Printable View
Hi, I am due to have a laparoscopy and hysteroscopy on Tues 12/5/09 and I am not sure what to expect. I am a little nervous as I haven't had surgery before. I also don't know what to expect afterwards. Does anyone know if there is a higher pregnancy rate after this kind of surgery. If anyone could share there experience it would be greatly appreciated.
Hi and welcome to BellyBelly! With the lap, they will make the three incisions in your abdomen (usually in your navel, on your bikini line and one to the side) and they will bloat your stomach with gas so that they can see all your organs clearly etc. Then he will remove any adhesions or cysts if there are any and send samples off to pathology to check if it is endo or something else etc (I am assuming you have endo?). The hysteroscopy is usually done with a D&C as well and is where your cervix is dialted and a camera inserted to see what there is in your uterus. Anything they find will be removed and samples sent to pathology. You will also have the lining of your uterus scraped away in a curettage (the 'C' in D&C). Afterwards you will have some bleeding (like a normal AF really) and cramping. You will also be pretty sore around your abdomen from the incisions and also just from the surgery itself. You may also have some bloating and shoulder tip pain. Shoulder tip pain is when the gas they use can get trapped, causing pain in the shoulder area. This will be uncomfortable but will go in a day or two. Arrange to have a few days off work as you will need to do as little as possible and just rest. Bending over can hurt a bit, so try to avoid that if you can. If all goes well you should be fully back to normal by about 2wks (allowing for the soreness and bloating to go away.
As for increased chances of getting pg, well that's hard to say. For some women it makes all the difference, but for others it may still take awhile depending on what was found during the lap. If you have extensive scarring of the tubes or ovaries it may hinder getting pg. It is something you can't say for sure either way until afterwards when you know what is going on in there.
Thank for the reply trillian.I had a HSG about two weeks ago where the tubes and ovaries look fine, which puts me in the Unexplained infertility range. So they are going to do a laparoscopy and hysteroscopy as the Dr said that 50 - 70% of the time they find endometrioses as it can be asymptomatic. While they are there they are going to remove a small fibroid which is up near the right tube and also fixed my concave shaped uterus.
Heres fingers crossed that everything goes ok on Tuesday which will help in getting our BFP as it has been 12 - 24 month of tcc.
Have you had a laparoscopy and/or hysteroscopy done before?
Hi Lioness
Ive had 2 laps. The first was to see what was going on down there. it was only 30mins and got 2 scars one in the belly button and the other above the bikini line. They found out I had sever endo. 2 weeks ago I had another lap, D&C hyst etc. to remove it all. It took 3.5 hours and they removed all the endo except on the bowel. I had 4 stiches this time. 2 in the same spot as before and 2 either side of pelvis. Both times I never got sholder tip pain. Wit hthe 1st lap I only took 2 days off. With this one I just had, I ended up taking 2 full weeks off, due to being really tired after the opp ( i slept all day every day for the 1st week) the second week I had severe pain and it turned out to be ovulation pain. I was bloated for a week a part from the gas the put inside you they also put an adhesive type solution so nothing would stick together etc. For the second opp I stayed over night in hosp. as my heart rate was quite fast.
I know how you feel. it is very daunting. I couldnt see beyond the opp,you will be fine. just take care and take time to recover before going back to work.
I forgot to mention that we were told while having endo and ttc for 2 yr we had 1-2% chance of concieving nat each month, now we have been told it has increased to a whopping - wait for it ..... 4-5% chance of concieving naturally each month. sheesh! I read an article that it can increase up to 50%. i guess it depends on the issues. I posted a thread in the endo section of the forum about success stories. I think it is under general conception etc. There are some positive stories there about BFP after endo.
Cheers!
Hi Lioness, welcome to BB! I've had one laparascopy and hysteroscopy back in March 2005 where my endometriosis was diagnosed. The surgeon did the dye thing in my tubes and they were completely blocked. I was told I'd never conceive naturally! But 2.5 years later I fell pregnant and now have my beautiful son :)
Trillian has described the surgery perfectly. It's usually a day stay but sometimes they keep you in overnight particularly if they find alot of endo as it was in my case. Took me a good 2 weeks to recover and then a few more after that to feel physically "normal" again.
My periods returned 7 months after DS was born and so far they have been good so hopefully this means no sign of endo returning.
