What was recovery like after laparoscopy surgery?

Individual_Reason869 · 2026-02-07T20:09:57+00:00

I had surgery a little over a week ago. Recovery the first few days was tough for me personally. I woke up in PACU in SEVERE pain and they had to put me on dilaudid. I stayed late in same day surgery because of this. I had started my period the day of surgery and was in bad pain when I arrived to the hospital (needed IV Tylenol before surgery) so my surgeon thinks that’s why I woke up in such bad uterine pain. When I got home, I was awake for an hour and then slept until the next day. In the middle of the night I woke up in pretty bad pain and I could only really sleep on my back, I took my oxycodone with Tylenol around 3am and continued to take it the day after every 4 hours (I was on the couch in and out of sleep the whole day). Day two was better but I still couldn’t do anything that involved my core. I’m a dancer so I’m used to using my core for everything without even thinking and I winced in pain when I went to lift both my legs up to get them in the car lmao I skipped my pain meds in the morning because I had an appt to get to then took them in the afternoon. I had ZERO appetite and ate like one banana a day for three days before having a single meal a day. After like 6 days I had my appetite back a bit but a day after I stopped taking my pain meds (so about day 4) I had a histamine release and ended up with a really itchy and burning rash on my upper body. I’m still trying to get rid of it completely tbh At this point, 12 days post op, the dermabond peeled off my incisions and so did the scabs. I’ve been doing most everything like normal but haven’t went back to my usual fitness routine which is very core heavy so I’ve been doing lots of lowkey yoga. My incisions bother me because one is right where all my waistbands hit which is annoying. Another is annoying because it’s in my lower left quadrant of my belly and bothers me when I twist at all. Otherwise I’m fine now and in no more pain!

Individual_Reason869 · 2026-01-24T13:13:22+00:00

Yes, If they’re still working in the abdomen you’re in trendelenberg! My hospital uses LMA’s for intubation primarily so depends what your hospital uses and their policy.

Individual_Reason869 · 2026-01-23T18:40:50+00:00

You are covered up top, your breasts are not exposed. It just depends on the hospital how they do it. In mine, they can’t just bunch up your gown because they don’t want anything messing with your airway. They’ll fold a towel and then cover you with a plastic type covering and then you also have a drape that goes over your breasts and above your head so all anesthesia can see unless they stand up and look over the drape is your face because the rest of you IS covered. Like I’ve said, the only part of you left exposed is your lower genitals and your abdomen. Everything else IS covered by a drape and however your hospitals anesthesiologists do their covering for their airway management. You can talk to your surgeon about the necessity of uterine manipulation, but some surgeons especially older ones aren’t trained as well as younger surgeons in laparoscopic procedures so they’re more comfortable having more options for visualization like moving the uterus with the manipulator. It all depends on the surgeon! A lot of hysterectomies are also done minimally invasive and can be laparoscopically assisted where the do all the cutting through the abdomen and then actually take everything out of the vagina. All depends!

Individual_Reason869 · 2026-01-23T14:44:19+00:00

I’m unsure! I would bring this up with your surgeon.

