Endometriosis January 19, 2020

Laparoscopic Surgery for Endometriosis: What to Expect

What to expect after your endometriosis laparoscopy

The thought of having surgery can be nerve-wracking, but being prepared for your laparoscopic surgery for endometriosis can help ease your anxiety.

If you want to be prepared for your laparoscopy and your recovery, look no further! This post is based on my surgery experience and research. I make no claims to be a doctor.

This post is about what to expect from your recovery. Make sure you check out my posts about my endometriosis diagnosis and surgery experience, too!

For more of the nitty gritty information about laparoscopy, I suggest you start with the Endometriosis Surgery page from endometriosis.org.

*This page contains affiliate links to products I recommend. If you purchase something from this page, I may receive a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you.

Post-Surgery Pain

Gimme all the drugs, please

Your recovery and the amount of pain you experience will vary depending on how invasive your surgery is. For reference, my first laparoscopy removed large cysts from my uterus, fibroids from my pelvic area, and removed my left fallopian tube. This surgery was outpatient.

My second surgery will involve removing fibroids from my intestines and bowels, with a possible resection. I expect that recovery to be much more involved. This upcoming surgery will require a short stay in the hospital.

Expect to be on round the clock prescription pain killers for a few days. You’ll be in a great deal of pain, so stay consistent with your dosage. I was prescribed oxycodon and it worked really well for me.

Don’t forget to take stool softeners and drink tons of water! Prescription pain medication can cause constipation and the last thing you want after endometriosis surgery is a bowel impaction.

Gas pain

During the laparoscopy, the surgeons will fill your abdomen with gas so they can get a better look inside. This is pretty common, but boy is it annoying for a few days.

Expect to feel very bloated for a few days. You’ll also feel some shoulder pain- this is where the gas migrates to in your body. A heating pad does wonders to relieve this.

Your doctor may prescribe some prescription medication to help with the gas discomfort. If not, make sure you’re stocked up on Gas-X!

Physical Toll

Because of your incisions and the overall pain, you will be very physically limited.

Be sure to have a caregiver with you 24/7 for the first week. You will need assistance getting out of bed, using the toilet, showering, and walking around.

To get out of bed with the least amount of pain, I found it helpful to roll to my side first then push myself into a sitting position.

Pin for laparoscopy for endometriosis recovery

Surgery Incisions

Appearance

I’ll be honest, you might not be too happy with your incisions. Instead of the three small incisions I was expecting, I had FIVE. The middle one, in particular, was about an inch and a half long and ugly.

All five of them were right across my stomach. Apparently my endo was so widespread, they needed five incisions to get to it all.

This may not be the case for you. If you have a skilled surgeon and your endometriosis isn’t too widespread, you might get lucky with just a few small incisions.

Wound care

Your incisions will probably be very bruised and tender. They will require care, just like any other wound.

Be sure to follow all of your doctor’s directions for keeping your incisions clean. Your caregiver will have to help you with this for a few days.

Laparoscopy Scarring

At your follow up appointment, ask your doctor for a prescription for scar cream. You’ll want to start using it as soon as your incisions are healed.

Luckily, my scarring wasn’t too bad. With the exception of the middle one, the incisions healed nicely and are hardly noticeable. The middle one…well. It is what it is.

Learn to wear your surgery scars with pride!

I love this video by Cat Ndivisi. She takes you through her whole surgery from pre-surgery COVID test to recovery.

Day to Day Expectations

Sleep

You’ll sleep a lot the first few days after your endometriosis laparoscopy. Between the healing taking place and the heavy duty drugs, you’ll be pretty exhausted.

Don’t expect too much of yourself and follow your body’s cues. Lots of sleep will help you recover!

Passing the time

Plan to do some activities that don’t require much stamina or mental fortitude. You may find something as simple as reading a book to be too much.

Binge watch your favorite shows and play some video games, but try to make the effort to get out of bed often to walk around the house (with help) and build up your strength.

Recovery tip: Find a cute dog to snuggle up with all day.

Snuggly dogs to help you recover from endometriosis surgery

Surgery Recovery Time

Recovery time will vary depending on your surgery. It took a solid two weeks before I felt like I was back to normal.

After that, I was able to start walking on the treadmill and do everything I’d normally do. My only restriction was to avoid heavy lifting for a while.

Talk to your doctor ahead of time so you can plan to take off work. I would take off as much time as you can!