Surgery
I started my period when I was 11 years old. I remember going to the nurses office at school that day because my lower back hurt so badly. It felt like nothing I had ever felt before, but was a feeling I would become quite familiar with. Imagine there being a bowling ball inside your body, resting on your tail bone. It causes pressure just sitting there. That was a good day. The bad days were when that bowling ball was being ground into my back - from the inside trying to find a way out. Later, when laboring with Lily, that same feeling was there. Lily was upside down and her head was resting on my tailbone. The contractions that drove it deeper into the bone were killers. So all those years of imagining my inner bowling ball were not that far off!
In those first few years of cycling I would often seek out the hardest surface I could find and just lay on it, trying to flatten my back into it. Our living room floor usually did the trick - a cement floor with a thin layer of carpeting and not much padding. The best countermeasure for the pain was pushing right back into it. My Mom and Skip would often push into my lower back, counter pressure, but that could only last for a little while. Between the hard surfaces, the pushing, and the bright orange 800 mg ibuprofen pills I was taking every 4-6 hours, I still missed school and stayed in bed for whole days once a month or so. I was just miserable. At some point in all this my Mom took me to the doctor and I was diagnosed with Endometriosis. (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/endometriosis/DS00289)
My doctors were blunt with me and told me that the longer I let the disorder "grow" unchecked the more difficult it would be to become pregnant. With that in mind I had my first surgery in 1998. It was simple. The doctor made a little slit in my belly button and one in my hairline and went in with a laser to zap away as much of the growth as he could. I then took Depo-prevera for 3 years, putting me into a kind of synthetic menopause. It was pretty awful, being 18 and feeling that bad. I was having hot-flashes, weigh gain, etc. But, no back pain or periods so it was worth it. When it was time to start thinking about a family I went off the drug and was able to get pregnant with Lily pretty quick. I wanted to start young since the doctors had always warned me that waiting could mean not being able to get pregnant. 9 years after the first laser surgery (laparoscopy), I had a second one. By that time my pain had come back and was severe once again.
Now it is 2013. The last year has been pretty unbearable at times in regards to the pain. Fortunately, the pain only comes for about 5 days around the start of my periods and a few days near ovulation. I've always just done what I could with it. Lots of over the counter pain killers, night caps, hot pads, and showers. It has only been about 5 years since my last surgery but in the last 6 months it became clear that it was time to go in for a third. This time was not as cut and dry as the last two.
Last Friday I went in for surgery, hoping for just laser removal of scar tissue and adhesions, but ended up having my left ovary and fallopian tube removed. The doctor had asked permission ahead of time, promising to leave them alone if they looked okay. I agreed and knew then that he'd pull them. Just Tuesday Jason took me for my follow up visit and the doctor showed us pictures of what he saw in there. I'm no doctor but it looked pretty bad to me. He told me that both sides were bad and indicated that maybe they both should have come out. Instead he left one so that I would be able to have my natural hormones for a few more years. I'm hoping the keep the rest of me intact until 40. My Mom had this same disease and had hers all yanked at 36.
Now I 'm in recovery. It hurts. A lot. It's only been a week so maybe I need to be more patient. But I want to be able to walk full speed again and roll over in bed! Even just sleeping on my side would be great. I have an incision in my belly button and one on each side just over where the ovary is/would be, making life painful! The next step is "aggressive treatment" (doctor's words). I'm taking 6 months worth of shots and pills that will put me into forced menopause and then I will go onto an IUD or something that will keep my hormone levels very low in hopes of feeding my endometriosis as little as possible. Unfortunately, there is no cure and surgeries only get most of it. This is something that I will deal with until I not longer have periods. I'm ready to give those up but menopause at 33? That I would rather not have.
So, that's what I've been doing this week...that and learning how to be a high school teacher. More on that later.
In those first few years of cycling I would often seek out the hardest surface I could find and just lay on it, trying to flatten my back into it. Our living room floor usually did the trick - a cement floor with a thin layer of carpeting and not much padding. The best countermeasure for the pain was pushing right back into it. My Mom and Skip would often push into my lower back, counter pressure, but that could only last for a little while. Between the hard surfaces, the pushing, and the bright orange 800 mg ibuprofen pills I was taking every 4-6 hours, I still missed school and stayed in bed for whole days once a month or so. I was just miserable. At some point in all this my Mom took me to the doctor and I was diagnosed with Endometriosis. (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/endometriosis/DS00289)
My doctors were blunt with me and told me that the longer I let the disorder "grow" unchecked the more difficult it would be to become pregnant. With that in mind I had my first surgery in 1998. It was simple. The doctor made a little slit in my belly button and one in my hairline and went in with a laser to zap away as much of the growth as he could. I then took Depo-prevera for 3 years, putting me into a kind of synthetic menopause. It was pretty awful, being 18 and feeling that bad. I was having hot-flashes, weigh gain, etc. But, no back pain or periods so it was worth it. When it was time to start thinking about a family I went off the drug and was able to get pregnant with Lily pretty quick. I wanted to start young since the doctors had always warned me that waiting could mean not being able to get pregnant. 9 years after the first laser surgery (laparoscopy), I had a second one. By that time my pain had come back and was severe once again.
Now it is 2013. The last year has been pretty unbearable at times in regards to the pain. Fortunately, the pain only comes for about 5 days around the start of my periods and a few days near ovulation. I've always just done what I could with it. Lots of over the counter pain killers, night caps, hot pads, and showers. It has only been about 5 years since my last surgery but in the last 6 months it became clear that it was time to go in for a third. This time was not as cut and dry as the last two.
Last Friday I went in for surgery, hoping for just laser removal of scar tissue and adhesions, but ended up having my left ovary and fallopian tube removed. The doctor had asked permission ahead of time, promising to leave them alone if they looked okay. I agreed and knew then that he'd pull them. Just Tuesday Jason took me for my follow up visit and the doctor showed us pictures of what he saw in there. I'm no doctor but it looked pretty bad to me. He told me that both sides were bad and indicated that maybe they both should have come out. Instead he left one so that I would be able to have my natural hormones for a few more years. I'm hoping the keep the rest of me intact until 40. My Mom had this same disease and had hers all yanked at 36.
Now I 'm in recovery. It hurts. A lot. It's only been a week so maybe I need to be more patient. But I want to be able to walk full speed again and roll over in bed! Even just sleeping on my side would be great. I have an incision in my belly button and one on each side just over where the ovary is/would be, making life painful! The next step is "aggressive treatment" (doctor's words). I'm taking 6 months worth of shots and pills that will put me into forced menopause and then I will go onto an IUD or something that will keep my hormone levels very low in hopes of feeding my endometriosis as little as possible. Unfortunately, there is no cure and surgeries only get most of it. This is something that I will deal with until I not longer have periods. I'm ready to give those up but menopause at 33? That I would rather not have.
So, that's what I've been doing this week...that and learning how to be a high school teacher. More on that later.
Comments
Post a Comment