We often get questions about how long will it take to recover from surgery and how long does it take to know if it was successful. The aggravating answer is….it depends. There are many different things that play a part of surgery and recovery.
Recovery will be different for everyone. Everyone has their own innate healing (how quickly you heal, how you react to anesthesia and medications, adhesions, how healthy you were beforehand, etc.). Every surgery is different (what was done during surgery, how long was the surgery). Everyone might have other factors to their symptoms that will need to be addressed as well (such as pelvic floor dysfunction). While the incision on the outside may be small, there may be extensive work on the inside that is healing. Some people may notice a difference as soon as waking up from surgery. For others it may be weeks before they can tell a difference.
The success of the surgery can depend on multiple factors as well. One factor is what was your main goal? Some may have a goal of reduced pain while others may be more focused on fertility. With complete excision, there is the less likelihood of recurrence, but some people have ovarian endometriomas that have a higher recurrence rate if they are trying to preserve their ovaries. Some people may have other factors that are contributing symptoms, such as adenomyosis or interstitial cystitis. Sometimes we hear these wonderful stories of people waking up from surgery and feeling so much better, but that is not the case for everyone- but it doesn’t mean your surgery isn’t successful. Susan Pierce-Richards shares her thoughts on managing pre and post op expectations as someone who has been there: https://nancysnookendo.com/learning-library/treatment/lessons/managing-expectations-pre-op-and-post-op/
For more information about healing after surgery, see: https://nancysnookendo.com/learning-library/treatment/lessons/what-to-expect-in-the-weeks-after-skilled-excision-surgery/
*Remember to follow your surgeon’s instructions and call that surgeon if you have any questions or concerns!
