Recovery from Laparoscopic Surgery for Endometriosis

I was so relieved after my surgery, finally getting a concrete diagnosis. I’m naturally a stubborn person and constantly on the move so it was difficult for me to just be home and resting because I felt like I didn’t need it, but I did. For me the the shoulder pain was the worst part! My GYN told there was a possibility of it (due to the gas they use) but damn, that hurt as much as the the pain I was feeling from the site itself, maybe more. TMI, but I got constipated from the pain meds (I also have IBS-C, so I also have laxatives around. I took some Miralax and was fine. For the first week bending and moving was hard, but mostly because I was tired… bending sucked for the obvious reason. At the end of the second week just some residual pain but I was ready to go back to work. The important part is that you don’t overwhelm yourself and listen to your body.

Stool softeners are a must! The gas they use will cause shoulder pain, I was not expecting that my first surgery and it caught me off guard; a heating pad on them helped. I couldn't walk without assistance for about a week, and after that i still had pain walking for about a month, but everybody is different. Make sure you do small walks though, and don't beat yourself up - progress is progress! My doctor told me to stop taking my birth control after surgery for about a month or two, so I had about 2 periods and they were pretty painful. I think the best advice is to stay hydrated, and stay hopeful! Wishing you a successful surgery and speedy recovery!!

I took 2 weeks off work but wish I'd taken 3. Walking and gentle movement is encouraged (especially if you get constipated) so I tried to do that but I couldn't do any bending so had to move the pet food bowls up to waist height so I could reach them, and also had to move my food up in the fridge to waist high or higher. The pain was manageable with the right meds, but the exhaustion was a lot. Also, because I never see it spoken about, if you can take some time off for your first period or two post-surgery, please do. Your body will still be healing and that first 1-3 periods can be worse than the endo pain pre-surgery. Overall, it can take a few months (I think the general consensus is 6 months? But don't quote me on that) for you to start feeling the effects of the surgery so don't feel too disheartened if you don't feel immediate relief. Best of luck! ❤️