Laparoscopy for Endometriosis

Anyone know how long the laparoscopic procedure is for endometriosis tissue removal? And what the recovery is like? I'm sure it is different for every woman depending on how severe the disease is, but I was just wondering what anyone's personal experience was like...TIA

Re: Laparoscopy for Endometriosis

mine was in jan

the surgery took about an hour- but i was asleep during it. I went into the hospital around 10 am and was home by about 3 pm.

the recovery of the incision and pain "down there " was not bad at all.
the incisions are small and heal pretty quickly.

what was annoying was the gas they use. it settles in your shoulders and is very uncomfortable. it takes 2-3 days for it all to expel out of your system. i would put a heating pad on my shoulders. it felt best to lay down since when i got up the gas rose with me.

i had my surgery on a thursday, took Friday off, and then I was back at work on Monday.

all in all, its a necessary diagnostic tool and needs to be done. its one of those things us endo girls need to go through .

Re: Laparoscopy for Endometriosis

I have had 2 laps, both were to remove cysts on my right ovary.

However, the 1st lap they removed a ton of endo, that one was harder to recover from. Like pp, the gas is awful, but the incisions not so much. Surgery was Wed, and back to work on Mon, but could have gone back Sun.

The 2nd, removed another cyst, but no endo, it never came back. The gas pain was still there but a lot less. The trick was that my RE recommended I "flush" out my stomach the night before, it gives more room and less gas is needed. Surgery was Thurs, and back on Mon. We stepped out to eat Sat night, walked slow, but still able to move around on my own.

GL!

Re: Laparoscopy for Endometriosis

Thanks for sharing your experiences! I am going to RE tomorrow to discuss my "options" for moving forward with this journey to motherhood. Since I have such painful periods I am hoping that the lap procedure will help...and of course that it will also help get rid of the endometriosis and help me get pregnant!! Thanks Ladies! :)

Re: Laparoscopy for Endometriosis

I have had 3 surgeries for my endometriosis. My first one was a laparotomy, which lasted over 5 hours, the second was an exploratory laparscopy, which lasted only an hour, and my last one was done with the davinci machine (basically laparoscopic) and it lasted about 3 hours. I have stage IV endo, and a frozen pelvis, and my last surgery cleaned up all of endo, a large right ovarian cyst, and removed my appendix. Recovery from the second surgery was nothing, the third was a bit harder because the surgeon did more work. But it was still not bad, within 5 days I was fine. I loved my last surgeon, he doesn't take insurance. If your want further info or have questions, send me a private message.

Re: Laparoscopy for Endometriosis

Thank you so much for all the info...I am having the procedure most likely on 10/10/11, waiting for hospital to confirm with doctor's office....hopefully all will go well!

Re: Laparoscopy for Endometriosis

I just had a lap in July at Good Sam. I can honestly say I have no complaints regarding recovery and with the surgery lasting a couple of hrs. Because I was so afraid of all the gas pain, I made it a point to constantly get up and walk around to release some of the pressure and move the gas around. I used a heating pad and took the pain meds as prescribed. The incisions were very small although I had alot of bleeding on the bellybutton one.

Lots of luck and I hope you get some answers.