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Ovarian cyst removal
Hi. I hope someone out there can help me. I have been diagnosed with a "football sized" ovarian cyst, which will be removed during laparotomy surgery, the incision which will extend from just below the breast down to the hair line in a vertical incision. Also because of my age a hysterectomy will be performed, which given my age I can understand fully. My fear and questions are pain management, recovery time, and has anyone any idea how to get in and out of bed comfortably after this procedure. I am frightened to the point of being in tears on and off. Surgeon says that this will be done before the end of June. Can someone please help me with the information I need, I would be so grateful.
Best Answer
Hi Linda--
I had a similiar surgery in Sept 09. Just as someone previously mentioned my doctor inserted a pin size pain pump into the incision. The meds lasted for about 2 days and the nurses had me up and walking the halls later that night. It was still painful, but NOTHING compared to what was expecting.
With that the best way to get up is to roll on your side and use your arms to push.
All things the nurse will be able to help you with.
My advice is tovtake it easy and really slow with your recovery. I pushed myself and the first sign of feeling better I attempted to resume normal activity and suffered a hernia as a result of it. For example, my doctor wanted me to stay out if work for 6-8 weeks and returned in 4. If I had it to do over again I would have taken the necessary time to heal.
Good luck with your surgery!!! You will do fine and realize how strong you really are!!!
I had a similiar surgery in Sept 09. Just as someone previously mentioned my doctor inserted a pin size pain pump into the incision. The meds lasted for about 2 days and the nurses had me up and walking the halls later that night. It was still painful, but NOTHING compared to what was expecting.
With that the best way to get up is to roll on your side and use your arms to push.
All things the nurse will be able to help you with.
My advice is tovtake it easy and really slow with your recovery. I pushed myself and the first sign of feeling better I attempted to resume normal activity and suffered a hernia as a result of it. For example, my doctor wanted me to stay out if work for 6-8 weeks and returned in 4. If I had it to do over again I would have taken the necessary time to heal.
Good luck with your surgery!!! You will do fine and realize how strong you really are!!!
Hey, Linda, take good care. Post when you come home from your surgery. I know you'll be glad to have that cyst gone! Tell your doctor that he can do a tummy tuck while he's there. :)
Thank you so much for your information and helpful comments. My husband has been very supportive and tells me there is nothing to worry about, but to be honest I am glad I got a female perspective on this. I feel much more relaxed now that I have your and the other insight on this. Thank you so much for helping me here. Linda
Hi Linda, I know how apprehensive this can all be. I am due for a laparotomy on Tuesday using vertical incision. All of the ladies are right when they that the pain is managed very well. When I went to my pre-op appointment, my nurse told me of a new pain control method that they are doing. She said that they insert a tube (about the size of a pen head) into the incision and the tube goes up by your shoulder and is attached to a bulb that has lidacane (sp) in it to keep the incision numb. She said it would last about 2 days after surgery and that when the bulb was empty you just pull the tube out. Now, i have had drain tubes in the past and was terrified of pulling out a tube on my own, but the nurse said that you won't feel the tube come out and that sometimes it falls out on it's own. This may be something that you can ask your doctor about. You should also be hooked up to a morphine pump. All you have to do is push the button and it will put the pain med in you IV. It will only give you meds every 10 minutes, so no matter how much you push the button, it only gives you a certain amount.
As far as getting out of bed, the nurse will tell you what to do. Usually, they will tell you to roll on your side and lift yourself into a sitting position (not pulling yourself up). The first few times may be a bit scary, but after a few times, you will be an old pro at it. Make sure that when you do go to get up that you have a pillow near by. When you are getting up, press the pillow to your stomach and it will help. Also, when you sneeze or laugh, you will want that pillow too. When I've had surgery, I even found that I liked to sleep with a pillow resting on my stomach. Good luck on your surgery!! Please keep us posted on when your surgery is. Sending prayers and hugs your way.
As far as getting out of bed, the nurse will tell you what to do. Usually, they will tell you to roll on your side and lift yourself into a sitting position (not pulling yourself up). The first few times may be a bit scary, but after a few times, you will be an old pro at it. Make sure that when you do go to get up that you have a pillow near by. When you are getting up, press the pillow to your stomach and it will help. Also, when you sneeze or laugh, you will want that pillow too. When I've had surgery, I even found that I liked to sleep with a pillow resting on my stomach. Good luck on your surgery!! Please keep us posted on when your surgery is. Sending prayers and hugs your way.
You will be OK I am sure. I had an ovarian cyst removed some years ago. It was smaller than yours (about the size of a large orange, but still I was apprehensive about what to expect) I'd never had surgery before. Well I just went for it because I was fed up of having this thing inside me!
I had a bikini "Csection style" incision which was stitched up beautifully, but taped over with what looked no stronger than sellotape! That worried me, but all was well, and those stitches didn't bust! (And they were sorely tested too because I found it a bit hard to sleep with all the hospital sounds going on around me. I was used to the quiet country nights where I live....and I used to get up at night and have giggle sessions with other women on the ward. It was a bit like a holiday, or summer camp with the girls! I was so scared my stitches would burst! But the more I tried not to laugh, the more I wanted to. So I used to crouch down and grip my knees close to my belly every time I felt the giggles coming on! Sneezing was the same.
