Laparoscopy Q's...

I'm sure there are probably a million threads with all this information but I really wanted to ask the questions myself - so sorry if you've had to answer them before!! So in regards to a laparoscopy......

How many keyholes do they make in your stomach?

Who has had problems with the gas afterwards (eg shoulder pain etc)?

How bad was that pain?

How long did you have off work?

When did you start feeling normal again?

Do the keyholes have stitches?

Does your stomach get bruised?

How long does the procedure take?

I've probably got a million more questions and I'll come back when I do!! Thanks to everyone in advance for answering my questions.

Can i ask what are u getting done?

Sorry - forgot to mention that part!

The GYN thinks I have endometriosis. It's a laparoscopy and removal of any endo, a tube flush and a D&C.

sorry double post...

How many keyholes do they make in your stomach? I had a tiny hole in my belly button, and a tiny hole at my pubic hair line. If you have endo and they need to burn it off they put another on in too *I think*

Who has had problems with the gas afterwards (eg shoulder pain etc)? I did, for about a day afterrwards. Pretty normal and not so much pain but uncomfy and really annoying.

How bad was that pain? Panadol took care of it for me. I was a bit stiff and bruised and getting out of bed the first day was a bit tricky (we DID have a waterbed though).

How long did you have off work? I was at uni so doesnt really count but I reckon 2-3 days would have been all I needed off.

When did you start feeling normal again? A week and I was feeling normal, no pain at all.

Do the keyholes have stitches? Mine didnt, just a bandaid over the pubic one for a few hours.

Does your stomach get bruised? Mine did, but some don't. It was mostly just around where they put the instruments in.

How long does the procedure take? For me it was barely an hour, I went under just after 10am and when I woke up in recovey it was 11am.

ETA: I had laparoscopy + hysteroscopy (the camera thing, i think thats what its called?) + dye studies (checks for blocked tubes)

Oh okay
well i can maybe help u -but maybe not - ive only had laproscopic surgery to have gall bladder removed and ur answers are as follows

1. 4 key holes - one in belly button 2 on right hand side and 1 in middle of chest

2. didnt have any problem with Gas afterwards

3. pain wasnt too bad - did have pain killers - it was more uncomfortable moving around and getting out of bed etc - and i have a very low pain threshold!!!

4. i think i had a week or just under a week off work - which was pleanty of time

5. didnt really start feeling normal again until the wounds healed up and i knew they werent going to get infected or anything - i felt queesy looking at them - that was maybe a mth (is that what u meant by that question?)

6. no stomach wasnt bruised!

7. i didnt have same proceedure as u - but mine took about 2hrs - was a bit longer cause i was 29wks pregnant at the time!

So thats my experience on Laproscopic surgery

I have also had a D&C if u have any questions on that!

Hope i have been off some help too you!

Ops i forgot - no stitches for me either - just steri-strips!!!

I looked at my form and it says I am having a laparoscopy and a hysteroscopy (sp?). What's the difference?

What does the Dr mean when he says "We're going to flush your tubes to make sure they are working properly"? Is that the same thing you had Leasha?

Lap is the incision thing, they go in through the stomach. Hys is a camera thats inserted ... down there ... just to check everything out. Well, thats my understanding of it.

Yep they flush them with a dye to make sure they arent blocked.

The hyst bit is what they do when they think you have endo or if they have to get rid of fibroids etc. It looks inside the uterus. The lap is to look at the pelvic region in general (I think).

I had a lap/hyst/dye studies/D&C about 10 years ago.

I had two incisions & stitches. I was quite uncomfy around the top incision until the stitches were removed (can't remember how much later that was but I think around a week or so).

It was done on a Friday, I was back to work on the Monday but as I said I was uncomfy around the stitched area. Other than that I was fine to work.

I had some shoulder pain but it wasn't that bad. I've had far worse shoulder pain since giving birth (all that carting around of a bub can be murder on your shoulders).

Also had a sore throat for a few days after the op. It was worse than the shoulder pain.

I remember being shocked by the blood and dye on the bed when I got out of it. I just didn't expect it.

I was very wonky on my feet as I left hospital (those stairs were a nightmare) so my then hubby had the great job of trying to keep me upright.

I remember feeling really disappointed when the surgeon visited me and said they'd found nothing wrong. I couldn't believe I'd put myself through all that (as I said I was feeling pretty ordinary at the time) for nothing. I actually wanted them to find something wrong so they could then fix it. Go figure.

OK I think I get it now... the laparoscopy doesn't actually go inside my uterus - it just looks on the outside and around those areas. But the hysteroscopy goes up "there" with a camera to look inside to make sure everything is ok.

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I remember being shocked by the blood and dye on the bed when I got out of it. I just didn't expect it.

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:o

Oh, I remember them pulling the gauze out of 'there' when I woke up. Yes OUT of there, they'd put it all inside to get the dye and blood. It was a very weird a feeling...

