A contributor here left a detailed comment on her experience with laparoscopic myomectomy and hysteroscopy/endometrial ablation so I’ll create two separate posts to start the discussion.
Mary: I just had a laparoscopic myomectomy and hysteroscopy/endometrial ablation two days ago.
Pre-surgical issues and diagnosis: I had a huge, slow growing external fibroid that was about 9 * 10 cm at its peak, plus several smaller internal fibroids that were the cause of my long, heavy, painful periods. My gynecologist referred me to a surgeon who is head of Ob-Gyn at a local hospital and teaches at a major Canadian medical school. (Very relaxed guy, easy to talk to, and well-respected.) He checked me out and declared that the internal fibroids could be taken care of with hysteroscopy and ea. He’s done over a hundred of these procedures and is probably the go-to guy in my city for this procedure. He also said that it looked as if the external fibroid was on a stalk and could be at risk of twisting, although he also said I wasn’t showing any of the signs of being at risk — no feeling of movement — so it was up to me whether I wanted to just leave that one alone or remove it as well. I decided to go for the laparoscopy because of the twisting risk (my sister went through the horror of an ovary getting twisted and i didn’t want to go through anything similar) and because it would be nice not to look five months pregnant.
Surgery: It was supposed to be about 2 hours, but turned into three as it turned out the external fibroid wasn’t on a stalk, but was embedded in the external wall. I asked my doctor after surgery about the risk of adhesions given that such a relatively large surface had been excavated, but he says that I should be all right.
Recovery: I was in the recovery room for an hour after surgery, then moved to my hospital room, where I was told I was staying overnight just to be cautious, given the extended work required for the external fibroid (we had originally discussed the option of going home the same day). The nurses had me up and peeing within a couple of hours. The first time out of bed was a doozie, and my bladder was tight, sore, reluctant and overfull the first time, so I didn’t get rid of two cups of urine until my second attempt. After that, I was up and down several more times throughout the day, alternately reading, napping, chatting with my husband, or having my vitals checked. By 8 PM, I was adept at getting myself out of bed on my own, unplugging the IV from the wall, and going off to have a pee. (They dumped a few liters of saline in me, so I was peeing like a racehorse all day.) By 11 PM, I got out of bed and wandered the halls with my IV because I was bored and wanted to move. The pre-surgical anti-inflammatory suppository took care of most pain except what I felt when I got out of bed and the gas pains in my shoulders.
They let me have jello, broth, juice and a few crackers for supper the first day, and a real breakfast of egg, bun and cream of wheat the next morning. I was discharged by 8:30 and home by 9:30, where I caught up with some clients for a few hours (self-employment isn’t all it’s cracked up to be sometimes) but I was sore by supper time and took off the rest of the day. Gas-X, naproxen and stool softeners were my friends, and even though I have percocet, I haven’t taken any yet. I did take some cough syrup to suppress coughing, which hurt yesterday, although much less today.
First bowel movement was late yesterday (first evening after surgery day), and there was no pain, although reaching to wipe was a little awkward. At my worst, my whole abdomen felt taut, swollen and sorte, with occasional gas pains on top. Today, I got up feeling significantly better, and my belly is less taut and numb.
I’d love to know how long it’s going to take all this swelling to go down. My face and eyes were very swollen the first day, I still couldn’t wear my watch and rings yesterday, although I can today, but my waist and belly are larger than they were than when I went in. (Gas? Fluid? Swollen tissues?) I have no idea how long it will take for those to shrink, as I would think that removing something 4 inches in diameter would make things smaller in circumference.
I’ll report back with anything else of interest.
Thanks Mary. Nothing more I can add except a couple of links for more information:
Laparoscopic Myomectomy (FibroidSecondOpinion.com)
Laparoscopic Myomectomy (Mayo Clinic)
Please post your experiences, thoughts, or questions.
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Related Post:
How are you feeling after your Endometrial Ablation?
December 28, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Del – hope everything went well with your surgery. If I were you I would wait a few weeks before traveling overseas. The fact of sitting that many hours and walking around the airport could cause havoc on your body and recovery. It may not sound like much but I made dinner right after surgery on night and I felt horrible afterwards. I had my surgery on Dec 18th and I am just starting to return back to normal. I still move slower but I am able to get out of bed by bed with ease now. Don’t worry about infection too much. Just be sure to take it easy after surgery.
December 29, 2009 at 9:59 am
Thanks Mrs Smith.
I had my surgery yesterday and it took about 4 hours from what I could remember. My fibroid was 12cm and thank god, Doctor could take it out with Laproscopic instead of Laprotomy. Didn’t feel much pain except for a slight allegy from the oxygen mask. I was told that my lips were swollen after the surgery. After the op, didn’t feel neasea or vomitting but was very hungry from lack of food for 2 days. The stitches was little sore and i could not get up by myself initially on the first morning after surgery but was moving my legs and arms a lot. Had a urine catheter attached as the surgery was quite long and first pee without it was not painful at all. Very hungry and was eating a lot the next morning. Everything went well and I could be discharged tomorrow. Shoulder and neck felt little sore though. Not sure why.
