Scar

[wonderwoman66]

Hello all. I have been reading this forum since my problems began and I am stuck by the warmth and wisdom of the women on here. I wish health and peace to all of you.
I am scheduled for a mini-laporectomy on August 3 to remove a pretty big (3-4 inch) dermoid tumor on my left ovary. Doc will try to leave ovary in but can't promise. Of course i am a nervous wreak about the whole thing. I have never had surgery before. Praying for it not to be cancer, praying that I can keep the ovary...and praying for nothing else bad happen.
Healing: how long before you start to feel anything close to ok again? I am taking 2 weeks off of work, but i have a desk job so hoefully i will be ok to go back by then. any others with this type of surgery go back to desk job in 2 weeks? Doc says yes, but wanted to hear from women who went through it. I am 39 in very good shape overall. also the scar: i know vanity is stupid, but i am worried about it. Doc will do a bikini type incision he says heals faster than up & down? Will the scar look terrible? Will it be angry and red for months on end? ugh, i am embarrassed that i care, but i do.
also ; if the ovary is taken, and i still have the other one, are the chances of me getting bumbed into early menopause lower?
Its so stupid: i fear EVERYTHING! getting fat, feeling weak and being in pain and just this endless list of worries...
I know we can never take health for granted, and i am trying to "trust my body" that it won't fail me, but as the date nears my aniexty is rising.....quite horribly.
Thanks in advance for any help.

[missinspi]

Hey,

I am so glad to hear you say that. I feel the exact same way. I am slim with no scars and have never had surgery other than to remove a hernia when I was four so I don't remember. I'm having a 12x24 cm ovarian cyst removed August 29th and my doctor says she thinks she may have to cut up and down. I would really rather have a bikini cut, yes because of the look. She says it is because I am slim. I don't really understand that. So, don't fear there are others of us who feel the same.

[Jess079]

I just had a full laparotomy a week ago today and I am very impressed with my incision and what I feel will be a great looking scar. The incision is very, very thin, mainly because I was sutured up with staples. My cut is also underneath my bikini line. I feel better every day, but I have been written out of work for 4-6 weeks. I also have a desk job but even sitting her on the computer gets uncomfortable after awhile. I personally think 2 weeks is wayyyyy too little time to recover properly. I also did not worry too much about what the scar looked like because I feel everytime I look at it, I am reminded that I survived something I was very scared to go through and that it turns out I'm stronger than I thought. Hopefully, you can feel the same when you look at yours!

God Bless,
Jessica

[turtledovemom]

First of all, my thoughts and prayers are with you for your upcoming surgery.  You'll feel very relieved when it's over and done with.  To be honest with you, I was apprehensive about the scar factor before my first surgery.  It was a bikini cut which was followed up a few months later with a vertical one.  I've subsequently had several more surgeries, all of them abdominal except for 2 shoulder procedures.  I finally took the perspective of...the abdominal scars are there, they took care of business and are for limited viewing (know what I mean?).  For the longest time, I didn't wear any sleeveless shirts because I was self-conscious about the bigger shoulder scar.  Now, I pretty much wear them.  The vanity that you experience will probably go away.  I'm sure that scars bother some women more than others...I'm not diminishing anything that other women might feel.  Vitamin E does a great job of helping to alleviate redness, etc.  Today, there are several products that you can get over the counter to help minimize scars.  

As far as recovery things...Tascha gave you great advice.  All too often, women are impatient with the restrictions that they get from their docs...they're convinced that they're done with their healing...and that's not a good thing.  The last thing you want is to get a hernia because the portion of your incision that you cannot see wasn't allowed to heal correctly.  In addition to lifting, stay away from pushing and pulling (even ironing and vacuuming).  You'd be surprised to find out how many thing we do are actually connected to our abdominal muscles.  Give yourself the benefit of resting as long as you can.  You deserve to heal completely and correctly.  Keep us posted as to how you're doing!
peace,
Anne

[DaneGirl]

I wish you the best with your upcoming surgery.  I too have a dermoid - mine is being 'watched' right now and hopefully surgery will follow.

14 years ago I had a laproscopic procedure done to remove fluid from a burst cyst (I am now 30) and the scars were minimal.  One inside of my belly button, and one about 3.5 inches below the belly button (covered up by underwear and bikini bottoms).  The scars are faded now, and are barely noticible.

As far as recovery time, if I remember correctly I was back at school within a week. (granted this was 14 years ago and my memory is not as good as it use to be).  I do remember losing about 10 pounds from the procedure and do not remember there being too much pain. (I think the pain from the cyst was much greater than the recovery).

