Tomorrow marks 3 months since my most recent laparatomy for endometriosis and if you’ve been a reader over the past couple months, you would know that this recovery has not been easy for me. I had figured this recovery would be similar to that of my hysterectomy considering the incision was the same but I never thought it would be worse considering they actually removed organs before but that has not been the case.
At 3 months out, I am still dealing with intense pelvic pain but we may be seeing some light at the end of that tunnel. Last week, I went to see Dr. H for a visit due to my pain levels and she decided to do some cultures to send off for testing. Thankfully she did. Results came back yesterday and I’ve got a minimal staph infection (probably caused by the incision where they had to remove endo that had grown where my cervix was removed). So as a result, I’m on a week’s worth of antibiotics but that would ease quite a bit of the pain I was experiencing.
We are also taking the time to work on treating my IC and I was able to get my El.mi.ron prescription changed back to the dosage that it was before the national shortage. Hopefully this will add to the relief once my system gets adjusted to the new level.
I have also previously mentioned the nerve issue I’ve been having with my left leg. This was the issue that scared me enough to head back to the doctor. I was concerned that somehow things were getting stuck where they weren’t supposed to be and pressing on that nerve but she doesn’t feel like that is the case. Its possible that nerve got strained or injured somehow so I’ve started a new medication to help with nerve pain. It hasn’t really helped the nerve pain yet but boy does it help me sleep better at night which is awesome!
Probably one of the most exciting things to come out of this appointment was a new diagnosis of sorts. Endometriosis can come with some quite unpleasant and often unspoken side effects so I always chalked all my pain up to endo. After some rather personal discussion between my husband, my doctor, and myself, she felt as a result of my years of chronic pain that I have developed vulvodynia which has made certain activities extremely painful so she was able to prescribe me a lidocaine gel to help make those activities more enjoyable and it worked! Woo-hoo! Sorry if that is TMI for some but if you’ve lived with certain chronic illnesses, you know that its a big deal!
So I feel like things have the possibility of looking up in the near future. Not holding out hope to be a 100% pain-free (which would be nice if Santa wants to drop that off in my stocking) but I am hoping that I’ll be able to adjust my normal to a more active normal!
P.S. In family news – we are finally rid of the stomach bug! **Fingers crossed**
I’m glad they are getting things figured out for you. I lift you up in prayer often. Hope you have a restful and enjoyable weekend with your family. <3
We posted pre-op “scared” lists a day or two apart and this time I JUST posted a 3m update and then saw yours (this was a back surgery for me…have endo and had three laps but not the extensive surgeries you’ve faced).
Recovery is hard but I am glad you feel like there is some light ahead. Keep up that spirit….I sometimes have to fight off the “it didn’t work, i hurt and recovery will NEVER end” moods and imagine you have similar days. The infection and other bug certainly didn’t help you have a speecy recovery!!
Just keep an eye on the future and I will be hoping the lingering issues are just temporary as you recover. My wishes for you: 1) that this surgery will be a success, 2) that it will greatly diminish the daily struggles, and 3) that, once the recovery period passes, that it will give you MANY more “spoons” 😛
Aw! Thank you so much for the lovely wishes! Its hard sometimes to fight the urge to have the “I’ll always be in pain. Everything sucks” mentality but doing that would be illness has won & I refuse to let that happen!
So nice to hear that things are going well for you!
You never really *want* them to diagnose a new problem, but it can be a huge relief when they actually figure out what’s going on. (There’s nothing worse than being in pain and no one being able to tell you why.) I’m glad they got you something that helped, and I hope your recovery is smoother from here out.
It’s not TMI, being able to do certain actvities is important for your marriage! Glad you got some good news!
Glad to hear the good news – on all fronts!
Still amazed you made it through the whole blog conference day – it exhausted me and I have none of your issues.
I’m so glad that you are getting some answers and hopefully some of these tweaks and discoveries will bring you lots of good!!