December 29, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Del, I’m glad to hear the surgery went well. A 12cm fibroid is something to take seriously, I had 5 fibroids of less than 3 cm removed on the 16th, and today I might say I feel almost back to normal, even when everything went very well for me. The pain in the shoulders and neck is because of the gas they inject, that causes pain in the diaphragm and because there are nerves that run up from there to the neck, you feel the pain in a different place (that’s what the dr explained to me). I had that pain getting worse the day after surgery (to the point I could barely move, but still didn’t take any painkiller, just stayed in bed) and then it started to go away the second day after surgery. It might get quite bad, if your surgery took so long. My sister actually felt the pain all over her body. But as I say, it was nothing compared to the pain I’ve felt during my periods due to the fibroids.
I was very hungry as well, but my digestive system hasn’t gone back to normal yet, it works very slowly, and if I take Colace I get diarrhea, so watch what you eat.
December 29, 2009 at 11:23 pm
Hi Beti, this is my 3rd day after surgery. I am walking around well and already had 5 meals since operation. I was given antibiotic and pain killer which really helped and I could get out of bed faster than yesterday (without any support from nurse). Starting to bend a little to reach out for things lower down. Nurses today changed my dressing and the wounds are healing very well, except for the one on the belly button which is slightly bigger and a little more painful.
My back and body is aching and sore when I sit up for too long or stand for too long but the soreness is still bearable. I tried to massage the sore part to make it feel better.
December 31, 2009 at 7:59 pm
And Happy New Year to everybody!
December 31, 2009 at 9:43 pm
I have a question….What sort of food to eat for quicker recovery? Can I eat celery?
January 6, 2010 at 5:06 pm
Del, after the first week with some constipation it got better, but still very slow. I noticed that the turkey from Xmas gave me gas, the rice always causes constipation, and actually the Xmas cake with a lot of fruit (rasins, sultanas, etc) was good, but I had to drink a lot of liquid at the same time. I personally find celery either tasteless or spicy when I cook it, but I still put it in a soup I made (turkey stock, oven roasted tomatos and celery) and that was good. I made the mistake of having some brussel sprouts, too much gas!
Regarding pain, after a week I started getting some pain in the belly button cut and on the right side cuts, but the Dr said that is normal, and that I’ll keep feeling some pain in the belly bottom for a while. But now I’m able to bend and tie my shoe laces, I’m almost back to normal (3 weeks post-surgery).
January 8, 2010 at 10:57 am
Hi Beti, today is my 13th day after surgery and I have removed the waterproof adhesive they used to cover my wounds. I do feel the slight pain in the belly button which feels like the skin was teared opened. I was worried about the stitches coming off but there’s any blood or anything so i guess that’s alright. I also felt some tingling feeling around the incisions but not directly on the incisions (except on the belly button). First day out today. I went shopping for 2 hours and came home with a backache but walking is fine. Just was very careful with sitting down and someone knocking me over. I also feel breathless sometimes and find myself having to take big heavy breath once in a while. Will be going for my followup appointment with the surgeon next week and I will ask about the belly button pain. Mum’s been cooking fish a lot because that is supposed to help with wound recovery and internal bleeding. Try it.
January 5, 2010 at 8:54 pm
Hi folks –
Had an 8.5cm fibroid removed via myo lap in May 2009, with complications (2 instruments broke inside of me). It turned a minor outpatient surgery (Dr told me “90 min, in & out”) into 6 hours.
The experience is documented in the “website link” above.
Here’s my question – anyone else out there STILL feeling pain near an incision site? I’m going to see the OB this week, but I want to know if anyone else has felt pain associated with the surgery this long after it happened.
January 5, 2010 at 8:56 pm
Have just realized that to get to the link I talked about you have to do is click my name. It’s a posting I made on this blog, but in another forum (didn’t realize this one existed!)
January 8, 2010 at 11:11 am
Hi Jules, I think you should take it easy with the triathlon training until your body heals internally. My doctor told me, no carrying of heavy things until after 2 months and eat lots of fish and protein to help recovery.
How painful is your incision? I do feel slight tingling and “skin spliting” but its not that bad and I am almost 2 weeks post surgery.
January 8, 2010 at 10:14 pm
I am three weeks post-op today and I’m feeling pretty good for the most part. I do find that my belly incisions are a little bothersome. It feels more internal than external though. I also find that if I sit a certain way for a long period of time, my back and belly ache and I have to go lay down and rest. Also, I find that the incision sites are becoming itchy so I put a little bit of shea butter to help with that.
January 8, 2010 at 10:31 pm
I am 6 1/2 weeks post op (Nov 23) Incision where morselator went in still stings and sometimes THROBS! I have pain meds but try not to take them as I cannot drive when I do. I did not have a typical laprascopic surgery due to the 28 week uterus (they thought it would be 12) and the 1600 grams tha had to be removed. Wish it were over!
