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Re: 22 - Scared & Confused
From: Sick (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Mon May 7 19:35:43 2007
It seems to be common among women with endo to have difficulty
communicating with the doctors, it is important to find someone that is
genuine and compassionate not to mention maybe a bit humorous-since when
we discuss endo it is not a very light topic-I don't know about you, but
I have a breakdown whenever I have to talk about it with my doctors. I
understand your apprehension when it comes to Lupron.-I am an office
manager as well, and communication is key in keeping a smooth running
office. I am not telling you to give all the details to your
co-workers, but you will be going through a lot of hormonal
changes-everyone handles them differently, and they may understand
better if you just tell them that you are dealing with some medical
issues and if you have a momentary break down it is not necessarily
them. I had my most difficult times at night-I had migrains and night
sweats, and yes I was crabby. During the day-I would get hot flashes
and sometimes feel nausious. One thing that I was not aware of until my
5th month of Lupron injections, is that they can sometimes feed you
hormones to offset some of those side effects (if they are bad enough).
I am not sure myself that Lupron is a miracle drug-I am going in for a
lap on the 23rd-then I will know for sure. I will try to post on the
24th or 25th to give an update. Hang in there-you are not alone.
At Mon, 7 May 2007, thatgirlinblue wrote:
>
>I've complained about my periods almost since they began, but both
>family and doctors told me it was normal that some women just had extra
>painful/heavy periods. The solution was to put me on the depo-shot
>which I stayed on for years, it worked mostly.
>
>Then my GP and I desided it was time to give the shot a break and I went
>on regular birth control - less than a year later I was unable to
>function in daily life due to the constant pain. With the delay in
>waiting for referrals it was about 1 1/2 months before I saw a GYN who
>started me on Loratab for the pain, then scheduled me for a Laperscope
>(took 1 1/2 hours - not sure if there's an average time?) about a month
>after that when the painkillers were still proving uneffective & I
>refused to go on anything stronger. It's now just over a month after
>the surgery & I have many concerns...
>
>In addition to the pain, I as sent to a GYN due to the results from a
>PAP siting endometrial cells (I forget the technical desciption, but it
>was referrencing a type of cervical cancer - Not Endometriosis)present.
>They also did a D&C when they did the Laperscope. Of the many places
>biopsied during the surgery all but one came back as endometriosis, the
>one place that came back different had the same results as the PAP. Two
>weeks ago they cut a few samples from my cervix in the GYN's office, I
>should be getting those results this week. I'm also supposed to be
>recieving the Lupron shot this week when I go, which I'm terrified of.
>
>During the surgery they found that I had a inguinal hernia which has
>also been a factor in causing pain for me. Because I was under & the
>surgery started over 8 hours later than scheduled, they were unable to
>put in a patch to fix this - thus requiring another surgery with my
>insurance's approval which has been slow to get.
>
>Since the surgery I have been having horrible pain in my bowels, not
>constipation mind you but the actual movement. It is occuring both
>right where the hernia is (I didn't know about the hernia until two
>weeks after my surgery when I went to see the doctor again & mentioned
>that my "right ovary" hurt - he didn't even check my incisions?) and
>also on my left side where I feel a "presence". To describe this
>"presence".. if I curl up I can press my legs against me and the right
>side feels as normal as can be minus the pain while the left side feels
>like there's something stuffed between my torso and my leg. The doctor
>says the hernia was temp. fix by putting my bowls back in place, so the
>pain I'm having with movement in my intestines isn't related to the
>hernia and suspects more endometriosis - thus referring me to another
>doctor for a colonoscopy.
>
>Now, I'm not entirely convinced the pain isn't related to my hernia due
>to the location of the pain. I had double hernia as a small child in
>relatively the same area, though my mom says it was more towards the
>middle & this is out to the side.
>
>-My biggest question is if everyone feels like they're fighting for
>answers when they go through this?
>
>-My next question is reguarding the irregular PAP results, in
>conjunction with the biopsy to match. Should I be more aggressive about
>seeing if this is in fact a sign of cervical cancer or do you think the
>doctor is right in not talking to me about it because he doesn't think
>it's a concern? I've done research on google as best I can, and I can't
>say my search results have me very settled.
>
>-How bad is the Lupron shot? I'm young & I'm afraid of how this is going
>to effect my relationships with those close to me and the fact that I'm
>an office manager who works on a 1 on 1 level with people every day -
>It's important that I am emotionally stable & able not to get upset
>because it can be very trying some days.
>
>-Lastly, while my first period after the surgery was expectantly extra
>heavy it is now 11 days after it & I've already started another extra
>heavy cycle last night with no tissue so far. This morning I was very
>close to the 1 pad an hour = ER trip rule, but for now it seems to have
>slowed some.
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