Anyway, all the best for the surgery on Tuesday. I'm sure it will all go really well. In some ways it is nice to know what the problem is so that you can find a solution but if they don't find anything it can also be hard because you're trying to find a solution to a problem you don't know (if that made sense!?). So, I hope it is nothing too serious and afterwards you get a BFP very soon.
Good Luck! Let us know how it all goes.
I have had two - first one in 1999 and the second one last year.
Thank you Trillian, Laranna and toby, Its nice to hear how things went for you guys when you went through the operation. Good news Laranna on conceiving your son naturally after being told that you wouldn't be able to. Are you planning an another? If so, how are things going?
How are you going toby? How are you feeling now 2 weeks after the second lap? I am sorry to hear that they have given you a 4-5% chance each month. Have you thought of trying acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine as well, or are you on other medicine which doesn't allow you to be on anything else? Good luck with your FS in 2 weeks time.
How successful were you laps Trillian? Did you conceive long after the op?
Things are better for me today, had an emotional one yesterday, felt pretty crappy. Thanks to all of you for all your support, has helped me to feel a lot better. I have just taken my picoprep a couple of hours ago, and need to be at the hospital at 4pm tomorrow. Speak to you guys after the op...hoping all goes well.
I had great success after the first one - I was on Duphaston for 6 months and then I came off it just after I got married so we could see how things were going and we conceived our first child accidentally 8wks after we were married. So the duphaston as well as the pregnancy held it at bay long enough so that I didn't have any problems after he was born and had what I would call a normal period for the first time ever. We had another 3 children who were all conceived first go (planned) and things didn't start to play up again till after the birth of my 4th child, hence the second lap in december. I don't really know how things are going after the second one as I had a mirena IUD put in to deal with the endo at the same time as the lap and it was horrendous for me, so I had it out on 24-4 but so far since then I am feeling good - no cramping or pain and I think I am ovulating atm (loads of cm which I always have when I O) but I have no pain from ovulation. So I am hoping that the lap was successful enough that I don't need further medicating.
Hey Hey I just had my Laparoscopy with Ovarian drilling & Hysteroscopy D&C on Thursday just gone Mine is for PCOS ( Mine is a severe case where I do not ovulate and do not get a period at all) and hoping the drilling gets me ovulating on my own! The 2 days after are sore but not extremely bad nothing panadol doesn't fix :) its just more discomfort than anything! I was only in for the day and I am finding my belly button the only place giving me a little discomfort but I have only had a total of 4 panadol since the surgery Thursday ... There is chances of falling pregnant after this surgery but they cannot promise anything I have read of soo many successful stories and its such a very very old technique that I decided to do it before looking for an egg donor or into adoption it can work for 1 month or 6 months sometimes not at all you just need to have hope and :pray: that it happens :) If you need to ask any questions feel free to ask away hun everybody here on BB is amazing and very helpful! I go back to my FS in 3 weeks to see if its going to work :)
Heres my story of what happened yesterday and today...
I returned back from hospital today at lunch time. Yesterday I turned up at the hospital by 4pm (after I had been fasting for a couple of days and nil by mouth at 10am). I went through the admin process and went upstairs to the outpatient waiting room. My Dr was running a long way behind schedule by approx 3 hours. After an hour or so they said that it will be even later. I was the fourth on my Drs list and he took his first in at about 6pm. So they organised a room for me to stay the night. DH stayed with me. I put my gown and lower leg stockings on. At around 945pm the orderly came in to get me. He wheeled me around on the bed to the operating theatre and DH said his goodbye and see you laters. Everyone at the hospital was lovely, the anesthesiologest had a good sense of humour too. The anesthesiologists assistant came out in the holding room first and went through some paper work, the my Dr came out, and then the anesthesiologists himself. He put a canulae in and then put some madazolam in, he said it will hit me pretty hard. I think I only remembered about 30 seconds max after that, and that was going through the main operating theatre doors.
I woke up at about 130am today in the recovery room as he didn't finish until late. When I woke up I was in pain, major lower abdominal cramping. They wheeled me staight into my room, I was still in pain, so they gave me some morphine and zofran which took the edge off and I was able to sleep. They also kept me on a drip. I had my BP and other vitals checked periodically through the night, and I had to get up every now and then and go to the toilet because of the drip (which I had to wheel around with me). I had my breakfast in hospital, and left around 1100am today.