January 9, 2010 at 7:40 pm
Tia, I think you will have to be more patient than some of us, your surgery must have been quite serious, like Jules, and you’ll need more time to recover. I certainly do not feel 100% recovered after 3 1/2 weeks. As Del mentioned above, backache appears after standing for too long, or walking for too long (we went shopping today for about 4h, and the last hour I was very tired and with back pain) and certainly if I sit in chairs that are not good. I do feel the internal pain mentioned by others around the incisions, and mine are completely close, never got red or dried (and I wasn’t allowed to wash them or put lotion while I had the tape) or bad looking. I guess what everybody thinks is: what if the incisions are open on the inside, even if they look good on the outside? I would try not to think about that, if it looks outside, then it’s good inside, and the pain must be some “reflex” pain, not a real one, you know what I mean?
.
I did try some Nia yesterday, got tired soon, but kept going without stretching too much (like an engine working at 50% capacity), I think it helped
January 11, 2010 at 3:11 am
I’m 7 weeks post-op and finding my incision area itchy especially when my period comes. Still feeling tenderness and at times breathless when I’m doing household chores. Will see my doctor this week and look to return to work the week after. Wish I could stay off work longer, seems it will take my body much longer to get back to 100%.
January 14, 2010 at 6:00 am
Hi Lorraine, what did your doctor say about returning to work? I got 3 months of medical leaves but I am kinda going back to work 2 weeks from now. I am exactly 2 weeks post surgery and was on the flight yesterday to return to Brisbane. The flight was alright. No bloating, no pain except for the terrible backache. Does anyone know the reason for feeling breathless?
January 16, 2010 at 11:47 pm
Hi Del, my doctor wants me to give it one more week. I too was feeling pretty good at week 4 after surgery and thought about returning to work. But around week six and seven, I was feeling run-down and very tired, so glad I didn’t take that chance and return to work. I especially felt worse when my first and second periods started and my incision seemed to stretch and feel irritated. If you can afford to stay on medical leave for 3 months to FULLY recover, then I say it take it. Let’s face it, once you’re back at work, that’s it!
January 19, 2010 at 7:31 pm
Lorraine, how bad were your first and second periods? my first one (two weeks after the laparoscopy/hysteroscopy) was relatively good, I still took ibuprofen just because of the fear of feeling pain. Now it looks I’m getting my second period post-op on day 21st of the cycle, I don’t know what to expect! I’m not sure if anybody in this forum had the hysteroscopic myomectomy at the same time of the laparoscopic one, and can comment about the periods postop.
January 19, 2010 at 11:41 am
hi lorraine, do u reckon it will take 3 months to recover?i can’t really tell how it is internally but my belly button seem to have stretched and budge out today and turning over in bed, i could feel an awkwad lump on my abdominal.. I m resting at home, not driving and having excuse not to carry heavy things and its all getting v boring, staying home. When r u going back to see the doctor again? Do u know what the doctor will check, to make sure the recovery is fine?
January 20, 2010 at 1:50 am
Hi Del,
Had my doctor visit this past week and she wants to give it one more week before I return to work. So I would have been off work for about 2 1/2 months (just shy of 3). I’m still having some pain and a bloated tummy, not to mention still a bit of a struggle to get out of bed. But overall I feel OK.
My appointment with my doctor was like a regular pap but also included feeling around my tummy. She also cleaned up aroumd my incision.
January 20, 2010 at 2:04 am
Hi Beti
For some reason I couldn’t respond back to your thread above. But my first period was pretty easy, but the second one (which I just had last week) was quite painful & heavy and made me feel as though I was back at week 2 of the surgery. I hope that it gets easier.
January 22, 2010 at 1:07 pm
Hi Lorraine,
Luckily today I can say I feel almost perfect, I’ve never had such a pain free period in a long long time, but I’m actually bleeding normally-heavy, when before I would barely bleed or have just clots coming out (let me explain better, I had heavy retrograde menstruation probably caused by the submucuous fibroid, accoring to my doctor). I just need to wait and see how long my period is, as lately it used to be like 10 days long, and I hope my cycle goes back to 28 days!
Did you have intramural or submucous fibroid removed? mine were 1 submucuous and 5 subserous.
January 22, 2010 at 6:16 pm
Hi Beti,
Mine were submucous (two and were huge!). I hope my period does lighten up because prior to surgery, I was going thru more than 3 pads a day and major clots! I will say that my cycle did go to 20 days and before it was like every darn 2 1/2 weeks. Just waiting for the swelling in my tummy to go down (for good!) and the slight discomfort to disappear.
January 22, 2010 at 12:26 pm
How am I feeling? Well for starters I don’t think my Dr properly prepared me for the intense pain I would experience during the HTA procedure, and for the after effects. In a nut shell I feel as though I’ve given birth once again! My Dr told me the discharge would probably last for 2 weeks, and my husband was thrilled, but having read all the posts and comments how the hell am I suppose to explain to him about the prolonged discharge? I had all the stomach and bowel problems; ended up having to do an enema to jump start my bowels, but so far that part is better. I did have a lot of pain afterwards and it’s been 2 weeks since I’ve had the HTA procedure done. I feel like I would have been better off just buying stock in Kotex and and a drug company and would have broken even….Does it really get better?
