Under the Knife

In November 2008 I was diagnosed with stage 3 Endometriosis and Polycystic Ovarian Disease (though we did not know this until later). My gyno told me that he wanted to schedule me for a laparoscopy and D&C as soon as possible. The news came at the most inopprotune time, the week before Grandpa died, so breaking the news to my family would not be easy.



For those of you who are not aware of Endometriosis it was basically explained to me as the following. Endo as it is more commonly know, is a disease that affects women around the world. It is where endometrium grows on the outside of the uterus and attaches to vital organs eventually systematically shutting down major organs. Endo is the leading cause of infertility and has many debilitating symptoms. There is no cure and doctors are unaware of what causes Endo or whether or not it is hereditary. February 26th, I went under the knife of Dr. Hickox and had my procedure. During the procedure, he found Endometriosis on my uterus, ovaries, bladder, intestines, and liver. He also found massive cysts on my ovaries, which the ultrasound did not show.Healing was much to be desired. Since the procedure required my lower abdomin to be pumped with gas, releasing the gas from my body was painful. I have a pretty attractive scared belly button and some other puncture scars. The procedure was rather successful. At the end of the month, I will begin a six month hormone treatment regiment. It will be rough on my system. The goal is to shut down my reproductive system and force it into menopause, which studies have shown to reduce endometriosis.