OH MY GOD.... :o:(:sick:

Freaking out now...

Nah dont freak out, the bleeding, for me, lasted a day and was no worse than a light AF day.

It's not the blood part...

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Oh, I remember them pulling the gauze out of 'there' when I woke up. Yes OUT of there,

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Can I tell them to take it out BEFORE I wake up??? I think I would seriously vomit...

How many keyholes do they make in your stomach? 3 each time for me. One in your belly button, and they try to keep the others below your bikkini bottoms line.

Who has had problems with the gas afterwards (eg shoulder pain etc)? Some, but sitting upright seems to help it. Only lasted about 24 hours.

How bad was that pain? More like discomfort from the gas. I found I was very sore after the operation both times. Kind of bent over double for a couple of days (remember I had big ops both times).

How long did you have off work? A couple of weeks both times (but I have severe endo). The worst was the first few days after the op. I just felt fragile for the second week.

When did you start feeling normal again? The second week after

Do the keyholes have stitches? Yes, first time disolvable ones, the second pull out ones. Both were absolutely fine.

Does your stomach get bruised? Not sure. You feel kind of sore inside more than outside.

How long does the procedure take? Can be from 15 minutes to 3 hours depending on how bad the problem is (if there is a problem at all). If it is really bad when they first look at it, and it needs to take longer than theatre is scheduled , sometimes they wont do the whole treatment during the op as theatre time is precious and they may book you back for a second go. I don't think this happens too often though.

Try to focus on the fact that most women with endo don't have too much of it (a few patches) and it can mostly be dealt with in one go during a lap and potentially with follow up drug treatment.

Good luck sweets
xx

Don't freak out. I never saw the gauze get taken out. If it was there at all, it was taken out before I woke up.

The pad under me wasn't that bad either, I just didn't expect it, and certainly didn't expect it to look kinda purple (blue dye & blood combined). I freaked for a second til I remembered I was having blue dye put through. Just something to remember in case they do the dye with you. It's perfectly normal to look purple.

At least I know now so I'm prepared for blood and dye...

When I was 16 I had to have a colposcopy (biopsy) which was done without any anaesthetic. It hurt like HELL and I was traumatised about it for years - even now I still cringe when I think of what it felt like. But the worst part was when I got up and saw this pool of blood on the tray underneath me. Mum had to catch me while I fell to the floor. I was out cold!

Hope that doesn't happen again..

Will they give me any pain relief?

Yeah they gave me some strong ones (no idea what they were though...) for the first day once the anaesthetic wore off completely. After the first 12 hours I found panadol and neurofen worked fine. The feeling is more like when you've worked your ABs out way to hard and pulled a muscle, a very stiff kind of pain. The only thing that hurt was my stomach. My girly bits didn't hurt at all.

And like I said, the bleeding isn't (shouldn't be) worse than having AF.

Don't worry. It's really not that bad. :hug:

I hope this helps, just remember it doesn't hurt as much as you imagine it will do and I had great benefits from the procedure so its worth it. It allowed me to go on and have two wonderful children so just focus on the end results... being pain free and having the option of fertility given back to you.
All the best, cheers Missy

How many keyholes do they make in your stomach? I had four in total including one in my belly button, two over my ovaries and one abit higher on my side . Only one on my side was a problem the others only needed a sticky plaster.

Who has had problems with the gas afterwards (eg shoulder pain etc)? I think the temporary pain in my shoulder was worse than the actual operation pain and I did say temporary mine lasted a day.

How bad was that pain? Quite bad but again it doesn't last too long and they gave me some pain meds to take the edge off..

How long did you have off work? Two weeks as mine was quite extensive

When did you start feeling normal again? I'd say it took about three weeks to get back to normal activitys without feeling anything much.

Do the keyholes have stitches? Mine weren't stitched but I think the one I had trouble with should have been as it was quite large but the others were hardly noticable. I have tiny scars with three hole and quite a big one with the bad one. If they by any chance do end up leaving you a big hole then insist they stitch it I wish I had.

Does your stomach get bruised? Not as far as I could see on the outside but it sure felt bruised on the inside.

How long does the procedure take? Mine took nearly two hours but as I say it was extensive

Hi.
My sister had a lap done a little while ago & is going in for I think the hyster?? one in 2 weeks.

She was shocked & embarrassed when she got up after & blood went on the floor, noone warned her about that & she freaked. It is normal. The bleeding didn't last very long though. A couple of days maybe.

She had 2 insicions. One in the belly button & one down further. The only problem she had was her pants rubbing on the lower one.

She went to macca's after if that helps?
I took my bestie to macca's after hers, but it made her feel sick to eat & she slept all afternoon.

You will feel bruised & sore inside. Thats the main complaint I heard from both of them.


My sister was in for about an hour & a half to two hours. My bestie about an hour.

:hug: Hope it all goes well for you. :)

How many keyholes do they make in your stomach? I had 3 - one in my belly button, one just on my pubic hair line and one half way in between.