January 22, 2010 at 6:36 pm
Hi Angie
It will lighten up, I experienced the same discomfort you described (even some to this day) but the healing varies from person to age. The first month or two will be a challenge since it is major surgery but listen to your body!
January 23, 2010 at 10:04 am
Angie, I can’t stop laughing at your last sentence, I know what you mean today! I’ve gone from almost no bleeding during my periods (the submucous fibroid was blocking the exit!) to being an open fountain! I can still deal with all the bleeding because I have absolutely no pain, but last night in order to meet my hubby after work, I had to stop to buy a pack of Kotex and go to bathroom at the Mall, because I had ran out of pads during the day at work! So I completely share your feeling, I hope life goes back to normal after this!
Lorraine, do you think some tiny arteries are damaged when they remove the fibroids and that causes so much bleeding. Did any of your doctors warned you about this? Not mine, but I guess he was very happy to have fixed my other issue (retrograde menstruation, with the possibility of causing endometriosis!).
Thanks girls for sharing all this info here!
January 23, 2010 at 5:52 pm
Hi Beti,
My doctor explained to me on my last visit that I have to remember that the uterus has ‘taken a beating’ from the surgery AND then it has to go thru the monthly process of menstruation and ovulation while trying to heal from major surgery. She also told me I couldn’t do abdominal or strenuous exercise until about four months after surgery to be safe. I’m realistically looking at 6 months to be totally back to 100% (with a flatter tummy!).
January 24, 2010 at 12:42 am
Hi Lorraine,
your surgery must have been much bigger than mine. My doctor gave me the OK to go back to normal activities 3 weeks after surgery (I guess because of my recovery being so fast) but told me to pay attention to my body. I’ve only gone to Nia classes, and took it easy. As we were trying to conceive before surgery, the doctor asked me to wait one more cycle before trying again. Based on how much I’m bleeding and for how long, I’m thinking about waiting two months. My belly has gone down a lot, but it was actually quite swollen before, I guess from the retrograde menstruation. And I’m also tired (especially going up the stairs in the house and at work), so my body is telling me to slow down.
January 27, 2010 at 8:36 pm
Does bleeding, bleeding, bleeding and more bleeding sound familiar? how long is bleeding normal, and when does it become a concern? my doctor said (on the phone) it’s OK, but it’s been 9 days of medium to high bleeding (even at night!).
January 28, 2010 at 5:11 pm
Had my laparoscopic myomectomy on January 25, the op was meant to be about 2 hours but ended up being over 4hrs then spent 2 hrs in recovery. The op started at 13:30 and I got back to the ward about 19:45pm. I think I may have taken a little time to stabilize afterwards as I lost 800ml in blood during the procedure. My surgeon was only going to remove 3-4 of the largest fibroids but he said everytime he removed one another fibroid was right behind it so he had to get those ones too. I guess you need clear margins to be able to repair the muscle properly? 8 fibroids were removed in total and he said I’ve now gone from an 18 week size uterus to about 6 weeks, so almost normal again!! The combined mass removed was about 25cm and weighed around 500grams. Can’t notice any difference in size with my stomach yet but hopefully I will as the swelling subsides and it all heals.
I had a urinary catheter and drain tube in post op. The catheter because of the length of surgery and the fact that I wouldn’t be able to get out of bed straight away to pee, the drain tube because he needed to flush out all the blood that I’d lost. The drain tube was removed after I’d mobilized out of bed; it had drained about 75ml. I certainly had a lot of pain in the first 24 hrs but not as much shoulder pain as expected from the gas, that could have been helped by having the drain tube?
The catheter came out first thing the next morning but although I was drinking a lot of water nothing much was coming out so about 19:00 it was put back in as I was retaining fluid. He said that happens sometimes because of the length of anesthetic and time it takes for things to return to normal and also because of pain. My hands were quite swollen too, the left one especially which had had the IV in it, probably as I wasn’t moving it as much. The catheter was taken out on Day 2 about 16:00, by then I was feeling much better, had walked about a bit and the swelling in my hands had gone down a lot. After that came out I had a couple of good sized pees however the bladder scan showed that I’m not fully emptying (retaining about 150 – 200ml), I was allowed to go home last night but I need to monitor my fluid intake & measure my output for a couple of days then go back to the hospital on Saturday for another bladder scan to see how it’s all going.
In the meantime I’m on antibiotics (Augmentin), pain killers (Volatarol 75 twice /day and Panadeine) and taking a stool softener. My next milestone will be to have a Bowel Movement….
Because of the blood loss my hemoglobin dropped from 14 (I’d been taking iron to boost it before surgery) to 10.6. I asked about starting the iron again but he said not to until I’ve had a couple of good BMs. My appetite is not back yet and I still have PV bleeding, but then I guess it is only day 3…
To all you gals out there going through the same thing, my thoughts are with you and heartfelt thanks to all who have posted before and given such great information and reassurance!
