So it's been a long while since I've mentioned this subject. March is Endometriosis Awareness month and as of late is has become more of a topic in my home again. Since some of you don't know my story, I'll start from the beginning but try to keep it brief. As a teenager I always had extreme pain during menstration. By the time I was eighteen the pain occurred more frequently. I finally decided to see the family physician who after just one office visit diagnosed me with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, gave me some steroids and told me to watch certain foods. Well, time goes by, sex is painful. I start taking hot baths almost daily and think a sleeping pad was just the best invention ever made. I thought this was normal. That I was just a wimp. At age 23 William and I decide we want to start our family. A couple of years go by and I decide to see a fertility doc. We do the initial work up. Everything looks ok. After charting my temps for just a couple of months, I was pregnant! At 10 weeks we miscarried. For a long while after that, I did not even want to try. Then one night in 2001 after taking 800mg of ibuprofen I was still in excruciating pain. As the night went on it got worse.....after letting out a couple of jolting screams, William calls 911. I was taking to the emergency room just to be told by the ER Doc that nothing was wrong with me..."You have just started your period." William was HOT! While we were there, they did run some test, by morning the new ER Doc wanted to admit me. I was told I had a large cyst and a high white count. We WALKED out and we to my OBGYN, I was admitted that day and given antibiotics and scheduled for surgery a month later that would tell me that I had Endo stage 4. Right after surgery the pain was present, not as extreme, but there everyday. I was but on so many different hormones and birth control to control the progression. A few years went by, everyday I was taking pain pills and taking it easy because too much physical activity made the pain worse. You felt like everyone thought you were the laziest person. You get tired of people feeling sorry for you and frustrated because they don't understand. In 07' William and I made the decision to travel to the CEC in Atlanta Georgia. And even now I still think it was the right decision. The surgery was suppose to take a couple of hours....try four. It was bad. There were four surgeon's. And they even had to reconstruct my rectum. Without getting into too much I was pain free for a good while for the first time. It was wonderful. Fast forward to now....I am back on pain pills again. I feel like I'm back at the drawing board. Lupron or Surgery. I'm not too keen on Lupron, I didn't do it before and probably want this time. In Atlanta I had a hysterectomy, they left one ovary. I'm not sure if I want to go all the way back there. Although I do believe it's my best chance of being pain free for a while. Always so many decisions. What's my next step? Right now I'm gonna just deal for a while. We'll see what the future holds. For any of you wondering what the
CEC is...just click on the link. They were well worth the drive.
