| I remember when I was about 10 and we had our first sex ed class in school I was excited to get my first period. My mom had always had problems with hers but no one else did besides my grandma that I knew of so I thought it would be cool. Well, I inherited my mother's problems. I had extreme pain from the very first one and after I got the first one the next one came three weeks later. Each one was worse than the one before and I started taking high amounts of tylenol to help the pain. Over time, my mom's periods kept getting worse and mine kept getting worse. We just kept taking more tylenol then added ibuprofen and tried to manage the pain. When my mom was 44 she talked to her gyno about her problems and he did a hysterectomy. She was full of endometriosis, which was determined to be the source of all her problems. My grandmother also had a hysterectomy and was found to have endometriosis at about 48 and HER mother had what they called "female problems" from the time she was 35 to about 60. Well, shortly after my mom's hysterectomy, (my mom had me when she was 21 so I was 23 when she had her hysterectomy) I decided to talk to my gyno about the pain I was having. He felt that since my mom had endometriosis this was probably my problem too. He scheduled a laproscopic surgery to explore and see what was going on. Unfortunately, somehow the guy must have been blind or maybe just amazing inept, but he didn't find any in me. So, he gave me medication that didn't even touch the pain and I went on birth control only to manage my hormones and I kept self-medicating with tylenol and ibuprofen. Well, the years kept progressing. The pain gradually grew worse with time and I just kept taking more tylenol and ibuprofen. I know that I'm not really describing the pain very well. It was just so horrible. Some women have compared endo pain to child birth. However, I really don't have anything to compare it to. By 1998 I was taking 4 extra strength tylenol (500 mg each) and 6 ibuprofen (200 mg each) every 6 hours during my period, which was often, as I got it every 23 days and it lasted 5 to 6 days each time. At this time, I was living on my own. I made good money and except for the horrid pain every 3 weeks (yes, even on birth control) I was pretty much happy and o.k. This takes us to January of 1996. I will never forget that month as long as I live. That is the month my pain took over. I was sitting in a training class for a new job at my company. I was hit with wave after wave of pain so intense I had to get up and just run out of the room. I knew I had my period so I had already taken the 4 tylenol and 6 ibuprofen. I was too scared to take any more so I just went home. I called my Drs office and they gave me a new prescription. It didn't help the pain even mildly. I was out of work for three days that month. It was horrible. After those three days, I didn't bounce back like I always had before. I didn't feel well, ever. For the next few months I either had horrid cramps or I was nauseous all the time. Then came October. This was the worst month of my life up until this point. I had pain so horrible I shook for 5 days. No medication touched the pain. I called my doctor every day. Then his nurse accused me of being addicted to NON-addicting pain killers. Oh yeah, I enjoyed taking pills that didn't even work. That was more fun than I could handle. Then came November. It was just as bad as October. I called my doctor's office and this time he had me come in. He put me on stronger birth control pills and this helped. December was better. January of 1997 started out o.k. My cramps were moderate. Bad but manageable with tylenol and ibuprofen. The reason I stopped taking prescription medication was so the doctor and his evil nurse wouldn't know how much medication I was taking. So, I gave up my salaried job and went back into the ranks. I also started school, which I loved. I didn't last long at the job. In September of 2000 I quit working at the company I had been with for 13 years of my life. During the time from after the surgery in December of 1999 to the time I quit, my endometriosis flared up again. My gyno put me on depo-provera, which caused me to gain 40 pounds and actually made me bleed and have cramps every day. After six months of this, my gyno didn't know what to do with me so he sent me to an endocronologist. I was put on Lupron, which is supposed to shut down your system. The Lupron worked for about two months. Then, it too wore off and I was having endometriosis pain every single day without letup. I was taking mega doses of tylenol and ibuprofen, and I was starting to also have pains in my side. At first I thought it was phanton gall-bladder pain. I told my doctor and he did some blood tests. It came back that my liver was going bad from all the pain meds. I made a decision in November of 2000 that will affect me for the rest of my life. The decision will more than likely prolong my life. I realized that I needed a hysterectomy. Part of this realization came from the fact that all the women in my family were only relieved by this drastic measure. My grandmother, my mother, and even my younger sister. My sister Melanie is 5 years younger than me and has had two children so the decision wasn't quite as hard for her. She had her surgery in January of 2000. Her life was so amazingly better after her hysterectomy. This was a huge factor in my realization of what I needed to do. I discussed this with my endocronologist and he said it would probably be the only thing that would help. This was NOT at all an easy decision. Since I was a small child, I dreamed of having babies. I have always wanted children and I still do. However, when you are too sick to work or even go out of the house, how are you supposed to meet anyone, let alone get them to marry you? I was living off of my pension fund from my previous employer and paying mega-bucks for cobra insurance for all my medication. I realized the only way I could get on with my life was to go through with the surgery. I thought about it seriously for a few weeks and told my endocronologist at the end of November that I was sure I could handle it. He wasn't entirely happy since he is also a reproduction specialist but he completely supported my decision. We got the surgery scheduled for mid-December. Therefore, in December of 2000, I had surgery for my third December in a row, and my fourth surgery. The year 2001 has been strange for me. I started a new job, hated it, and started another new job in May. I'm still with the company I started at in May. Life has been interesting. I feel sooo much better. I know that I would still be jobless and bed-ridden without the hysterectomy. However, sometimes the pain of knowing I will not be able to have children is unbearable. When I had surgery, the doctor found I was full of endometriosis. He was surpised at how much there was and how bad it was. He couldn't believe that when I had had laproscopic surgery several years back that the doctor at that time hadn't found it. He said it had been there a long time. The best part of that next spring,, besides getting back my health, is that my youngest sister had a baby in March (2001). I was afraid that it would make me feel worse to see her having a baby, but the baby has helped me a lot. At least I have a real baby to hold and love, even though she is not mine. I seriously want to adopt some time in the future. Right now though, I am concentrating on school. I guess I'll see what happens. |
| MY ENDO HISTORY |
| ENDOMETRIOSIS |
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| Disclaimer: These pages express my personal thoughts and opinions. I am not a qualified doctor of any kind. For any questions regarding a specific health condition, please consult your doctor. |
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