Life post Surgery

Having the adenomyoma removed was the best decision I've ever made.

Pain: I am free from the heavy and painful periods I've had ever since I was a teenager! No more do I spend a day curled in bed vomiting. I do have some cramps and fatigue, but I usually take Aleve and get on with my day. I do have an upset stomach on CD1, but usually avoiding heavy or greasy food takes care of this.

Bleeding:  Instead of five days of heavy bleeding and two days of light bleeding, I now have three days of light bleeding. I thought there was something wrong with me, until acupuncturist informed me that the regular tampons are named thus because that's what most people use.

Energy: Lighter periods mean that I'm no longer in a constant battle with iron-deficiency. My energy is far, far better. Enough to get me through a ten hour work day, plus a work out, plus centering prayer, plus cooking dinner some evenings, cleaning, and practicing. For the first time in years, I spring out of bed easily instead of dragging myself out of bed after oversleeping my alarm by an hour. Exercising is no longer a chore; I go to the gym because I look forward to stretching and moving my body.

PMS: Before the surgery, I used to have a full week of PMS: fatigue, tender breasts and belly, irritability, despair. Now, I have one or two days of fatigue and a day of sadness.

Other benefits that may or may not be surgery related: I no longer have diarrhea most mornings. My sex drive is back (though that may not be surgery related).

Lingering problems: I still have my "spot" of pain on my lower right side. Dr. S says that he may have missed some of the adenomyoma or that I could have some ovarian issue causing pain (though my ovaries looked normal before the surgery--hypofunctioning, but normal). He said that as long as it's not interfering with my quality of life, I should leave it alone. I should give him a call if my periods get heavier or more painful.

Really, my only regret is that I didn't do this much sooner. I was making the best decisions with the information I had, but I do feel sad that diagnosis and misinformation took so many years of my life.

Update: I take that back

It was slow in coming, but I had horrible pain, nausea, vomiting and LOTS of despair this morning. I'm feeling better now, but

YES, I'm happy I'm have surgery.

NO, there is absolutely no point in waiting.

YES, it will be worth the money, the inconvenience, the time off work.

NO, I cannot keep living like this.

Something is working

It's CD1. No disappointment this time, because we took a break this month. But here I am, sitting up in bed with minimal pain: no vomiting, no writhing, no tears, no wishing death upon myself. Last month was similar; I was even able to drag myself out of bed for a work function that I could not miss.

The hard thing about my kitchen-sink approach to alternative therapies is that I have no idea what's working. My periods took a turn for the better when I started taking blood movers (Chinese herbs) during the first part of my cycle. They aren't safe during pregnancy, so I would discontinue after ovulation. Around the same time, I started fertility yoga. The creators claim that this yoga, in which you do a different set of poses for each phase of the cycle, helps with endometriosis (or in Chinese medical terms, blood stagnation). And at the same time, I started avoiding stagnating foods. I've always eaten healthy food overall, but once a week or so I would indulge in french fries, potato chips, eating to excess. For months, I've been avoiding any food that gives me that bloated feeling.

And finally, after that dreadful experience being off the NSAIDS in anticipation of my hysteroscopy, I was reminded of the magic of prostaglandin inhibitors and starting taking them liberally at the first sign of PMS cramps.

So I have no way of knowing what's working and I don't intend to try any kind of process of elimination, because I have no desire to spend a day in bed disabled by severe abdominal pain and vomiting.

I'm feeling a bit silly for scheduling surgery because of my intolerable pain, when suddenly, it's become quite tolerable. On the other hand, my surgeon was quite clear that the adenomyoma could be causing implantation failure, and I don't want to spend another year TTC, only to find out it was the adenomyoma all along.