Laparoscope Puns

Asking for a friend, definitely not clutching at straws at the end of a surgical rotation as an F1.

Hi there Endo family!

So my parents and I have planned my very first trip to Walt Disney World for the end of October and I’m so excited!

However, my mom had Endo, and it seems like I might have it, too, so I’m due for a laparoscope.

I recently made a post about where I’m at currently, so for a TLDR, I’m waiting for my appointment on the 30th with a mostly retired gynecologist who specializes in gynecological surgery to see what he says and if I’m confident in his knowledge and abilities.

As it stands, my period tracker app shows that my vacation will fall in between two periods. Awesome!

So what’s the dilemma?

My mom thinks I should have surgery before vacation so I can be feeling better before we go. She says my period shouldn’t be as bad after surgery, so if I have it during vacation, I can just deal with it.

I, however, have never had surgery before, and have no idea what the doctor will find in there. Plus I’ve read surgery can make your periods irregular for a while until they settle down again, and I worry my first few post-op periods might be bad.

I understand my mom has been through this, and I don’t discount her experience with it, but as I’ve told her, that was 20-something years ago, and the medical stuff she’s telling me is outdated and not true anymore. (And no, she is not a medical professional.)

She says “I know,” and then keeps telling me what her doctors told her 25+ years ago, but that’s a rant for another post.

TLDR: My mom thinks I should have my first lap surgery before vacation. And yes, it would be nice if I had increased energy for the trip. However, I don’t know how my body will be after surgery, especially not knowing what could be in there, and I’m worried complications, post-lap periods, or healing time could interfere with my trip.

What do you guys think? Surgery before or after vacation? (And please explain why!)

Thanks guys! I look forward to your input! ❤️

I had my first laparoscopy in December to diagnose stage IV endo with severe adhesions and cysts on my ovaries. My OB/GYN started me on monthly Lupron injections, but my symptoms continued to worsen and soon became debilitating. On Tuesday (5/14/19) I had my first laparotomy. The recovery has been brutal so far. I am quite young (21), and aside from the initial diagnostic surgery, I’ve never had an operation. I haven’t seen very many of you all post about open incision laparotomies for your endo removal. Is this uncommon? I feel so alone. The outside world doesn’t seem to understand the severity of our disease. My doctor wants to start me on Orlissa after I’ve recovered, and I’m so nervous. Lupron was vicious. Can anyone offer some insight on what to expect with Orlissa?

How do I get rid of the gas pain in my abdomen? Everything else is relatively good pain wise. But the pain/pressure from the gas is starting to get to me! Lap was done on the 6th of November

Happy to share my doctor's name, the process, what it cost, etc.

My doctor is getting close to retirement, but I also believe he is taking new patients.

In Columbus, Ohio.

Hello! I have stage III endometriosis, and had laparoscopic surgery almost a year ago. I've since had one failed FET and am on my second one. For those of you who also had laparoscopic surgery to treat endometriosis, did you do any specific protocol for suppression for your FET cycle? Lupron etc.? Or was the surgery sufficient to allow you to become pregnant?

I had bilateral laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair using mesh about 6 days ago. I am able to walk and move around without too much pain around incision site; however, I am experiencing discomfort in my groin (testicles). Is this normal experience after the surgery, and if so how long does it take to recover? This is stressing me out, because I didn't had this discomfort as often before the surgery.

Edit:

I spoke with the surgeon and I was told that this is expected and the pain / discomfort should subside in coming weeks.

Hi everyone, I’m still trying to decide whether or not to do a laparoscopic hysterectomy or a myomectomy when it comes to treating my fibroids and I’m wondering about the laparoscopic scars. All the examples I’ve seen online are on flat stomachs.

Anyone have any lower abdominal fat like I do? Do the scars appear as dimples in the fat or are they just surface level scars? Bonus points if you’re black/ have darker skin (since all I see are flat white stomachs when I try to look it up).

Well, a little over a year has passed since my complete laparoscopic hysterectomy, and it seemed like a good time to recap the procedure with the benefit of hindsight. I know when I was doing research pre-op, a lot of people will write about the very immediate recovery, so I figured I would put some thoughts and tips down for people who are curious about longer term stuff.

Before I get into some of the harder aspects of the surgery, it was 1000% worth it and I'm very glad I did it! I had been bleeding for about four months beforehand and getting the worst cramps of my life (pain so bad I would feel lightheaded and have to lean against the wall). This might have been because my IUD went into my endometrium, which was shown on the ultrasound, but no one ever really explained if that what was causing the pain and bleeding to me and I just went ahead and had everything taken out. I don't ever have to worry again about getting pregnant, my period coming back, or any other health issues related to those organs. Since I've been fully healed, it's been a nice non-issue to not have to worry about anymore. I feel very stable and happy. Highly recommended!

I had a complete laparoscopic hysterectomy in Nov 2020, with Dr. Timothy Ryntz at Columbia Presbyterian. He's since left Columbia and is in practice in upstate NY, so I'm not sure if he's still available for surgery. If he was, I would highly recommend him, as I felt very comfortable the whole time and the surgery went smoothly. My main issue was with my insurance, who made me go get imaging the week before surgery and refused to approve it until the day before surgery was scheduled. This was incredibly stressful and involved me traveling between boroughs to get medical imaging done at the last minute. It also had to be a trans-vaginal ultrasound, which was painful and upsetting for me, and no one had warned me about it. Columbia did a great job fighting my insurance and keeping me up to date. The day of surgery went fine, and they did it as an out-patient procedure, so I was released the same day. I had my mom come take care of me, and I was able to walk up the steep stairs to our AirBnB afterwards.

