Laparoscopy

[Bk27]

hi everyone,

i finally have a date in September for my first laparoscopy and im a little bit in the dark. Does anyone have any general advice? Are you able to wear underwear during the surgery, like do they go near your vagina? Ahaha Do you have to have a catheter inserted because i am scared of infection?

edit: what if you're on your period??

[Tangoandmax]

Hello,

I had no underwear as I knew beforehand I was having treatment to cervix and a biopsy taken off the lining of my uterus. I would expect most have none on though to be fair as incisions may be low down. I had five total and two were on bikini line. I was extremely stressed re. the prospect of a catheter but I think they’re only needed if you’re under an extended period of time. Others will be able to confirm this though.

I’m two weeks post surgery. My advice would be..

1. Full body pillow to prop you up in bed afterwards.

2. Peppermint tea - the gas pains in the shoulders/chest are worse than actual pain from surgery. Hot water bottle also helps.

3. Eat plenty of fibre afterwards. Constipation on top of the surgery pain was not great/made me feel much worse.

4. Pillow in the car on the way home to protect your stomach from the seatbelt.

5. Prepare, the house/food - everything you can beforehand as initially it’s really hard to do much.

6. Make sure you ask for cleaning/wound care instructions before discharge. I forgot (post anaesthetic haze) and they didn’t give me any instructions. I’ve seen a couple of people in here have been in the same boat and Google gives a lot of contradictory information.

Wishing you the very best of luck! Be patient with recovery, it’s a lot initially but by day 9/10 you start to feel more human again xx

[Bk27 in reply to Tangoandmax]

Aw thank you so much for the advice, thats really helpful!! I have my pre ops coming up so hopefully i can ask more questions then. I hope your surgery went well and you are recovering well xx