Post Surgery Appointment

I had my post surgery appointment with Dr. S yesterday. Although DH did fill me in on what was done during surgery he had forgotten some things. Dr. S said they did a lot in there, found a lot of endometriosis spots and also removed adhesion that connected colon to something else (forgot what he told me). My pelvic was a total mess. So it was my understanding that Na.pro Docs don't do Saliva test, I guess Dr. S didn't consider it before however he mentioned that he attended a conference in July where they covered adrenal fatigue in relation to chronic pain and endometriosis. So he suggested to do a saliva test for endocrine panel and also male/female hormone profile over 24 hours. I have done this test before with my Natropath Dr. The problem is it takes too long to do anything at Dr. S office. He is incredibly busy and he said to expect to receive the Saliva kit within 2-3 weeks. We are also doing blood hormone test over one cycle. However he would like to wait until the next cycle for this. I really do like him and his approach to treatment but his suggestion would mean that I will get the result of both blood and saliva hormonal results in three month. Yep, three month. I don't have three month, I am suffering from constant fatigue, PMS and multiple other symptoms. I waited three months for this surgery to happen and I suffered a lot.

I found a Dr. around here that also do Saliva tests, she is an MD and also practices Acupuncture and other alternative medicine. If I get an appointment early enough then I will have to go to her.

I went back to work this week and it has been though to say the least. Luckily we lost power on Monday at work so I went in only for a little bit and came back home. Today has been a total disaster. I walk up after a 9h sleep and got ready to go to work. My fatigue usually peak in the morning but today it was worse. But I pushed my self and drove to work. My legs felt wobbly and I though I was going to pass out by the time I got to work. I sat on my chair, logged on to my computer, logged out and went back home. I layed down for a few hours and went to work after lunch. By the end of the day I was exhausted. I can't keep doing this, I am going to break at some point if this doesn't improve. After the surgery my fatigue has increased so I am hoping that once I fully recover it will get better.

On a ositive note it is nice to not feel the endo pain. But it will take time to get rid of the migraine like headaches and the blurry vision. Hoping GOD will give me the strength to wait for the hormone tests.

Fertile Thoughts

The other day I was putting some stuff away and found a few pants that don't fit me. I bought these a few years ago when I was 15 lb heaver. The immediate thing that came up to my mind is that I will wear this when I get pregnant. I have done this multiple times as if I am the most fertile woman in the world. Same thing happened yesterday, my Mom was going through old cloth and asked me if I wanted a black pair of pants but she realized it was a little big for me and said so, but I said I will take it. The pant is not my style but looking at the elastic band I thought perfect for a big belly :). So I have a few shirts, pants and dresses reserved for this purpose, how odd.

RG

You got to be kidding me

When I walk up yesterday morning the bleeding had stopped and I can actually see some mucus build up. By yesterday evening I was feeling a little blotted and crabby. This morning, yep full blown period. What the heck? I thought the last few days of the 11 day bleeding after surgery was my period. The cramps are crazy painful since I am still sore inside. I am in such a bad mood too, most likely hormonal since I am not upset about anything. Gee, how much can one body take?
I guess there is a positive side to it that I can count today as CD1 and it will be easier to monitor my cycle but still. I really wish I was a man, a simplistic thinking but hell yeah I want to be a man and not deal with this reproductive crap.

I have been looking for an Endocrinologist around here who will be open to treat my symptoms instead of just looking at my "normal" lab results and for the life of me I can't find one. There is a Dr that may be able to help but he is at the same center as my Naturopath Dr. I stopped going to her after we discussed that the progesterone cream plus other stuff was not helping me. I didn't feel very confident she could do anything else for me as she kept asking me what I wanted to do next. I was also not happy that she insisted the progesterone cream use before ovulation does not affect ovulation. Any how since this Dr. is at the same center it will be weird to go to him. I am going to search more and see what else I find.

Progress

I was so discouraged yesterday. After an 8h night sleep I walk up tired. Completely exhausted. My stomach didn't feel right either so I had a little bit to eat and slept it off. The fatigue was accompanied with numb legs and arms. My whole body felt odd. By late afternoon I had enough energy to walk a couple of blocks. Of course there is no way I can be at work in this state so I have told my boss I needed another week to recovery. So today I walk up and felt fine for a while. I actually managed to walk for 20min which was hard and also came home and sat on a chair for 3 hours trying to see if I am up to sitting for an extended period of time. I was so positive and happy and by late afternoon my steam has run out. Even though I was in bed for a couple of hours working on my computer that was not enough rest. I stood in my kitchen for may be 20 min cooking and that was it. I was in pain. My right ovary started throbbing and right leg was all numb. The ugly tension headache reappeared. My body can't handle the slightest bit of physical or emotional stress. I have my post surgery appointment with Dr. S next week. We will be going over plans for hormonal test over the next cycle.

Its day 10 and bleeding hasn't stopped, it has been light today but still there. I am on CD25 but because of the sugery I am sure my cycle is wacky.

