Post lap advice

[Joely21]

Hope your all okay?

Just wanted a few reminders as it’s been 9 years since my last laparoscopy.

I’m 5 days post op, very swollen still and very sore, how long does it take for the swelling to reduce? I’m really finding the mental effects difficult this time around.

Also they said I had dissolvable stitches but my stitches look very prominent and are blue so I’m not sure what stitches I actually have.

I guess really I’m just asking how long did it take for the swelling and pain to ease slightly and to be able to walk a bit easier I’m trying not to be hard on myself but by the evening my pain and swelling is just getting me down a bit

[Tangoandmax]

Hello,

From my experience (op. Was 1st August) by around day ten I felt more human could move a little easier. It took a good four weeks for my swelling to go down though.

Re. Stitches. My dissolvable ones were white. I also had two sutures which were blue (used to hold ovaries out of healing sites) that had to be removed in clinic. If you’re unsure give the discharge ward a call just to double check. It did take ages for one of the stitches to dissolve.

All the best for recovery. It’s hard to be patient but give yourself all the time your body needs 🤍 x

[Joely21 in reply to Tangoandmax]

Thank you for your reply I went to see a nurse and she wasn’t very helpful she said that they might be dissolvable but if in 14 days they are still there book in to get them removed! Trying to be kind and patient to myself this is tougher than I remember x

[AJW25]

Hiya,

Sorry to hear about your struggles.

I would also say around 10-14 days to start to feel more normal but took a while for everything to really settle and even now after months, I can get niggling pains.

If I could go back and give myself advice, I would say definitely try to move as much as you possibly can without over doing it (to boost your energy) if youre up for eating try to eat fruit & veg, especially fibre and keep well hydrated and finally, dont rush yourself to getting back to normal, allow your body to heal.

Also, dont be hard on yourself - if youre having a bad day or feeling down, that is okay, its bad enough going through the effects of these conditions and the recovery for surgery is a longer road than we all think. Youve done the hard part - you got this!

All the best for your recovery x

[Fayed in reply to AJW25]

I hi there I’m on day 13 so we must’ve had our surgeries at similar times. I had a laparoscopy and stage four excision. I am really struggling with how long it is taking me to feel better. I’m still creeping about holding my tummy. I have an office job and I originally thought two weeks off would be fine, however asked for free but I’m thinking I will need more than four weeks sick note that I have. I don’t feel anywhere near Driving. Is hard as I have massive commitments with the children and driving them to places. Anyone that can help us. Please let us know if this is normal as at the moment I’m not feeling in much less pain then before the op ! Maybe we can keep in touch with each other

[Joely21 in reply to Fayed]

Yes we must have I’m on day 9 today, I had some endo deposits removed but due to the horrible consultant who booked my lap saying there would be nothing there it was down as a diagnostic laparoscopy so there was only so much they could do on the surface as my endo was too deep 😢I feel you I’m struggling with how slow it’s going I’m trying my hardest but I still too have to walk around holding my tummy and the swelling is on another level. I’m so sorry your struggling the last 3 days my pain has been terrible and has left me questioning why did I do this… I know in time that mindset will change but having bad endo pains on top of recovery pains it’s really rough, sending love x

[Joely21 in reply to AJW25]

I’ve been trying to move around as much as I can tolerate I am struggling with eating but I am ensuring everyday I try and manage some fruit or veg. Thank you for your kind words the last 2 days have been very bad days x

[Joely21]

I’m thinking of contacting my doctor tomorrow as my pain the last 3 days is really severe and I’m unsure if it’s part of the recovery or not, I’m really struggling with the swelling as well 😢 the aftercare/advice isn’t the greatest I feel personally as I don’t know if these things are ‘normal’ all I got told from the nurse is if you have bad pain with a fever to go to the hospital, I’m well in myself apart from the surgery issues