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After Laproscopic surgery - 3 questions
Hi I am new to this forum and wish I had found it when I first found out I had a "mass" on my ovary and a CA125 reading of 79 and didn't know what anything meant.
Eventually it turned out to be a benign 11cm cyst and I had it and my left ovary removed by laproscopy nearly 6 weeks ago now. The size of my incisions are slightly longer than normal due to the size of the cyst. I seem to be taking a long time to recover - certainly longer than the 2 weeks suggested! Internally things are still very uncomfortable. How long does it take for the "swelly belly" to go away? Clothes that are comfortable in the morning are deathly tight by nighttime!!
2. I have continued on Orthocept (birthpill) without a break since the operation but for the last 2 weeks (coincidentally since I have been back at work) I have had intermittant bleeding - one day there might be nothing, then the next a spotting, then another day a real flow of blood. Do you think that my body is trying to have a period ? (orthocept is fairly loss dose). 3. WHY does the remaining ovary get the most awful pain in it? This vaires between a stabbing pain and a dragging cramping pain. I hope some of you can answer these questions or someone just let me know that they also experienced these things. Thanks I would really appreciate knowing that what I am going through now is "normal" !! :-)
Eventually it turned out to be a benign 11cm cyst and I had it and my left ovary removed by laproscopy nearly 6 weeks ago now. The size of my incisions are slightly longer than normal due to the size of the cyst. I seem to be taking a long time to recover - certainly longer than the 2 weeks suggested! Internally things are still very uncomfortable. How long does it take for the "swelly belly" to go away? Clothes that are comfortable in the morning are deathly tight by nighttime!!
2. I have continued on Orthocept (birthpill) without a break since the operation but for the last 2 weeks (coincidentally since I have been back at work) I have had intermittant bleeding - one day there might be nothing, then the next a spotting, then another day a real flow of blood. Do you think that my body is trying to have a period ? (orthocept is fairly loss dose). 3. WHY does the remaining ovary get the most awful pain in it? This vaires between a stabbing pain and a dragging cramping pain. I hope some of you can answer these questions or someone just let me know that they also experienced these things. Thanks I would really appreciate knowing that what I am going through now is "normal" !! :-)
I had a hysteroscopy and a laperoscopy plus a gas drain to have adhesions cut which were attaching the bowel to the abominal wall. I bled for two weeks aafter the surgery and my GP gave me progesterone tabs which stopped it. I am still in pain in the area the adhesions were removed and I have been told that this casn last for up to 6months. Because your intestines move alot, it slows the healing down and causes inflamation. Stay at home stay relaxed and let your body heal.
For me, everything started with an abnormal pap I think. I felt fine though and nothing happened until one day I was having sex and there was a sharp stabbing pain near my ovaries. I went to the E.R. where I found I had a blood filled cyst. They sent me home and told me it would go away on its own and they would monitor it in 2 days. Well, next day I spent all day on the phone trying to get a followup appointment as recommended while my pain worsened. By the next morning i was a total mess and when I went into my appointment two doctors looked at me. The first was about to send me home. The head surgeon/OBGYN then came in, took one look at me and gave me a second pelvic exam and said I needed surgery. They said I had "exquisite tenderness". I just know it felt like I was dying. I had the 2.5" cyst removed about 3 weeks ago in an emergency kind of situation. I was drugged and left before I was really feeling ready, and ended up back in the E.R. the next morning after a night of unbearable agony. The only good that came of that day in the hospital were the drugs. Nothing except this "D" drug, can't remember the name...could even relax me or ease the pain a little- not even vicodin with ibuprofin or morphine. I was in horrible pain for about 1.5 weeks-couldn't get out of bed kind of pain. Moving, walking, even talking hurt. Cooking was out of the question. Friends helped by bringing me meals. (If you are going into surgery and have time to plan, this could be the biggest life-saver, having people who can cook for you or pick you up some food, bring you movies, books, etc while you're recovering) I experienced many of the post surgery symptoms you all have desbribed. I was doing much much better but now I am having complications. I don't want to freak anyone out-- If you have surgery and are in pain you may just be healing and it may take awhile. Don't let a doctor feel like your pain isn't real or significant. Bodies are fragile, and amazingly strong at the same time.It takes time to heal but you will heal! Anyways, I was feeling loads better and was getting back to grad school/thesis stuff, when I started experiencing this horrible discomfort under my ribs. I can't find any comfortable position that relieves it. It feels like someone is poking two fingers hard right under my ribs and that I am breathing on top of the fingers. Breaths are painful, but more of a strange, queezy discomfort than pain. Sounds weird but this is EXACTLY how it feels. It is unbearable and feels just..wrong. I called the nurse and she said it could be something serious like a blood clot. After going online it looks like it could be an adhesion, clot, or gallstones. I have no idea. I have an appointment tomorrow and am trying to hold off and wait. However, if it is serious, am I being stupid not to go to the E.R.? Has anyone been through this? I can't afford to go to the E.R. to hear them say "Just exercise more (or less) it's normal." But I don't want to have a stroke or heart attack either. Ugh. Any comforting advice or similar situations?
