Post by akcheryl on Dec 14, 2006 15:58:20 GMT -5
I had my post operative appointment with my OBGYN a couple days ago. I was excited to go in and find out everything about the surgery, and was most excited to get started with having a baby.
I was diagnosed with Stage 4 endometriosis after laparoscopy a couple weeks ago.
Right after surgery I had some vaginal bleeding that was light pink. After a day or so, the bleeding got heavy and was bright red, and lasted for several days. The surgery caused my period to be about 9 days early.
It has hurt very bad to urinate since the surgery, so at post-op my OBGYN gave me some antibiotics and did a UA in case I have a bladder infection caused by the catheterization during surgery (she also said I probably have endo inside my bladder, which is causing pain). Bowel movements have also hurt (it feels like someone is pushing really hard on my stomach every time I go to the bathroom).
At post-op, my husband and I got to see a highlight video of my surgery. It was actually very interesting getting to see all the scarring and lesions. I had endometriosis on every surface of my peritoneum. There were implants COVERING EVERYTHING - they made every surface look rough and bumpy, and everything was covered in red and black lesions. The worst scarring/adhesions were on the right ovary, attaching it to my peritoneal wall. I also had a lot of smaller cysts on both the front and back of my uterus. I had large pools of blood in my abdomen, and my cul-de-sac looked like it was full of coffee grounds. My left ovary was huge, and cysts were removed from both ovaries (luckily I have some ovarian tissue left on both sides and my tubes are open). I also had lesions removed from my diaphragm. My appendix was also heavily involved, so it was removed. After watching the video, it's definitely apparent why my abdomen hurt so badly after surgery!
NEXT STEPS:
My OBGYN informed me that because of the advanced stage of my disease, I probably have about six months in which it will be easiest for me to get pregnant and before the endo is completely back again. My OBGYN has already spoken to a very good infertility endocrinologist, who I have been referred to see in late January (their first available appointment). They discussed my case and some of my health history, and based on her experience, the fertility doctor thinks that IVF is my best option for ever having a baby.
There was some discussion as to whether a combination of Clomid plus artificial insemination would help my husband and I to conceive. Since we haven't seen the fertility doctor yet, we don't know if this is a realistic option, but so far it sounds like it's not. Both my OBGYN and the fertility doctor agreed that anovulation is not my problem, that rather I have both physiologic and immunologic barriers to pregnancy (implantation) caused by endometriosis, so Clomid won't help. They said that Clomid has maybe a 5% chance of ever producing pregnancy in me.
We also briefly discussed trying to conceive naturally, but everyone is in agreement that it would be a waste of precious time. I recently read on another website that even with mild-moderate endometriosis (and I'm categorized as having severe, and both of my ovaries were partially removed, which can cause egg reduction and damage itself), there is only a 30-40% chance of achieving pregnancy over a three-year period without reproductive assistance. These rates just seem way too low, especially when my husband and I consider that we have only a 6 month window and we've already been trying for over a year.
So, we'll see what happens at the fertility clinic in January. At this point, it looks like we're going to be doing IVF. Even though it's very costly, my husband and I are prepared to pay for it in order to give us the best chances possible of having a baby.
Post-operatively, I haven't really had a significant reduction in pain. Luckily, I haven't had the stabbing pains I used to get before surgery, but now I feel an increase in pressure in my lower abdomen. Hopefully this will abate as time goes on. I'm just worried about when the endo comes back with full force (we've decided that I will not do Lupron, even after having children because it seems like so many women have bad experiences while on it, and it seems like more of a short-term fix).
I was diagnosed with Stage 4 endometriosis after laparoscopy a couple weeks ago.
Right after surgery I had some vaginal bleeding that was light pink. After a day or so, the bleeding got heavy and was bright red, and lasted for several days. The surgery caused my period to be about 9 days early.
It has hurt very bad to urinate since the surgery, so at post-op my OBGYN gave me some antibiotics and did a UA in case I have a bladder infection caused by the catheterization during surgery (she also said I probably have endo inside my bladder, which is causing pain). Bowel movements have also hurt (it feels like someone is pushing really hard on my stomach every time I go to the bathroom).
At post-op, my husband and I got to see a highlight video of my surgery. It was actually very interesting getting to see all the scarring and lesions. I had endometriosis on every surface of my peritoneum. There were implants COVERING EVERYTHING - they made every surface look rough and bumpy, and everything was covered in red and black lesions. The worst scarring/adhesions were on the right ovary, attaching it to my peritoneal wall. I also had a lot of smaller cysts on both the front and back of my uterus. I had large pools of blood in my abdomen, and my cul-de-sac looked like it was full of coffee grounds. My left ovary was huge, and cysts were removed from both ovaries (luckily I have some ovarian tissue left on both sides and my tubes are open). I also had lesions removed from my diaphragm. My appendix was also heavily involved, so it was removed. After watching the video, it's definitely apparent why my abdomen hurt so badly after surgery!
NEXT STEPS:
My OBGYN informed me that because of the advanced stage of my disease, I probably have about six months in which it will be easiest for me to get pregnant and before the endo is completely back again. My OBGYN has already spoken to a very good infertility endocrinologist, who I have been referred to see in late January (their first available appointment). They discussed my case and some of my health history, and based on her experience, the fertility doctor thinks that IVF is my best option for ever having a baby.
There was some discussion as to whether a combination of Clomid plus artificial insemination would help my husband and I to conceive. Since we haven't seen the fertility doctor yet, we don't know if this is a realistic option, but so far it sounds like it's not. Both my OBGYN and the fertility doctor agreed that anovulation is not my problem, that rather I have both physiologic and immunologic barriers to pregnancy (implantation) caused by endometriosis, so Clomid won't help. They said that Clomid has maybe a 5% chance of ever producing pregnancy in me.
We also briefly discussed trying to conceive naturally, but everyone is in agreement that it would be a waste of precious time. I recently read on another website that even with mild-moderate endometriosis (and I'm categorized as having severe, and both of my ovaries were partially removed, which can cause egg reduction and damage itself), there is only a 30-40% chance of achieving pregnancy over a three-year period without reproductive assistance. These rates just seem way too low, especially when my husband and I consider that we have only a 6 month window and we've already been trying for over a year.
So, we'll see what happens at the fertility clinic in January. At this point, it looks like we're going to be doing IVF. Even though it's very costly, my husband and I are prepared to pay for it in order to give us the best chances possible of having a baby.
Post-operatively, I haven't really had a significant reduction in pain. Luckily, I haven't had the stabbing pains I used to get before surgery, but now I feel an increase in pressure in my lower abdomen. Hopefully this will abate as time goes on. I'm just worried about when the endo comes back with full force (we've decided that I will not do Lupron, even after having children because it seems like so many women have bad experiences while on it, and it seems like more of a short-term fix).