I woke up this morning with some of the worst pain (in my right side, of course) I've had in a long long time. I also had the pukes because the pain was so intense. I eventually called in sick and called my doctor's office. He was in surgery so I spoke to my nurse, who called him, and then called me back with the news: "Go to the ER and have them do an ultrasound right away!" They wanted to make sure my ovary wasn't about to explode (haha) or twisting on itself.
I'm so glad my doc took my appendix out with my Lap because as soon as I said "lower right quadrant pain and nausea" the nurses and doctors started going into appendicitis mode, talking about abdominal CT's and white blood cell counts. Once they were satisfied that I wasn't about to die of appendicitis, we got me prepped for an u/s and they put in a line for blood and meds. I'd already taken Percocet and Phenegran at home for the pain and nausea but was still doubled over, so they gave me some Toradol. The u/s tech asked me if we were doing IVF this cycle, which was confusing to me in my drugged up state, so I said, "no" and left it at that. Later on the doctor came in to discuss the results of what they had found, and that question finally made sense. Apparently my ovaries (particularly my right, go figure) were covered in so many cysts that it looked like I was being stimmed for IVF. I thought that was hillarious, since I'm on BC pills to keep the cysts to a minimum, but I guess that's not working, huh?
Fortunately, no blood in the belly and good bloodflow to both ovaries, so no signs of torsion there. They paged and talked to my doc to give him the results and I have a follow-up scheduled in a few weeks. They gave me more meds, tried to convince me of the benefits of a hysterectomy, and sent me on my merry way. I came home and slept for a few hours, courtesy of all the pain meds they'd given me and now I'm up again feeling slightly better but very miffed. I can't believe they were seriously trying to talk me into "taking it all out!" I'm only 28 years old, and haven't been able to have children yet! Seriously?!?!?!
I'm glad my doctor isn't cut-happy, like those doctors. We've talked about a hysterectomy before, but only as a last-ditch effort, and definitely NOT anytime soon. He's very hopeful that we'll be able to get pregnant at least once, even if it does take IVF. He's just not a fan of doing something that radical in someone as young as myself, unless it is of absolute necessity and there are no other options. I'm sure we'll talk about it some more in a few weeks, but I'm glad he's got such a conservative attitude when it comes to cutting stuff out. To be completely honest though, I wouldn't mind parting with my right ovary... this little stinker has caused me more pain and trouble to last me 3 lifetimes... *sigh* Well, pain-meds are calling... I'm starting to ache pretty bad again. :(
Showing posts with label ignorant doctors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ignorant doctors. Show all posts
Monday, April 6, 2009
Saturday, July 19, 2008
How It All Started (Part 1)
My journey with Endometriosis began long before I ever knew what it was. Technically it began before I even got my first period, although I had no idea what was happening at the time. I was a young pre-teen who was just always in a lot of pain and frequently took trips to the ER because of appendicitis scares that never turned out to be anything but just that... a "scare."
My mother would often tell me about how much pain she endured every month, especially when young... as did her mom, and probably her mom's mom too. It "ran in the family" and so was surely nothing to worry about. After all, isn't pain just a "normal" part of every woman's life once they start menstruating? This rationale, along with my pediatrician's assurance that I was perfectly fine, lulled me (as well as my parents) into acceptance. The pain just became a part of my life, of who I was, and we just dealt with it as best we could. As I grew older, the pain grew worse. Eventually it became bad enough that I would miss school on occasion because of it. My legs would go numb from the pain, and my mother would sit with me and rub them for hours.
By the time I was 16 it was bad enough that my mom took me kicking and screaming to my first OB/GYN. After taking my history and asking a few questions (not even as much as an exam was done!) the doctor quickly wrote me an Rx for birth control pills and told me that this would fix everything. These problems were "common" in teens and that eventually my body would adjust, but that probably I just had a "low pain tolerance" and would need to be on the pill forever to keep me content. I took the pills and hoped for the best. After all, she was a doctor... she MUST know what she's doing.. .right?
Fast forward a few years. Now a college student, I was off on my own trying to cope as best I could without the aid of my mom during those rough days each month. The pills didn't seem to be doing much for me anymore, the pain was getting worse. I went to new doctors... they all said the same thing. "Oh you just have a low pain tolerance, maybe we'll try a higher dose... and here, why don't you just take these pain killers!" More pills to pop, great. So the hormones got stronger and my tolerance began to wane. Not only was I still in pain but now I constantly felt sick to my stomach, my moods were all over the place, and each month certainly did not get any easier. Finally, when I was about 22 I found a doctor (while I was living in California for a short while) who mentioned Endometriosis to me. I had never heard of it, but everything she described was dead on to what I had been struggling with for years. I took that information and ran with it, doing as much research as I could.
