Please excuse the length and detail of my story. I feel that I have learned so much from the other ladies and their surgery stories, that I want to share as much as possible in case it can help to inform anyone else.
THE BACK STORY
About 10 years ago, I started having some mild pain during/after intercourse. Several years before, I was diagnosed with Colitis and mild IBS, which also was characterized by pain in my lower regions. The following years the pain continued to get worse, especially after sex and during my periods. I went to 3 different OB/Gyn's in 3 years and was told that it was "nothing to worry about" that I should "try differrent positions",try to "take it easy " (like my DH and I are some kind of freaks or something) "take advil before having sex", and 1 doctor even offerred to put me on Prozac. Needless to say, I believed there was something wrong (maybe???)....but no one else did, so I gave up and had my primary physician do my yearly female checks, etc.
WHEN I SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO MY BODY
For the last 5 years, things have continually gotten worse. My periods became extremely painful and the bleeding was very off and on, I also was having a lot of nausea...and my PMS even seemed to be getting worse. All this time, my constipation and pain with the IBS was also increasing and my bowels would always get thrown off (diarreah) right before my period, but then during my cyles would be the only time my tummy was normal. The only blessing was that my cycles were extremely regular (28 days, exactly), so I learned to plan my entire life around my weird and extremely painful cycles. Meanwhile, my primary physician had been given me stronger and stronger pain pills for cycles and she had strongly suggested that I needed to find a Gynocologist I trusted to check into my continuing problems. It was around now...that sex became too painful for me or my poor DH to put up with (it was sooo hard for him to want to do knowing that I was going to hurt so much afterwards) so that pretty much stopped except maybe once or twice a year. YES....5 years or more of this crud.....God Bless my DH.
WHEN LIFE BECAME UNBEARABLE
About a year ago, I started having pain on one side about the time of my ovulation...all the other was getting worse also but like a typical woman, I just thought it was "not that big a deal" and I made it manageable and still had no trust in Ob/Gyn’s because of my history so I continued on. Then in January of this year...I had a period that came about a week early...it was very heavy and I was extremely nauseous. The cycle went away, but some mild cramps (especially right side) stayed a bit and I was nauseous I could barely eat. I was absolutely miserable for 3 weeks and went to see my Dr. She was unavailable, so I saw another Dr. and explained about the weird period, the bad IBS symptoms, the nausea, and the fact that I had gone from 136 lbs to 110 lbs in like 3 weeks. He said he thought that my problem was from my stomach and wanted me to go see a G.I. I stressed to him that I had stomach problems for almost 20 years and this was NOT my stomach and that I was SURE this was female trouble. He made me really mad...I was so sick and so frustrated so I wiped the tears away and started verbally fighting for myself. It took some convincing, but he finally agreed to send me for a CT scan.
TEST RESULTS and TRYING TO SEE A DOCTOR
CT scan came back showing problems, and following Internal/External sonogram also showed problems and the Dr's guessed that maybe I had PID and a tiny cyst on my Right Ovary and they put me on antibiotics and referred my to an OB/GYN. The problem was, that they could not get me in to see her (I had specifically asked for a female) until May (this was February 1st). Meanwhile...I am feeling a bit better, but still suffering and struggling to make it through school everday. In my heart…I just wanted my Uterus gone…my cycles gone…I had already been considering Hysterectomy in my mind (and I found this site). I was getting desperate and went to see 1 ob/gyn and 1 nurse prac in my quest to to see if anyone had any answers....I was told maybe PID, maybe something else (I have NEVER had an STD, and those are usually associated with PID) and was given options of antibiotics from one, and the other never even bothered to look at my previous tests. None of the Dr's recommended to me by my friends, etc. could get me in until the summer. Now, at this point I had been suffering off and on for 4 months just feeling like my whole body was toxic.....I was starting to wonder if I was crazy...and was sooooo defeated, it seemed that no one seemed to want to help me…. I had become anxious and terrified of each BM and each period. Finally, in desperation and tears, I was looking through the lists of Dr's and I ran across a Doctor whose name looked familiar - it was the OB/Gyn that my primary had tried to get me to try like 2 or 3 years before....and it was a woman!! I called her office in late April, explained about the weight loss, and how bad I felt and they agreed to get me in in 2 weeks - I was relieved, but so afraid that I would still get nowhere.