Let us know how it goes! Good luck and we will all be thinking of you!

[Anna-maria74]

Dont feel bad for having these worries goodness me we were all exactly the same. I am not sure what you mean by mini laparotomy? Is that a laparoscopy? If it is anything like a conventional laparotomy you can forget going back to work in 2 weeks desk or no desk.

As for the scar I am 32 and as vain as it gets and my wound is beautiful. I am almost 3 weeks post op and it is healing fabulously and frankly these days the incision is a million times better than it would have been in the past. When they tell you what they will do they give worse case, my cut was actually much smaller than first antisipated. I have not once felt upset by my scar because I dont have the right to be. As soon as you hear the word b9 you couldnt give a rats behind about any scar and I think people get so hung up about scars, Why? Who decides that a scar is ugly I think it is part and parcel of life, and I am not some middle aged old hag in a floral dress lMFAO

Anna x

[wonderwoman66]

Thank you all so much! how wonderful how fast you responded to my post, it does make me feel so much less alone. The proceedure i am undergoing is a laporectomy not laporoscopy ..the whole
cut-you-open type, but my doc calls it a "mini" as it won't be a 8-10 inch cut, but more a 3-4 inch cut.....
do you still get the "swelly-belly" with this ? i thought they only fill you up with the gas if its done as a laproscopy?
oh well, i am prepared for anything i guess. no worries about me trying to be heroic, i WILL be taking any and all pain meds they give me!! and no weight-lifting, i do know......i guess i'll just try and enjoy not going to the gym for a while without the usual guilt!!
thanks for the input about the eventual scar, funny just being able to write it down (about my fears over it) made me feel so much better....it will be what it will be, and it will be a part of my body, just like the other dings and whatnot...comes from being alive..right?! lol.....all i can do....
my thoughts and prayers are with you all, and thank you again...i'll write more after august 3rd...
-WW

[Gatsby]

Hi and welcome to the site.  Try to remember that 99% of ovarian cysts are benign.  I had 2 softball sized (12 inch diameter) dermoids along with my left ovary and 90% of my right ovary removed 12/21/05.  I am 46.  My scars are 3 inches each, only because of the size of the dermoids.  They healed fine and are barely noticable.  Don't worry, even my little 10% of an ovary is working fine. Your other ovary will take over and do the work of both.  You can expect the swelly belly to be around for a few weeks.  If you go back to work at 2 weeks, take it easy.  You will have a lot of tissue trauma on the inside and it takes your body about 6 months to get back to normal.  If you feel pain and are fatigued easy, you are doing too much.  Make sure you take your pain meds as prescribed.  This is no time to be heroic!  Make sure you do not lift anything for 6 weeks as you could tear something on the inside.  If you pamper yourself and let your body heal, you should have no problems.  You are in my thoughts and prayers.  Godspeed
~Tascha

[wubbie3]

You'll be filled with the gas no matter which abdominal surgery they do... Swelly belly sucks, though. The worst of it does go away quickly, but some remains for a few extra weeks. I'm 8 weeks post surgery, and still have a little swelly-belly... not much, but enough that a few of my snugger jeans still don't fit.

[Grateful06]

Hi there, you might mean laparotomy?  I had a mini-laparotomy last week and am doing OK now.  Definitely can't do much for two weeks I'd say, and I really think you need 6 weeks to feel great.  I'm older than you, at 39, and I can say that my c-section scar was much nicer than this one and the only difference is (besides different surgeons) that they closed the c-section scar with staples. It was such an even scar, and it just disappeared.  This one looks like Ray Charles was my surgeon, it is uneven, and honestly for what ever reason, I just don't care.  I'm just glad I'm not dying.  But I understand the vanity, I think what you should want out of this, is just the best possible scar that you can get.  This second one was not stapled, it was sewn on the inside and then they put the steri-strips on the outside.  I will have to see the end result, but I definitely don't think it is going to look as good.
I think if I had to have a third surgery, I might ask for a plastic surgeon, and maybe a little tummy tuck along with the whole thing!  :)
Good luck to you, and try not to be too worried, although I know that is so silly to say, I was so worried I thought I was having a heart attack the week before surgery.  One good thing for you is that you probably don't fear cancer, knowing a dermoid is going to be removed, and that has to alleviate a lot of fears.
Well, take care of yourself!!!!  Let yourself be pampered after surgery, you don't get many chances to lay in bed for a week or two in this life time!  (although it can be boring!)