Endo - Adeno- Now I know

When I was 12 I had my first period and since then it was Hell! I remember it like it was yesterday. I was sitting at my best friends Melissa B's house and this horriffic pain came over me and I went to the bathroom and SURPRISE!! Needless to say I called my mom to come and get me. Once I got home the pain just intensified to the point she had to give me a Darvocet (cut in half) to stop the screaming. The next month was just as bad as was every month since then. The only time there was any relief was when I was pregnant with our three children and while I was nursing. All through my school years I missed school because of my periods. I even remember when I was in high school walking down the hall and passing out twice because the pain was so intense. I thought after each pregnancy things would be better...boy was I wrong. They always came back seemingly twice as bad. My Gyn always told me what I was experiencing was normal until I was married and had my second child. I finally found one that listened. I walked into her office and handed her a list of symptoms that I would experience all the time, not just when I was bleeding, to which she replied "I can tell you without even checking the books or my computer...You have endometriosis. Just to be sure I will check my books and computer." She came back into the room and said, "Just as I thought...You have endometriosis." I knew from my own research online that this was the diagnosis I was going to receive but just to hear her say it was like I was not crazy. The only problem I had with her was that the only recommendations she had was to throw me onto birth control pills. This is something that the doctors tried on me for the first couple of years of my having my period. They never helped. In most cases, it made things worse and on top of that my hubby did not want me to take birth control because of all of the side effects that they could cause (blood clots, heart problems, etc.). I already have a heart arrythemia, heart murmer and palpatations he did not want to complicate them. Anyway, another child later and the problems were getting worse I finally sought the second opinion of a physician that no longer practices obstetrics because he wants to devote his practice to women with gyno problems. He finally listened and offered a solution. In January 2007 I had a Diagnostic Laparoscopy and a D&C. He found that I had Endo and Adeno. He told me that the Adeno my have been caused when I delivered my second child but the endo is probably what caused my problems all those years. My second child was born 10 weeks prematurely and my placenta had to be manually delivered. He believes that the manual delivery of my placenta probably tore my uterine lining creating a place for the adeno to start growing. Anyway, after my first surgery things were ok for one month and then it started all over again...just as he thought it would. So, fast forward to today. I am laying in my bed a new , typing this on my laptop 6 days post-op recovery from my TVH. I am not due for my follow-up visit for another week and a half but my nurse called me yesterday to see how my recovery was coming so far and once I told her she fussed at me. Why, you might ask? Because I have been doing laundry, dishes and general house work because I feel GREAT!! You see the recovery from my hystorectomy is sooo much easier than the pain I endured month after month year after year for so long. I still had to do all of the things on a day to day basis even with all the pain and this is a piece of cake compared so I feel like I should be doing my regular activities. My nurse told me that although I feel good I still need to remember what took place in my body and that I need to act as though I am still in the hospital until my follow-up on July 13. I forgot to mention that once he got in there to do my hystorectomy he found that I had a prolapsed uterus as well as a endometrial cyst on my left ovary the size of a grapefruit. We thought this was going to be my good ovary, unfortunately, he had to take this one and burn all the endo off of my right one to keep from having to remove everything. Luckily, I was able to keep my right ovary so I don't have to take any HRT.

I am anxious to know life free of pain. Thank you for listening to my story and hopefully someone else will benefit from it as well.