MY DOCTOR – GOD BLESS HER
Finally saw the Ob/Gyn and she actually listened to me (by this time, I was down to 103 lbs. - that's like a 30 lb weight loss for someone who did NOT need to lose weight) and she believed me and finally cared about my pain, my sex life, my frustration.......I actually broke down in her office because at this point I was so desperate for someone to help me. She gave me options, I could try an ablation, we could do more tests to try to pinpoint problems better, she could to a lap and try to see inside, or we could just do a Hysterectomy and she could find out what was going on - get my Uterus and bad Ovary out to end the horrible cycles and pain - and see what else was causing the problem. She told me that her thoughts were that I had scar tissue all inside me from either Endo or adhesions and it really needed to come out. At this point…it wasn’t even a question…I just wanted it out of my body. Within a week, we had scheduled my Hysterectomy, using the Da Vinci Robot. I was very lucky - she is one of only a few Dr's who is trained on the fairly new Da Vinci in our town. I had to wait about another 2 months for my Hyst because I also had a 10 day vacation planned (cruise) and would loose money for cancelling so my Hyst was scheduled the day after I got back. Bye the way…great thing to do right before – I mean vacation – really helps keep your mind off and keep those “maybe I shouldn’t do this” thoughts at bay.
THE SURGERY
I showed up at 5:30, was checked in by 6:00. They took me to my own surgery waiting room, started an IV and by 7:00 I said my goodbyes and was whisked away to a pre-surgery room. The anesthesiologist came in and asked me questions and explained a bit. I told him that I was the queen of nausea lately and was terrified of waking up wanting to throw up and he said he could take care of that no problem. He gave me a patch behind my ear and had me drink a little cup of salty-fizzy stuff and said I was "Good to Go" He and a nurse wheeled me into the surgical room (where I could see the whole robot and stuff) and were telling what they were doing while he had me hold the mask over my face. Then, he looked down and said "lay back and think of the most beautiful place you've ever been...what was it like...what made it so beaut..." and I don't remember anthing else. I liked him.
My surgery ended up being 3 hours instead of the 1 1/2 to 2 that was originally expected. Doc said that I was "packed full" of endo and that my bowels were "plastered" together...or on something else....I don't hardly remember. They told me that I cried when she said she had to take both ovaries....I had sooooo wanted to keep at least one....... but they were too bad and she wanted to make sure that all the endo was out and was trying to make is as hard as possible for it to come back. I am told that I woke up in my room in extreme pain from my catheter…I guess I was having a bladder spasm…and my cath wasn’t working right….I don’t really remember. Some nice nurse came and gave me a suppository and evidently things started working again. My family says this time was really bad….crying….pushing the morphine button with both hands like 200 times in 5 minutes, etc…and went on for awhile while the nurses and doc really tried to help get me fixed. To be honest…I barely remember any of it and that is A.O.K. with me. Can’t tell you anything about first day….have little to no memory…evidently I mentioned that the “ship was rocking a lot” which is from the land-sickness that often follows a cruise. I griped about lemon jello…..griped a bit about a lot of stuff…and slept a great deal. The next day….I knew from other sisters exactly what I needed to do….pee and walk. I got them to remove my cath (had to use much advise I had read here to get myself going again) and started walking….morphine started making me sick, so it was removed and I was even more ready to walk. I peeed and walked my tail off, till my Doc (who had originally planned a 2 night stay) agreed to finally let me go home – YEAH!!!!
