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Very very strange
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06-02-2004, 08:39 PM
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Guest
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Posts: 103
Hysterectomy: January 23rd, 2003
Surgery Type: TVH
Ovaries: Kept 1 or both
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Very very strange
One of my really good friends was due for a D&C today. She thought she was in menopause because she has not had a period in almost 7 years now. She is the "right age" for this and her old gyn just assumed the same but never checked levels. She has been having HORRIBLE pain that her gyn had been passing off as endo.
She recently switched gyn docs. The new doc did an ultrasound last week and found that her uterine lining was thick. He was concerned because of the general assumption that she was menopausal. He scheduled the D&C for this morning. I went with her. When the doc paged me I was shocked by what he told me. He had to "Abort the procedure". He was unable to access her uterus because according to the doc, she has NO CERVIX and her vagina has GROWN CLOSED at the top near the uterus. He said that the hormone levels he had ordered the other day came back and my friend is not menopausal. He said that her pain has been caused because she is still having her period, and there is no place for the blood to go. It has been backing up into her tubes and ovaries!!
My friend has 2 children that she had by C-section. But, she got pregnant.....there had to be an opening for that to happen.
Has anyone ever heard of anything like this??
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06-02-2004, 08:53 PM
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HysterSister
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Posts: 9,008
Hysterectomy: February 8th, 2002
Surgery Type: LAVH
Ovaries: Kept 1 or both
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Very very strange
My goodness, I have never heard of something like that happening. I guess I would think that if she was having annual pelvic exams every year the doctor would have noticed if something was unusual.
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06-02-2004, 08:59 PM
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Guest
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Posts: 283
Hysterectomy: April 23rd, 2004
Ovaries: Undecided
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Very very strange
Oh my. I am so sorry to hear of such a thing happening! Never heard of that before, but Lord Almighty, where has the blood been going this whole time? I would think that she would have had some kind of blood poisoning or something, or did her body just "absorb" the blood back into her system, like the body does with unused eggs?
God is looking after her. How else could she have been so fortunate to learn of this before she was extremely ill--as if chronic pain isn't ill enough?! Amazing how much we women go through because a doc says we're okay, and doesn't do the leg work to get the answers we deserve.
I am thinking of both of you, and wish you both the best of recoveries. God bless you!
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06-02-2004, 11:33 PM
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Posts: 30,771
Hysterectomy: February 4th, 2002
Surgery Type: TVH
Ovaries: Removed both
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Very very strange
Hi lepfan It sounds like your friend's pain is the result of endo. One of the causes of endo is thought to be something called retrograde menstruation. That's where the woman has periods, but the blood and sloughed off tissue backs up through the fallopian tubes and enters the pelvic cavity. It's a fairly common condition, but normally only tiny bits of tissue and blood are involved. When it can happen in larger quantities is when there's some type of obstruction in the cervix or vagina which prevents the flow from exiting in the normal way. Here's a link to a basic explanation (which also appears in our Resource Links directory):
http://content.health.msn.com/conten...?printing=true
During retrograde menstruation, usually the blood is absorbed by the body, but the bits of endometrial tissue from inside the uterus can attach in the pelvis and start to grow. Under the influence of ovarian hormones, the tissue can bleed on a monthly basis just as the endometrium in the uterus does. When this happens, the blood can drip onto various structures and organs in the pelvis and cause scar tissue to form. As time passes and more and more of this happens, the pain experienced every month can increase.
The big question is, what happened that caused your friend's cervix or vagina to seal shut? Presumably if she got pregnant, her cervix was still open at that point. Perhaps something may have happened during her last C-section which caused scar tissue to form there and seal it shut? That is certainly possible. Does she have a copy of the surgery report from that C-section, and if so, was there anything unusual that happened during the surgery? Could she have had a placenta previa?
I'm sorry your friend had this happen, and that she apparently has been dealing with severe endometriosis for a number of years. Endo is a horrible disease which can cause terrible pain and make any pelvic surgery very difficult to do. It can ultimately bind the pelvic organs together in a mass of adhesions, like glue, which can even cause things like bowel obstruction and strangulation. There is no "cure" for endo; if a hysterectomy is done, it's virtually impossible to ensure that every bit of endo is removed, and whatever is left behind can grow upon exposure to estrogen. That means that women with endo are often not prescribed HRT at menopause, whether it be natural or surgical.
Did your friend's DR say what's next in diagnosing her condition, and what treatment options she has? Clearly she needs to find out what can be done to lessen the pain that she feels every month. Sometimes meds can be used to suppress ovarian function, thus starving the endo of the estrogen it needs to grow. I hope her new DR is actively pursuing a full diagnosis and treatment plan for her.
Hope this helps!
s,
-Linda
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06-03-2004, 12:14 PM
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Guest
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Posts: 103
Hysterectomy: January 23rd, 2003
Surgery Type: TVH
Ovaries: Kept 1 or both
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Very very strange
My friend's old doc never said anything about this. That is what has her, me, and the new gyn so baffled. We aren't sure what might have happened, but apparently something did. He said that he will be doing a hysterectomy for sure. She has an appointment in a couple weeks at his office so that he can explain it all to her in detail. After the hyst they will (of course) doa a pathology. I think that he is pretty sure it was just a flukey thing. He mentioned that he was not sure how or why it happened but said that maybe it had to do with her C-sections. He said that he is just unsure at this point.
Thanks for all the replies. And thanks for the link.
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06-03-2004, 04:38 PM
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Posts: 4,793
Hysterectomy: April 22nd, 2004
Surgery Type: LSH
Ovaries: Kept 1 or both
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Very very strange
Wow...lepfan...incredible forum.
And Surferbabe...wow...incredible reply.
Where have I been?? Retrograde menstration. I have never heard of that before.
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