Karen - some surgery tips!

Kentuckychick wrote: Today is post surgery day four and I'm feeling pretty good. Still a bit tender in the belly button area, but I wanted to give you some tips that I learned in the last few days that I hope will help you for Monday and your recovery.

And know that I'll be praying for you!

If anyone else has had surgery and has tips please add


For going in for the surgery --

* Wear very loose fitting clothes (t-shirt, lounge pants, bikini underwear and no bra).

* If you aren't a fan of bulky hospital pads make sure to bring one of your own and stock up on a package for home (you can't use tampons for a week or two after surgery but you will have bleeding/spotting for several days)

* Make sure the person who goes with you has a pen and paper or something they can take down information with. If your doctor is like mine she/he won't even talk to you after surgery. My mother was told everything (I gave permission) and I wouldn't have remembered anything they tried to tell me.

* Ask for anti nausea meds BEFORE you wake up. My anesthesiaologist was on top of this and I took two drugs as soon as I got into pre-op and he said he would be giving me anti nausea and pain meds before I woke up so I didn't have to ask, but it's much easier on you if you don't have to worry about waking up feeling awful.

For going home --

* Have your space at home prepared before you leave. Where you're going to lay with your favorite pillow(s) and blankets. I found it easiest to rest on my back with my legs alternately propped up and then stretched out the first two days. I was finally able to sleep on my side last night and that felt SO good.

* Have some sort of throat lozange (I went with unmedicated plain starlite mints and werther's originals) as your throat will probably be a bit scratchy

* Going to the bathroom will burn the first time or two (not horribly, just not comfortable). I wish someone had warned me about that one!

* Have a small pillow available or some sort of pillow to place gently on your stomach if you have to cough or sneeze. I had bronchitis before I had surgery so I still have a bit of a cough and had to do that more than would be typical

* Take the pain killer the first couple days even if you feel you might not need it. I didn't take the loratabs at all, but I have taken the Motrin 800 pretty much every 8 hours until last night when I switched to regular tylenol.

* They don't lie when they talk about the pain in your shoulders and back from the gas. They also don't lie when they say that moving around helps ease that pain. If you're laying down and it gets bad, try getting up and sitting in a chair. That would take my discomfort from an 8 or 9 to a 2 or 3 pretty much every time.

* Soup and a milkshake tasted awesome the first night -- about 5 hours after surgery. They felt good on my throat and were easy on my medicated tummy

* Sleep a LOT in the first two days. You'll be tired and you'll want to. Listen to your body!

Good luck! And let me know if you have any other questions.

coasterqueen replied: Thanks, Rachel for the tips. I didn't get to see this before going, but I pretty much did it all. They gave me anti-nausea meds before going in. They also gave me an anxiety med before hand, too. They gave me pillow when I left there. I was lucky and didn't have to have the catheter. Apparently that's a doc's thing if they want you to have on or not, but mine didn't require it.

The surgery went well. I didn't have endometriosis, which was awesome, although it felt like "why on earth did i have the surgery" BUT they did drain a cyst while in there and I think that is what is causing me the most pain. Yesterday my incisions hurt, but so did the side where they drained the cyst. Today I'm actually in more pain than I was yesterday and it's where they drained that cyst. The doctor told Ryan I'd feel at my worse 36 to 48 hours later, and she was right. UGH! So I'm home one more day, but going back to work tomorrow no matter what. Where that cyst was is so sore it hurts to talk, breath, walk, sit. The only semi-comfortable position is lying down - so I figured sitting at work today just wouldn't work.

So since there was no endo, just cysts, then in 2 weeks when I go back to see her they are going to set me up with a uroligist to see if this one disease she was talkng about that I might have - might be causing a lot of the pain I'm having since it's not endo.

I'm glad you are feeling better. I remember you talking about taking the wrapping off of the stitches. Oooh, that wasn't good for me last night. It hurt! The doc said I must have overdid walking around and such the day I came home from surgery because I completely bled through my bandages AND through my clothes. So yesterday I stayed in bed all day/night.

Thanks for thinking of me. I hope to continue your recovery goes well and your treatment does as well.

Kentuckychick replied: I'm glad everything went okay for you! And that they didn't find endometriosis

Hopefully the cyst really is at the bottom of your issues and this will make you feel better. I'm also glad that your recovery is going so well.

I think for me the most difficult day was Sunday. (so I guess 4 days post op). The doctor failed to mention to me that your first/second periods after laparoscopic gynecological surgery can actually be worse before they get better. And oh boy wasn't it! I think it was partially just starting three days after surgery, but the cramps were extremely intense.

I don't know if this is the case with all of them, but you may want to watch out for that. If you do get it bad I finally found out (after 24 hours of pain!) that I could take the Motrin and Tylenol together and get some relief. You just have to be careful not to take more than the allowed dose of either drug.

Other than that... I'm a week out today and feeling good. My stitches are definitely itchy and of course, there's the uberly bruised belly button... but I've been able to sleep on my side again the past two nights... and that has been heavenly!

Good luck!

MommyToAshley replied: I am glad to hear the two of you made it through surgery with no problems. I hope you both have a quick recovery.