January 31, 2010 at 11:31 pm
Hi -
Had the Davinci (robotic laparoscopic) Myomectomy on Jan. 6, after reading some of the comments here and talking to my doctor and thought I’d share my experience. I had the surgery because of increasing symptoms from what appeared to be one trouble-making fibroid (crazy periods, continual spotting, weird ‘fluttering’ sensation, back pain). Surgery went very smoothly — doctor removed one 5cm fibroid, one ovarian cyst and “extensive” endometriosis (he couldn’t believe I wasn’t having pain from that but, luckily, none).
Surgery consisted of four tiny incisions along the navel line (including one through the belly button). Doctor used surgical glue instead of stitches, which came off naturally after a week’s worth of showering. The scarring already starting to fade 3.5 weeks later.
Surgery took about two hours; woke up with catheter and IV drip for the pain. Spent the night and was allowed to go home next morning after making a full walk circuit of the ward and passing urine twice. Was on solids by the end of the first day at home.
Day of surgery, I definitely needed the IV for pain. For home recovery, was prescribed strong pain meds for next four days with step down to prescription Tylenol for next two weeks. I weaned myself off the latter after the first week. (Not a big pill taker if I can avoid it.)
My biggest difficulty has been getting up from bed or couch and pulling some of the inside work. I found sleeping with a stomach pillow (one of those tootsie-roll-shaped ones was perfect) prevented me or my husband from inadvertently bumping the incisions and also created a bolster for sitting up.
I’ve read some women grieve over the muffin-top effect. I hate to say, but I think I have to blame my eating habits and workout schedule post-surgery as much as the surgery itself. Have been an active runner prior to surgery, but have been going very slow, walking on treadmill, per doctor’s orders.
I’ve experienced some intermittent cramps and minimal spotting — but no full period yet. Will check in with doctor by end of next week if still no sign of it.
I did go back to work from home 10 days after surgery and back to office last week (desk job). I definitely recommend this procedure or at least finding out if it’s an option for you.
February 2, 2010 at 11:35 am
Bella,
The surgical glue is amazing. I was not allowed to remove the tape they used to cover the incisions, and I had to shower with my back facing the water, until the doctor (3 weeks post surgery) removed the tapes himself. I have now just red lines (which of course will take years to fade) and the fifth incision (the biggest) is hidden in my belly button. Not that I’ll wear a bikini anymore, but it’s nice to have just a few lines instead of an ugly scar.
For the muffin top, I’m afraid I had it before surgery, but of course it got much bigger afterwords. I’m still afraid of trying the exercise in the Total Gym system at home for making all those muscles strong again.
I agree with Bella, I totally recommend the procedure!
February 7, 2010 at 10:39 pm
Just got the first period and was just as intense as pre-surgery but for shorter duration. Here’s hoping the next one will be even better.
One thing I forgot to mention previously that might be helpful to know: The first night home after surgery, the gas pains (from the gas used to inflate the abdomen during surgery) were terrible. Doc warned me that I could have intense pain in shoulders but it was like being punched in the stomach from the inside-out. I found the best relief from walking through them when they surged and drinking black tea — the tea was a surprisingly big reliever in managing the gas and nausea post-surgery.
Also wanted to ask, has anyone else had experience with endometriosis and fibroids? Would be interested to know if there was any after effects (or growth).
Thx!
February 3, 2010 at 9:47 am
hi annette, your description of your surgery is exactly like mine except i only had a really big fibroid removed. Did the doc give u a copy of the pic taken of the fibroid? Ask for it. Its really cool..
You should try to rest more instead of rushing back to work.it helps to lie in bed, straighten the muscles instead of sitting up for too long at work.
i m 6 weeks post op and i feel that i m fully recovered externally and internally. But i did spend most of the first 3 weeks resting and sleeping a lot. The backache is gone. Hope it stays this way.
How are the rest of you doing? Doing good?
February 3, 2010 at 12:00 pm
Del,
I’m doing really good, just waiting for the cycle to go back to normal and start trying to conceive again! As you mentioned the pictures, I got them, they are amazing. It’s also shocking to see how big the fibroids are compared to the uterus, even mine that was just 3 cm (pedunculated, the biggest one).
I think it is important to point that having a good surgeon with experience in laparoscopic myomectomy (and Da Vinci robot as well) is very important. Mine ended up removing more fibroids than expected, in just 2 h, because they were “easy”, and leaving one that could have caused an hemorrage if removed. So anybody who is thinking about this procedure, please try to find a good surgeon.
February 3, 2010 at 9:05 pm
I am almost 7 weeks post op and I’m feeling great. I do find however that I have to unbutton my jeans every now and then when I have to bend over and pick something up off the floor or if I sat down in them for too long. I’m anxious to start my ab workout since my husband and I are going to Jamaica for our anniversary in April but I’m scared that I will be in pain afterwards! I found that my last period was definitely lighter than when I had the fibroid but it was also longer than normal which irritated me a little. Overall, I feel great and appreciate this forum. Reading the experiences of others really helped me through my recovery.
