# To have a laparoscopy sooner or later?



## *Luna* (Nov 19, 2001)

I saw my gyn recently and he was going back and forth on whether i should get a lap... every time I go in he asks if I've ever had one (no). I have various symptoms of endo but the main one is agonizing menstrual cramps.I currently take birth control pills continuously and try to go 3 months between periods. Doing that really helps me, because I'm not having those extra days of horrible cramps (and worse IBS) plus when I do get a period it's lighter than it is if I have one every month.My dr doesn't want me to be in pain... and pain is really only an issue when I'm getting my period. There is pain and discomfort some other times, but not too bad or too frequent.I'm not planning on having kids for at least a few years. The doc and I both figure the pain will be back when I go off the pill and if I haven't had a lap yet, I'll need one then. The dr doesn't feel any adhesions and never has, but still suspects endo. (I think if he'd felt some he'd have scheduled a lap rather than just discussing it.)For those that had laps, were your periods a lot less painful afterwards? And if you were in my position, would you wait to have one? I'm leaning toward waiting..not sure that I need to put my body through that now, plus I'm worried I might need another one later when I want to have kids. The other side of it is if I do have endo growing in there would it be a lot harder to get rid of if I wait a couple of years? (BTW, my mom had/has endo but had NO trouble getting pregnant. I'm in no hurry to get pg for a while.)Thanks for your advice


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## Mishy (Mar 20, 2000)

Hey Luna!I've gone through three laps: first was in 2000, second in 2001 and third was February this year. All were done because of pain. My first one showed Level 1 endo (very minimal). My second had gone to Level 2, and my third was extreme, as well as having a huge adhesion running from my right pelvic wall right across my uterus.They say that a lap is a catch 22, as everytime you have one, it can cause adhesions, and the endo usually grows right back.Because of my endo the second time (I also had adhesions with that one), my gyno told me it would be nearly impossible for me to conceive. That was in October 2001. In November 2001, I conceived my daughter, exactly a month after my lap. I believe that a lap is great for helping to conceive if you have endo, as it helps "clean" you out.Unfortunantly with my pregnancy my endo grew right back, as shown with my third lap. It was the worst it's been, and even though it hasn't even been two months yet, the pain's back. I don't think a lap has ever given me pain relief, instead I do what you do and take three packs of the Pill before having a period.It's what you would believe is right, but I thought I'd give you my experience so it maybe helps! i'm only 21, and I dread to think of not being able to conceive again, so I'm not having another lap until that time comes.Good luck!


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## briland23 (Sep 11, 2002)

MishyYour daughter is absolutely beautiful! Your family looks so happy to have her around! Thanks for sharing those pictures...it gives us all hope that we can have happy, healthy and adorable babies!!


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## passionflower (Feb 1, 2003)

Ihad a lap years ago, and it didn't help my pain enough. If I had to do it over again, in my case, I wouldn't. But, each person is different--go with your gut!


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## ANDREA37 (Jul 21, 2002)

I just had a lap a month ago . I didn't think it was a big deal. They found one adhesion caused by a ceserean and removed it. I am 24 and had no idea that there was any reasons why I shouldn't have had one done. Are you saying laparoscopies can make it hard to get pregnant later on? I also didn't know that it would cause more adhesions. I am kind of bummed out now. Why didn't my Doc tell me?


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## christywisty (Mar 12, 2002)

I've had one lap done to diagnose and treat my endo (Level 1). Unfortunately, it did not help my pain. I'm in the process of trying to figure out what else is causing the chronic pelvic pain. I've had constant cramping for six months. Need to rule out fibroids and adenomyosis. Best of luck to you. Laps help plenty of people. Please don't be discouraged, but definitely do your research.


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## Imagica (Jan 14, 2001)

I just had a lap done 2 weeks ago which turned into a laprotomy (sp) which they removed scarring that covered my left fallopian tube completely the right one they couldn't get to cause my sigmoid colon covered it







from endo I now have to go on lupron injections







for the next 6 months and I'm off to see a fertility specialist in a couple of months. The doctor doesn't believe I could get pregnant on hormones alone. I'm very glad I had it done better to know what going on inside me then being in the dark. And actually I was looking forward to doing it.


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## persian26 (Mar 2, 2003)

I think if you can, to go ahead and have it done...even if they dont find anything, at least you can rule it out.


