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Dermoid cyst - post surgery questions

Posted , 14 users are following.

v17
v17

Hi there,

Thank you for clicking in and reading this.  I have read a lot of discussions in the site from all the bravo ladies who had went through the surgeries, your experiences are very helpful to me.  Thank you so much.  At this point, I am very worried about my upcoming laparoscopic surgery on March 16, 2015.   I have a 7cm x 4cm cyst diagnosied on Dec 31, 2014.  Then, I am not sure it became larger or just a different measurement from a second opinion, it was 9cm x 8cm on Jan 22, 2015.  I still could not really see/feel it when I stand up, but lying down was different.  I saw a bump.  Actually, I am most worried about what can/can't I do after the surgery.  I hope to get some answers from your experiences:

1) I knew carbon dioxide is going to be injected into my body, so I will be bloated for a few days.  But how long does the gas stay inside your body?  How does the gas go away?  I read people were taking windeeze, is it really needed?

2) How bad is the constipation?  I do suffer from constipation from time to time.  I have bowel movements like every 3 days.  Is it more like the same or much worse?

3) What caused the chest/shoulder pain?  Is it the wound? or the gas?

4) How is your appetite?  Can you eat solid food?  or simply only soup?

5) My doctor said I need a few days to recover, but I have read the recovery time is about 7 - 8 weeks.  Why is there such a big difference?  What was that I am missing? 

6) I do go to the gym twice a week, so how long before I could hit the gym again?  I understand the healing of the wound should be fast on the outside, but I am just worried about the healing inside becasue I really cannot tell.

7) Can I take showers?  Or I will need someone to clean me?

8) My next period is due about a week after the surgery, will there be any difference? I mean more or less blood flow?  longer or shorter?

9)  Finally, I am also worried about getting back pains after lying on the bed for so long.  Is it possible that I could sit up?  Is this bad? 

Thank you so much.  I hope everyone who had done similar surgeries have been recovering good.

Vane

4 likes, 26 replies

26 Replies

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  • michelle75345
    michelle75345 v17

    Posted

    Hi guys sorry to be full of self pity today should have flown out to Florida today but was told to cancel at my consultant app on 5 th feb due to my cyst !! Which I did, rung my doctors today about my ct results which I had on 23 feb , she's on holiday till 9 march as is my consultants secretary so no news till middle of next weeks which is just over two weeks referral deadline , came on today bleeding heavy not too mention large clots and ever present 9 month looking pregnant belly , just feel really low just want date for op get result and start my life again please someone make me smile

  • v17
    v17

    Posted

    In case anyone is interested, I have an update to my surgery that happened on March 16.  It is the 5th day post OP so far.

    My surgery went well, I supposed, because I am here online and sound.  I won't go into any details since it was more or less the same as most the experiences I have read in this forum so far.  However, there are a few things I want to say.

    1)  I did not experience any shoulder pain due to the CO2 injected into my body.  Actually I am not sure if there was any CO2 in my body.  I only felt bloated within my tummy region.  I was not able to pass any gas until the 3rd day.  It was painful as I needed "strength" from my tummy which is bloated and in pain. 

    2) Overall my pain level was not very high, I would say 4 out of 10 and could only reduced to 3/10 with ibuprofen.  The nurse said these pain killers would not be able to numb you all the way, so expect some kind of pain.  My doctor gave me some stronger pain killers, but could cause constipation.  I opt not to take it as I am pretty ok staying at my current pain level.  I do want to remind you, any kind of sneezing, coughing, passing gas, burping, etc would cause lots of pain.

    3) The nurse could not tell me what the doctor did, I have to wait until my follow-up appointment 2 weeks post OP.  I felt strange about this.  Anyway,  I hope my doctor saved my ovary. 

    I hope everyone is sound and recovering good.  For those who are waiting for OP, I wish you a successful and less painful experience.  Cheers!

