Laparoscopy Experiences

[HannahW29]

Hi!

I'm fairly new to Mumsnet but always find other people's posts really help me!
I'm not sure that this is the best place to be putting this but;
Back in June I started getting a really bad pain in my right side, my boyfriend thought it was maybe my appendix and took me to the hospital where I was told I had a urine infection and given antibiotics and told that if the pain persisted to see my GP.
I had finished the antibiotics and was still in agony! I went to see my GP and the urine infection was gone so she said that definitely wasn't causing the pain, she then did every test she could and long story short, it looks like I may have endometriosis and so she referred me to gynaecology.
I had my appointment with gynae and she agreed that it sounds as though it could be endo.
Me and my partner are TTC and so she said that the two options I had were to either have a laparoscopy, although she advised that because I'm so young they try to avoid this and so said that she would recommend TTC for a few more months and if I fall pregnant then I probably have no issues and if I don't then to go back and have the lap. I wasn't really sure that telling me that if I manage to get pregnant naturally meant nothing was wrong as from what I understand, you can still fall pregnant naturally with endo, although since I was getting the pain since June and this was December, I decided to go for the lap as my initial reason for being referred wasn't due to infertility but because of the pain I didn't really want to wait any longer.

I have my pre op on Friday and I'm waiting for the actual op date to come through.

Sorry for the long post but what I really want to know is your experiences of a laparoscopy.
Please be brutually honest too, it won't scare me but I do like to be prepared so I would be interested to hear everything from recovery time to any complications and where you felt the most pain etc.

Thanks! ☺️

Also I have Name Changed! 😂

@Han2029 thanks Hun yes was a massive relief and feel very lucky. I'm almost 18 weeks now. Just keep baby dancing and hopefully you will be expecting your bundle any day now xx

Han

Would suggest you contact PALS and tell them about your recent experiences in this hospital. Poor post operative care should be brought to attention.

I second everyone else, that's disgusting behaviour!!!
Glad you're doing ok tho xx

Hi @Han2029, so sorry to hear the treatment you received after surgery wasn't very good.

I'm a big sceptic about these things but if I was you I would probably get a second opinion. If they were in that much of a rush to get you out, then the surgery could have been just as rushed.

I really feel for you not having an answer following this, I can't imagine going through all of what I've been through without any answers so I can only sympathise. It doesn't answer your question regarding pain, and surely that needs more investigation!?

Oh and with the crying I've had this before with anaesthetic, I woke up wailing! They must've used a different anaesthetic this time as I didn't do that but yeah, I've never heard of anyone else having that reaction before now.

I feel so bad you got such rubbish treatment.

Have you got a follow up appointment booked to fully discuss the results and a plan?

@AttilaTheMeerkat yeah I definitely think I will contact them, that isn't right at all I didn't think! I was in some state and they all just seemed in a rush to get me to leave, wasn't even just me, there was a few elderly people in recovery too and they did the same to them!

@Maybenextmonth To be honest I have been thinking of this, when I arrived at the hospital that morning I was talking to the gynaecologist before she did the surgery and she told me that I would be her last surgery of the day - the way she rushed in to talk to me when I woke up and rushed out straight away without letting me ask questions etc makes me think that she was maybe in a rush to get home because I was her last patient? That's the way it's made me feel at least.
I have an appointment with my GP on Thursday so going to advise her of what the doc said and see if she can suggest anything!

@squirrelnutkins1 I am glad that others have agreed that this wasn't okay behaviour from the hospital as I wasn't sure if it was just different from what I was used to or not but I felt that I was in such a state when they basically kicked me out!
No she never mentioned a follow up appointment, she came in when I was in recovery, barely woken up and said it was all clear, I asked what could be causing the pain and she just repeated that she couldn't find anything and that hopefully she would "see me back in maternity in a few months" as she knew me and DP are TTC. I'm not really sure what to do now - I have made an appointment with my GP on Thurs as she asked me to go in after my lap so will see if she has any advice!

I had one many moons ago. The small wound from where they did the investigation was near my belly button, and they covered it with a plaster, which I had to leave undisturbed for a fair few days. But unbeknownst to me, the wound bled under the plaster, pooling in my belly button unseen.The smell alerted me that something was wrong, ugh! But no harm done, and they were very apologetic.

In the hospital near me, which is a centre of excellence for endometriosis, you would have been kept in overnight if you had a late afternoon op.

It is such good news that they didn't find endometriosis, truly. But if you still have pain, don't give up. I've heard of people who had a clear first lap and then it showed up on a later lap. And I agree with @AttilaTheMeerkat that it's possible something was missed.

The crying thing . . . I also cried uncontrollably after my first lap. It only happened that time, and after my next lap I was fine. I think in hindsight they gave me too much anaesthetic the first time. After the second lap I was much more alert, could text my husband while still in recovery, whereas I could barely string together a sentence for hours after the first one, forgot entire conversations, was very confused about what had happened, etc.

Hi @Han2029, just wondered how you're getting on? Was the visit to your GP any good? Do you have any other investigations lined up?

Thank you all for the replies!

I'm definitely feeling a lot better now although still getting bad pains in one side, as if I'm being stabbed almost.

I went to the GP but she said best to wait and see how I was feeling once I'd fully recovered from the op and if I was still getting the pain to go in and see her and take it from there.

Although, I've realised today that my period is late and on CD 44, my periods are normally 30-32 days apart. Last month it was a bit later aswell.
I used to get irregular periods when I was younger but since on the pill a few years ago that sorted out and they've been regular for about a year since coming off it so it's strange to me that I'm now on day 44 and there's not any signs of my period even coming. I'm also not pregnant, I did do a test but it was unlikely this month anyway. Has anybody else had this after a lap? Or know anything else that could cause it?

I guess it's makes sense to wait until you're fully healed before doing anything else too soon.
I had my first period when expected after the lap but am now awaiting my second. I have no idea why they could be later. I wonder whether it's just the stress of it all?

@Maybenextmonth I was thinking it was maybe stress but it's just because my period was a bit later last month too, my cycle was 42 days last month which is really unusual for me anyway, they're usually around 30-32 and I'm now on CD50 this month and still nothing so I'm quite concerned, I'm taking constant pregnancy tests and nothing and as I say I didn't think it would be likely this month anyway, it's just so frustrating!
I have a docs appt next week so I'll mention it to her if still no period, hopefully nothings wrong!

@Maybenextmonth so still no period and on CD52, I took a digital pregnancy test this morning and it was negative so out of curiosity took a clear blue ovulation test and it was positive with a solid smiley. This is the first ever positive ovulation test I've had so I'm chuffed with that!
I'm wondering if it was possible that I had the lap maybe when I was due to ovulate last month and so maybe that's messed it up and I never ovulated so just missed a period this month?
Not sure if that's possible or not but going to DTD once I'm home from work and hope for the best! 😁

@Han2029 that's really good news about the ovulation test, must be so hard to get positives with irregular cycles. I think my thoughts would be the same in that maybe it somehow messed with ovulation due to timing and it's skewed everything. I guess anything is possible!!

Getting a positive ovulation test gives you an idea of where your cycle is and that its actually happening, which is great! 😊

I've just had my second period following my lap, after almost 18 months with basically no period at all so I was so happy!!

Keep me updated with how you get on! 👍🏽