Hey all-
I am so glad I found this site. I have been dealing with poly cystic ovarian syndrome for 8 years now. My husband and I are unable to conceive at this juncture in our lives. We are both 30 years old and terrified we will never have children of our own.
For the last 4 years I have been struggling with a large cystic structure attached to my right fallopian tube. Each time it swells with fluid I have to go into same day surgery and have it drained. I have had it done 3 times so far and each time the doctor drains between 1.5 -3 liters of fluid. The first time I lost 20 lbs.
Well I went into the doctor today, and after my exam she told me she wants to do laproscopic surgery to remove the cystic structure and my right fallopian tube and possibly my right ovary. She gave me the two week recovery speech, and suggested I have my thyroid out at the same time ( I also have hypoparathyroidism). When I went to the ENT they said it would be a 6 to 8 week recovery. She said "No Way, it shouldn't take 6-8 weeks to recover from that!"
I can not afford to be out of work for 6-8 weeks, let alone 2-4 weeks! I am freaking out right now. Should I follow through with this or deal with the pain, and discomfort? I am so afraid that I am going to end up with a heart attack because my calcium levels are non existant with the thyroid problem. I should have it out.
STRESS... I am also freaking out because I just want to be normal... Have a baby normally.
STRESS... I cant afford not to work, I will loose everything.
I am so glad I found this site. I have been dealing with poly cystic ovarian syndrome for 8 years now. My husband and I are unable to conceive at this juncture in our lives. We are both 30 years old and terrified we will never have children of our own.
For the last 4 years I have been struggling with a large cystic structure attached to my right fallopian tube. Each time it swells with fluid I have to go into same day surgery and have it drained. I have had it done 3 times so far and each time the doctor drains between 1.5 -3 liters of fluid. The first time I lost 20 lbs.
Well I went into the doctor today, and after my exam she told me she wants to do laproscopic surgery to remove the cystic structure and my right fallopian tube and possibly my right ovary. She gave me the two week recovery speech, and suggested I have my thyroid out at the same time ( I also have hypoparathyroidism). When I went to the ENT they said it would be a 6 to 8 week recovery. She said "No Way, it shouldn't take 6-8 weeks to recover from that!"
I can not afford to be out of work for 6-8 weeks, let alone 2-4 weeks! I am freaking out right now. Should I follow through with this or deal with the pain, and discomfort? I am so afraid that I am going to end up with a heart attack because my calcium levels are non existant with the thyroid problem. I should have it out.
STRESS... I am also freaking out because I just want to be normal... Have a baby normally.
STRESS... I cant afford not to work, I will loose everything.
I am one month Post Op. I had a mass and my left Ovary removed. I was given that 2 wk mark and told my job that. Obviously....THAT did not work out. I have now been given an 11/10 return to work.....