February 4, 2010 at 7:17 pm
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February 6, 2010 at 8:36 pm
I had the DaVinci robot myomectomy the day before Thanksgiving, 2009. With one exception my experience has been similar to many of the posts, including the post op recovery. I have however had chronic, but intermittent pain on my right side from my largest incision down to my pelvis since the surgery. Two weeks post the doctor said this was due to nerve endings within the internal stitches. Has anyone else experienced this and is this something that will eventually heal?
February 7, 2010 at 10:06 pm
sorry, haven’t experienced any pain like that, just a couple of times under my belly button (that’s where the biggest incision was) but it seems to be gone after 6 weeks post surgery.
February 15, 2010 at 10:34 pm
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February 19, 2010 at 5:55 pm
Well I’m 3 weeks and 4 days post op after my lap myo and doing okay. I went back to work this week, which at the start was really tiring, but each day I feel able to do more. My surgeon had said I would be fine to go back after 2 weeks but although I don’t get paid for sick leave I took an extra week off as I still felt ridiculously tired at that stage and my commute to work takes an hour on train & the Underground (I’m in London) and I didn’t feel ready to tackle that. I have done shorter hours though this week, 10 – 4, so I can be sure of getting a seat on the tube and that’s helped.
I feel pretty good externally and the incisions have healed nicely (I used Lucas Papaw Ointment on them) but I occasionally get some bad crampy pain which seems to be related to when I have wind or need a BM or something? I’m riding my bicycle to the station, about 1.5 km each way, but need to watch out for bumps as I can feel those a bit internally too.
I had my follow up appt on Wednesday and my surgeon was pretty happy with how I’ve recovered, he said I would now be fine for most things, even Pilates, but said that it would be best to wait till about 3 months before getting pregnant (although that’s probably unlikely as I’m now 45). I asked about the ‘muffin top’ and he said that will go down with exercise – well here’s hoping anyway!
February 20, 2010 at 6:26 pm
Annette,
).
I’m 41, and still trying to get pregnant. So don’t rule it out (or be careful if you actually don’t want to get preggo
Good luck with the recovery. I’m surprised you are riding the bike! that’ll get you in shape. I’m 2 1/5 months post-surgery, and my muffin top has actually got bigger.
February 21, 2010 at 12:18 am
Hi,
I have multiple fibroids and the 2 largest ones are around 7.8 & 7 in size. I looked 4 months pregnant and every now and then will experience some crazy pain in the pelvic or stomach… lots of gas building up, acid reflex
Thinking of removing them but was very nervious and scared.
I have some questions and hopefully you can help providing some information…
1. Were you nervious before the surgery? I am a worrier and had suffer from panic attack and palpetation in the past. Need to know how to stay calm to prepare for the surgery.
2. How ’safe’ is the surgery? What is the chances of complication?
3. Will the waistline/tummy be reduced in size after recovery? hate to look pregnant
4. I read all the post and could anyone tell me if given a choice, would you remove them or leave them alone?
many thanks!
Michileno
February 21, 2010 at 1:27 am
Michileno,
1. Yes very nervous before the surgery..surprisingly the day of the surgery I was very calm because i think it actually helped to worry about it the two weeks beforehand. Kinda got it all out of my system. I stayed calm by knowing exactly what I was in for and knowing that I HAD to go through with it. Be mentally prepared and most of all let your doctor know that you are nervous so they can help you through it. Honestly, after the anesthesia kicks in, you won’t remember a thing till you’re in the recovery room.
2. Not an expert on how safe the surgeries are but mine went well..No complications whatsoever
3. I did not notice any reduction in tummy size but my fibroids were not that big
4. These things are not supposed to be there, many women can live with them without them affecting their lives but in my particular case, I’ve been trying for 3 years to conceive and i had 5 fibroids, one large submucous one and 4 other smaller ones. I would do anything to help my chances of conception and removing them was a decision I had to make. I freaked out about the surgery, cried, didn’t want to accept that i needed to do this…but in the end I am glad I did. It is amazing how powerful and strong we women are. Hang in there, don’t let your fears get the better of you. You’re a strong woman that can make it through this and much more. Believe me, no one is a bigger chicken than I am when it came to this surgery, and honestly I surprised myself at how empowered I felt knowing that I can go through this. Good luck and stay positive..You can do it!
February 21, 2010 at 11:11 am
Hi Michileno,
Oh yes I was very nervous about the surgery, but I was anxious about a lot of things after I was initially diagnosed with fibroids. The first gynecologist I saw told me that hysterectomy or ‘do nothing’ was the only option due to the size & number that I had and that of course had me in floods of tears. The next gynecologist I saw fortunately was a bit more enlightened and recommended an MRI to see if I was suitable for MRgFUS, or if not then an abdominal myomectomy. However they had to repeat parts of the MRI because I it was blurry because I couldn’t really control my breathing because I was so concerned about what the outcome would be. It turned out that I was potentially suitable for MRgFUS but a course of GNRH agonist (Lupron equivalent) for 3 months to shrink the fibroids first was recommended. The potential side effects of that panicked me no-end, and at that stage I saw a medical herbalist for some natural herbal remedies to provide emotional support. I can’t tell you what was in the solution I took but it certainly helped in relieving some of the periods of getting quite worried, anxious and teary all from fear of the ‘unknown’.
