Whoever has had laparoscopy......

Ok, My Operative Laparoscopy has been scheduled for Tuesday March 18th. I have questions!

~ How long did you have to stay? (I don't get to go home the same day.)

~ How long before returning to work?

~ Did you have to do bowel prep?

~ Did you need hard pain killers or were you able to get by with OTC meds.

~ Did any of you have to do the Lovenox injections, and how did that work with your belly looking like a blueberry and them having to make the incisions in your belly.

~ How long was your surgery?

Anything else you can tell me would also be very helpful!

Thank!

All of your questions totally depend on your circumstances and your doctor. I have had two laparoscopies and the experiences were completely different. The first one was at an outpatient center and I went home a couple hours after surgery. I did not have a bowel prep, no support hose, and I was sent home with Tylenol 3s that I took maybe once. I was suppose to be down only a few days but had also had a hysteroscopy, D&C, and a lot of endometriosis cleaned up. Since I had no issues with blood clots, I needed no injections. I can't remember for sure but I think surgery was a couple hours because of the endometriosis cauterization.

The second laparoscopy did require a full bowel prep, was also considered outpatient but required an over night stay during those 23 hours, I was given a morphine pump until the next AM, I wore TED hose from before surgery until I left the hospital, and I was suppose to be down at least a couple weeks and would have had to take it week by week to get a release to return back to work (I don't work outside the home so my situation was a bit different than yours here). I was sent home with Norco and I had other pain meds to use as needed. Again, I did not require medications for blood clots. Surgery was again a couple of hours.

Based on my experience, I would suggest asking your doctor your specific questions because only he is going to be able to give you accurate information for you specific situation.

Best wishes for your upcoming surgery! S

Oh, Sorry....I did talk to my doctor. I just wanted some comparisons. I also found out from the office today to please do the injections in my hip, not the belly this time.

Sweetbeetle,

Hi, I am definitely no expert. In fact I did not find this site until a couple of days ago. I had a total lap last Wednesday. I can truthfully tell you that this site is wonderful. But I agree, ask your doctor the specific questions. I did not ask all the questions that I should have. The bowel prep is very important but make sure you stay close to a bathroom. I took the day off work for my prep and it was a smart thing to do. You might think that it isn't working but then it hits. I was kept overnight in the hospital. I had a pump to use to regulate pain for the first 24 hours. It really wasn't that bad. I was released as soon as I passed gas. But please ask your doctor these very important questions and write them down so you don't forget. Being informed is sometimes the best form of medicine. It takes some of the fear away and calms your nerves. I know I'm a newbie at this but I will be praying for you and hope all goes well. Don't forget to post after your surgery because those have helped me greatly.
Best wishes and I am sure other princesses will be writing you also

Sorry, forgot to answer some of your other questions. My surgery was only about 2 hours total. I had enlarged uterus and endometreosis attached to other organs. I had to have my pain medicine changed to tylenol 3. I pretty much only use it at night now because I am able to maintain pain with just extra strength tylenol. I would have been able to go back to work today just after 1 week but had a slight setback. Oh yeah, even after your surgery, don't hesitate to call your doctor if you think something isn't right. Again I will remember you in my prayers.

I just realized my post isn't as informative as I thought it was......Sry....I already had my hyst in October. This is for adhesions and possible BSO. I've already spoken to my doctors about everything. I'm just wanting other experiences as far as a lap for adhesions.

I just had my LTH last wednesday, and i am still a little sore.
Will answer your questions based on my own experience.

~ How long did you have to stay? (I don't get to go home the same day.) My surgery was Wednesday, was supposed to be released the same day, but my blood pressure plummeted in recovery, but came back up by midnight. As a result, I was discharged at 10am the next morning (though they were ready to send me home at 8).

~ How long before returning to work? I have an estimated return to work date of April 20, so I'm not an authority on this question - lol.

~ Did you have to do bowel prep? Yes, and while it feels like nothing is happening at first, whoo-boy, it does hit you all at once, and then it's best to not have to leave the house.

~ Did you need hard pain killers or were you able to get by with OTC meds. - They discharged me on 800mg of ibuprofen every 8 hrs (as needed), and Percocet every 6hrs, only as needed. I've taken maybe four of the percocet thus far, but I have been taking the ibuprofen about 2x a day, mostly for the anti-inflammatory effects.