Who has had problems with the gas afterwards (eg shoulder pain etc)? I had shoulder pain from the gas, it was more of an awkward discomfort rather than being painful, lying down helped alot.

How long did you have off work? I had 2 weeks off.

When did you start feeling normal again? Physically about a month, emotionally a lot longer.

Do the keyholes have stitches? It depends on your surgeon...my incisions were glued.

Does your stomach get bruised? No bruising here (my surgeon was fab!)

How long does the procedure take? It depends on what they find. It is normally day surgery. They ended up finding severe endo in me so the surgery took a good couple of hours and I think I was in recovery for about an hour or so before I woke up. I stayed in hospital overnight.

The laparoscopy is essentially the keyhole surgery. They make one hole (usually in the belly button) for the camera and other holes for the tools used to look around and remove endo, scar tissue etc. The hysteroscopy is when they insert the camera, etc vaginally and go in that way to look inside your uterus.

They flush your tubes out with a special dye which shows them if your tubes are blocked and how badly.

For pain relief, I had pethadine and had some other painkillers to take home with me. It really knocks your stomach muscles about and it will be painful to sit up, get out of bed, move around a bit for at least a week. So don't hesitate to take as much time as you need to recover. Take it slow and easy for a couple of weeks at least.

Good luck with it, I am sure you'll be fine!

I wanted to go to Maccas after! It was right around the corner, but the nurse said I had to just eat unprocessed easy to digest food for the first 12 hours while my body comes out of the anesthetic. I tried to convince Shel otherwise but she wouldn't listen lol

They made me eat yucky hospital sangas before I could leave so I couldn't possibly have gone to Maccas.

The procedure is on the Friday and I have the Monday Tuesday off after. Now I'm thinking I will take the rest of that week off to fully recover and have some down time.

If they do find endo and have to remove it I am betting I will be in quite a bit more pain.

Another Q.. I am on the pill and I worked out I am due to have AF then (I have it now and the procedure is in 4 weeks). Should I skip AF next month or is it ok to have AF when I have the op?

You should ask your FS... I was on the pill for PCOS and they arranged it for right in the middle of the cycle. I think they prefer to do it when you aren't bleeding.

You should double check Amy. I was on the pill when I had mine and my gynae booked the procedure for mid cycle, they wouldn't do it when I had AF.

I just rang and spoke to the nurse and she said it doesn't matter what time of my cycle as it doesn't affect the procedure. I think I might skip AF anyway.

i would contact the gyne about AF amy. i don't know that it would make all that much difference, but they might be able to give you direct advice. when i had my lap i wasn't getting AF visits at all so can't say for sure....

with my lap, i had two cuts - the belly button one, and the one on pubic line - i had additional "surgery" in that i had ovarian golf balling (drilling done) - to be honest, i had pain getting up from sitting, or going from sitting to standing, but nothing that panadol couldn't help with. no shoulder pain, a mild amount of bleeding (on day of surgery) - but was done the next day. i attributed it to the golfballing, but it may have been something to do with the hysteroscopy... had disolvable stitches which cleared up pretty quick

couple of things to be aware of - your wounds might be rubbed by underwear/clothes so might itch. be careful of infection too - i have a VERY deep belly button, and had a small infection in that one - it wasn't painful - but i knew it was infected cos it was a bit smelly. i spoke to GP and got advice on how to treat it at home...

i had procedure on Wednesday - took a week off (wednesdays were my day off, so went back the thursday week after) - didn't need that long off, and was bored at home! i would have been fine to go back on the Monday. given you've mentioned painful AF in the past, i would think this would be on a par with that, so nothing you can't cope with...


ETA - the bleeding afterwards - they had put a pad between my legs - no dressings internally!

How many keyholes do they make in your stomach? I had 2 each time (I've had 3 laps), one at belly button, one at pubic hair line

Who has had problems with the gas afterwards (eg shoulder pain etc)? shoulder pain,

How bad was that pain? quite uncomfortable

How long did you have off work? with the second and third ops, my gyno operates on a tuesday, I took the rest of the week off and re-started work the following monday

When did you start feeling normal again? within a few days

Do the keyholes have stitches?, the first time yes, the second and third times, no - different gynos

Does your stomach get bruised? Yes, but I bruise easily

How long does the procedure take? Can't remember, but about an hour I think, recover time was the longest.

For pain relief, I was offered everything as nothing seemed to work. When I went back for the third one, (only a couple of months after the second), the nurses joked with me about how much I needed before that. I've since worked out I have a low tolerance to morpheine and usually react with vomiting. So for the third time, the made sure they dosed me up with medications before the operation.

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Should I skip AF next month or is it ok to have AF when I have the op?

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I am glad you raised this. The second lap I had I got AF the day after the op and it was pretty awful. Avoid it if you can. I was annoyed my doctor didn't suggest waiting another week.