Top 10 things I have learned from laproscopic cyst/ovary removal

[painterchic]

It's been almost 2 weeks since my laproscopic surgery, I have learned alot both from experiencing it and talking to ya'll here on the forum. Time to share, because just maybe somebody is about to go through the same thing and has questions or needs help. It would be great if everyone added their two cents and we will have a nice "what to expect when your expecting laproscopic surgery" list...lol

1. Don't be fooled, this is major surgery. You could be having body parts removed. Don't plan on doing much for at LEAST a week or two. If you are lucky like some, you'll be up and at 'em. But if you're not, then you won't be disappointed and frustrated.

2. Make or buy muffins. Especially bran. You will need them. Don't ask me why. Ok...why? Because your meds will constipate you and make your stomach hurt. AND you will be too tired to make food. You can buy stool softeners too, but they don't make for a tasty breakfast...

3. If you can, shop for or prepare food and stick it in the freezer. And be REALLY REALLY nice to your friends and neighbors before your surgery. They may offer to bring you food. Don't be silly, say yes. You will be glad you did!

4. The CO2 gas may bloat you up. It might not happen for a day or two and you will laugh and say "I am SO lucky!!" and then "POP" You are the now the Pilsbury doughgirl. Only not as cute. But it hurts...not just the shoulder, could be all over. WALK, WALK, WALK.. around the house, it will go away. Could take a week or more, but the worst is the first few days. Try beano, mylanta, etc. too. BEST cure: Massage. Takes away all the toxins, pushes out some gas. Can't get one?... be REALLY REALLY nice to your spouse, significant other, children, whoever.... they may take pity on poor ol' bloated you and help you out.

5. Get one of those beanybag things that you put in the microwave. Put it on where it hurts. Warm feels nice and you can't get in the tub for two weeks. Your body might hurt all over. They say they don't drop you off the stretcher while you are unconscious, but I personally don't believe it...

6. Enjoy your downtime. Remember all those busy days you wished you could lie around, play on the computer, read books, organize your photos, google your old boyfriend,  write that novel? Well, do it. Or sleep. Or both.

7. Sleep. Sleep some more.

8. Driving sucks. Try and avoid it until your incisions/stomach muscles don't hurt. (and you're not on happypills anymore...) It's illegal in most states to drive lying down, I believe...

9. Drink lots of water. Flushes out all the stuff they pumped into you during surgery. Fluffs out the sleep wrinkles in your face..

10. Get on this forum when you can. You will find wonderful women with supportive notes, messages, laughs, and you can read others stories to know whether you are "normal" or not (in terms of your surgery - if you want deeper analysis, try the psych forum...)

That's MY top ten, I hope you all can add a few of your own! Thanks everyone for ALL your help, info, and especially the friendship and laughter.
Have a great day!
Joelle

[Nik2017]

Hy girls from Europe, Croatia..
I had laparoscopy about 8 years ago , they remove from right ovarie 5cm of teratoma -dermoid ( as they guessed before on ultrasound) and they remove one small cyst from right ovary, bc they suspect other teratoma, but it was normal cyst...
So my experience with laparoscopy,
Well I was happy to go on laparoscopy finally to removed that stuff from my body , and live life normal..
So I think I came in hospital happy and ready...
I didnt ask to much question, and doctors arent that much talking...
Only pain I felt, well first one was when I drink some stuff to clear all food inside my body, I dont know that in english..
Few hour after drinking that liquid, day before operation, I feel need to go to bathroom...
Omg I tought I would die, that my ovaries will exploded, I was like that for an hour..
I went on surgery, they gave me some happy pill..
I wake up , little funny like calling same person for two times to tell them I was fine and eeverything is good..
I get up easily to toilet for urine, and nothing I take for pain...
But tommorow mornig, that gas , was like big knifes trought whole upper body, every move I make I felt crazy pain..until I finally get injection in my but , after 20 minutes I was like a bird...

I had pain all time, but it was normal pain to expet..
Only that two stuff I told before make my pain extremely..
But I was young and strong, just waiting to get rid of that, forget it and go for life, without pain, worries, doctors checking , and guessing ...


But to mention I met other womans , that had different experiences, some felt very pain after surgery, but I think we all where very happie we dont have cancer or something,
So we also laught a lot, I was the youngest and I bring little positive energy,and they each was interesting on some way..

In all of that healt thing going on, you meet other woman, what also became part of all of that experience...

Sorry I talk a lot, but I like to share one part of have remmeber my laparoscopy :-)

So girls, womans, mothers
Be brave, dont panic, belive in best outcome, and accept what you hear after surgery!

:-)

[Jo_ann_33]

Thank you! It's comforting to read that I am not alone in this experience. I had surgery to remove 5cm dermoid cyst from my left ovary as well. Its been 3 weeks now and occasionally i could still feel sharp pain from the insides near the incision sites and i've been having daily bloody discharge similar to discharges nearing the end of a period. Sometimes the color is dark brown and at times bright red. I dont know if the pain and discharges are still normal. It can really get me down.

[hokumuah]

Did you ever find out why you were still bleeding after three weeks? I'm in my fourth week post-op and I have bleeding like you described. My doctor can't figure it out, so I'm headed back in for all the ultrasounds and CT scans all over again. :(

[Jo_ann_33]

I was told that I have incompetent cervix/cervical erosion as a result of an additional procedure I had done during my lap. The doctors had to keep my cervix open using a tong-like instrument. The "bitten" area didn't heal as expected. It was like a wound that won't heal and keeps bleeding when there is contact.

I still spot until now. But because my tests (ultrasound and pap) are normal, my doctor told me not to worry about it.

