Laproscopy--recovery time

Hi All,
  I am schedule for Laproscopy surgery for next Thursday sep 25th. I have a 6.5 am ovarian cyst, doctor doens't know they type/nature of it. I also have Endometrial polyp which they will do Hystroscopy or something..not sure what is it called.
I wanted to know..how is the Laproscopy surgery? How is it after surgery?
I have taken one week off from work. Is that good enough? I am in computers so my job is mostly seating only.
I heard that most of the people get thru the pain in shoulders due to gas they out during surgery, Is that true?
What other precaution I need to take? In eating, exercising etc...

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
ASH.

[ireneo]

It seems to vary from person to person. I was fortunate in that my doctor seemed to suck out most of the gas in my abdomen. I had very little ache in my back and shoulders. For me the hardest part was the first couple of days. I had to move slowly getting up and lying down. I did not take the pain pills because they gave me a wicked headache (I tried them twice) and made me too dizzy. Plus they add to the sluggish bowels.  I felt bloated and had trouble doing a bowel movement. The stool softeners are a must. Once that got going I improved quickly. After a week I felt almost normal. Still had pulling feeling in the belly and tenderness but I was able to walk around and do stuff. I did go back to work but couldn't do any heavy lifting (a 40 lb beaver for example) or squatting and twisting (to grab a Canada goose from a bottom cage). My volunteers were great about helping me out.

[Sandymac]

Hi, There is a really good post from awhile back that I will try to find and re post for you. I too, had a lapascopy.. It really wasn't too bad. Hated the bowel cleanse the day before. It was outpatient surgery, although my cyst was really small. It really depends on the patient, and the Dr.

I felt pretty good after a week, but was told not to drive or lift anything for 2 weeks. I had my stitches out in 1 week. Don't be too surprised to see some bruising.. It will go away. The hardest thing was stretching to reach something and bending over. Try not to do either. I had one of those grabby things from Walmart (Gopher).. a little grabby thing on a pole in case I dropped anything.. Ireneo is so right.. Stool softeners are a must and I ate prunes as well. I had a horrific headache as well with the pain pills so I ditched them the next day and took Xstrength Tylenol. I also took metamucil very diluted.. although one of the gals on here said her Dr. said not to do that since it may cause a blockage. You might ask your Dr.

I was lucky with the residual gas also.. My Dr. evidently did a great job getting rid of it.. You need to remember though, that even though you feel fine, you musn't overdo. Things take longer to heal internally.. It's still surgery..

Let us know how you do,

Take care,
Sandy

[Sandymac]

Here's the link..I'm going to find it and bump it up as well. It's cute and very informative...

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/show/518374?post_id=post_2911053

[ash298]

Thanks a lot Sandy and ireneo for your reply, it really helped and thanks sandy for the link to the post. It was really cute =) and helpful. I just have 5 days left now ...so nervous also and also want to get done with it..
Let's see how it goes..ll let you guys know..

Thanks,
love
ASH

[cirella]

LOL, well...can't add anymore to this b/c that link to the post is very well written.  Good luck with your surgery and I hope you bounce back quickly.  My only advise is to listen to your body.  When you're tired, rest.  

Take care!

[ash298]

Hello ladies,
How are you?

I am done with surgery finally =). It went fine. it was quite long than expected. It last 2.5 hours. It was Dermoid cyst and he also found one small cyst in left ovary as well and he took that off too.
First 48 hours were very painful because of the gas, from shoulder it went to my stomach , and my stomach was blown out like a balloon and the gas was soooo painful...after soo may medicines it came out and I could clear my bowel. There is very tiny little left but it's not painful anymore. Only standing up from bed is problem,but i guess it will go away slowly, coz my belly button incision is bothering me somewhat while coughing, sneezing, it pains..so I am avoiding any such things.
But much much better now
taking rest and trying to get perfectly fine soon.

Thanks for your help,
Warm regards
ASH

[ireneo]

Good to hear from you and happy to hear it all went well. Yes, those first couple of days are rough. Keep moving and walking around but don't over do it. The outside will look good in a week or two but the inside takes longer to heal up. Did they do any further testing on the cyst? Have you heard the results? It's always a relief to get that final report that says you're healthy and ready to go.

[ash298]

Yeah, that's true! No I have not got the reports yet, will take some more days.
Today they have changed the dressing only..
So taking rest..enjoying some time off from work =)