So now its recovery time. I have 4 keyholes wounds in my abdomen, one in the belly button, one on each side plus an extra on on the right. They put in self disolving internal stitches and steri strips and tegraderm on the outside. My Dr will be giving me a call about 6pm tonight, his secretary said that it all went well. I had a laparoscopy, hysteroscopy, D&C, dye, myomectomy, excision of uterine septum, and laparoscopic excision of endometriosis. So by the sounds of it, I did have some endo of some sort. I have made an appointment with the Dr next Tuesday for follow up and results. For now they are getting me to take Panadine Forte and Voltarin every day. They sent me home on endone and a Zofran tablet. I do not have shoulder tip or pain from the air which is lucky, but I do have green urine which looks funny :)
I a looking forward to hearing from the Dr as it sounds like good news :pray:
I just want to say thank you to everyone who has offered and given their support. I would love to keep in touch and hear how everyone else is going in their ltttc journey. I would also like to share with whats been happening to me. Baby dust to everyone :) Let me know how you all go with your FS appointments!
Wow! You sure did have a lot done, no wonder you were feeling like you were. I was wondering how you got on with it all and it sounds like he did a really thorough job of it, so fingers crossed that the rest of your recovery is uneventful (Lucky you not getting should tip pain though!) and that you are soon announcing your pregnancy to us all :hug:
It sounds like everything went well. I tried chinese medicine, but that was before I knew I had endo, so nothing happened and tasted revolting! At this stage I think I need to up the ante. eg try iui again or ivf - see what FS has to say i guess.
I'm really glad everything seems to have gone really well for you!! Take care of yourself! chat soon
My Dr gave me a call last night and said everything went well. He found moderate endo on the left hand side, he said he'll tell us more when we see him on Tuesday. But I am guessing that it is pretty good news that they found something that was causing us problems conceiving. I am hoping now that everything should work as normal. He said mine shouldn't grow back. Thanks for the kind supportive words Trillian and Toby. You are in my thoughts :) xoxo
Well, I finally had mine done Monday the 11th.
OWCHEEEEEEE
it hurt- like extreme period pain.
I had 3 tumors (fibroid) removed 1 tumor ablated and endometriosis removed from the "pouch of Douglas" which is the pouch behind the uterus and between the bowel. 2 1/2 hours later.......
Interestingly enough I have had on-going lower bowel issues for about 7 months - contsant blood in my stools and severe constipation.
Since the op, no blood and everything is flowing as per usual, its great! - so I think it was the endo, I never thought I had it and have never been told I had it either.. but when they had a look there it was.
I took a week and 1/2 off work and the pain is still there, I had 5 incisions including the one in my belly button - I am still very sore now - although it could be ovulation pain aswell.
We go the go ahead to give it one more go naturally - we did the BD last night and again tomorrow night. Hubby did the right thing to set the mood and took me out on a date to a sushi train - nothing like food to get me in the mood! ha!
I am hoping that it works :pray: , but I think part of me thinks it wont.
Hi Krikkit, sounds like you have a lovely DH who is very understanding :). I can understand the feelings of hoping that it works and a part of you thinking it wont. I also go through the same thing. Now that they have removed the endo from both of us, I can't see why not. I have heard that you can be more fertile after having a lap, so fingers crossed that it won't be long until we get our BFP!!!
Good news that since the op, everything is working and going well. Sounds like we both didn't realise we had endo, bit of a surprise to us! At least they have found something which might be causing problems.
Was your lap done at the beginning, middle or end of your cycle?
Hi girls,
Was hoping you could help me with some info.
I have been referred for a HSG & a Lap. From reading this thread, it sounds as though you have both of these when endo or PCOS is present. As far as I know, I dont have either of these, I learn more towards unexplained inferitily.
Do you think it is normal to have lap & hsg even though there is no indication that endo or pcos is present?
Thank you
Hi RandJ, I never knew I had endo and I had never been diagnosed with PCOS either.
The reason I had mine was to check for tube patency (make sure the fallopian tubes are clear and do not have any blockages stopping the little eggies from making there way down to the uterus) and to remove the tumors also known as fibroids - one of mine was the size of a golf ball.
As far as I know they like to do Lap surgery to make sure that everything is "in working order" and ready to roll. No point in putting a blasto or embie in if the uterus is not 100% clean and in working order - and the only way to confirm this 100% is to look at it physically. Ultrasounds don't show everything. And sometimes unexplained infertility can be something like blocked tubes.
hope this helps.
