I plan to make dramatic changes to this information soon so that it's easier to read.
NOVEMBER 1998: I decided it was time to approach my doctor about the possibility of Endometriosis. I have always had irregular and painful periods, but during the past year or so the pain had progressed to a level that made it hard to live a normal college life. I knew about Adenomyosis because my mom had been daignosed just a few years back, and had to go through laser removal surgery. I discussed the pain with my mom and we concluded that it sounded almost exactly like how she felt all of her life. (Her story is a whole other page in itself.) We feared Endometriosis, but there was no way to know for sure without surgery.
At that time I was going to the University of Oregon full time as a Vocal Performance major, trying to hold a part time job to pay the rent and trying to have some sort of a social life. The pain soon started to take over my life. My grades started to slip, I couldn't work anymore, and I would end up staying in bed instead of going to class. I suddenly felt like I was falling apart physically and mentally. I didn't want to do anything because the pain was making me so weak that I wanted to sleep all the time to escape the pain.
I saw my general practitionar in Eugene OR and asked him what we could do about the pain. He didn't seem to actually beleive that there was much of a chance that I had Endometriosis even though I had the same symtoms as my mom. He explained how many women have painful periods and I was probobly one of those. I justsat there wondering how I could have the pain ALL month and not just before my period. Luckily he listened to me well enough to try and help the problem. He put me on a really low dose birth control pill I beleive it was Low Ovral 28 or something. Up until then I had never tried birth control pills to control my periods. He hoped that it would regulate and lighten my cycle, and then cut down on the pain. I just hoped that he was right.
I think I must have tried numberus kinds of birth control during this time. Nothing he gave me seemed to work like it should and stop the pain. I went through so many different kinds of birth control that I can't even recall the names of them all. My periods did get lighter, but I was still in pain. Plus, I was having some yucky side effects with the birth control pills. I had breast pain all the time, and I became rather moody. I even had to go on Paxil (an anti-depressant) to take care of my mood swings.
Finally I talked my doctor into sending me to an OBGYN in the area. I wonder if he just got tired of trying to tell me I didn't have Endometriosis. The doctor he sent me to immediatly beleived that the pain I had was valid, and that there was a possibility of Endometriosis. But before we did anything drastic like surgery, she wanted to try and controll my symtoms by putting me on another birth control pill but only letting my period come every three months. She said that the pain should get a little better, and then we can decided what to do. I only lasted about 5 months before I went back in knowing that it wasn't going to help enough for me to carry on a normal life. I just flat out asked her if we could just get it over with and do the exploratory surgery to see what was causing the pain. Luckily she agreed and scedualed my surgery for August 1999. I just had to hope that my HMO was going to pay for it.
AUGUST 1999: I remember going in for surgery and not really knowing what to think. I just hoped and prayed that they would be able to find and fix what the problem was. The surgery ended up to be rather short. and my mom claimed that she didn't even have time to eat breakfast. I remember waking up in the recovery room very very drowsy and the nurse talking to me and telling me that my surgery went well. The nurse showed me the glossy picture of my ovaries and uterus. When I think back on it I can't even remember what she told me about it, and I don't even remember what it looked like. I was just too drugged up to understand. Now I know that I was supposed to get that copy, but to this day it is lost. Who would want to steal a picture of my uterus?
Once out of the recovery room the doctor came by (or maybe she called?) and told me that my surgery was normal. That my ovaries looked nice and healthy, and found no trace of Endometriosis in there. I left the hospital confused and disapointed about the news. I wondered if I now had to beleive that the pain is all in my head after all. A few days after the surgery and my well known pain was still there.
