I'm getting a laparoscopy. What can I expect?

A laparoscopy is a minimally invasive surgical procedure. The doctor inserts a very tiny camera device into your abdomen to look for endometriosis lesions and/or scars. If they find any, they may remove or destroy them.

While everyone's experience is different, I can tell you about mine. I had to do a 24-hour bowel prep the day before surgery (where you have to drink yucky stuff and can't have anything but clear liquids the entire day). I was put under general anesthesia for the lap, and my doctor lasered off the endometriosis lesions. I went home right afterward. I had 2 or 3 stitches on my belly and was REALLY bloated for about a week after (I couldn't even see my belly button!). I definitely had to rest for a few days and had a lot of bleeding after, but felt much better within a week. Hope this helps!

I had really similar experience but was able to walk pretty quickly after I'm done.

Laparoscopy is a surgical procedure. A small camera is inserted into your abdomen to look and see if there is any scaring or endometriosis. Many times if it is found, the doctor will try to remove as much as he/she can.

Surgery for each individual is most definitely different. Depending on what the doctor is wanting to look at, your prep the day before may contain- fasting or a bowel prep. Luckily for my surgery, all I had to do was fast! The day of surgery can also be different for everyone. Some go into surgery and it goes exactly as planned. Others go into surgery and the doctor may find way more endometriosis than planned requiring a more lengthy surgery. Recovery can also be different. For me, I was bloated for at least a week from the air being pumped in during surgery. I had three small incisions. One in my belly button, and one on each side of my stomach. They were very sore for about a week. I was told it was important to rest, but also make sure to move around a little bit every day. This helped keep all that air/gas in my body to move around and also kept my body from becoming cramped up from just laying around. After the first week, I decided to still take the second week easy- even though I was feeling a lot better. I was able to start doing light activities around the house and some light walking on the treadmill! 😀 -Kimberli (Team Member)

It’s a fairly short procedure depending on severity. You do experience some pain and discomfort after but it’s normal. Hope it goes well for you.