Hi RandJ, hope your doing well. I was put in the 'Unexplained Infertility' category after having bloods and HSG which all showed up normal except a small fibroid and a uterine septum. But neither of these should affect fertility. The FS said that when he does a laparoscopy, he finds that 50 - 70% of women in this category have endometriosis of some kind as it can be without symptoms. So when he did the lap he found some endo (which I didn't know I had) which he cut out. My FS said there wasn't much point in trying all the other fertility treatments when under the 'unexplained' category as more than likely there is a reason which can only be found and removed/fixed laparoscopically as the HSG doesn't show up everything like krikkit mentioned.
I hope this helps. Have you has your bloods and ultrasound done yet?
Thank you so much Krikkit & Lioness for your fast and helpful replies.
He told me I was having mine to make sure the tubes werent blocked so from your replies, it sounds like standard procedure & a good starting point to find a reason for unexplained infertility. I am sort of hoping there is some kind of blockage so they can just clear it away and it'll fix all my TTC problems!
Is the ultrasound the HSG or something different? I havent had an ultrasound. I've got the referral for CD 21 bloods. I am CD5 today so will have to wait a few weeks for those.
I am so scared but also excited that I am finally doing something proactive to sort this all out.
Lioness, how are you recovering??
I am still quite sore, its really irritating actually - a bit like when you really need to pee and hold or just mild cramps start your cycle.
I had my op on cycle day 1.. so it was more painful too with normal cycle cramps.
I am really hoping that hubby and I hit the jackpot :dance: this cycle and not have to do IVF. Even the specialist gave us the go-ahead to try, he said that the chances are very high after lap- so fingers crossed.
I am keeping my fingers crossed for you Kirkkit. Try to rest up well over the weekend.
Kirkkit, it is standard to have it done on CD1 or is it just how it played out for you?
Hi Randj,
HSG is performed during your lap surgery.. or can be performed during twilight sedation (day surgery) the only ultrasounds I had were for the checking of the uterus cavity the capacity for the ovaries and just a general look around - this is where they found my fibroids.
The other ultrasounds I had were when I was on my assessment cycle, which all coincided with blood tests - during this they measured my ovaries and watched how many eggs developed naturally during my cycle and assessed the natural thickening of my lining and if it would be adequate to hold an embie.
No, I don't think so - it played out that way for me, its actually in the surgeons favour for it to be "vascular" - as he called it. For some reason this makes it easier.. not sure why.:
RandJ, HSG is the ultrasound of the uterus, tubes and ovaries. They flush a dye through to see if your tubes are open. I had it done at an ultrasound place and took approx 15 minutes. Wasn't too bad, just a bit crampy when they placed a small catheter through the cervix to insert the saline and dye into the uterine cavity. DH was with me and appreciated what us women go through. For me the ultrasound was done after the bloods came back.:
Doing something proactive is great, as you feel you are getting somewhere rather than months of disappointment and not knowing why :)
Hi Krikkit, I'm not feeling too bad physically, just confused over my cycle so I can start Clomid and tcc again. So emotionally a bit upset at times. Sounds like you have a good chance of conceiving this cycle, fingers crossed on getting your BFP.:
I just had my laparoscopy, hysteroscopy and D&C yesterday. I am pretty uncomfortable but haven't had the shoulder pain that I was expecting. Does that usually occur right away? I am 42 and DH(29) and I have been TTC for over a year. I had my tubal reversed last year. My hormone levels are great and an hsg in January confirmed both tubes were open. However, during the lap yesterday my RE noted alot of adhesions between the uterus, tubes and bowel. He has cleared them all out, so hopefully I am "open for business". He didn't mention anything about endo and I have never had before, but wonder if he is waiting until my 2 week post op visit to give me "bad" news? For those that had the lap before, did you get pregnant soon after? I have heard several success stories. I was on CD 2 when I had it yesterday, so hoping that the d&c doesn't change my cycle much. How is everyone else recuperating?
Hi NC, wishing you well after your op. I didn't get any shoulder tip pain either. I was on Panadeine Forte for 5 days and voltarin, whether or not this kept it away I am not sure. I hope your post op visit brings you good news. I am sure if there was anything like endo, the Dr would have removed it and would not pose a problem for you.
I am also waiting to hear success stories post lap. A few of us here have had a lap not that long ago and are in the process of healing, stay tuned...hoping we get our BFPs in the next few months. I had my lap on CD20 which I think has thrown my cycle out as I am waiting on knowing where I am in it. Did the Dr indicate to you what to expect after a D&C?
Hope your recovery goes well. Let us know how you are going?