes up to two weeks to be able to just walk properly let alone anything else. Then you add on anything over what simple surgery would be, allow for them finding any unexpected things to deal with etc and it all add to the recovery. You shouldn’t drive until you can do an emergency stop with no pain. External scars/cuts heal quickly, internally it takes 3 months for all your muscles and ligaments to get over the what have you done to me and get back to normal. You will be exhausted, you are in very early days. Listen to your body and be gentle with yourself. You’ve had a lot to deal with and the prospect of more major surgery to contemplate as well. You will get there.

[Catlady1978 in reply to MrsPaddingtonBear]

Thank you xxx It helps to hear how recovery has gone for others. Have been feeling pretty alone in this journey. Thank you xx

[Gemsstones in reply to Catlady1978]

Message me if you want. My surgery was 4 weeks ago so I’m a bit further on than you but still recovering.

[KittyTherapy]

Well said by PaddingtonBear but I just wanted to reiterate the same, 8 days complete recovery is almost unheard of so definitely don't feel guilty for how your healing! I needed 6 weeks off work, 2 of them I was essentially on bed rest as couldn't do anything then I went back to work on a phased return (gradual increase in hours and workload). Didn't start driving until around week 3 I think as already mentioned you will need to feel ready to cope with things like harsh braking. I still kept using a small blanket for ages which I would use when driving; folded over my tummy so the belt didn't rub on my port sites.

Listen to your body and rest for as long as you need to. Also if you feel the pain is too much then do seek something stronger. I say this as I was sent home with no pain relief despite needing regular morphine in hospital right up to my discharge and once this weaned out my system I tried to cope with the pain just on ibuprofen and paracetamol which didn't touch it. For days I was in a bad way before contacting 111 and they prescribed me some cocodamol which helped.

Also I was very very emotional during my early phase of my recovery. I have anxiety and depression anyway and I struggled with this more following the op as my body was coping with all the internal stuff and the impact all the meds were having but the feelings did pass and I started to feel more myself. Do reach out to someone if you need this, even if it's just to offload x

[Catlady1978 in reply to KittyTherapy]

Thank you for this advice. The online advice made me feel like I’d done something wrong or was simply being flaky/lazy. I knew about anaesthetic making people weepy as I experienced it when I had my gallbladder out in Feb. (Never had surgery in my life before that!) This time is much more intense on every level, I’m a mental health warrior too and on a day like yesterday I feel like I’m starting to relapse which is scary. Thank you for sharing your experience x

[Gemsstones]

I had a laparoscopy but they then removed some endo, a cyst and I had a myomectomy while they were there, which was unexpected. It was a good 10 days before I started feeling more human and could ease off the pain relief. I’d read a lot about ‘2 weeks’ being the expected timeframe but every health professional I spoke to said I’d had a lot of abdominal surgery during the laparoscopy and 6 weeks recovery wouldn’t be unreasonable. So try not to worry yet, sounds like you’ve had a lot of abdominal surgery too.