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to Melanie, about laparoscopiesFrom: Falk (anonymous@obgyn.net)Mon Jul 31 17:22:05 2000
Melanie, I'd be happy to tell you the story of my lap. I had always had really painful periods, but around February of this year I started having nasty pain over my left ovary. It got so bad that even prescription painkillers didn't seem to help at all. I found out that I would have a laparoscopy the night before the surgery...although by that point it was what I wanted and I had been pushing the doctor for it. So I was actually happy and relieved by the time it happened. I had a strong sense that they were going find the answer. And they did! When I went in for the surgery I had to fill out tons of forms and answer all sorts of questions. In pre-op they just gave me an IV and explained to me what would happen (although the doctor had pretty much done that already). Make sure your doctor tells you everything so that nothing takes you by surprise. Including the possible complications that could happen. Be aware that if something goes wrong they possibly could end up doing a laparotomy, which is when they make a much larger incision in your gut to get at your organs more easily. That has a longer recovery time. There was one thing that they told me right before the surgery that took me by surprise; no two things actually. One was that they would intubate me during the surgery. that scared me a little and I asked "That's after I'm unconscious, right?" They assured me that yes, they would wait until I was fully under before sticking a tube down my throat. The other thing that kind of grossed me out was when they told me that in order to maneuver my organs, they would insert a metal rod through my cervix and into my uterus and use that to move my uterus around. It hadn't grossed me out to think of them cutting me open and sticking a video camera or a laser inside me, but the rod through the cervix gave me the willies! Another thing that flipped me out later, was that in order to make one of the incisions they shaved all my pubic hair, right down to the labia. I discovered that a few days later while going to the bathroom and freaked out a bit! No big deal of course but it was weird to look down and see that and think "Whoa! How did that happen??" Waking up right after the surgery was the worst part. it hurt and I just wanted to go back to sleep. I woke up right before they wheeled me out of the operating room. But they gave me a shot of demarol and a shot of toredol pretty quickly and that helped a lot. Oh, if you get nauseous easily, try and get the anesthesiologist to give you compazine. I was really nauseous right after and that helped me a lot. Tell her before so you're not trying to tell her while you're really groggy. AFter a while they wheeled me out of the post-op room and into the outpatient recovery room. There I laid in a chair for a few hours and then they sent me home. I felt like each time they moved me, I wasn't ready for it but I ended up okay. I didn't see the surgeon until I was in there, and that's when he told me that they had found endometriosis, including a very large peice growing on my left ovary. So that was exactly what had been causing my pain. It was hard to walk the first few days after. Make sure that you have someone to take care of you so that you don't have to move except to go to the bathroom. And speaking of that, it did hurt pretty badly the first few days, because you have to squeeze muscles that have holes in them. My recommendation is to hold it as long as you possibly can and minimize the number of times you have to go per day. After about three days I was pretty much able to do everything for myself. Although I still spent plenty of time in bed. The pain, while very real, was not unbearable by any means. Personally I felt it was not that much more debilitating than the pain I was having from endo. I stayed home from work for a week and then I was fine to go back. Make sure you do absolutely no heavy lifting and are careful with squatting and that sort of thing for a few weeks after. You will also be swollen and bloated, just deal with it as best you can, wear sweatpants and that sort of thing. I couldn't fit back into my jeans for a few weeks after. But I did eventually! If I think of anything else I will let you know. I pray that your doctors will find an answer and figure out a way to help you get pregnant! Love, Amanda "You'll meet the Lord in the furnace long before you ever meet Him in the sky." -Rich Mullins -----Original Message----- From: anonymous@obgyn.net [mailto:anonymous@obgyn.net Sent: Monday, July 31, 2000 4:53 PM To: Multiple recipients of list ENDO Subject: Re: New to forum...my story...To Amanda I'm not sure what they are going to do yet. The ob/gyn department is supposed to call me in the next few days to schedule an appointment so they can go over my charts and decide whether to do a laparoscopy or to watch things and wait.Dr. Valerio seemed to think that since I have already been on b.c. pills for six months with no relief that they will probably want to "take a closer look". So any advice about the laparoscopy would be welcome since it looks like it may very well be in my near future... Brightest Blessings, Melanie
At Mon, 31 Jul 2000, Falk, wrote:
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