Once I’d decided on a surgical approach, as it was the only guaranteed way of reducing the size of the fibroids, and found a surgeon who felt it could be dealt with laparoscopically, I was reconciled to my decision. There are risks of complications with any surgery, but I felt confident that I was in good hands with my surgeon as he had never had to resort to an open procedure or perform an emergency hysterectomy.
I went skiing the week before I had the surgery and being in the fresh air of the mountains and away from the normal routine gave me less opportunity to worry, although on the last day before we returned home I felt less concerned about doing black runs as that was less scary than what I was facing on Monday…!
I took photos of my stomach before the surgery so I could compare it to after. I can’t see a massive difference yet but before I could feel the mass of my uterus which was about 15cm x 10cm and I can no longer feel that.
Without a moment’s hesitation I would make the decision to have the surgery again. As Jenny says these things are not meant to be there and unfortunately when they get to these large sizes they won’t shrink or go away by themselves.
February 21, 2010 at 11:11 pm
Thanks Jenny and Annette for your kind support! I will talk to my OB about my concerns before the surgery and this should help too. Will keep you posted.
February 22, 2010 at 12:16 am
Hi Michilena,
.
My fibroids were much smaller than yours, but they caused me so much trouble, that when the doctor told me about the possibility of laparoscopy (combined with hysteroscopic myomectomy to remove the submucous fibroid that was actually causing all the trouble) I was almost jumping of hapiness. I did have support from my family, I talked about it with my mother and my sister (who also had a laparoscopic procedure to remove a cyst before trying to get pregnant), and of course my hubby, who went to see the doctor with me and asked a lot of questions. It is impossible not to be nervous, and think of all the possible things that can go wrong, but everything went so well! and I can tell you, I would pay out of my pocket to have the surgery, I feel so much better now, like if I’m in my 20s again (best time regarding periods). If your concern is about fertility, then talk it carefully with your doctor. In my case, even if my fertility was affected, I could not leave with the fibroids any longer, and I think it’s the best decision I could have taken.
The belly will go down, with time and exercise
Good luck!
February 22, 2010 at 3:04 pm
Hi,
I had a lap myomectemy using a robot on Jan 29 in Boston and I am recovering nicely. I’m so relieved to be fibroid free. I’ve been on this journey for a few years. I embarked on a natural healing path (basically, vegan, organic and some raw foods) for a couple of years which caused them to shrink dramatically (my doctor’s words) and then had the surgery. Now I’m ready to have kids and will wait for a couple of months until I proceed with IVF.
If you have any specific questions, feel free to email me directly or call 617-290-2423.
Alex
February 23, 2010 at 3:22 am
Hi everyone, I too want to start off by thanking everyone for contributing to this website/blog. It was incredibly helpful to me before my surgery (laproscopic myomectomy and hysteroscopic myomectomy).
It is now 4 weeks since my surgery. I had my surgery on 25 Jan in Sydney (Australia) — surgery on Monday (25 Jan 2010) and left the hospital on Wednesday (27 Jan). After the surgery, the doctor told me that 4 of the 5 fibroids that were picked up on an ultrasound in late Sept 2009 had fused into one massive fibroid. It was about 12cm x 10cm. I had 4 incisions in total: on my belly button, one on each side of my belly button (about 3 inches below the belly button) and one straight-line incision (about 2 inches long) on the lower left side of my abdomen. The doctor said this last one is the incision where the fibroid pieces were removed after being chopped up by the morcellator.
It is now 4 weeks since my surgery (today is 23 Feb) and I am back at work — a desk job. I usually walk home from work (a 40-45 min journey, mostly uphill) but I won’t try that until 6 weeks have passed. After my first day back in the office (yesterday) I went to bed pretty early (9:30-10pm) and slept soundly all night. In large part, my recovery experience was very similar to many of the posts left here that I read from over the past 1.5 years — except for one thing which I’ll mention below.
The weirdest recovery thing for me is that the muscles of my inside left thigh are very weak. I think this might be related to the fact that, from the right tip of the straight-line incision I have on my lower left abdobmen to the middle of my body (where my spine is), the area is numb to the touch. This suggest that they hit a nerve there. The inner left thigh muscles have gotten better since the day after surgery, but they are still very weak. On the morning after my surgery, when the nurses helped me out of bed to go to the bathroom, my left leg was very weak walking to the bathroom. Then when trying to get back into the hospital bed, my left leg just would not lift to get into the bed. I had to ask the nurse to help me lift it. In the first two weeks after surgery I couldn’t exercise the muscles of my inner left thigh (get them to work!) very much because I ended up using abdominal muscles to compensate for their weakness, which was not good/possible at all. I did as much as i could without jeapordizing my incisions (internal and external). When I went to see my doctor about it (3 weeks after surgery), he wasn’t overly concerned about it because after checking my leg reflexes and my ability to lift my leg, stand on my toes and stand back on my heels, he didn’t feel there was any serious nerve damage. Also my inner left thigh does not feel numb to the touch. He told me that it would get better very soon — that was a week ago. However, I must admit that 4 weeks after surgery the only real concern I have is that this is the only thing that still makes me feel incapacitated. I walk with a very slight limp and i can’t walk as fast as I would normally. I doubt that I can run — I haven’t really tried. I am going to see a physiotherapist about it tomorrow (24 Feb).
