After going back to the doctors again to complain about the pain, I was refered back to see one of the gynae consultants at the hospital today. I got prodded and poked about, scanned and swabbed. This Doctor is going to talk to another one, I think she said an endocrinologist, to discuss me and see what they can do to investigate the pain. They’re keen not to operate on me again, but to be honest, whatever could take the pain away I would give it a go. My lower back constantly aches, then my abdomen, pelvis and ovaries seem to hurt whenever they feel like it, normally making me feel sick and bloated. There is no pattern to the pain like there used to be, it just seems to happen, normally more so when I’m tired, stressed, nervous or worried about something, all of these things obviously don’t help the pain, especially the worry and stress. Just waiting now to see what their discussions come up with.
That’s right a whole year later after one doctor said there was nothing else they could do treatment wise, I finally had a Mirena coil fitted! That took so long because in August 2013 I had a seizure, so nuerology wanted to get that sorted before messing about with hormones again.
I have to say, the coil isn’t the most pleasent thing to have placed inside, and for me, possibly because of the Endo, it was bloody agony, still… at least its there for 5 years and hopefully easier to get out! I have to say, it’s made periods lighter, but I’m still in pain!
But, in January 2013 I was diagnosed, and that’s when it all began.
I’d never heard of Endometriosis until I Googled my symptoms, heavy periods, bowel problems, severe menstrual cramps, needing to wee lots! Sounds like it could have been all kinds of things, but Endometriosis came up in a search, so I clicked on the link to a website. As I read through the symptoms it sounded just like that! So armed with this information I finally went to the Doctors to look for the answers. Firstly they wanted to rule out IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), so sent me off to hospital for a Colonoscopy (luckily I was asleep for that). The preparation the evening before was like some kind of digestive torture… drinking some revolting liquid, that looked like wallpaper paste and probably tasted the same, then imagine the worst most spicy curry you’ve ever had… yeah, that’s the feeling, I left a good book in the bathroom.
Anyway, the next day, after a frantic drive to the hospital with a spare pair of trousers, they made me drink more drink and finally I was empty! They put me on my side in a bed, said something to me as I watched a blank TV screen, then I was asleep. My next memory was being woken up, and told soon after by the doctor my bowel was fine and there was no IBS, so the next step was the Endo.
I went back to my doctor and they booked me in to the hospital for a Laparoscopy after Christmas, which was nicer than going in just before. If you check out the link you can see what that’s all about, it’s slightly less harrowing than the thought of a colonoscopy, but way more painful afterwards (surprisingly). The pain could have come from the fact they filled me up with gas so they could see most of my lower internal organs, removed the Endometriosis that they found, put a drain into me down by my hip, and when they pulled that out…. FFFFF……..K, if I’d ever had a sword pulled out of me, I imagine that’s how it feels!
So, they’d found the Endo, that’s great, well not really, but it just meant that it wasn’t all in my head, there really was something growing inside me. I even got to see pictures of it (nice). I wish I’d used my smart phone to take pictures of the pictures now, just so I could share them with you! They’d found this endometrial tissue growing outside of where it should, it should grow in a woman’s womb, but for us unluckly 176 million, it grows all over the place, for me it was on my bowel, urethrae, peritoneal cavity and they blasted some cysts off my ovaries too.
Well now I knew I had it and it was all gone, that was great, I could get on with things…….. no. What I’d not read up about was the fact that there is no cure, and it will just keeping growing back for the rest of my life! That’s just brilliant, an illness I’ve never heard of and which is probably one of the most embarrassing to try and explain to everyone! Lets see where it could go from here!
Endo Struggle 