Karen, I am just curious, couldn't they tell from an Ultra Sound if you had endo? That's how I found out that I had it.

mckayleesmom replied: Ah....my stomach hurts now. Glad you guys are recovering well though.

Kentuckychick replied:
I know for me, I have what the doctor refered to as "significant" -- I'll find out the staging next week -- endometriosis. The only thing that showed up on my CT and ultrasounds were the cysts (which made my doctor suspect that I "may" have endo).

According to her the only guaranteed way to know if you have endometriosis and to know the extent of it is to do the surgery. That's not saying you can't treat suspected endo without doing surgery... she just said that most often a doctor will want to go in and find out the extent of the damage.

Also the benefit of the surgery (haha... benefit!?) is that while she was in there she was able to remove many areas of endo and scar tissue. So that alone should relieve a lot of my symptoms for a while.

coasterqueen replied:
You were misdiagnosed, then. There is absolutely no way to tell if one has endometriosis except to go in for laproscopic surgery. I've done extensive research on it before going this route, and been through a lot of ultrasounds. The lab tech that reads the ultrasound results may indicate the possibility of endo, but it cannot be accurately diagnosed w/o the lap surgery. The lab tech that read my u/s results suggested it was a possibility, but a sono cannot pick it up definitely.

coasterqueen replied:
Very true. And yes, you can treat "possible" endo w/o surgery, but who wants to take those drugs they suggest w/o knowing for sure if that is what you have. The most common treatment for endo is lupron - which puts you into temporary menopause for 6 months........there was no way I was going that route w/o knowing if I had endo. The doc thought it was a high possibility that I did have it given my symptoms and my family history, so at first she wanted me to just do the lupron and I'm glad I chose the surgery 1st. I'd rather be uncomfortable fora week or two than 6 months.

Rachel - a good gyno would tell you that you need to see a specialist to get the endo out UNLESS your gyno does dozens of these types of surgeries. All the research I've done and even my gyno told me is there is no way someone who doesn't do these types of "radical" surgeries will ever get all the endo out. That is why she said if I had it and wanted it out she'd fly me to another state where she knew a specialist that does this daily. So keep in mind, if she got any endo out, it doesn't solve any problems and is only temporary.

I am glad i went through the procedure before going w/the lupron since now I know I don't have endo. My mother had a terrible time w/lupron so I wasn't thrilled about it. I am also glad because she was able to drain a cyst, so maybe things will improve for me. I think the urologist will be able to help me figure out why I feel like I have to pee 24/7 and keep getting UTI's. Before they thought it was the possible endo.

Kentuckychick replied:
I don't even want to go through with the treatment knowing I DO have it for sure

And then I found out last night that each Lupron shot (1/month for 6 months) is around $1000 (and who knows if insurance will cover it!).

My gyno thankfully does actually specialize in endometriosis. She performs surgeries at least three days a week and is only in office two days. The office is actually located in the hospital where I had my surgery. And then she also delivers babies for her patients She had a surgery right before mine and one right after too... I was impressed.

Now she did tell my mom that the likely of getting every single bit of endo is nearly impossible since there are some bits that will still be microscopic, but through the pictures it looks like she removed a ton of scar tissue and all of the blood sacs she could find.

I know I'm one who has to pee allllll the time too and it's actually been better since my cyst was drained... so hopefully (I'll keep my fingers crossed) that's what it was for you too.

A&A'smommy replied: Oh girls you are killing me and all those things remind me of my c-section YUCK!! I hope you girls continue to feel better and that things are getting taken care of, its NO fun having so many problems!!

coasterqueen replied: Well, Rachel...I'm back at work today. Weak as h**l but I'm here. I have to get my stamina back to go on Megan's field trip tomorrow and I hope I do. I'm in more pain where they drained the cyst than where my incisions are.

I read up more on the urinary disease the doc suggested I might have. It's called interstitial cystitis (sp?) and I'm praying they can diagnose me with just a urine sample because if not.....I'll be back in for more surgery.

I hope if you do the lupron that it works for you. I've heard it works for some and I'm hoping you are one of them. I'm glad you had a doc who specializes in the removal of endo because that is important. Did they say if they can try to treat it first with Depo Provera? If so I might go that route, if I were you. Although, listen to your heart and your doctor....they'll know what's best.

Jessy Ann...thank you.

Kentuckychick replied:
I'm glad you were able to make it back! It does get better... I feel really good as far as pain goes today (except for this weather related migraine I got goin on!) and honestly I'm less tired I think than I have been in a long time. Hopefully the field trip won't be too much for you. I went on a walk with my mom and the kids yesterday morning and it felt pretty good.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that you don't have to go through another surgery! Especially so soon. I know when they mentioned more possibly surgeries in my future I was like say wha!? No. lol. Even though the surgery itself wasn't bad, and the recovery wasn't horrible... it was still surgery and recovery and I can live without both.

I'm still debating the lupron. It's one of those things I go back and forth on... and of course I haven't talked to the doctor yet. I'm just so scared of birth control pills knowing that I already have scar tissue on my brain and the risk of strokes. It's pretty stressful. I think my doctor, from what she told my mom was under the impression I didn't want to take BCP's because she thought I had hormonal migraines (not at all). So I need to make very clear to her what the problems are there.

And yes -- thank you!! To everyone who's offered support and prayers. They really do help