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                       My Story


                                         
 
 
 
 

 

  I was diagnosed with endometriosis in June 1998, after undergoing a laproscopy. There’s really no way to tell how long I’ve actually had the disease. I do have a terrific 9-year old son from a previous marriage, so I consider myself very lucky. I may have actually had a mild form of endo at that time, since it took 3 years to conceive him.
  I’ve since divorced and remarried. Although I was 35 at the time, we thought we would try to have another child, since my husband has no children of his own. After I went off the pill, I began to have problems. I had what we considered “PMS” terribly beginning at least 2 weeks before I would start my period. (I know now that it isn’t really PMS, but a symptom of endo). I began to have severe diarreah, to the extend that I couldn’t go out to eat or on a picnic or amusement park without having to run to the bathroom within minutes of eating. (Imagine the embarrassment of that!!).
  My periods themselves got worse each month. I would start spotting about 2 weeks before I would actually begin my period, then I would have extremely heavy flows for a few days, then I would spot again for several days afterwards. (Sorry about being so graphic, but these are my actual symptoms, and if other women out there have these symptoms also, I can sympathize with them).
  I also began to get sharp pains in my stomach, pelvic and lower back. There was no rhyme or reason to these, but they were a very sharp, burning pain. And terrible cramps with each period. Through all of this, I did manage to get pregnat after about 1 1/2 years of trying. I lost the baby at 6 weeks. It was terrible. I knew something was wrong when I started spotting. My ObGYn at the time told me not to worry about it, most women spot early on in pregnancy. HELLO!!! I never heard that one before, and I sure never spotted when pregnant with my son. Each day, it got a little worse. He never even told me to stay home from work and keep off my feet or anything, so being naïve (or stupid) like I was, I continued working until the day I lost it (I did go home sick from work that morning). I haven’t been able to get pregnant since.
  I mentioned my problems to my family doctor. He sent me in for a lower GI because of my stomach problems. For those of you out there who’ve never had one of these, it’s something I wouldn’t wish on anyone!!! I hope I never have to go through another one of those!! For those who have been through it before – you know what I’m talking about!!
  Anyway, the lower GI turned out normal. Finally he sent me to a Fertility Specialist for find out why I wasn’t able to get pregnant. She did an initial exam and was surprised at the amount of pain I was in just from the exam, and was also surprised at the fact that I was spotting. I told her that was normal for me. She said she felt some adhesions, and wanted to schedule me for a laproscopy to see if it was endo. She gave me some phamplets to read. That was how I was introduced to endo. Most of what I learned about it I learned off the ‘Net. What a wonderful source of information this internet is!! My lap showed that I had stage 4 endo. My dr did a D&C at this time also, but did not laser any endo off. One of my tubes was already closed up, and the other one was beginning to close. Now I knew why I couldn’t get pregnant.
   My Dr. put me on Lupron for six months to see if it would take care of any of the endo. I was scared of going on the Lupron because of all the bad things I’ve read about it’s side effects, but I actually felt great being on it. No pain, no periods, it was terrific. I had a few hot flashes, but that was about it for side effects.
   Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. I could only be on the Lupron for 6 months. I had another exam, but no lap at that time, but my Dr told me it didn’t feel as though the endo had decreased in size at all.
  The first period I had after the Lupron was horrible. I was in terrible pain. My Dr. decided to put me on the pill to manage the pain and flow of my periods. That’s where I’m at now. I no longer spot for 2 weeks before and after my periods, but that’s about the only change. I have usually 1 – 2 ‘good’ weeks each month. Then my body starts going haywire. I get the sharp, jabbing pains, aches and cramps in my elbows and knees. Terrible feelings of anxiety and depression. Days where I cry at anything and everything. And during my periods, painfull cramps. I’m at the point where I end up calling in sick to work once or twice a month due to this.
   It’s been very hard on my husband and son through all of this too. It hurts me to tell my son, no I can’t play basketball or soccer or bike ride with you right now, because my stomach hurts – he hears that all the time, and it just tears me up. My husband has really stuck in there so far, and I know it’s been really tough on him, because I have absolutely no sex drive whatsoever any more, and I feel terrible about it. I keep telling him it’s not because of him, it’s me, but I know he’s still hurt by it. As a result of that, my self esteem is very low.
  I go to see my Dr. again on July 14th. I’m 38 years old now, and I’ve been told I can’t have any more children. I want her to give me a hysterectomy. In my mind, this is the answer to my pain and problems. Being on the pill is only disguising the disease, it’s still raging in my body, and it’s still spreading. I want to do something that will take care of the endo before it begins to attach itself to other organs in my body.
  Please email me to let me know your thoughts on all of this. Am I going crazy, or do others feel like this too.
  I hope I havent’ bored you too much. Please look at my list of links for other sites that I’ve found interesting.
  And thanks again for listening and letting my spill my guts on all of this. I feel better already. I’ll keep adding to this as my story unfolds to let everyone know how I’m doing.


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Chris' Endometriosis Page
Last Updated Novenber 18, 1999
Web Page by Chris Hill (ChrisHill14@excite.com)