Hysteroscopy Recovery

This time round I was signed off for a week, initially this was two but managed to I negotiate Mr Kalu down - he looked at me as if I was crazy! I felt terrible for already taking so much time off from work this year and I didn't feel I would need more than a few days. The procedure was invasive, but the healing was all internal - no complications with stitches and dressings.

The day after the operation, my mood had improved and I started feeling more positive about the things. As with everything in life, crappy situations always seem heightened when you're lacking sleep and that night I managed to drift off very easily. I guess I was still trying to get my head around the diagnosis, what it meant for me and what other hurdles the future would throw in my path. As the week went on and I was feeling slightly more human, I had time to take stock and reassess what had happened over the last few months.

While I was recovering and trying to process and make sense of my newfound situation, I slowly started to feel frustrated and irritable. The internal pain was fairly short-lived but the emotional strain from bleeding heavily for two-thirds of the month before and after the operation started to get me down. I'll spare you from too many details this time but the post-op tampon embargo meant yet another trip to the M&S lingerie department, I was now getting quite a collection. My digestive system really struggled too, sometimes completely grinding to a halt for a few days then whirring back into action with accompanying cramps in every place imaginable, crippling stomach ache and bouts of nausea. The bloating was constant and I found wearing anything other than leggings unbearable. Ironically, I looked pregnant which was a twisted kick in the teeth, seeing as that's what I've been aiming to achieve for the past 3½ years. The resentment towards this disease and every GP who has misdiagnosed me over the past two decades is slowly augmenting as I understand more and more about bloody endometriosis.

Yesterday, I had my post-procedure follow-up with Mr Kalu. I explained my womb worriment and he vehemently reassured me the septum tissue hadn't grown back and will not ever grow back in the future (duh, it's fibrous tissue!). Although I felt a little stupid, I was hugely relieved. He was actually really happy with how the operation went and wants me to carry on with the oestrogen (HRT) and progestogen medication until I see him next month. ROLL. ON. MAY.

Introduction

So, the E word. The one I seem to have such difficulty pronouncing. Despite the tricky name, endometriosis is actually very common - it's estimated to affect 1 in 10 women worldwide and around 1.5 million women in the UK are currently living with the condition. I'm sure some of you have heard of it and probably know someone who suffers with it, but for some reason it seems to be rarely discussed. I mean, how have I never come across something so commonplace in women's health? Why has it not been suggested before now that endometriosis could be the reason behind the symptoms I've been suffering with for so long if it affects that many women? Shockingly, the average time span for a women to get diagnosed with endometriosis in the UK is 7.5 years.

I've decided to write a blog, not only for my own benefit, but I hope it will also bring support and comfort for others going through the same experience, it's always nice to know you're not the only one suffering.

Endometriosis [en-doh-mee-tree-oh-sis] is a chronic and debilitating condition where tissue similar to the uterine lining (endometrium) is found outside the uterus. It is commonly found on the ovaries, fallopian tubes, the surface of the uterus, the bowel and on the membrane lining of the pelvic cavity (peritoneum). The ebb and flow of oestrogen throughout the month works on this external endometrial tissue just as it does on the uterine lining, inciting growth when oestrogen levels are high. Fine for normal tissue within the uterus, but when excess endometrial tissue in the pelvic cavity grows, it can be debilitating. It can cause severe pain, unusual bleeding, adhesions and damage to other organs, including the bowel and bladder. It can also lead to depression, fatigue and even infertility. In fact, the prevalence of endometriosis in women with infertility is thought to be somewhere around 40%. Because endometriosis is an oestrogen dominant condition, it causes hormonal imbalance. This, plus inflammation and scar tissue damage isn't a good recipe for healthy fertility.

A week ago I was officially diagnosed with severe endometriosis (plus other complications which I'll go into later) after undergoing a laparoscopy - the gold standard and only definitive procedure to confirm it. My consultant decided to grade my condition as Stage IV (most severe) because I not only have significant lesions on the outer surface of the uterus, but also deep infiltrating endometriosis (DIE) on the pelvic wall peritoneum and bowel. My lower bowel is fused and hitched right up to the back of my cervix. This explains a lot.

This diagnosis has surprisingly come as a bit of a relief in a way, as I can now put a name to the symptoms I've been experiencing for many years. I no longer have to explain to people that I have no idea of the reasons behind the chronic pain, cramps, constipation and - at the other end of the poo scale - the literal shitstorm that inevitably follows. I no longer have to tell people I suffer from IBS because the doctors didn't know how else to classify it when all the testing showed nothing. I can now start to follow a diet that might actually help my symptoms rather than the 'clutching at straws' diets I've previously tried.

Now I have a diagnosis, I can hopefully start to manage it. Wish me luck.