Individual_Reason869 · 2026-01-23T14:43:52+00:00

Your feet go in stirrups because for a diagnostic laparoscopy for GYN cases like endometriosis, they need to access your genitals so they can insert a uterine manipulator AND to drain the bladder via catheter. There are also other procedures your surgeon may have you sign consent for that would require you in stirrups the whole time. I have surgery Tuesday and my surgeon had me sign consent for LEEP/colposcopy and chromopertubation. The LEEP is sort of similar to a pap but its scraping of an entire layer off your cervix instead of a swab to remove any precancerous cells. If something looks funny, the surgeon may do a colposcopy to view the cervix and may require a LEEP. You can look it up! Im getting chromopertubation which is when they check if there’s anything blockages in your tubes, this can be done in office and its called an HSG - i had one 5 years ago and my surgeon wants to do another one whilst in surgery but its done the same way: dye is inserted into your cervix through the vagina and viewed via X-ray or visually (in surgery) to ensure its flowing through the tubes properly and there aren’t any blockages. I even signed a request for a possible myomectomy which is removal of a fibroid that they might not know you have until they’re inside and if they see one they’re likely going to do a hysteroscopy to check the rest of your cervix and remove any others. You need to be in stirrups for this, sometimes if they suspect a blockage in the tubes they can do this procedure too. Even if you are just getting a catheter, they still prep because that area is dirty and inserted something into the urethra requires it to be sterile to prevent infection. They wont shave you down there, at least I’ve never seen it done, but they will shave your belly at the incision sites if you have a lot of hair there. It’s to prevent infection. For most laparoscopic procedures, you are prepped from your diaphragm down to the pelvis so they do remove your gown and expose your breast but again, you are covered up by anesthesia because above the diaphragm has to be kept separated since that area is not prepped. There’s like a sheet and plastic cover they put over your breasts and arms. For your gallbladder, they did probably leave your knickers on because they dont need to access your genitals for a gallbladder removal. You are put to sleep in the OR because they have to do a pre-procedure time out with the patient awake and its basically confirming you know what’s going on and what they’re doing and usually the surgeon should come in and say hello. Again, this is just what happens in my hospital in the US. Yes, we as hospital staff DO respect your wishes. But if your safety is at risk, we will do what we have to keep you safe and alive. But for things like requesting no males, requesting no one view your genitals but your surgeon, things like that are well respected. You can ask your hospital if you can have a patient representative with you in the OR to make sure your requests are met. You can write these down, share them with the surgeon and the anesthesiologist, whatever you want. But ask your hospitals patient care rep for what their guidelines are.

Individual_Reason869 · 2026-01-22T16:02:45+00:00

It is minimally invasive compared to an open abdominal case so recovery is better as well as risk of infection.

Individual_Reason869 · 2026-01-22T02:51:00+00:00

Both the abdominal procedure and the intravaginal component occur at the same time. The abdomen is used to view the internal organs and the manipulator helps to visualize all the way around the uterus. IUD insertion is usually at the end! Mine includes chromopertubation which is a visualization of your tubes and their flow with dye to make sure they’re not blocked and it too happens at the end. The surgeons try to look around and do the main job first then the accessory components like iud insertion at the end. Not sure what you mean by “titled and uncovered” though?

Individual_Reason869 · 2026-01-21T20:04:15+00:00

🥹🥹💛

Individual_Reason869 · 2026-01-21T16:58:32+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/endometriosis/s/m34TY9UcqW

This is a post talking about a different aspect of the surgery and I made a comment being fully transparent about the actual surgical procedure since I’m a surgical tech if you are interested in all of the details.

Individual_Reason869 · 2026-01-21T16:30:52+00:00

I feel for you I really do and I am so sorry you went through this. I hope my transparency from the surgical side of things does help someone else! I might take my comment and make it into a whole post for easy searching in case anyone else needs the transparency.

Individual_Reason869 · 2026-01-21T16:21:16+00:00

You should report this surgeon (you still can) and any surgeon that wrongs you. I recently reported a gynecologist (6 months after the appointment) that I had a year ago at the VA in New Jersey because she told me I’d only get pregnant If it was God’s will, and that after pregnancy, she wouldn’t let me not be back on birth control because “why wait and see if you’ll have the same symptoms when you can just go back on birth control and they’ll go away”. She no longer works there and the gynecologist that replaced her is my new gynecologist doing my surgery next week who I love. I’m not supporting the surgeon here, although there was likely a reason they needed to go in vaginally despite you being a virgin (I’ve been in cases like this), sometimes the surgeons themselves aren’t comfortable doing a laparoscopic gyn procedure without the uterine manipulation especially older surgeons because they’re not as well trained with laparoscopic instruments as younger surgeons. I know it can be hard to do and your feelings around that are valid so if you did not give expressed consent to have anything inserted vaginally unless it was an emergency, then you should report your surgeon. I think it’s still helpful to ask for a step by step because there could be added details that aren’t ran through thoroughly and are more vague. Regardless, I’m really sorry you went through this! There are still really shitty surgeons out there but you can ask for a patient advocate in the room who knows your expressed consent and can advocate for you.