My concern is that yesterday I baked muffins from scratch and by the time I went to bed my body felt like I had been hit by a truck. I had severe pain in what felt like my kidneys, my incision still hurts and pressure/pain in my lower pelvic region. I wonder if I can really return to work on 11/10 which will only be 2 days shy of 6 wks.
BTW...this site helped immensley because I really had no clue what actually hapened to me and was concerned and frustrated at the amount of pain I was in after 2 wks.
My concern is that yesterday I baked muffins from scratch and by the time I went to bed my body felt like I had been hit by a truck. I had severe pain in what felt like my kidneys, my incision still hurts and pressure/pain in my lower pelvic region. I wonder if I can really return to work on 11/10 which will only be 2 days shy of 6 wks.
BTW...this site helped immensley because I really had no clue what actually hapened to me and was concerned and frustrated at the amount of pain I was in after 2 wks.
Ive had laparoscopic surgery 4x for bilateral dermoids and am about to have the 5th surgery for a new very large dermoid on my left.
There is only 1 benefit of laparotomy (open surgery) vs. laparoscopy and that is that there is an increased likelihood they get "all of it out". I read in a gynecological oncology journal on the web that there is about a 10% recurrence with dermoids within 2 years for laparoscopy but 1% or so for non-laparoscopy.
However laparoscopy is "day surgery" and requires only a few days out (or should) while a laparotomy is a week in the hospital and 4+ weeks before you can return to work or operate minimally. Plus you can't move because your stomach muscles are cut open. So if you have any choice AND you have faith that your doctor can do good laparoscopic surgery you should always opt for that b/c it's far less invasive, with speedier recover and far less chance of the complications that open surgery can have.
Howver you need to ensure your surgeon is skilled in laparoscopic surgery to be effective. A good benchmark is supposed to be someone who does at least one and if not several laparoscopic surgeries a week. I am now, after my 4th recurrence, with a really top-notch gynecological oncologist who specialises in minimally invasive surgery and it is a big weight off my mind to know that this is literally all he does-- no babies, nothing else but gynecological surgery, 3 days a week in the OR. That's what you want to find.
That said, Ovarian cancer is nothing to mess with, so if your MD is not skilled laparoscopically, better to be opened up than have any type of cancer grow and spread. But for regular cysts, dermoids and other benign growths... laparoscopy is totally the way to go. My last surgery included several growths in my left ovary including an 11cm dermoid and the surgeon was still able to remove it laparoscopically even at that size.
There is only 1 benefit of laparotomy (open surgery) vs. laparoscopy and that is that there is an increased likelihood they get "all of it out". I read in a gynecological oncology journal on the web that there is about a 10% recurrence with dermoids within 2 years for laparoscopy but 1% or so for non-laparoscopy.
However laparoscopy is "day surgery" and requires only a few days out (or should) while a laparotomy is a week in the hospital and 4+ weeks before you can return to work or operate minimally. Plus you can't move because your stomach muscles are cut open. So if you have any choice AND you have faith that your doctor can do good laparoscopic surgery you should always opt for that b/c it's far less invasive, with speedier recover and far less chance of the complications that open surgery can have.
Howver you need to ensure your surgeon is skilled in laparoscopic surgery to be effective. A good benchmark is supposed to be someone who does at least one and if not several laparoscopic surgeries a week. I am now, after my 4th recurrence, with a really top-notch gynecological oncologist who specialises in minimally invasive surgery and it is a big weight off my mind to know that this is literally all he does-- no babies, nothing else but gynecological surgery, 3 days a week in the OR. That's what you want to find.
That said, Ovarian cancer is nothing to mess with, so if your MD is not skilled laparoscopically, better to be opened up than have any type of cancer grow and spread. But for regular cysts, dermoids and other benign growths... laparoscopy is totally the way to go. My last surgery included several growths in my left ovary including an 11cm dermoid and the surgeon was still able to remove it laparoscopically even at that size.
I have a left ovarian cyst that is 7 cm. Should I opt for a bikini cut or laproscopic removal? I had my uterus removed three years ago and a dermoid from my right ovary. At the present time, I have both ovaries.
Carolina Girl
Carolina Girl
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