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## alexiarain (Apr 15, 2003)

I have had 2 laps. The Dr. cotterized and left.It wasn't too bad. You wouldn't believe that on my first, the Dr. *didn't sew me up* . He just put a bandaid on and when i woke from my "dreamland" and went to my parents for the afternoon, my mom looked and she could see the fat under my skin exposed. She took me to my regular Dr. and he sewed me up. I now have a nice scar from that one. I also had a second about a year later, but the NEW Dr. I had kinda tucked a bit of the old scar in so It isn't as bad as it was, but he also cotterized as well as removed a cyst the size of a freakin grapefruit. My gyno told me that I should stay on the pill right till we decided to get pregnant and that the sooner the better, as it can decrease fertility. Also, my second lap was done 10 days before my wedding, and my wedding was in Vegas. Amazingly enough, the day before we left for Vegas I felt amazing. It was obviously a sign. Anyways, We got married and 3 months later i was pregnant. I had no ab pain at all for (what do they say) 10 months. I had my daughter and 8 1/2 months later I was back in the Dr. office getting a referral to the gyno again. I had pain like I hadn't had....i sware ( I don't remember any pain like that except birth), anyways, I go to the gyno on the 22nd of this month. I think he may want to put me on a *depo shot type thing* , make my period go away. Does anyone have any suggestions about that? I think there are a couple different ones out. Any info would be great.


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## JenS (Dec 18, 2000)

Luna, Here's my two -cents. If you have good insurance, go for the lap! Recovery is only a few days at the most. I have had 2 with no problems. AND BOTH led me to have fewer IBS-attacks and less PMS.


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## *Luna* (Nov 19, 2001)

Thanks everyone







I do have fairly good insurance now, and thanks to an illness and hospitalization this spring plus some other stuff, I may max out my out-of-pocket expense, so a lap might be free or lower cost than a later one. But I don't want to put myself through unnecessary procedures just because it's covered!I'm on Lotronex now, which helps my IBS a LOT. My hormonal cycle affected my IBS, which is the second reason I'm on continuous BCP. (Primary reason is bad cramps and suspected endo.) If I wasn't on the Lotronex, I'd probably go for the lap in the hopes that it would reduce my D.As it is, I'm still not sure. I guess I have til the end of the calendar year to have one and have it almost all covered by insurance. Lots more time to think about it, I guess. I wish I had talked to the doc in more detail about it at my appointment...i guess that whole sitting there in nothing but a little gown makes it hard to remember to ask the right questions.Do they still do laps under general anesthesia? When my mom had her laps, she wasn't up to speed for a week. But, she thinks she might be like that after general anesthesia even without a surgical procedure! I bounce back pretty fast from twilight zone anesthesia...and my dad had hernia surgery with that. He recovered MUCH faster than his previous hernia repair under general.


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## passionflower (Feb 1, 2003)

Despite the fact I said I would not have had my lap if I'd known it would do so little that's only knowing now what affect it had. If I was in the exact same situation, I would do it. I was just hopeful it would eliminate my pain and perhaps my expectations were too high. However, I was relieved to know that there wasn't something horribly wrong, and it was endo. The procedure was a piece of cake, and it was light anasthesia. I was normal the next day. Of course, I was 25 or so then, so it might affect me a little differently at 39. But, the lap was really no big deal and it might be worth doing for the piece of mind you'd get. But, speaking from experience, it might or might not relieve your pain. Good luck with your decision. You're smart to evaluate it before blindly making a decision. LOL. --Cindy


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## Serenity (Feb 6, 2002)

Luna,I'm facing the same decision you are. I posted a question about it, then did some searching and found this post of yours. Guess I should have tried the search first.







I have my first follow-up appointment with my gynaecologist this week, and I'm trying to prepare myself for the appointment. Like you, I always seem to forget to ask something or other during the appointment. And here in Canada, most doctors won't take phone calls. Not sure what that's like in the US. Anyway, my concerns around having laparoscopy are (1) it's surgery and I am terrified of having an anaesthetic not to mention the pain afterwards, (2) the endo can grow back, and (3) the procedure itself can create adhesions. On the other hand, if I don't have it done, I keep thinking "what if it's something else, like ovarian cancer?"My gynaecologist feels laparascopy is not necessary right now because of the three items I mentioned above and because I'm still undecided about having children. If I were ready to get pregnant, she says she would advise the procedure.BTW there was an interesting article on WebMD this month about abdominal surgery, although not specifically about endometriosis. If you're interested, here's the link: http://my.webmd.com/content/Article/63/720...m?printing=true Good luck with your decision! If I find out anything new during my appointment on Wednesday, I'll let you know.







Serenity


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