Post-Op Questions

Questions to ask during your post-op surgery appointment

For pre-op questions, see the resources under How to Find a Specialist.

  • Did you excise my endometriosis, ablate it, or use a combination of excision and ablation?

  • Did you do wide excision? (if excision was used)

  • Were there any areas you couldn’t excise? How do you know if you excised all my endo? Did you excise all tissue that looked abnormal or just tissue that you were sure was endo?

  • What forms of endometriosis did I have and in what locations? (example: Deep infiltrating endometriosis on the rectum, superficial endometriosis on the peritoneum, etc)

  • Did you take pictures or video? Please provide me a copy as well as my post-op report and biopsy results.

  • Explain what’s in the pictures – point out any endo, cysts, adhesions, organs fused together, etc.

  • Did you take tissue samples and send to pathology? Please go over the path report with me. Was there anything other than endometriosis on there?

  • Did you use any kind of adhesion prevention?

  • Were there any complications during my surgery?

  • Who will handle my care if I have post-op complications? (great question if your surgeon isn’t local)

  • Who should I see if my endometriosis symptoms continue?

  • Do you have specialists you can refer me to for multidisciplinary care? (such as PFT, urologist, etc)

  • When is it ok to do X activity again? (examples: running, lifting, intercourse, driving, etc)

  • Is there anything else important that I should know for my recovery or about my operation?