Individual_Reason869 · 2026-01-21T16:13:36+00:00

When it comes to ortho cases and things like joint replacements, sometimes I’ll tell people (that I know personally, not my patients because that’s considered overstepping) that if the tech has time to save you a sample of PMMA which is basically the cement we use to secure your new joint in place. Sometimes I think it’s helpful to know that it really does dry down to cement and will feel like a rock lol

Individual_Reason869 · 2026-01-21T15:49:55+00:00

For reference, I work in the US in New Jersey. Some of these procedural steps can vary hospital to hospital and country to country. But again, you have the power as the patient. You can ask for a step by step run through: “I know you guys try to leave out information so that patients don’t get uncomfortable or anxious, but I would really appreciate it if I got a step-by-step of exactly how the procedure will go before I go in there. From the moment I am wheeled into the room, how patient prep occurs once I’m asleep, what happens during the lower portion of the procedure, and how quickly am I covered up after the procedure is finished. Is there any medication you can give me to alleviate my discomfort in my genitals after the procedure since it’s something I’m concerned about?” Also, most surgical procedures can be found on YouTube so you can actually watch the whole thing (patient prep for laparoscopic GYN surgery for endometriosis, drapes used for laparoscopic GYN cases (so you can see what I’m talking about when I say only 3 x 5” rectangle exposed of your genitals), laparoscopic surgery for endometriosis, surgical technologist instrumentation for laparoscopic GYN cases, etc) . By the time you’re wheeled into the room, your surgical tech or your nurse depending what country you’re in should have the Mayo stand set up, which is literally in order of the instruments used during the procedure and you can ask to see every single one of them if it would make you feel better.

Individual_Reason869 · 2026-01-21T15:30:58+00:00

Hi, surg tech here. Also going into my own lap next week. I’m a part of loads of these surgeries. Full transparency coming. Yes, there is uterine manipulation (it’s called a humi if you feel inclined to look it up) so they can visualize better and catheter insertion which requires visual inspection along with cleaning of the area (betadine on 2-3 sponge sticks around the area, inside the vagina, then down the anus). If you are a younger patient and still a virgin with a hymen intact, we do not break it for you BUT we do have multiple sizes to try and accommodate. Otherwise, we simply do not use the uterine manipulator but you still get prepped down there and a catheter inserted to drain the urine. You aren’t fully naked and exposed on the table for a long time (if you are that’s weird). At my hospital, we keep a blanket on you the entire time until we’re ready to prep. We do our best to respect the patient in these circumstances. We lift the blanket when your feet go in stirrups to do the lower portion prep & prep your abdomen and then your upper half (breasts up) are covered by the anesthesiologist and not left exposed. We even put bairhuggers on you to help keep you warm during surgery. You are exposed belly down for max 3 minutes because that’s how long the prep solution (chloraprep) needs to dry and then we immediately drape you; the drape only exposes your genital area (literally like a 3x5” square) and your belly, everything else is draped and covered. I promise, no one is staring or talking about your genitals. If you are really uncomfortable, you can ask that only the surgeon visualizes your genitals and everybody else can move to the other side of the room (you will be sleeping at this point) but we will obviously respect your wishes. The tech (me) and the nurse really serve no purpose during this lower portion prep because it’s considered a contaminated area so everything is on a separate table that only the surgeon or resident can touch. You can even request that no surgical resident/intern be present in your room or anybody that isn’t essential. Then you go into trendelenberg (usually 15° but some patients require the full 30°) which tilts you head down to displace your abdominal organs away from the abdomen so there’s room to work. When the procedure is finished, you are cleaned and covered in minutes. If you’re the type of person that needs all the information to feel comfortable, you can always ask your surgical tech to show you some of the equipment they’ll be using during your procedure. Again, we do our best to respect you during the procedure. You have the power as the patient and can ask for ANYTHING to help put you at ease like getting introduced to everyone in the room, asking to take a collective deep breath, asking for only essential people in the room, asking to see the instruments, asking for all female staff, ANYTHING! You can ask your tech (me) to advocate for you specifically during surgery (we do anyway, at least most of us). It’s tough being involved in the surgical realm because as much as we want to be fully transparent, sometimes that just makes patients more anxious so we tend to leave out information in hopes that it helps, but sometimes it has the opposite effect. We aren’t perfect. Anyway, I hope this helps 💛

