YES...There WAS something wrong!

I know that subject line sounds strange, but for me, hearing that everything was healthy would have horrible...going through all this, just to hear they didn't find a problem...NOT GOOD!!
OK, I had my one week followup from my TLH. After taking out my stitches, the Doctor says "we need to go over your pathology reports"..YIKES! He then says "Your pain must have been awful"!! "You had Adenomyosis (a condition in which endometrial tissue, which normally lines the uterus, is present within and grows into the muscular walls of the uterus)". Well apparently I was bleeding outside the uterine wall, into the pocket between the uterine wall and the uterine muscle and then then the blood was being absorbed into the muscle...OUCH! I feel so justified in just knowing the pain I felt was REAL and I wasn't imagining how bad it was. I felt like yelling "I TOLD YOU" to the Doctor because I always felt as if he didn't believe me when I told him I have a very high tolerance for pain, but this was bad. OH...I also had several cysts on my ovaries...luckily no cancer cells were found anywhere...PHEW!! Am I the only one who feels relieved about actually having a problem?

"Am I the only one who feels relieved about actually having a problem?"

HELL NO! It feels good to get a diagnosis and know you're not crazy or a hypochondriac. I went through 3 doctors before I found one to take my problems seriously.

Wandering around blind is no good. Having a diagnosis means something can be done about it.

There's something about having "female problems" that seems to create a vacuum where all your concerns are sucked into a void where no one hears.

You are definitely not alone!

It stinks to live with debilitating pain. Nobody can "see" anything wrong with you. To have your pain validated and medically confirmed in a pathology report is incredibly freeing! Let's have a celebration!

Yes, "female problems" or just being female and having problems often reminds me of the old definition of hysteria - the uterus wandering around the body creating all sorts of problems! Ha!
Actually, my gyn is wonderful, but I do know that feeling of "told ya!" when you have that diagnosis.

I was relieved to find out i really had stuff going on too. My doc never did a lap or anything, we were going totally on symptoms. So, when I found out where the endo patches were and I was like...well, that makes all kinds of sense.

I so hear you!
It was nice to finally know I wasn't crazy. I also had adenomyosis. Suddenly that "needle stab" pain (that would double me over) no one understood was explained.

	Quote:
Originally Posted by sasfirst I know that subject line sounds strange, but for me, hearing that everything was healthy would have horrible...going through all this, just to hear they didn't find a problem...NOT GOOD!! OK, I had my one week followup from my TLH. After taking out my stitches, the Doctor says "we need to go over your pathology reports"..YIKES! He then says "Your pain must have been awful"!! "You had Adenomyosis (a condition in which endometrial tissue, which normally lines the uterus, is present within and grows into the muscular walls of the uterus)". Well apparently I was bleeding outside the uterine wall, into the pocket between the uterine wall and the uterine muscle and then then the blood was being absorbed into the muscle...OUCH! I feel so justified in just knowing the pain I felt was REAL and I wasn't imagining how bad it was. I felt like yelling "I TOLD YOU" to the Doctor because I always felt as if he didn't believe me when I told him I have a very high tolerance for pain, but this was bad. OH...I also had several cysts on my ovaries...luckily no cancer cells were found anywhere...PHEW!! Am I the only one who feels relieved about actually having a problem?

Amen! Before my surgery, my doctor suspected he would find endometriosis. Anyway, as it turned out, it was adenomyosis. I had a late surgery on January 11th not getting out of recovery until after 6pm, so I had to stay overnight in the hospital.
Anyway, I had a good bit of pain throughout the night. At 6am the next morning, my MD came in and explained what he did/found during surgery. Good news: not ENDO; kept ovaries
He then explained the ADENO.
Anyway, when he left, my nurse looked at me and said, " I didn't realize you had adenomyosis. Most patients that I take care of after laparoscopic hysterectomies have very little pain. The adenomyosis explains why you had so much pain lastnight. He had to remove all of that tissue that was adhering to places it should not be."
Sometimes it just feels good to be justified, doesn't it?

I said the same thing "thank, God I'm not just a wimp". Before being released from the hospital, my surgeon told me "you're going to feel so much better; your life is going to change" I chalked this up to the speech she gives everyone. I did feel better immediately even with post op pain. It wasn't until my first post op appointment that I knew why I felt so much better. My uterus was the size of a six month pregnancy and weighed 11.6 lbs. and I was full of endo, holy ****!!!!! Yes! There was something wrong. It was a relief to know this. I was never made to feel that I was a whiner, but I felt I was, so knowing this really helped.

Yep. I'm one that was also happy that my doctor found something to explain all of my pain. My husband treated me like I just had a mental problem and if I didn't think about my pain it wouldn't be that bad. As in it was all in my head. I had adenomiosis and a huge ovary that was almost the size of my uterus. My doctor was afraid it was cancer and couldn't understand how I managed to work and take care of a household. She said I had to really be in some pain. My husband looked a little scared and guilty. He didn't make light about my pain again.
So I'm glad that your doctor found the source of your problems because it helps you to feel justified in your decisions and the pain that you were going through. I hope that you have a speedy recovery. I feel so much better since I had mine.

I had pain for several years, especially during intercourse . Until I changed gyns nobody really said it was any more than getting close to menopause. In fact my former gyn always made me feel guilty because my "tipped " uterus was difficult to examine. My new gyn sent me to a specialist and HE hugged me after my exam and said I must be in terrible pain. He suspected andenomyosis and said my uterus was enlarged so figured he would find growths. He also said my uterus wasn't tipped it was moving due to all the pressure . It is great to be validated.