BACK HOME - RECOVERY
Came home – had mom staying on a cot in my room for Wed, Thu. and Fri. night. Mom kept me on pain pills (Vicoden) every 5 hours all those days so I didn’t notice much abdominal pain and spent 1st 2 days barely being able to keep my eyes open. The only pain I did have for the first few days was the gas….it was brutal….my right shoulder was the worse and I kept a heating pad on it for most of those days….and the gas bubbles can be like kidney stone pain…surprised me how bad those were, and for me, Gas-X did no good. I did the ol’ lady (hunched over) walk for a few days (mainly just outside to sit and smoke) and did nothing more than sleep, eat (well, started back on Thursday) and watch T.V. and movies. I ran a low grade temp 99-101 for the first two or 3 days, but it never stayed on or went over 101, so Doc said it was no big deal. By Friday night and Saturday I was feeling human again (almost no pain) and sat in the living room a bit…watched movies…and really was shocked by how good I felt. On Sunday, I had a big setback. I had a little bit of BM with a lot of mucus, etc. and then within an hour was having Diarreah. The stomach cramps were horrendous and after 8 hours, I finally got it to stop with the help of several Immodium AD. In hindsight, I should have been more careful in what I started eating for those first few day. I did the BRAT (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Toast) diet for about 2 days to get myself back without regret…but was back to regular foods quickly. From there, recovery has been amazing. I was better each day – went to movie/book store and out to eat on day 9, and went out to eat with DH and ran a few short errands with him on days 11 and 12 (weekend) On Monday, day 13, I went to Dr. and she just asked a few questions and checked my incisions. I talked her into letting me go to an all day meeting the following Wed (day 15) and she hesitantly agreed to let me start driving and go back to work on the following Monday (day 20 / with restrictions). She was shocked that I had no pain She looked like she didn’t believe me. In truth, I think I could have gone back full time on that Wednesday, although I did notice some tiny pain/soreness after the all day meeting and am grateful for a few more days before I start doing 40hrs + a week, but I am a teacher and would go nuts if I weren’t back and ready before school starts.
THE IBS/STOMACH PROB/ENDO CONNECTION
The reason I mentioned all the IBS stuff in the beginning details, is because I believe there can be a direct connection between bowel stuff and female problems, specifically Endometriosis. I have had no IBS/Acid Reflux/GERD/Heartburn/or nausea symptoms since I’ve been home. I am completely shocked that none of my stomach problems that have plagued me for 15 years or so have returned since my surgery. I don’t know if it was the endo messing things up…or the hormones…or what….but at this point I believe that my female were if not the cause, at least a catalyst for the severity of my stomach problems. Now, I am only 17 days out…and my symptoms may return with time…but I have found many other women who have had similar experiences and I pray that the Dr’s will research and figure out this connection.
The reason I wanted to be so detailed and wanted to include my lengthy (sorry for that) history is for others that may be facing something similar. I am so angry at myself for letting this go so long…for suffering so long…for not listening to my body until things became so unbearable. I feel better than I have in many, many years….I don’t think I knew how very much pain I had been in, and how very sick I had been , until now, after, when I feel sooooooo much better. Here’s my advice – listen to your body….don’t take “no” for an answer if you know something is not right. If a Dr. doesn’t’ respond or react the way you want…find another one..or another one…and keep looking, and voicing and fighting until someone can tell you whats going on and give you real options on how to fix it. In truth – my 15 year, miserable battle with IBS, could have been from the endo – Just think about it – 15 years of being afraid to travel…afraid to eat…missing holidays, and missing so many regular days….so many years of being sad, and having pain, and not being myself. I finally got my life back and I have to thank my Dr., my sisters here on the site, and myself for finally getting up the courage and getting it done. As for the Da Vinci method – I’m a big fan. I could have never imagined going back to work before 3 weeks post-surgery and I now think it will be doable….as long as I stick to the no pulling/pushing/lifting rules and let myself rest when necessary. I really hope this story can help, or help to inform even just one woman. I know how much I learned, got confidence from, and I benefited from others stories and I am so thankful for all the sisters and for this amazing site. Also, remember…..you only get one chance to recovery properly for this surgery…so take the time you need, the help you need, etc. and do it right.
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