Anyway, when I woke up from anesthetic it was like waking up from the deepest sleep, and it felt quite good. I wanted a coffee, but they wouldn't let me have one. Certainly they wouldn't let me have food, but I was hungry, and managed to sneak a couple of mints from my bedside table. When I nagged and nagged for a coffee, they tested me out for nausea by letting me sip water. When all that went down well, they let me have a coffee! It tasted sublime! I got no nausea at all, and not even anything you could really call pain. (Though there was pain relief on IV and all I had to do was press a little button for it to be delivered via cannula in my hand. But I never needed it.)
I ate well after, but there was one difficult thing! It troubled the nurses more than it troubled me. I couldn't poop! The nurses told me that until I pooped sucessfully they wouldn't let me go home. Nada. Zilch. Eventually on the 5th day I took an enema, and a copy of Vogue into the bathroom, and must say I read that Vogue from cover to cover I was in there so long! (Apparently that can be a side effect of abdo. surgery, but was eventually remedied)
So I know everyone is different, and hospitals can be a bit scary, especially when you go for surgery, but what I'm saying is it can be OK. Grudgingly, and I suppose in a masochistic, black-humour way, I have to admit I had quite a good rest and a good laugh with the girls!
I am sure you will be fine. Don't be scared.
I had a bikini "Csection style" incision which was stitched up beautifully, but taped over with what looked no stronger than sellotape! That worried me, but all was well, and those stitches didn't bust! (And they were sorely tested too because I found it a bit hard to sleep with all the hospital sounds going on around me. I was used to the quiet country nights where I live....and I used to get up at night and have giggle sessions with other women on the ward. It was a bit like a holiday, or summer camp with the girls! I was so scared my stitches would burst! But the more I tried not to laugh, the more I wanted to. So I used to crouch down and grip my knees close to my belly every time I felt the giggles coming on! Sneezing was the same.
Anyway, when I woke up from anesthetic it was like waking up from the deepest sleep, and it felt quite good. I wanted a coffee, but they wouldn't let me have one. Certainly they wouldn't let me have food, but I was hungry, and managed to sneak a couple of mints from my bedside table. When I nagged and nagged for a coffee, they tested me out for nausea by letting me sip water. When all that went down well, they let me have a coffee! It tasted sublime! I got no nausea at all, and not even anything you could really call pain. (Though there was pain relief on IV and all I had to do was press a little button for it to be delivered via cannula in my hand. But I never needed it.)
I ate well after, but there was one difficult thing! It troubled the nurses more than it troubled me. I couldn't poop! The nurses told me that until I pooped sucessfully they wouldn't let me go home. Nada. Zilch. Eventually on the 5th day I took an enema, and a copy of Vogue into the bathroom, and must say I read that Vogue from cover to cover I was in there so long! (Apparently that can be a side effect of abdo. surgery, but was eventually remedied)
So I know everyone is different, and hospitals can be a bit scary, especially when you go for surgery, but what I'm saying is it can be OK. Grudgingly, and I suppose in a masochistic, black-humour way, I have to admit I had quite a good rest and a good laugh with the girls!
I am sure you will be fine. Don't be scared.
hi linda, you will be fine, as said above the pain managment offered is good, it's not easy but you get through it, my first abdominal laproptomy was from midrif down to hairline vertically like your going to have , i had this for major bowel surgery and had about 60 staples outside , i dont know about how many in but it healed really well. This time they reopened the existing scar to take away a cyst the size of a small melon around 10cm , tube and left ovary. The scar seems to be healing faster this time than last. It is the gas that causes alot of the after pain and makes you feel abit down but it does go, walk around as much as you can and this helps to relieve it. Good luck with your surgery linda and let us know how your doing x
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Some of my surgeries were done by cutting my abdomen open and going for it, some were through the cervix, and some were by fiberoptics and laparoscope. My first abdominal surgery was for a ruptured, abscessed appendix, the second was to go back and remove the appendix itself. The next several surgeries were to try to remove scar tissue from the first surgery, so I could try to get pregnant. I later had a D&C to remove uterine polyps, and a D&C to remove scar tissue from a miscarriage, and I have also had a Cesarean section. NONE of these was frightening, they were all handled very well by the medical professionals (even the C-section, which was unplanned.) Do you know, even with all the stitching internal and external, they have women walking the night of their C-section? I had my c at 11 am and was up and peeing in the bathroom at 7 pm.
As far as pain is concerned, like I said, the doctor will talk to you about pain management and be sure you are OK. I think you could also talk to him about some Valium to help ease your anxiety -- I was always offered that choice. Also, be sure to ask him to write on your chart that you want something for nausea in your IV, as many people (I can attest to this from experience) get queasy after anesthesia. If they use inert gas to distend your abdomen so they can see what they are doing, ask the doctor to do what he can to try to get as much of it out as possible before stitching you up, as that damn gas floats up and bumps your stomach nerves, and gives you transferred pain in your shoulders for a couple of weeks that feels like the bends.
As for getting up and down out of bed, the nurses will teach you the technique. You will probably be well stitched and could just get up any way without harm to yourself, but you won't want to. Sneezing or laughing are not much fun the week after abdominal surgery -- if you feel a sneeze come on, grab a pillow and put it against your scar and press, so the spasm of your abdomen won't feel so painful.
I am so glad you are having that darn cyst out. My hairdresser had one out that was the size of a cantaloupe! Another friend just had a hysterectomy because she had a huge fibroid. She was told it made her look 11-12 weeks pregnant, and was kind of bucked up that she might be able to wear some pants afterward that she hadn't been able to get into for a while.
Please remember, sweetheart, people have these surgeries every day. You will do fine.