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BethAC - Alumni Hostess 2004

BethAC - Alumni Hostess 2004

Date : 04-29-2003 - 08:29 PM - Readers : 1188

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Hi ladies, and welcome to Hystersisters!

My name is Beth and I'm known here as BethAC. I am married with one daughter who is in college. I work full time as a market research manager and I'm also very active in my church. I love vacations at the beach in South Carolina and walks in the park with DH and our dog, Lucy.

When I was about 30, my family practice doctor suggested I go through a variety of tests to try to find the source of my persistent "belly" pain. One test was a diagnostic laparoscopy that my gyn performed to look for endometriosis. He said I did not have it. Other gastrointestinal tests revealed nothing and my family practice doc ultimately told me he thought I had irritable bowel syndrome.

Over the next few years, the pain persisted but I did nothing. At age 36, I told my gyn that my periods were getting heavier. He said, "In a couple of years we'll do a working woman's hysterectomy and you'll be back to work in a couple of weeks." I was horrified … this statement was made with no questions about other symptoms or discussion about possible causes. I never went back there again. I got a new female family practice doc. She did my annual exams from that point on. Over the next few years, I had a couple of ultrasounds for suspected ovarian cysts and I complained from time to time about heavier periods and more clots. When I was 43 or so, my doc said she felt something in my uterus. I had another ultrasound and was told that I had two fibroids that were about 4 cm each. The plan was to watch and wait. In April 2001 I had sudden, severe, stabbing belly pain while driving home from work on a Friday night. We had just laid off 100 people at work and I knew I was very stressed out. My first thought was, the irritable bowel syndrome is really bad today. By Sunday morning, the pain was not as bad but it still hurt to put clothes on. I called my doc and she sent me to the ER to get evaluated. After more ultrasounds and nearly having emergency surgery (for awhile they thought one ovary was twisted and dying) they sent me home with the name of a new gynecologist referred by my family doc.

I met my new gynecologist in April 2001, a couple days after my ER visit. He told me that because of the fibroids, my uterus was 14 to 16 week size (and had to explain exactly what that meant, because I was clueless). He outlined all my options, including that fact that I was a good candidate for a hyst. Although he could not be sure, there was a possibility that the fibroids had caused the pain that sent me to the ER. He told me about hystersisters.com. I was here a LOT after that. I wanted to try to keep my uterus, so I had a laparoscopic myomectomy in June of 2001. My gyn removed one fibroid that was sitting on my colon and the size of his fist (his description) and another golf-ball sized one. When my DH came to see me in the outpatient recovery room, he told me that my gyn found stage 4 endometriosis during surgery. My gyn thought it had been there for many years. DH and I did not know what "stage 4" meant.

I bought books, searched the Internet faithfully, posted messages on hystersisters all the time, and refused any treatment for the endo at first. I had a major case of denial. After all, weren't my problems and symptoms all intestinal? However, I was suffering and now I knew why. I tried Aygestin to stop my periods, but the pain got so bad I had to go off the pills and have a period … it was 10 days long and the worst of my life. I got a second opinion about having a hyst. I had a colonoscopy to check for endo in my bowel since I had symptoms (thankfully, my colon was fine). After agonizing over the decision, I chose to have a TAH/BSO on November 29, 2001. My surgery team included a urologist (he put stents in my ureters since one was stuck to an ovary and the mass was stuck to the peritoneum), my gynecologist, and a gyn oncologist who did peritoneal stripping from about 5 cm above the vaginal cuff all the way down into the peritoneal cavity. I remember my doc telling me "everything went great" as they were wheeling me into the recovery room. The pathology report showed that I had more fibroids growing, endometriosis, and adenomyosis. At my two week checkup, my gyn told me my uterus was "really ugly."

Now, I feel as though I am living a miracle. The "belly" pain that I had suffered with for so many years is gone. I survived 12 weeks post op without any estrogen, graduated to low dose estrogen (0.3 mg) for a couple months, and since then have been taking Estratest H.S. (half strength, 0.625 mg of estrogen and a small amount of testosterone). I feel so lucky!

Hystersisters was there for me when I decided not to have a hysterectomy and hystersisters was there for me when I decided I did need a hyst later on. So many ladies helped me work my way through this decision, the surgery, and the recovery. It's an honor to be able to help others navigate this life passage.

I welcome your e-mail at BethAC@hystersisters.com

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