*** If anyone has any experience/information that they can share with me about that situation, PLEASE DO!!!
Now, for readers who have not yet had the surgery, please take note that he healing process takes time and patience. You will be tempted to do more than you should — but resist. For the first two weeks particulary, I would really suggest that you plan to just totally relax — don’t do much, take very small walks of 5-10mins (outdoors and indoors) and sleep as often as you feel like it.
I did not begin taking a laxative or stool softener immediately after the operation and became constipated, which caused me alot of pain because my bowels were filling up and the contents were moving around (but not out!) which caused pain to my extremely sore abdomen in the first 5-7 days after surgery. I finally got a combined laxative and stool softener which helped alot, but the bowel movements over the following two days that it took to empty my bowels were sometimes painful and caused fatigue afterward. Therefore, because you cannot use your abdomen muscles to push during bowel movements, I would highly recommend stool softeners and even laxatives if you find that your digestion is sluggish.
Also, beware of ‘activity’ that doesn’t seem like ‘activity’. In the first two weeks, some of my friends — who had nothing but good intentions but didn’t really understand what post-op recuperation requires — came round to have lunch or chat. These visits were very tiring for me because they didn’t really help me clean up after we’d had tea/coffee and cake. I had to wash dishes and sweep crumbs off the kitchen floor. I was surprised by how tired I was just from sitting up and talking to people for 1.5-2 hours. After these visits, I actually felt that I would have preferred not to have had the visit because I was so tired.
I pretty much recovered alone (no live-in boyfriend or husband) which is totally possible if you plan in advance — cook meals and package them indivually in the freezer. Try to avoid cooking for yourself as much as possible — order food delivered, have friends who want to lend a helping hand bring cooked food to you, or before your surgery cook small meals and put them in the freezer. However, I would say that if you can have the help of someone who can really look after you and someone who knows what that involves (doing the cooking, household cleaning, shopping), then do it and don’t feel bad about it, it’s just one of those times in life when you need to lean on the people closest to you a little bit more. Having said that, I did do just fine on my own. Although I couldn’t really clean my shower properly until about 3 weeks after surgery and that was driving me up the wall — it got to the point where I didn’t want to take a shower in my own shower!
If you are having this surgery soon or have just had it, I fully suggest reading the last 1.5 to 2 years of this blog and you will get lots of important information from lots of peoples’ experiences. It was a huge help to me! Except that I didn’t see that anyone had the muscle weakness issue that I’m experiencing.
Take care everyone and know that you will be fine!!! Terri
March 3, 2010 at 4:27 pm
Can anyone please share information about the comparison between 1st period post op and subsequent periods?
My first period post-op is just finishing and although it’s been of shorter duration compared to before the lap myo, it has been incredibly painful. Doubled over, unable to stand up sort of pain when it first hit, needing to take painkillers every 4 hours for almost 3 days before it started to tail off. I also bloated up and my weight jumped up. My surgeon did say that the first period can be different for everyone and that it will take a few cycles to stabilize but I want to know that they won’t always be like this.
I’m now 5 weeks post op, so I am hoping this is still early in the healing process and that it will get better!
March 4, 2010 at 11:06 pm
Annette,
when did you have your surgery in relation to your cycle? mine was right around ovulation time, so first period was two weeks after surgery. I took ibuprofen for fear of feeling pain, not because of actually having pain. Second and third period were pain free, heaven compared to the awful pain I had before surgery, when the uterus was “trying” to get rid of the submucosal fibroid. I think the cuts I had in the outside of my uterus from the laparoscopy were actually small, you must have bigger cuts, and the normal contractions of the uterus during menstruation must be causing the pain. I think that based on what the doctor (and other people in the blogs here said) it must take at least 3 cycles to get things back to normal (for me the irregularity is cycle length and amount of bleeding).
March 6, 2010 at 6:10 pm
Hi Beti,
My surgery was about a week after ovulation so I expected to have my first period the next week. I did bleed for about 4-5 days post-op but then didn’t get any more bleeding when my period would have been expected, so my first real period was 4.5 weeks after my lap myo.
You are probably right in that the normal uterus contractions during menstruation caused the pain. I had an 18 week size uterus before which was reduced to 6 week size after repair which will still probably be healing. I will wait and see how it hopefully improves over the next couple of cycles.
March 7, 2010 at 11:10 am
Good luck with the healing! I am amazed what some of you have gone through with your fibroids. Mine were so small and already so painful (well, I’m tiny, but never got to have such big uterus), you must have endured a lot before having them removed.
March 8, 2010 at 11:52 pm
Happy Woman’s day to everybody!