I moved back home again shortly thereafter and went to a new doctor. I mentioned my previous doctor's tentative diagnosis and this new doctor all but laughed in my face. She said I was "too young" to have something that serious. "This is a disease of the 30-40 somethings, there is no way you could have that" she kept saying. Upon my insitance, she reluctantly agreed to give me a referral to have an ultrasound done to check things out. Nevermind that Endo cannot be diagnosed that way, but what did I know? (And apparently she didn't know very much either!) Of course the ultrasound showed nothing amis, and triumphantly she talked us out of having the Laparoscopic surgery that would be the only way to really know for sure.
Not much later I got married and moved again. Once again, I went to new doctors, all of which told me the same things and stuck me on yet higher dosages of birth control pills. This went on for years until I finally found the one doctor who listened to me. At the age of 26, I was FINALLY diagnosed with Endometriosis, after a Lap. I sadly fall into the all too common group of women that on average go 10 years or more undiagnosed due to the ignorance and unwillingness of doctors to listen and take their patients seriously. Most unfortunate still is the fact that pain was not the only battle-wound left behind from my untreated Endo... we would soon find out that it was the cause of something far worse than any physical pain... infertility.
My mother would often tell me about how much pain she endured every month, especially when young... as did her mom, and probably her mom's mom too. It "ran in the family" and so was surely nothing to worry about. After all, isn't pain just a "normal" part of every woman's life once they start menstruating? This rationale, along with my pediatrician's assurance that I was perfectly fine, lulled me (as well as my parents) into acceptance. The pain just became a part of my life, of who I was, and we just dealt with it as best we could. As I grew older, the pain grew worse. Eventually it became bad enough that I would miss school on occasion because of it. My legs would go numb from the pain, and my mother would sit with me and rub them for hours.
By the time I was 16 it was bad enough that my mom took me kicking and screaming to my first OB/GYN. After taking my history and asking a few questions (not even as much as an exam was done!) the doctor quickly wrote me an Rx for birth control pills and told me that this would fix everything. These problems were "common" in teens and that eventually my body would adjust, but that probably I just had a "low pain tolerance" and would need to be on the pill forever to keep me content. I took the pills and hoped for the best. After all, she was a doctor... she MUST know what she's doing.. .right?
Fast forward a few years. Now a college student, I was off on my own trying to cope as best I could without the aid of my mom during those rough days each month. The pills didn't seem to be doing much for me anymore, the pain was getting worse. I went to new doctors... they all said the same thing. "Oh you just have a low pain tolerance, maybe we'll try a higher dose... and here, why don't you just take these pain killers!" More pills to pop, great. So the hormones got stronger and my tolerance began to wane. Not only was I still in pain but now I constantly felt sick to my stomach, my moods were all over the place, and each month certainly did not get any easier. Finally, when I was about 22 I found a doctor (while I was living in California for a short while) who mentioned Endometriosis to me. I had never heard of it, but everything she described was dead on to what I had been struggling with for years. I took that information and ran with it, doing as much research as I could.
I moved back home again shortly thereafter and went to a new doctor. I mentioned my previous doctor's tentative diagnosis and this new doctor all but laughed in my face. She said I was "too young" to have something that serious. "This is a disease of the 30-40 somethings, there is no way you could have that" she kept saying. Upon my insitance, she reluctantly agreed to give me a referral to have an ultrasound done to check things out. Nevermind that Endo cannot be diagnosed that way, but what did I know? (And apparently she didn't know very much either!) Of course the ultrasound showed nothing amis, and triumphantly she talked us out of having the Laparoscopic surgery that would be the only way to really know for sure.
Not much later I got married and moved again. Once again, I went to new doctors, all of which told me the same things and stuck me on yet higher dosages of birth control pills. This went on for years until I finally found the one doctor who listened to me. At the age of 26, I was FINALLY diagnosed with Endometriosis, after a Lap. I sadly fall into the all too common group of women that on average go 10 years or more undiagnosed due to the ignorance and unwillingness of doctors to listen and take their patients seriously. Most unfortunate still is the fact that pain was not the only battle-wound left behind from my untreated Endo... we would soon find out that it was the cause of something far worse than any physical pain... infertility.
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