~ Did any of you have to do the Lovenox injections, and how did that work with your belly looking like a blueberry and them having to make the incisions in your belly. - Having had a PE 4 yrs ago, i had to do Lovenox shots for five days. Those things hurt like a *$%*#. And my sides are blue/black. Since I am a chubby girl, I have some extra tires on the side that I was able to get the shots in far enough from the incision sites. Meanwhile, I just took off the steristrips, and my, oh my, my doc could be a plastic surgeon! I had a lap surgery for my gallbladder 4 yrs ago, and have some pretty big holes. My LTH incisions, are nothing more than mere slits, very tiny. That's a little by the by!! Maybe more than you wanted to know.

~ How long was your surgery? They took me in at 11:30am, and the doc called my hubby at 12:57pm - so I would say a little more than an hour.

Well, I hope I was able to help a little, but you know, every situation is different, and this is my experience. Good luck with yours and be well!

To sound like the broken record, every case is different but here is my answers. I had LAVH/BSO on 2/27:

How long did you have to stay? Went home the day after my surgery.
How long before returning to work? doc said it is up to me at my two week post-op appt so I will go back after three weeks as it is taking me longer to heal probably because I am older now than with other surgeries.
Did you have to do a bowel prep? Yes, Magnesium citrate, was awful, didn't work that well and most of my recovery issues were because I didn't clean out well enough so that is one thing I would have done differently had I known.
Did you need hard pain killers or were you abot to get by with OTC meds? I am on narcotics for a chronic pain condition so can't really answer that other than to say that I did need increased meds but am pretty much back to my baseline meds at two weeks
Did any of you have to do the Lovenox injections? Almost but only for my endometriosis and once we convinced insurance that I needed the hyst anyway and it would cure my endo then I didn't have to do the injection. Sounds like you already have this one under control after talking with your doc.
How long was your surgery? It took 2 1/2 hours but the last 30 min was because she was being meticulous in getting my bladder off my uterus without injury, thank God or I would have had so many other issues.

Hope it is helpful!

I just had LSH on Friday, 3/7 for a large 9cm cyst and fibroids. I also had a TVT sling done in 2004 and even though it was also laparascopic, my experiences were pretty different. I chalk it up to surgical skill. I also had a large cyst removed the old fashioned way back in 1984 when I was a spring chicken. My responses will refer to this most recent surgery...

~ How long did you have to stay? (I don't get to go home the same day.) I was released the next day and I was ready to go home. (The food lived up to it's reputation. Why do hospitals bother to serve canned peas anyway?!)

~ How long before returning to work? I am planning on being back on Monday, but only because I am a tax accountant. I'm going to try being in the office for about 6 hours, and bring home some easy stuff to work on from bed. We'll see how that goes.

~ Did you have to do bowel prep? Nope.

~ Did you need hard pain killers or were you able to get by with OTC meds. Motrin only, but I didn't need painkillers back in 1984 either. My doctor seemed surprised, so maybe I am an oddball. I really needed Gas-X though. The gas was very painful.

~ Did any of you have to do the Lovenox injections, and how did that work with your belly looking like a blueberry and them having to make the incisions in your belly. No injections for me.

~ How long was your surgery? I think that it was about 2 hours.

The whole thing went much better than I had anticipated. I'm still tired, but feeling better every day. Today I even felt well enough to be crabby about being stuck at home. The worst side effect is that I am an emotional mess right now. I hope that this passes and so does my husband.

I hope that things go well for you!

Hi!
I had an LAVH in Jan. I can only tell you my story, every DR wants different things.
OK, I was in the hospital 2 nights, I am returning to work next week, I took 8 weeks off, but that is my company, they will pay me up to 12 weeks full pay.
AS far as bowel prep, my DR told me to use a Dulcolax suppository. Worked fine!
My surgery was 5 hours. This is not normal, but the chief resident did my surgery and I was in a teaching hospital...long story, but my surgery was "picture perfect" no problems at all.
Best of luck!
Being nervous is normal!
Lee-Anne