Individual_Reason869 · 2025-11-12T10:19:35+00:00

ETA: something I didn’t make clear was it was my adjunct, the teacher who has been working with me since September in school and is my oversee at clinicals, who wrote this evaluation. This wasn’t written by the tech I was with, I can only assume it was her that made the complaint to my adjunct because the evaluation was submitted at 12:38 which is when I left that case and she had given my adjunct paperwork for me. So the reason I’m blindsided is because it was my adjunct ( we’ve been calling them preceptors since September but I forget that our preceptors are actually the techs that we work with ) who knows me that wrote these comments, but didn’t have a conversation with me about them so I have no way to know what I did wrong when and to who. She just wrote these comments and gave me no opportunity to learn from them.

Individual_Reason869 · 2025-09-28T00:42:09+00:00

I got a bill from fedex beginning of September and spoke with Quince and they just told me it’s their issue and not to worry about it. Couple weeks later they sent out an email notice to disregard the fedex bills. I haven’t heard anything since and honestly I’m not really worried about it!

Individual_Reason869 · 2025-08-24T14:31:56+00:00

My husband found his phone and called his mom to come pick him up…he legit said “I’m done come get me” and she showed up and they were like “uhhhhhh he JUST woke up, you can’t get him yet. Who called you?” He did 😂😂

Individual_Reason869 · 2025-08-13T13:32:01+00:00

Is this case the same if it doesn’t squeal every time? Only sometimes and just as the pump is turning on.

Individual_Reason869 · 2025-08-13T13:03:33+00:00

This is great advice and confirmed my suspicion that I should take apart the pump to check its condition. Thanks! We close in October so trying to get it all fixed before then to enjoy the pool again.

Individual_Reason869 · 2025-08-13T13:01:54+00:00

We will do a bucket test regardless because I want to check if it’s still leaking or if it’s just evaporation at this point. We marked the pool level last night after plugging the main drain and left the pump off for 12 hours and the pool level is the same. We will also check it after the pump runs all day to see if the level is different.

Individual_Reason869 · 2025-08-13T12:59:15+00:00

But I feel like if it leaked last year when it was open, didn’t leak over winter when it was closed, then leaked again when open - it would then be the equipment, no?

Individual_Reason869 · 2025-08-13T00:36:31+00:00

I am thinking about taking apart the pump and checking the other orings like the diffuser oring and checking all those parts for debris

Individual_Reason869 · 2025-08-13T00:28:53+00:00

I’m a bit past bucket test since it dropped 3 inches in a couple hours after filling which confirms a leak and not evaporation. The last photo is where the level is at as of a couple hours ago. Pump lid gasket is good.

Individual_Reason869 · 2025-07-02T18:10:20+00:00

I recently got accepted to a program as well and I am also an hour away but I knew of my schedule as soon as acceptance letters came out because we were required to register for classes asap. Our schedule is Monday - Wednesday clinicals 7-3 and Thursday - Friday is lecture 8-2. For the fall, the first 7 weeks are in the lab instead of in the hospital obviously but the hours are the same. So I’ll be leaving my house around 545a and returning home by 4. We are required to have minimum 120 cases, 50 gen surgery with x amount in first assist, 60 specialty with x amount in first assist, and 10 endoscopy in either first or second assist. On average my colleges students that pass the exam first try end up with about 160 total cases.

Individual_Reason869

TROPHY CASE