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post laparoscopic surgery / cysectomy: organs moving around??

hi!

this is day 4 after getting surgery done to diagnose and remove endo and endometrial cysts (one on each ovary). i had a lot of endo on my right side sticking some stuff together. i'm off oxy now and i'm starting to notice that when i bend or twist a little, i feel something near my rib cage sort of popping in and out of "place". i don't know how else to explain it. i think what it is is my organs were sort of stuck in place bc of the endo and now that they aren't they're moving around. is this normal? will this go away soon? does anyone else know what this is like?

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more endo deets for those interested:

main symptoms:
extreme pain while pooping, very loose poops, extreme morning nausea, some pain while peeing, mild to severe pain while having sex. debilitating cramps that would occasionally leave me gasping for air and unable to stand up right, and one trip to the ER for an extreme debilitating period where it felt like my uterus just kept squeezing tighter and tighter while i sobbed and screamed for four hours before i finally realized i needed to go to the ER. all these symptoms had been slowly increasing for around 10-ish years most noticeably with severe pain when pooping, but really culminating last year with REALLY debilitating cramps and the ER visit.

dr visits & initial diagnosis:
one trip to the gyno after a particularly bad period but before the ER visit. i explained my symptoms and was told it was probably endo. i had an ultrasound and an MRI (or was a CT?). i initially told my doctor i thought it might be on my bowels bc of loose stools and nausea. he said probably not. closer to my surgery date i told him about more nausea, and he told me it could be on my bowels and he was canceling the surgery cos he couldn't do bowl endo removal. COVID canceled my second surgery date.

surgery:
had 3 hour surgery on Monday at Virginia mason. turns out i had stage 4 endo, mostly on the right side sticking my ovary to some other stuff and a few spots on my left side, some on my perineum and as i said a chocolate cyst on each ovary. they got EVERYTHING out.

recovery:
1st day: was in a lot of pain the moment i woke up from surgery, i said a 7, not sure now if that's accurate but i think it's pretty spot on. slept on the ride home, felt pretty off but fell asleep after watching some of totoro. was very affectionate and lovey on my partner, haha. had very little gas pain which was something i was really worried about. 1 x oxy + 4 x motrin in alternating six hour segments.

2nd dat: felt awful the second day, didn't "stay ahead of my pain" very well. was very hoarse, very weak, couldn't walk without help, at a lot at the end of the day. definitely felt exactly like i had recently been stabbed and my insides had been scraped over and over again. ate only dinner really. had a hard time going to sleep (kept thinking about the screwdriver holes in my belly!). 1 x oxy + 4 x motrin in alternating six hour segments.

3rd day: felt better on the third day, walked about a 1/4 mile. had a really stressful and hurtful convo with a loved one who was caring for me. ate only dinner, few snacks. had a very hard time going to sleep, fell asleep at 3AM (just kept thinking horrible stress conversation!). 1 x oxy + 4 x motrin in alternating six hour segments.

4th day: felt even better on the fourth day (today). appetite coming back pretty well (ate breakfast and dinner and a lunch-type snack), not much pain, just a weird awareness of four holes in my belly and my organs moving! off the oxy, taking 4 x motrin every 6 hours.

  1. Hi , thank you so much for stopping by to share your story. You've had a lot going on! I hope by now that you are beginning to feel better, and your "screwdriver holes" are healing. It sounds like you had a lot of endo to remove, so hopefully you will feel so much better after you heal. So great that you had Totoro to keep you company on that tough first day after surgery!
    Your question about organs moving around: yes, could be that you're feeling your intestines moving around more, now that they have been freed up by the surgery. Could be the strange feeling of air moving around inside your belly, too. Is it still happening?
    Please keep unposted on your recovery as you feel able. Sending best wishes that you heal smoothly and that the surgery brings you relief! -Audrey (endometriosis.net team)

    1. the organs moving feeling has stopped! and i'm off the motrin even as of yesterday, so no painkillers. feeling the occasional twinges in the wounds when i move but other then that i feel as though i'm recovering pretty well! my memory isn't super great still but hoping that's just my body coping with the trauma. oh! and one symptom was really loose stools and now my poops have been consistently solid, which is a blessed miracle (haven't had consistently solid poops in like a decade!) thank you for your well wishes,

      1. I’m so glad things are getting better for you!! Those first few days following surgery are always the worst. Hopefully you will continue to feel better. Big hugs!

        Amber (endometriosis.net team moderator)

    2. @clarendo, thanks for sharing your experience here. Surgery recovery can be really challenging with lots of strange sensations! I, too, had two chocolate cysts and stage 4 endo and I'm so sorry to hear you were in that situation as well. Glad that your appetite is coming back and you're feeling less pain. Sending wishes for a smooth recovery! ~Katrina, Endometriosis.net Advocate

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