? for those who have had a lap

Anasara · January 2010

I POAS again this morning & still BFFN. Tomorrow is beta & I will be asking about a lap as I don't get why we aren't pregnant yet when I have responded well to both Clomid & Follistim. As most of you know, I am considered obese (BMI in the low 40s). My RE told me I needed to lose about 50 lbs back when I first started seeing her in 6/09 if we ever needed to do IVF. I've only managed to lose about half of that so far. I'm wondering, is there a weight limit on a lap? I mean, gastric bypass is done with a lap on people far bigger than me; I had a cousin who was 400 lbs when she had the lap band put in about 5 years ago. Thanks!

LCB34 · January 2010

I personally wouldn't do a lap is there was no evidence of needing one. It is not an easy surgery to recover from - at least for me it wasn't.

I would try to lose the weight to improve your fertility before jumping to a surgery.

MontyMrs · January 2010

LCB34:
I personally wouldn't do a lap is there was no evidence of needing one. It is not an easy surgery to recover from - at least for me it wasn't.

I would try to lose the weight to improve your fertility before jumping to a surgery.

I have to disagree here, I had no evidence that there was an issue when I requested a Lap. Come to find out I had tubal issues that weren't discovered with the HSG. If I hadn't had my tubal IF diagnosis from my LAP surgery I would have spent money and time on IUI's that wouldn't have worked for me. I'm not sure about the weight issue regarding the surgery but good luck.

madelyn07 · January 2010

LCB34:

I personally wouldn't do a lap is there was no evidence of needing one. It is not an easy surgery to recover from - at least for me it wasn't.

I would try to lose the weight to improve your fertility before jumping to a surgery.

I agree. I had a lap a few years back when I had a super huge cyst and the recovery was pretty horrific. I'd have cysts removed previously but none of my other surgeries were nearly as bad to recover from as the lap.

Even just losing as much as 10% of your body weight can have a huge impact on your ability to conceive.

Anasara · January 2010

LCB34:

I personally wouldn't do a lap is there was no evidence of needing one. It is not an easy surgery to recover from - at least for me it wasn't.

I would try to lose the weight to improve your fertility before jumping to a surgery.

See that's the thing: there's no evidence of needing one but @ the same time I don't get why I'd get 2-4 mature follies per medicated cycle & BFN when DH's count has been fine. My mom has a hx of uterine fibroids as has my sister. My HSG was all clear but I've heard from other IF friends that it may not pick up certain things.

I am trying to lose weight still, but I just wonder if they'd do the lap given my weight right now. FWIW I was denied gastric bypass 3 years ago because I had no health issues that warranted it but am about 100lbs over weight. So stupid! Thanks for your input.

yodasmistress · January 2010

MontyMrs:
I had no evidence that there was an issue when I requested a Lap. Come to find out I had tubal issues that weren't discovered with the HSG. If I hadn't had my tubal IF diagnosis from my LAP surgery I would have spent money and time on IUI's that wouldn't have worked for me.

This was the justification that was given to me before my lap in 2007. Sometimes the only way that blocked tubes and/or endo can be diagnosed is via a lap.

My recovery from my lap was easy-peasy. I had it on a Friday and was 99% by Monday. (I could have gone to work on Sunday if I had needed to.)

I don't know anything about your weight question either.

LCB34 · January 2010

yodasmistress:

MontyMrs:
I had no evidence that there was an issue when I requested a Lap. Come to find out I had tubal issues that weren't discovered with the HSG. If I hadn't had my tubal IF diagnosis from my LAP surgery I would have spent money and time on IUI's that wouldn't have worked for me.

This was the justification that was given to me before my lap in 2007. Sometimes the only way that blocked tubes and/or endo can be diagnosed is via a lap.

My recovery from my lap was easy-peasy. I had it on a Friday and was 99% by Monday. (I could have gone to work on Sunday if I had needed to.)

I think this is why I am so "don't run to a lap" - my recovery was SO hard. I was out of work for 1.5 weeks and wasn't back to normal for close to a month. I don't know if it was the massive amounts of endo that was removed, the fact that I had 4 incisions, or what but it was just a miserable experience for me.

If it had been easy-peasy I would probably be all for say "go get one and check everything out".

anangelbug · January 2010

The doctor will let you know if their is a weight limit on the lap. As far as recovery it really depends on what they find and do while inside. My BF had one that was exploratory, they found and removed mild endo, she said it wasn't a bad recovery at all. But if they find and remove stage IV endo, or cysts or tubal removal etc, then the recovery would be harder. I don't think it can hurt to discuss with your RE. Some RE's make it a standard part of their diagnostics and some only want to do it if there is an indication. Good luck!

yodasmistress · January 2010

LCB - Mine was just an exploratory laproscopy. Where as you had a true a laparatomy! That's huge! I have one friend who had that for removal of stage III endo and it took her SIX WEEKS to recover! You get a gold star in my book for being back on your feet as quick as you were!

Sunshine05 · January 2010

I'm not sure if there is a weight limit for laps... I'd assume the most dangerous part would be the anesthesia risks which they should inform you about ahead of time. I am overweight and there was never a question of if I could have the lap or not.

I fit all the classic signs of endo and they did the lap and found/removed stage 2 endo. The recovery was really not bad, I tell everyone that the worst part of it was the bowel prep before surgery, lol. I had the surgery on Friday and was back at work on Tuesday I think.

I will agree that the recovery is probably dependent on how much endo they find and remove. Then again if you have stage 4 endo it would be well worth a rough recovery to have it removed, no? Good luck with your decision!

Jill070707 · January 2010

I don't think there is a weight limit for the lap - and if there is, I can't see you coming anywhere close to it. It's not a terribly invasive procedure, as far as procedures go.

Also, I feel like losing 25 lbs since June is impressive, and that's a really healthy rate to lose it! Congratulations to you on that! I struggle with my weight and got the 10% body weight ultimatum at the doctor's last month.

I'm still crossing my fingers for your beta tomorrow, though! Tons and tons of luck to you!

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