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Recovery post ovarian cyst and ovary removal

Posted , 53 users are following.

drkensdeb
drkensdeb

Hello all, 

I'm 42, fit (a personal trainer) and have 4x5cm simple fluid filled cyst on my left ovary, been there for 10 years but only now symptomatic and has grown. I'm scheduled for surgery in the next few weeks. My surgeon says she won't know until she goes in through keyhole to make sure the cyst hasn't adhered to anything else in my abdominal cavity if she can get it all out by keyhole. I may have to have a laparotomy. I'm not scared about the surery itself, I'm just gonna be glad to have some relief. 

What I am terrified of is the recovery time off of work! I know, we're all different and have such different circumstances but I just wondered how anyone else got on post surgery. Thanks in advance for any replies. 

3 likes, 93 replies

93 Replies

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  • dev24581
    dev24581 drkensdeb

    Posted

    Hi all. What led me to this forum is I’m concerned about recovery time. Last week I went to the ER for constants pain of my right side, nausea and vomiting. 12 hrs later I learned that there was a cyst on my ovary and that it sounds like it’s twisted. Immediately after they did the surgery. When I woke up they said ovary was the size of an grapefruit and was twisted around my tube. They were able to do Laporsopic  (not sure if I spelled that right).  They were able to untwist it but Tube was Damaged so they took out both. So today makes a week and I’m still in a lot of pain and on top of that I had a lot of bad smelling drainage coming out of the incision on my navel last night, like a lot. I had to call doc to see what I could do. ITs very hard to sleep in the bed. Today is the first night I decided to sleep propped up on the couch and so far good. Pain Meds do not help. After reading all the post I’m learning ibuprofen helps the best and a muscle relaxer at night to help me relax. Because I’m still In pain I worry if I’ll Be able to drive next week, and also wonder if I’m not healing too well because the first few days after surgery I was up a lot because my husband and son had the flu. FIRST day of real rest was day 5 since my husband started feeling better. 
    • missy28816
      missy28816 dev24581

      Posted

      I would definitely have your dr look at, it you have an odor or any drainage especially not clear could be an infection.  Do you have a fever??? Did the odor go away? 
    • dev24581
      dev24581 missy28816

      Posted

      I had just got to the doc office when you replied. It was badly infected and was told to go straight to ER. Docs said when they removed the ovary and tube it was pretty big and damaged so it was a little difficult to pull out so my body probably didn’t like that. So they treated the infection (had to be admitted for a day) so now I’m just healing from the infection. The morning of the day before I went to the ER was the first day waking up with no pain from the surgery. 
  • Hazel60062
    Hazel60062 drkensdeb

    Posted

    Hi,

    I just had cystic ovaries & tubes lapriscopicaly removed 10 days ago. I am 66 & use to walking 3-5 miles daily, slim frame & active. I wish I had found this site before as I've been frustrated with what to expect! Here is my story so far....

    Doctors had told me they wouldn't know until I was on the table if they had to do a full hysterectomy or just take my tubes and my ovaries out.

    2 weeks prior I had several visits to a P.T (D.P.T) which helped me Immensely with a " tortuous colon" I was born with. I also read a gr8 book ", "Prepare for Surgery, Heal Faster by Peggy Huddleston . It really calmed my nerves & I wish I had read it a month before. I also took 1000 mg twice a day vitamin buffered C, homeopathic medicine arnica and staphysagria pellets under my tongue.

    Surgery was scheduled for 7:15 a.m. I woke (10:15am)up to find they only took my ovaries and tubes laparoscopically and I would be going home same day. I live a short distance from the hospital and was home by 12:45 p.m. same day . I remember my doctor showing me the pictures of what they took out telling me to just take it easy for the week or so left with paperwork and my girlfriend having the explanations .Feeling blessed! I only used 3 Narco pain pills & switched to Ibuprofen for 4 doses days after. I did not use suggested 600mg. as 1 -200 mg.pill was fine. My girlfriend stayed 3 nites which gave me peace of mind since I live alone. Woman friend power is all around me when needed & important as one should not handle this alone!

    On day 7, feeling so amazing, I had a friend take me for short 45 min. errand. It went ok except I could only walk small steps as I felt stitches pulling. Later that nite I could tell I did too much, just little pain.

    Day 9 I drove myself 2 blks. To library. There were no steps & I just sat for 2hours reading as I was soo bored at home! Getting in the car I felt pulling/pain on 1 side. Getting out nothing. I was only instructed to not drive for 48 hrs. & that my body would tell me my boundries. Later in evening I reached too far for something and severe pain. Now I use one of those extended grippers& feel like my parents,lol. I Highly Recommend to get Ahead of time! !!

    Today, day 11 ,I am confining myself home for 3 straight days and see how I feel.

    I So appreciate reading the other women's responses, Thank you All! At least I now know it could be months before I'm back to normal. I do know I Will Not push it any further. Learning from back surgery 6 years ago when I did too much & have scare tissue because I was too antsy. I have a ton of books, movies & friends that Luv me 😊 that's good enough for now

    Take care All you Super Women & let us know if any questions or a hand to hold. YOUR EXPERIENCES have helped my journey.

    ..sending Blessings of Peace & Health

  • apryllnana
    apryllnana drkensdeb

    Posted

    Im 19. I had my surgery 5 days ago. My doctor diagnosed me with ovarian new growth. It's a dermoid cyst, 16cm placed on my right ovary so obviously it's too big so they had to remove my right ovary. I wasn't really scared before and during the surgery. I even woke up few times during the surgery i clearly remember how I used to shove the cloth in front of me cause I felt drunk and I wanna see what's going on in my abdomen. I also remembered when they (nurses and doctors)were surrounding the removed cyst on the other table. I really wanna get up that time and check it out too! Also i woke up after the surgery at the recovery room talking to a nurse or anesthesiologist. Then when i wake up in the hospital bed they told me that my appendix was swollen and they removed it too. Right now I'm at home recovering. It was an unbelievable experienced cause I've never been hospitalized before. I'm glad that i get to wear higjwaisted jeans soon!

  • amy15515
    amy15515 drkensdeb

    Posted

    hello. i know some time has past since this post so hope you see my question.

    why did they change from keyhole to open surgery? i too have a 15cm cyst and booked in fir surgery in 4 weeks. they are remiving my ovary and tube also.

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