Ovarian Cyst

[DawnOfTheDee]

Hi,

Haven't got when my operation will be yet but i'll be going in to have a 7cm ovarian cyst removed. They said they won't be able to do keyhole surgery due to its size. They may also have to remove the ovary (but only if necessary).

Does anyone have any experience of this and could tell me what the recovery period is like? I have a 5mo DD - born by EMCS which is when they found the cyst.

All they really said about recovery was i won't be able to lift anything heavy. DD is 18lb 6oz at the last count so i'm thinking i'll have to try and get some help from friends/family but how long for?

I also had to have an operation like this, only difference is that I was 16 weeks pregnant with dd2 and my cyst was 15cm.

They had to remove my ovary as well, and I have a scar that looks like a c-section scar. Obviously your cyst is smaller so I'm not sure whether or not they would be able to get away with keyhole. As for recovery time, mine was for the duration of the pregnancy, I wasn't allowed to lift anything heavy and wasn't even allowed to Hoover. I can imagine that your recovery time would be considerably less, at least 6 weeks, but I'd take it easy for as long as it takes to feel comfortable again, only you can decide when that would be.

Not sure how helpful this is but didn't want to read and run.

Ah, just realised that no it won't be keyhole, whoops!

My sis had this- from what I remember she was in for about 4 days . Also had about 2 months of no exercise lifting etc so it is probably similar to c section on recovery.

Thanks Helmondo....I was thinking it might be similar to c-section recovery...at least i know what that's like although DD was much smaller then

They said my hospital stay would be 2-3 days Gigondas but i guess it all depends on how the operations goes. No exercise/lifting is the really annoying bit though....will need help with DD for a while it looks like....plus my 'lose the baby weight' initiative will be on hold for 6 weeks? bah!

do you know what type of cyst they think it is? I have had larger bilateral endometriomas drained a couple of times using key hole surgery. It maybe that your surgeon is not a keyhole specialist - have you asked whether any of the gynaes at your hospital specialise in key hole surgery. I played in a concert 24 hours after last set of surgery - probably not the best idea and did feel a little woozy but for key hole you should be feeling OK within a couple of days. Also had a c-section and took a couple of weeks to begin to feel anything like normal - but then also had sleep deprivation of new born baby. I know my biggest problem was convincing my husband that I couldn't reach for things as caused pain - so make sure any helpers are informed of how long the doctor says will take to recover as people tend to forget quite quickly if they are not experiencing the pain. Have you got an easy to push light weight buggy that your daughter can get in herself - if not might be worth borrowing one.

Hope it goes well.

Have no idea what sort of cyst it is...don't think they told me but they might have and i just haven't taken in the information. Should've asked really.

Hi I've had two cysts removed in the last couple of years laparoscopically. The last one was 6cm. It does seem to depend on who you see as to whether they will remove them with keyhole surgery. I currently have yet another cyst and am going to have it and my left ovary removed in the next couple of months. The gynae I have is a specialist in keyhole surgery. Even so I'm so sick of getting cysts! I'm hoping that if the ovary is removed I won't get any more.

Make sure you get plenty of information as in how the cyst is removed. I had one just drained and it came back six months later. It is better if the outer wall is removed at the same time.

If your cyst is going to be removed by open surgery I think the recovery time is about 6 weeks. Incidentally IME the recovery time for keyhole surgery is longer than two days. I felt quite battered and bruised for a good two weeks.

Good luck and hope you can get plenty of help for afterwards.