It's been a weird ride, the last several months. The world turns, and my body kept upping the ante on my reproductive organ pain. Something about it made me feel like it was a "wrong" sort of pain. Not just some cramping because of the clots, which had only begun in my later years. This was the kind of pain that only people who've had that "this is not right" feeling can really understand.
I had made a decision a couple years ago that if offered the chance I would get a hysterectomy and oophorectomy. I was offered that option this year. I was so grateful for it, too, because the pain went into full force, in the last few months. It's like contractions that never go away.
The surgery was on June 13th, and while it was not as planned, it was safe and my recovery feels perfectly normal to me. The doctor was confronted by a much bigger mess inside me than she thought. I have apparently had endometriosis most of my life. I had cysts. I had a polyp on the ultrasound. There were adhesions to my back pelvic wall and to the side. The left ovary was wrapped around the ureter, huge, and looked like it had turned inside out. She couldn't tell what was still healthy tissue from the mass of everything else. She called in a urologist to help her navigate around the ureter. The urologist also had a stent put on that tube, just in case. I was reassured that neither of them saw any sign that the ureter had been touched or damaged.
I had to stay a night, as warned, since something did go wrong. At first, they weren't sure I'd be stuck with a catheter or not. The urologist assessed things and they both figured I was fine to have it removed. Thank goodness. Some people have no trouble with them. I do. I can feel every movement and I can't move. These two things make me very unhappy.
My hospital stay was pleasant, in all honesty. I send my kudos for the overhaul the hospital has made since my last stay in 2000. Congratulations to them for improving. The first night, they kept checking on me, waking and keeping me moving. By morning, they all decided I was fine, and I was left on my own unless I called them in.
My doctor seemed a little annoyed by the fact that there was no sign of problems. I am a little annoyed, too. Endometriosis has not been studied well. No one knows why a few lesions will send some people into deep pain, and me, with extensive damage, won't feel any of it. I could have lost a kidney, though, so bear that in mind as you judge which one is better than the other.
I'm now two weeks after the surgery and though it's been up and down with pain, fatigue and irritability, I'm doing really well. But because I didn't feel the endometriosis, I am forcing myself not to overdo anything, in case I damage anything without knowing it. The only good thing about the stent is that if I stand up for more than a half hour, it hurts and I feel like I do when I get stuck in traffic and need to pee, but can't for over an hour. (But when I go to pee, very little comes out.)
I have my first post-op visit tomorrow, with the gynecologist. The day after, I see the urologist. In a week, I get the stent removed. I can't wait. I am also very bored, on top of annoyed by the stent. Recovery isn't mentally easy for someone who is usually very active and busy, when we don't feel the pain of healing. I feel it afterward, when I do too much. So, controlling my urges to go somewhere or do something is a new challenge to me.
On the plus side, my disability insurance was approved for the weeks I am off work. I won't be completely without incoming funds. I will not be as well-off as I have been soon, though, since there were two doctors and a few more hours of surgery, an overnight stay, and all the other things you have to pay for when you're there.
I hope with all my might that my healing is as fast as it usually is, and I return to my job with ease in six weeks. I simply can't afford anything else.
I don't feel any of the pain I did. What I do feel is fatigue, a soreness when I cough or laugh, and the stent sometimes. I am already doing better than I was before the surgery. I have no regrets. None.
As for symptoms, I am at the same point I was before the surgery too. I don't know if it's because endometriosis produces estrogen and that never really is cured, or if it's because bits of ovary had to be left where they were because it was too dangerous to separate the tissue. Maybe I just have a lot of hormones that will take a long time to wear off. I already had night sweats and occasional hot flashes. I figured, but never checked, I was in perimenopause a long time ago.
I haven't decided on HRT. I will continue to think about it.
That's my update for now. All's well, otherwise, really.
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