I know a lot of people seem to have a pretty easy time recovering from this one. I honestly did not, and I wasn't really prepared for how hard it was. I'd already had top surgery, but this felt like a harder recovery for me. Dr. Ryntz told me I would feel back to normal in about two weeks, and I really didn't. It

We are getting a new Dr who specializes in lap spays. What are the pros and cons?

Hey guys! First off, to anyone reading who read my initial post, thank you so much for all of the kind words and sentiments you all left there; I had no idea how to even begin to thank you all at the time, but I wanted to at least say something! I do want to give a bit of an update on how the recovery process has been for anyone wondering though, since we don't see a lot of people on here who get laparoscopic surgery done.

My surgery was on Monday; got into the OR somewhere around 7:30 AM. They woke me up (still in the OR just before moving me to the PACU) somewhere around 2:30. Stayed in the hospital just overnight before going home late in the afternoon on Tuesday. So obviously the first few days were the worst when it came to pain, but that was more so because of internal pressure from the leftover gas that they use to inflate the abdomen during the surgery. This pain maxed out on Tuesday evening before starting to subside on Wednesday morning, which is when I could start feeling how sore I was everywhere else. Have a total of 5 incisions from them removing lymph nodes from both sides; 4 along the abdomen below the navel, each about an inch long, and 1 ~4 inches long just below the waist. By Thursday I had switched from oxycodone to high strength Tylenol and was able to get through the day comfortably. Haven't taken any painkillers since Tuesday or Wednesday this week. It's crazy just how quickly laparoscopic speeds up the process! I do still have some pain when I move in ways that stretches certain areas too much, but that's just me being stupid lol.

Unfortunately, I did find out that I am now affected by retrograde ejaculation. I know that there's one guy on here getting laparoscopic surgery soon, so if you haven't had kids or are planning to have more, plan to get sperm banked if you haven't already just to be safe. Apparently this affects more guys to some degree than I originally thought, but oh well. No big deal, at least now I won't get anyone pregnant once I get back in the dating pool! I got my pathology report back earlier today, and they did find EC in 10 of the 29 nodes that were removed, so I think I'm going to have to do chemo? I'm not jumping to any conclusions until my urologist explains it to my at my follow-up on Tuesday though. Anyway, sorry about the long post, thanks for reading, and thanks again to everybo

This is my second ever pregnancy I’m 28 and about 5 weeks along.

My first pregnancy was ectopic and I had surgery in March of 2020. My scar is on my left side but during the pregnancy the pain was on my right side. In most of my medical charts it says a right sided ectopic pregnancy but my family doctor reviewed my file and said in some places it’s written as left sided. At the time of my surgery, it was an extremely disorienting and traumatic experience where I was completely alone in the hospital at the beginning of the pandemic. I was not in a frame of mind to process the situation or advocate for myself.

Now that I am pregnant again, I am experiencing similar symptoms as the last time… right sided pelvic pain and brown spotting.

I am waiting to get a second round of bloodwork to check my hormone levels. The doctor suggested it’s most likely an early miscarriage but this experience is bringing up a lot of confusion and pain from the first time. How do I know for certain which of my Fallopian tubes was removed if it’s inconsistent in my medical charts? Does the side of the scar correspond to the side of the ectopic pregnancy?

My doctor says my uterine fibroid is about the size of a softball- 9cm. He is pretty sure he can remove it laparoscopically though. I was wondering if anyone else had a large fibroid removed without having to have a surgical incision/myomectomy?

Ugh 😩

Wish me luck? Lolol ❤️

I’m just happy to finally see wtf is going on in there. Endo is mostly confirmed through imaging (cyst characteristics are consistent with an endometrioma).

I’m a little nervous, since I’ve never had surgery.

Any tips for what to bring with me or have prepared at home? Going shopping this weekend.

Thanks ladies!

Just a small question about those who had laparoscopic surgery done. On of the incision was in my belly button. I was told to not remove the plaster on it but it’s kind of of covered in dried blood and it’s quite uncomfortable. Should I call the hospital about it or is it normal? 🥲

Scheduled for a laparoscopic bilateral inguinal surgery in a couple weeks. I have been researching it a lot and obviously can’t avoid reading about risks. Injury to the testicles, inability to urinate , injury to stomach organs etc. I’m 46 in decent health with no health issues. I know there are always risks but wondering anyone have experience with this type surgery?

Is there anyone here who got a laparoscopic or robotic thyroidectomy done ?.

Hi

I had (finally!) my hysterectomy this week. I am at home resting and so far its all going well. The blood and urine tests were good and they sent me home after only one night at the hospital. I feel surprisingly well (I had a lap with excision for endo and it felt way worse). But my vulva is very irritated, I am not sure how to describe it. It is reddish and itchy and if i touch it it hurts a bit.

I was wondering if this is normal, maybe irritation after the surgery or after the catheter. Or if I should worry. Could it be a bladder or yeast infection because of the catheter? Or something else? It hurts when I pee but not in the way that it hurts with a UTI, more a abdominal pain (which i imagine is normal).

I need to go to the GP for taking my stitches out so I will ask but in the meanwhile I wanted to know your thoughts.

Thanks!

I’ve previously had filshie clips, an endometrial ablation, two other laps for endo, and laparoscopically removed gallbladder and appendix. My new surgeon says I will be off work for 4 weeks after surgery, but I’ve never been off for more than 1 week for any previous surgeries. Any clue why they’re saying 4 weeks?

I literally can’t afford that because I’m a hairdresser with my own salon business: if I don’t work, not only do I not get paid, but I accumulate debt. What should I do?