RG

Too Much Time

DH left to visit his parents. He will be out of the country for more than a month. What am I going to do? He has been driving me everywhere for the last few month and does all the errands. It feels weird to not have him around. We have never been apart for more than a week and that was once. I don't want to be a baby about this but I am so used to him that I don't know what to do with myself without him. I am going to have too much time on my hand and will need to come up with something to occupy myself. It doesn't help that I am not in the best of health either. I have family around, lots of them and my mom is with me but it is not the same. If it wasn't for Endo and my health condition and the fact that I can't take off time from work right now, I would have gone with him at least for part of the month :(. This sucks big time and I feel like crying my self to sleep.

On a different note I managed to take a 15 min walk. Big step for me, may be I can do 30 min tomorrow.

Migrane Headaches

Today for the first time since my surgery I went out with my DH to the mall. It was a quick trip, spent about 30 min in a store and I can already feel my headache getting worse. I have had a headache since yesterday which was manageable until I stepped out of the house. I don't know if it is the extreme heat outside or just walking around that aggravated my condition but it literally drove me crazy. I could not wait to get back home and lay on my back. A few month ago I saw a neurologist for this migraine like headaches. He prescribed an antidepressant that is also used for migraine headaches associated with pain. I did not take it since I was going to have surgery and also did not want to deal with the side effects. Now I am having second thoughts. This headaches are killers, they affect my vision and everything else and make me miserable. I want to be patient and wait to see if the surgery had allivated the pain and in turn will help the headache but I don't know how long I can wait. I am so frustrated beyond words can express.

Recovery 2

The post surgery instruction says to go back to work after 5 days. How is that possible? I have tried to increase my activities gradually and yesterday I cooked dinner. By the end of it I was in pain and a total mess. I had one of those headaches due to pain and pain around right ovary and lower abdominal. The bleeding hasn't stopped either. A couple of days ago it became light but then started back again once I started walking around plus I am also seeing clots. I called the Dr's office but they said all is normal and I should expect the bleeding to last about 10 days which is not far away. I don't remember the bleeding to be this heavy after my first surgery. I am still having blurry vision which is most likely due to hormonal issues rather than endo pain but the blurriness does increase with increasing pain. I am suppose to be back at work on Monday but I don't know how that is going to happen.

The only thing I manged to do today is wash my hair and that was tiring. Since then I have been laying flat and reading blogs. I have also been searching for a Dr. around my area that would treat my adrenal/thyroid hormone issues with a normal lab result. The last Endocrinologist said my hormone levels were fine and he can't do anything for me :(.

Recoverying from Surgery

The surgery went well. It took 3 hours to get everything out of me. I had hoped that all they find will be the adesions that the last Dr. couldn't remove during my first surgery but there was a whole lot more. Dr. S found some small areas of Endometrosis mostly on the right side. During first surgery 2 year ago all the endo was on the right side and nothing was seen on the left. This time I also had an endmetrioma on my left ovary but my left tube is open. The last surgery my RE said he couldn't remove all of the adesisions where my right ovary/tube were partially stuck to the pelvic and I was sure that was where most of the pain was coming from. Dr. S managed to free the ovary/tube and also unclog the right tube where it was partally closed.
For the last year >90% of the time I had ovulated on the right which also explains why I couldn't get pregnant. The surgery was done 2 days after ovulation and Dr. S said there is evidence that I ovulated on the right side.

Recovery has been OK except the pain medication was messing me up. I had palpitation and general weakness yesterday and I was alone. I thought I was going to pass out so I called 911. All tests seem normal except that my liver enzymes are a little elevated, Dr. said most likely due to the surgery and was told to follow up with my primary Dr. I am still bleeding from Surgery but the last couple of day have been light.

Dr. S briefly talked to me after I woke up from surgery but all I remember is that he said everything went well. He did talk to DH and also gave him the pictures. I have a follow up appointment in a few weeks and I can not wait for Dr. to tell me the details of surgery and chance of pregnancy. I have to wait and let the incsions heal to see if the Endo pain has gotten better.

Hoping this surgery will be the answer, now I have to figure out the hormonal issues. Can't wait to TCC once DH gets back from vacation.

Thank you Zengirl for wishing me well.

Presurgery Appointment

I had my pre-surgery appointment with Dr. S. This was the first time my DH met the Dr and he was impressed. Dr. S talked about the surgery in details and answered all our questions. I had an ultrasound and blood work done in the afternoon.
It was all a pleasant experience as the staff were attentive and efficient.
I am really glad that DH met the Dr. before the surgery since he will have to communicate with him after surgery. It was hard for DH to take off work but it had to be done. Now I am waiting for this surgery that will happen in a week. I will take a week off work to recovery and will have to physically go back to work at least for part of the day and work from home the rest of the time. Not looking forward to that but I am optimistic that the surgery will get rid of the pain or at least reduce it. I had hoped that by now I would have done the hormone profile test through out a cycle with Dr. S. He suggested that we will start the testing when I go back for post surgery visit.

This week has been hard, the long drive to the Drs. office was painful even though DH was driving, I just can't handle the sitting up for an extended time. By the end of the day I had one of those migraine like headaches. My anxiety attacks have also increased.

Wish me luck and a little prayer will be nice.

RG