First off, wow. I wanted to say a heartfelt thank you. I was not expecting the response that I received from sharing my Endometriosis Story. It really goes to show how you never know what someone is going through, and how sharing your experience can help others.

It’s been a bit over 9 weeks since my surgery, and I wanted to share my experience so far with recovery.

Endometriosis is only currently diagnosed (officially) through laparoscopic surgery, which is where they make an incision in your bellybutton to insert a camera. Ultrasounds aren’t good enough yet to detect lesions as they can be quite small. At my surgery, they confirmed that I had Stage 3 Endo – they removed an Endometrioma from my right ovary, and lesions throughout my pelvic cavity including behind my uterus.

Immediately after waking up from surgery, I was in extreme pain and was super nauseous. I actually puked 3 times. I was nervous for the ride home, but I knew that the sooner that I got home, the more comfortable I would be. Remember to communicate how you are feeling to your nurses, if you aren’t ready to leave or don’t feel well, please share it with them! Surgery is a big deal, and so is recovery and it can affect everyone differently. The nurses I had were so kind, I got an anti-nausea drip in my IV, an extra gravol and even a puke bucket for the ride home.

One of the first feelings I had after surgery (apart from the pain and nausea), was relief. There’s something about dealing with a chronic Illness, suffering from pain, and being gaslit by Doctors that does something to you mentally. There were fleeting thoughts I had around, “What if they don’t find anything?” or “What if they tell me it’s worse than they thought”.

The first few days were a blur. I did bleed through one of my incisions the first night, and maybe it was the opioids I was on, or maybe it was post surgery adrenaline – but everything was really manageable? Better than I anticipated.. until day 3. Day 3 till the rest of the first week the pain goes worse, even with medication. I was crying every day. I never realized until now, how much we use our abdominal muscles, for simple movements like sitting, getting up, standing, laughing, coughing etc.

Week 2: I knew what to expect in terms of pain, I was taking the opioids around the clock. Used a cold pack on my abdomen to help numb the pain. I didn’t feel comfortable using a heating pad until my incisions were more healed. My appetite wasn’t normal yet but I was eating what I could, while taking a restorolax every single day. Here I was trying to walk and stand a bit more.

Week 3: I was hoping to feel significantly better by the third week, but I wasn’t. I was out of my post-op medication, I was in a lot of pain, I was still crying. I was frustrated that I felt like I wasn’t able to move around more or do a lot yet. There wasn’t much I could do but continue to rest. Though I was able to get outside and get fresh air this week which was SO nice, even just for a cruise around the block in my wheelchair.

Week 4: Here is where things finally started to improve. I wasn’t taking medication around the clock anymore, I was able to move around and have a bit more energy. I could shower normally, without needing to sit or lean for support. I could sit and stand for longer periods of time, but I notice if I do it for too long then I start to feel achy. My incisions are looking really good so I was able to take my first bath, and I’ve started using a heat pad instead of medication if I started to feel any discomfort.

Week 5: I haven’t heard too many people discuss this, except from one gf who also got surgery last year. But I get random pain/sensitivity in my belly button. It’s such a weird and disarming feeling at first. It’s very random, and I hope that it starts to decrease, but only time will tell.

Week 6: My follow-up with my Dr was this week. While I got the all clear to be able to start lifting things (slowly), I find that my strength is still a work in progress. I opted-in to get a free trial of a grocery delivery service (InstaCart) and I highly recommend it! It’s a bit more money with the price mark ups and the tips, but I think it’s definitely worth it. Whether it’s for recovery, the elderly, new parents etc!

Week 7 – 8: I’m back to work this week. I’ve been lucky enough to get a gradual return to work plan, which has been a good way to ease back into it. My ergonomic chair is delayed from the manufacturer, and I can feel discomfort when I sit for long periods of time – so I’m trying to stand at my home desk as much as possible.

6 weeks off is what they recommended for me, but that may change person to person. While it sounded like a long time initially, it FLEW by. With whatever time you (or someone you may know) have off, consider what you can do to help keep you/them occupied. Resting is the most important, but the thought of bed rest for 6 weeks was actually a hard thing to wrap my mind around. As a naturally busy-bee, I wanted to make sure that I had things that I could do to help the time pass and make me feel good (which doom scrolling does not).

1) TV/Movies/Documentaries – Finally got a bunch watched after having them on my watch list for years
2) Books & Audiobooks
3) Duolingo – Currently (re)learning French and also Spanish.. cause why not
4) Learned to Crochet! Probably my new favourite hobby. Very easy to do while laying down
5) Adult colouring Books (this was a thoughtful gift!)
6) Word search/Crossword/Brain Puzzles – I got one from Chapters!
7) Puzzles. I stocked up during Black Friday last year. Though I was only able to puzzle during the last two weeks or so of my leave, because of discomfort while sitting for long periods of time
8) Blog – Last but not least, revive this little blog of mine. Which has brought me so much joy and also been very therapeutic over the past 8 weeks.

Any surgery (even though this one is considered minimally invasive) is a big deal. Listen to your body. Be patient and kind to yourself. Cry if you feel like crying. You’re encouraged to walk and to move around, it helps with potential blood clots and helps with abdominal gas pain (that they pumped into you for the surgery). I’ve done a lot of reading and research on how the more active you are, the easier any type of recovery will be. But you know your body best. Don’t be afraid to call your Dr’s office and ask for more information, or to ask questions in the hospital. Don’t push yourself too much, but challenge yourself (safely). I hope this has given some insight into excision recovery (again, only from my experience) and maybe given some ideas for someone else to help during this time.

With Love,
Murs ❤