u/eluniaor

I just got open laparotomy abdominal surgery to remove a 19cm+ complex ovarian cyst that was suspected to be ovarian cancer. They removed the massive ovarian cyst and also my right ovary along with it. Instead of a bikini line incision they did a vertical one down my stomach. I was in the hospital for 2 days before being sent home.

The first night at the hospital was absolutely brutal and was begging my nurses for painkillers every 1.5 hours because I was in so much pain. I’m home and now and I have to wait 2-3 weeks till I know the results of the biopsy if it was cancer or not.

I had a urine catheter the first night as well as a leg compression machine to prevent blood clogs and by the morning they took it out and forced me out of bed to walk around the hospital hallway in 10/10 pain.

Anyone who had a laparotomy surgery what is your experience with it? How long did it take you to fully heal? How long do I have to be bedridden before I can start doing my regular activities? I can walk but only for very short distances and it’s painful getting out of bed. How long till I can roll over and sleep on my side? Because my back is killing me. What is your experience with this surgery?

I just got open laparotomy abdominal surgery to remove a 19cm complex ovarian cyst that was suspected to be ovarian cancer. They removed the massive ovarian cyst and also my right ovary along with it. Instead of a bikini line incision they did a vertical one down my stomach. I was in the hospital for 2 days before being sent home.

Anyone who had a laparotomy surgery what is your experience with it? How long did it take you to fully heal? How long do I have to be bedridden before I can start doing my regular activities? How long can I roll over and sleep on my side?

Back in March i accidentally found a 17cm cyst while doing a routine ultrasound on my liver because my grandma died of liver cancer, and wanted to make sure mine is healthy. Instead they found a large cyst in my right ovary and at first I didn’t have any symptoms or pain, however my family doctor made an urgent referral to get an MRI done and see an gynaecologist. However I live in Canada and it takes 1-2 years just to get an MRI done and see an gynaecologist or any specialist and got lucky that them took me in within 4 months.

While my wait I noticed my pain would slightly increase until about late June where I noticed it was VERY rapidly increasing. I work at retail where I have to stand and walk for hours, standing and walking becomes impossible and extremely painful. Pain radiates down my right leg and I’m limping and unable to walk. It is painful even when I’m sleeping and decided to go to the emergency cause I was very concerned. The doctors there did blood work, and ultrasounds. The ultrasound came back as highly suspecting ovarian cancer and as a complex O-rad 5 that grew from 17cm to 19cm. The fluid inside the cyst grew from 600ml to 1200cm in a span of 3 months.

The CA 125 Blood work came back negative however it doesn’t mean there’s no cancer it’s just means a slightly less chance there is from what the doctor told me. I also did a CT scan and there was no spread so that’s at least good.

Now I’m waiting for my MRI and gynaecologist appointment next week and I’m terrified. Im not scheduled in for surgery yet until I see the gynaecologist but it’s 100% certain I will be getting it to get it removed.

For anyone reading this with a similar story with an O-rad 5 cyst how did it turn out? I’m probably overthinking this but having the emergency doctor tell me “we highly suspect cancer” is still a very devastating thing to hear and was crying for days.