Endo

No, it doesn't cure it, but without the ovaries, it sure makes it a whole lot less likely to grow and cause pain and more scarring. In my case, the indications are that once i stop cycling, the endo and pain from it will stop as well. From the research I've done, and the several doctors I've spoken with, with pain from endo, there is a 70% chance of the pain and growth subsiding significantly if not being eliminated altogether with the removal of the ovaries. I rather like those odds, personally. It really depends on the pain mapping. Mine happens to be cyclical. It can be pinpointed to the time when my progesterone drops, and the estrogen takes over. Once the estrogen is eliminated from my system, the endo will stop growing. My doc will be removing as much of my scar tissue and endo tissue as he can, but of course there are always spots that can't be seen with the human eye. Sure, I'm not expecting a cure, by any stretch of the imagination. But it'll be SOOOOOO much better than it is now.

However, you'll trade the endo problems for hormone problems. I have stage iv endo. If I had it to do over again, I would never have had surgery because of the hormone problems.

Make sure you know in advance what you're getting yourself into. Get lots of opinions. I'm just trying to help you learn from my experience.

Actually, I have done the research on the hormone issue as well, and I will be just fine, but thanks so much for your concern. I was trying to encourage the original poster that she should be confident in her own decision making based on her own research. We each have to make decisions based on our own bodies and the information that's out there. I'm sorry you're having such a hard time. I know what you're going through...i have stage 4 also. But I also know my OWN body very very well, and this is the best thing for ME. I encourage each person to do their own research, not just follow a lay person's advice. I also think it's good in a support group to share opinions. Yours is just as valid as mine, and vice versa. I hope you find some relief for your pain and peace in your decisions....that goes for everyone.

All I can say is, it's easier to deal with getting the HRT right than it is with the constant pain and associated problems with keeping the mess that was my 'female parts'. My quality of life pre-surgery was pathetic. I crept around like a very old woman. I was in constant pain. I was bleeding most of the month. I was so depressed suicide was a consideration.

If I had it to do all over again, I'd do it MUCH sooner and I would NOT pick up my dachshund at week 2, he's just too heavy.

The problem with endo is that it keeps growing, and it can become cancerous. I had a cyst that the doctor took off first and sent for testing, when I was still on the table. I was lucky, very lucky; it wasn't cancerous. I had an endometrioma, not endometrial carcinoma. Endo can invade other tissues. I've heard unhappy tales of women who faced bowel resections due to endo, here. I've heard unhappy tales of women with endometrial cancer here too. If you wait too long - you might have a lot of trouble. I was very fortunate - my stage 3 was on the edge of 4.

Honestly, I kid you not, I was cautioned to wait and try out alternative therapies - not by my doctor - such as, no lie, "Aromatherapy". Let me just say that I don't think sniffing perfume oils would in any way remove the dangerous invasion of my body tissue by endo. I am happy that my doctor was right quick about getting my surgery lined up, and didn't try to pressure me into any bc therapies or a long course of lupron. I even made him do a vertical cut so he could see and get out as much endo as possible. This surgery stands out as one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life.

Estrogen feeds Endo. 7 yrs ago I had a hysterectomy (endo on bowel, bladder, uterus and ovaries) but left one ovary in (the better of the 2.) BIG MISTAKE!!! The endo came back in a BIG MAJOR WAY - ovary stuck to bowel and bladder. BIG MESS!!! Problems peeing and pooping - Bikini cut surgery again 6 wks ago to remove the severlely diseased ovary. Doc says she got as much of the ENDO as possible - without damaging bowel and bladder. If I had to do it all over again ... EVERYTHING would have come out the first time around. Not happy about the hot flashes but its better than endo anyday!

I know I sound like a broken record, but I'm just emphasizing my point over and over again, so that pre-op people understand that hyst is not the miracle cure and definitely not the silver bullet that will make everything all right. People sometimes think that having surgery such as this is like fixing a car When the car parts are replaced, the car works just like new. Doctors often tend to feed this expectation. I won't speculate about why they do this.

Surgery is NOT a silver bullet. It can make you better and it can definitely make things worse. Please don't live in a fantasy world where you have the surgery and the endo and the hormones are all just fine. This may or may not be the case.

For those where the surgery was a success and they feel so much better, and the hormones aren't a problem, I wonder if you'all have stable brain chemistry, or, instead, a tendency toward mood changes/depression, etc.

Me, I can relate with another recent thread where the woman said basically, "I'm a different person, will never be the same again and it makes me really unhappy".

