I had a dermoid cyst removed via laparotomy on March 6th. My surgeon wanted to see me 6 weeks post-op but I'm not able to see him until Apr 29. Prior to my surgery I was dealing with major back pain and doing stregthening exercises and since my surgery, my back is still really bad and I'd like to start doing my exercises again but I have no idea if it's safe to yet.
Does anyone have any input? It would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Marian
If you began answer on this I would love to know! I am a regular gym goer and haven't been able to go for the last two months because of a large cyst (14x14cm at last measurement) I am waiting for a surgery date for a laparotomy as we speak and dying to know how much longer I'll be out for! Look forward to hearing from you 
*"get an" ....not began! Bloody autocorrect! Lol
Hey! Yeah was kinda bummed no one answered. I'm not a big exerciser lol but I wanted to at least start doing some exercising to strengthen my back and abs. I tried 6 weeks post op and it hurt my stomach. So I tried again this week, 7 weeks post op, and I was able to do them with no pain.
Hope that helps
Hi Marian, i am having open surgery tomorrow to remove large complex cyst. So nervous but cant wait for it to be over, as been waiting a while with usal pains and symtoms associated with ovarian cysts. I am a runner and havent been able to exercise for months now just some gentle swimming, but post op i am concerned how long i will have to wait before exercising again... what type of exercise were you able to do after 7 weeks??
Sam
Hi Sam,
As I said, I'm not a big exerciser lol I only do exercises that required me to lie on the floor and flex my stomach muscles. Also some planks and other very simple exercises that required me to tighten my abs. Those are what I started 7 weeks post op. I have a lot of back pain/problems and can't do any other type of exercises until I stregthen my back/abs again.
I was able to start walking about 5-6 weeks post op. I may have been able to do it sooner but didn't try lol
I wish you all the best with your surgery.
Hi Beccy,
No idea if you will get this since you posted nearly a year ago! Just wondering how your laparotomy went? And how you got on with recovery?
I am really into my exercise and am suffering withdrawal after an ultrsound 4 weeks ago found a 20cm x 15cm cyst. Funny thing is the day before my ultrasound I ran 9 miles! :D (Quite proud of that).
I would really appreciate any information you can give me on (1) the wait time between consultant and laparotomy surgery and your laparotomy surgery and (2) what you did for exercise before and after surgery. I would love to know if there's any physical exercise I can safely try.
I hope you are well and that this is all behind you now. Your story would be good to hear! xx
Hi Sam,
I hope this post finds you recovered from your cyst ordeal and that you are well. I know this was ages ago but my situation is similar to yours so hoping you can help me. I'm 31 and a (fairly new) runner. I was trying to run 100 miles in 30 days in January but after running 84 miles I had an ultrasound which found a 20cm x 15cm cyst. I stopped running 4 weeks ago and haven't really done any exercise since. At it slowly dawns on me that it could be months before mylaparotomy and recovery, I am trying to think of exercises I can do, and/or want to know how long I should plan to be out for?
I would really appreciate any information you can give me on (1) the wait time between consultant and laparotomy surgery and your laparotomy surgery and (2) what you did for exercise before and after surgery. I would love to know if there's any physical exercise I can safely try.
Pam. x
Hi Pam!
I am in Canada, but just went through something very similar. I am only 2 weeks post-op (2 weeks and 2 days), but thought I could shed some light into how the recovery is going so far!
The background: I played soccer 3-5 times a week before I found out about my cyst (I found out about it at the end of January 2015. I also walked a lot, did at home exerices (T25 - google that if you have no idea what it is , about 2-3 times a week). So, fairly active I would say!
I found out at the end of January that I had a big cyst (not quite as big as yours), measuring 17x14x10cm. After meeting my specialist/surgeon, having a CT scan, and seeing the specialist again, I finally had surgery on March 5th, 2015. So, it took about 5 weeks to have surgery from the time I found out about the cyst. But, I am in Canada so things could be different
As far as recovery goes, it's been quite good actually! Luckily they saved my ovary which they thought they'd have to remove. I didn't use any morphine in the hospital, and was released the day after my surgery as I was doing so well (usually they make you stay 2 nights). I was given a few prescriptions for pain killers, but only needed Advil and Tylenol extra strength, and rotated between the two. I was up and walking around the day after surgery (not far, I'll admit, just around the hospital corridors). It definitely hurt to walk around the first few days, but I thought it would hurt more!
Now I am 2 weeks and 2 days post surgery, and I'm walking a fair bit! I would say about 30 minutes a day. The pain subsided for the most part 1 week after surgery. Today I feel quite good, and I think I can start going for even longer walks, so will start doing that tomorrow.
Hope this helps! If you have any questions or anything, I will do my best to answer. I read so many laparotomy horror stories in terms of recovery, so I just wanted to put a fairly positive one out there
Marissa
I am 24 and had emergency surgery to repair a ruptured cyst 4 weeks ago. I was able to return to work ~ 1 week after surgery though extreme fatigue followed for ~2 weeks. At my two week check up I had so many questions about what had happened that I forgot to ask a lot of my what comes next questions. Her general guidence however was that given I was young and heathy (terrifying near death experiences aside) I should feel free to work physical experiences in as I felt ready.
My work out of choice has always been heated yoga and I have felt weary about going into a humid environment given that my belly button incision still isn't completely closed (minimal fluid and blood). I also tried a quick vinyasa flow and felt like my abdomen wasn't quite ready for such intense stretching. For now I will be sticking to walking.
Hi lovely I had a bilateral ovarian cystectomy a year ago xx via the laparotomy and I was back at work 2 weeks after! Couldn't lift my kids for 6 weeks 3 and 5 and told to take it steady after then too xx hope it helps xx
Hi Mdmarian
I had my ovarian cyst surgery 9months ago. Recovery was quite good and quick. After the surgery I got back to my normal life in a week though my doctor advised me to take 6 weeks rest which I did properly. But I didnt had any pain at all or anything after a week that I was expecting. I didnt do any exercise till 3 and 4months after my surgery. I was just doing moderate to brisk walking after 2months. Since then I didnt do any intense exercise or yoga. Occasionally went to gym and do weight lifting and some ab/core strengthening exercises with gym equipments. I did 15 minutes Hiit exercises last week. And I didnt feel anything after doing them, also tried some other yoga poses and crunches ( all ab/core and lower body related exercises). I was normal even after those exercise too , but as a result to them I was feeling some stress on my abs but that is always normal. Today, I targetted my hips, thighs, belly, butts with some yoga poses and now I am feeling some strain and pressure on my lower abdomen exactly where the both ovaries are located and little bit under my belly button. I am confused is it due to exercise that I did today or surgery? Should I continue doing it? Is it safe to do such exercises after ovarian cyst surgery. I forgot to mention above, doctor saved to safe my ovary though my cyst was quite big approx 8 to 9cm in the left ovary(there were 3cysts of different sizes). They just removed a small part of my left ovary that was little affected otherwise they succeded in saving my both the ovaries. And I had cysts only in left ovary. So my question is kindly guide me with the exercises and should I continue with my yoga routine ? Is this pain some indication or should I just ignore it as u would must know it always hurts after doing any intense exercise specially if you are targetting any area. Your response would be awaited.
Thanks,
Sadaf