Good luck on the tests. I hope to hear updates on your recovery and hope your bleeding will stop soon. :)

[jodie_carter]

hi i had my left ovary removed because i had a 20 cm ovarian mass anyways im loosing alot of weight is that anything to do with ovarian cancer because iv never got my results back if it was cancer it just looks scary they say 28 yr old female

[KaylaD82]

If they didnt call to say it was cancer, then I would air on the side it isnt. Thats some big news to not tell someone. I had my left ovary removed because a cyst ruptured 2 weeks ago and I have lost 5 pounds despite eating and doing nothing but laying around because I;m still in pain. So Im guessing its normal, my Dr doesnt seem concerned at all.

[CaseB]

Sorry this is long but this is my experience...

I had my surgery June 3rd at 7:30am. This post did help a lot but after everything that happened, I dont think I would have ever been fully prepared. My pre-op went fine but i made sure to get the nausea patch before surgery to help with any sickness (this was bs).

I feel like i remember heading back and them having me move to a table but who knows. I woke up in recovery shaking horribly and just feeling like c.r.a.p. all over. My alarm went off a few times because of my inability to take a deep breath (thanks gas) and they moved me to a chair within 15 minutes which made me absolutely miserable. I can handle pain normally but the nausea and 200lb weight on my lungs made it unbearable. I thankfully had an amazing preop nurse who took over my care when the young dumb male nurse couldn't help me or even try to just walked away. She got me oxygen and pain/nausea meds after she saw tears rolling down my face. The reason i said the nausea patch is bs is because within 20 minutes of getting home i was puking my guts out and that lasted 2 days along with the inability to catch my breath and the horrible chest pain. My pain never moved to my shoulder but i think i would have preferred that to not being able to breathe.

I took it easy for a week before walking down our stairs which took me about 10 mins to go down a flight. I knew it would take at least a week and a half to start feeling better but i still have my days even now 3 weeks later of feeling horrible which I planned on happening so Im okay with being a little slower.

I found out later on that my tumor was larger about 6.5cm and it ruptured while they operated which due to it being a dermoid they had to flush me out with "gallons of fluid" and because of that Id probably be in more pain than normal.

Overall, if the dermoid comes back..ill cry. The pain from the gas and the vomiting made the whole experience miserable. But i do see the effects of having the dermoid out. Before the surgery i was told my dermoid could not cause the issues i had i.e. weight gain, nausea, sciatic pain, just an overall crappy feeling. The first week and a half i lost 10lbs and have still kept it off. I had the swelling on and off and still do a little at 3 weeks out but it's not horrible like I thought it would be. The pain in my sciatic has gone down and enormous about and my abdominal pain has significantly been lowered.

A few things ill add: im currently dealing with my first menstrual cycle after surgery. It hurts like hell and I truly think the ovarian pain is worse than the surgery pain so be prepared and maybe plan to have off work the first day. Also, dont rush it. I see people say they're okay after a few days but thats not always the case. 3 weeks out im still slow and walking is still uncomfortable. Finally, Make sure you have someone to help you after surgery. My boyfriend helped me with everything the first week including sitting up and walking and I definitely needed him. Dont be afraid to ask for help.

Stay strong ladies. The experience may be unpleasant but it was comforting to know I wasnt alone during everything.  Xo

[Susette37]

GAS: drink a couple sips of soda, I always try and get soda as quickly as they will let me post-op to help relieve some of the gas pressure, and I take a couple sips or so after meals because I seem to have more of a problem with that post-op.

BIG POTTY: cantaloupe makes me go, so whatever triggered you pre-op, try it. BE CAREFUL! When they finally let me have solids (like 3 or 4 days post op...I had extensive surgery) I had 3 servings of fruit in one day because they were asking if I had gone yet, and I hadn't. That backfired! I went four or five times, which kept me up until just after midnight.

BLOATING: I'm only 8 days post-op, but I can tell my binder is looser. I've made sure to empty my drain a lot, more than they did at the hospital and I had more fluid come out in a day than they did when I was in the hospital! Not sure if this accounts for why it has gone down some. I still have my drain in, and wearing my binder, so I can't say how my old jeans fit. I had bought stretchy waist jeans prior to surgery when my girth felt like it was either expanding or just uncomfortable to wear regular jeans. So the stretchy ones fit fine over the binder. I may need a size smaller in a month.

WEIGHT LOSS: I wish. Between fluids (IV) and fluids from the drain, I may be lucky to be down 5 pounds. We'll see as time goes. It is hard to tell weighing fully dressed and with the binder, time of day, if I've eaten, etc. I can't just bend over and grab the scale myself to put in the bathroom to weigh in the morning either, so that all affects my weight.

[Susette37]

BTW, I didn't mention what my surgery was. I had 20cm cyst removal, full hysterectomy and hernia repair. I still have to go back for another hernia repair. :-<

[OllyCat]

I had laparoscopic surgery for a 24 cm cyst in my right ovary in February and this list is spot on! I wish I had read it before/during my surgery. Question: after your surgery (like 3-4 months) did you still have some belly bloat? It is obviously not as bad at my hard, distended tummy with the football cyst in me but it is still kind of bloated, but softer. Just curious if any one has had similar experience. Maybe my abdominal walls are all stretchy from a year of a large cyst in me haha.

[old_before_my_time]

Oh wow, Ollycat, that is some cyst!

[nithyap94]

Don’t know if this helps but I had my surgery nov 22 2017 it’s now Jan 11 2018 & I’m still bloated! I had a 10 cm paratubal cyst... filled with liquid... so idk!? I’m very tired as well