In my case, I feel the hormone problems are way more life-threatening than the endo would ever have been because they exacerbate some already difficult to correct brain chemistry problems.

As I said previously, I have Stage IV endo; had big endometriomas on both ovaries, I had elevated CA-125. If I'd had it to do over again I would have tried something other than surgery, exhausted all possibilities (I may have skipped aromatherapy, tho ;-).).

BTW: The chance of endo mutating to cancer is pretty small.

Anyway, off my soap box and on to take a nap.

I did extensive research on endo and found out lots of things that I haven't seen mentioned here yet.

Yes, endo is Estrogen driven--usually because the victim has too much estrogen in her system in the first place. What they give you with HRT is so much lower than that overabundance that there are often no problems with the HRT causing endo to come back. There seemed to be no clear consensus on how long to wait before HRT.

Also, about migraine: about 70% of women with migraine also have endo. No info about the why, just that that co-occur way to often for that to be an accident.

I have classic migraine, which started the same year I started getting periods. Hmmmm. Also, since the first period, I have had intense pain, which OTC meds didn't get near. I got used to spending a week per month in bed, and then later got on narcotic pain relievers, which have their own side effects.

About endo being caused by your period bleeding backwards--if your tubes are blocked, how does that happen? I did find lots of info that the latest research is moving far away from that theory. Now they think the endo cells are there to begin with, and when you hit puberty the estrogen activates them. Your body tries to heal them, but can't keep up, so covers them with scar tissue. That's why the longer you wait, the more it spreads and hurts. The endo implants outgrow the scar tissue, which has to go somewhere, so it adheres to whatever is nearby--hence the word adhesion. What causes the implants to appear in the first place is a total unknown, but it would explain why some girls have horrendous pain at even their first period, and awful experiences with sex. The lower levels of estrogen during pregnancy, when progesterone takes over, and after menopause, when estrogen is present but not in large quantities, would seem to explain why pregnant women and post menopausal women get relief from their pain. For once, with no cycle, the body can catch up on the healing for a while. With adhesions, hormonal changes don't reduce the pain, but at least the endo isn't growing anymore.

I had a laproscopic endo removal two years ago, but no hysto. Endo came back in force. I changed doctors. The new one put me on Lupron for six months to shrink endo growths, cysts and fibroids, with the understanding that the Lupron would not be pleasant, would not be a replacement for hysto, but would make it much easier for her to get all the endo out. I told her I was NOT going to have surgery every few years, and wanted off the painkillers, and that ovarian cancer and endo run in my family. So, total hysto was done, and I woke up from surgery with an Estrogen patch (.1mg per day) on. Two months later, I take Ibuprofen, but not every day, and I feel so much better.

I'm only 32, and this was very hard, but I read a LOT of endo research information to find all this out. I haven't had a migraine since surgery, by the way. Hmmmm.

I know this is long, but I hope it helped someone.

I'm sorry you had trouble Teresa. I am sorry you are suffering, and all I can say is, I hope everything gets resolved for you. I'm sending you *hugs*. And I'm glad you still have your sense of humour. Aromatherapy....sheesh, can you believe it.

But I too am different now ! Thank God ! Thank the skilled hands and alert mind and sharp eyes of my doctor ! I wouldn't go back to the torture I was suffering for all the gold in Fort Knox.

So my choice to have surgery was correct for me and I do not regret anything about it, save that I did not do it sooner and spare myself further suffering. I had depression before the hyst. Now I feel great. I'm no longer worried about endo growing through my bowels or pressing on my bladder (I was going to the bathroom every 2 hours, in pain, thanks to my endo adhesions to my bladder, what fun that was....NOT).

I had some hot flashes - they were awful with Lupron, but post surgery they were merely annoying and actually embarassing, as I turned lobster red. Now I'm getting HRT and life continues to improve. Before the surgery I was in pain, depressed, horrible. Now I'm just amazed at what I do every day, I am truly a new person.

Ok, i see your point, now that you're talking about your own experiences in more detail. I agree with that, for your case. In general, however, i believe the rest of the information that the other ladies have posted is accurate, again, generally speaking.

For people without the brain chemistry issues, and other things you mentioned, there might not be such a hard time adjusting to hormones. As I said...it's a personal, individual choice that can only be made after research and knowing their own body. I'm sorry that you're having a hard time, and wish there was something I could do to help. The only thing I can do is wish you well, and pray that things work out for you.