    - Vanessa

     

    • louise55264
      louise55264 v17

      Posted

      Thank you for this info, I am waiting for my laproscopy so very interested to hear your experience. Hope your results are favourable, can't believe you have to wait two weeks to hear that's frustrating! Good to know though because I was expecting to be told straight after. Louise x
    • sylvia71047
      sylvia71047 v17

      Posted

      Hi Vanessa - That more or less sums up my experience- full hysterectomy in Jan , 24 staples down abdomen- didn't hurt at all and scar is fading fast. I found supporting my tummy when walking about by holding my hand under it helped a lot and a pillow under it in bed. I took 6 paracetomol a day for about 5 weeks and the pain was easily bearable.Now at 7 weeks post op I feel on top of the world! Eating properly and exercising(walks and gentle swim). My biopsy was benign-2 weeks after op. x
  • juani2015
    juani2015 v17

    Posted

    Hello! I had a laparatomy surgery done yesterday 05/08/2015 to remove a 9.3x5.8 cm dermiod cyst. I am home now. Before the surgery I was told that I might end up loosing my right ovary. Thank heaven the dermoid cyst was removed and luckily my ovaries are healthy so they were not removed.

    I am thank goodness I found this forum to answer so many questions. Thankbyou for the replies. Right now I have a lot of gas and pain where my incision is. My periods have been irrevular and my period is due next week, but I have been spotting what looks like pieces of tissue. I just hope that after my recovery which the doctor said would be up to 8 weeks, I can finally conceive a second child.

    I wish all of you the best of luck in your coming surgery and a speedy recovery.

  • Guest
    Guest v17

    Posted

    Just wanted to give a little encouragement to anyone who has a similar surgery coming up.  Literally two weeks ago (Monday night) I was on the table for removal of one very large and one small dermoid cyst, with both ovaries and Fallopian tubes.  I am 58, and post menopausal.  I left the hospital less than an hour after I came out of anesthesia and got home to rush up the stairs to pill my cat (who should have gotten his dose a few hours earlier), much to the dismay of my "responsible adult"  I did sleep downstairs the first night, and was a bit tired the first two days post op.  Pain was well controlled by ibuprofen.  By days four and five, I was working from home six hours/day.  Went back to the office the next Monday at my normal 7 AM and was worn out by two, and went home, but spent the whole day on Tuesday, and from then on was pretty much full speed....with a bit of ibuprofen and the surreptitious use of an ice pack from time to time.  Right now, my incisions are almost totally healed, and aside from some loss of abdominal tone, I am back to my old self!  I am still limiting what I lift, and have a twinge in my abdomen from time to time.....but no complaints.  Another miracle of modern science.

    Now to your questions....my surgeon mentioned that they had made a lot of progress with removing the gas post-op; I did feel like I had too much cheap food for a few days, but none of the shouulder pain or other painful symptoms that folks had described to me.  I ate a little the night I got home, but it was late (9:30 PM) and I was really worn out -- went back to normal meals the next day.  Took a shower on the second day... could have taken one the first day post op, but I live alone...and the cats love me anyway!  Honestly, my back has felt better since my surgery--some of it may be due to the ibuprofen, and some to me being a bit more careful about what I lift.... hoping it will continue to feel better.  Sounds like the original poster has recovered well and I send best wishes to all who have it coming up!

  • doleesi
    doleesi v17

    Posted

    Hi there

    Thanks for sharing the info. I have read through all

    The threads and many answers are very helpful

    Do you know how long I should avoid sex? I don't think I've seen anyone mentioning it. Thank you

  • heather96207
    heather96207 v17

    Posted

    I'm having surgery we'd their removing my ovary.when I had my son 8weeks ago my ovary swelled up 8times normal size.I'm really scared what is the recovery like after

  • jackie25411
    jackie25411 v17

    Posted

    One thing I found that helped me for when I got home was I bought one of those long body pillows and used it under my knee's to elevate and take the weight off my pelvis so nothing pulled. I found I had to have my knee's elevated to be comfortable... also have lots of back pillows ready! 

    First day I ate jello, liquids, applesauce.... after that I could eat anything. 

    Constipation for me was bad. I had prune juice at home and Senocot and it worked but I had to take it every day for at least the first week to get things moving.

    I'm 2 months post surgery and still sore, cannot exercise. Everyone is different though.

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