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Re: still having bad cramps after laparoscopy
From: Ali (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Wed Jun 6 21:33:00 2007
Hi, Wow you sound exactly like me! I am in the exact same position. I
had lap in the end of March. Suppossedly they removed tons sof stuff.
Weird colors inlcuding blue to go with the red dots and white scars that
he said looked liked flames. I told him my uteris is very patriotic. He
said it was everywhere, not just my uteris, but like you, apparantly
spared my tubes and ovaries. So, again, like you, I have to pick an
additional treatment other than just more surgeries. Lupron sounds just
awful so we decided I should get myslef knocked up. I am married,
however, not in a church, which is important to my mother. I eloped,
after having been engaged for a year, because I need health insurance to
have surgeries. Otherwise, we would have waited and had a real wedding,
but we had no time. And now, time has run out again. I found out
mid-April that I had to get pregnant. My doctor did not even want me to
have one more period, but b/c of both sets of parents are Catholic (his
don't even know we're married), we've planned a wedding in two months.
I'm getting married in 22 days. June 29th. My mom did like all of it,
because I live on Martha's Vineyard ( a small island off Massachusetts)
and the wedding is on the mainland. So, first comes love, then comes
marriage, then comes baby . . . that's the next step. Like you, I
plan on getting pregnant asap. No luck yet, though not really trying in
terms of tracking ovulation etc. Similarly to your situation, at first
my period after surgery was okay, so good in comparison to past ones
that I called him and jubilantly told him I actually walked my dog
instead of just petting him from my usual period-post of the couch,
fetal position. Now, they're back. The next one was excruciating. I
couldn't even get painkillers b/c he's on the mainland. I don't have
even a regular doctor over here. My boss set me up with an ob/gyn
friend of his who gave me a few painkillers, treated me like I was
stupid for not knowing the exact method of lasers/heat/scapel my doc
used to remove the adhesions, then told me she "has a problem with 24
year olds who get married". Suffice to say, I will not be seeign her
again. So here I am, like you, still suffering, hoping and praying that
I can get pregant. I wonder. I know I'm not healed. I can't be okay
if I still have such incredible, life-altering pain. So, I guess I'm
just going to get married in a month, keep trying to get pregant, hope I
don't have any pain on my wedding day, and get an ob/gyn over here (I
love my current one though)! What are your plans? Half the time I worry
so much about having a child that I consider Lupron, but I'm terrified
that it'll be as awful as it sounds, won't work anyway and I'll miss out
on my chance to have a baby. Not to be hokey, but I feel like I got a
real blessing here by the endo going everywhere, including my stomach
lining which he had never seen before, and yet not touching my ovaries
or tubes . . . so far. Are you taking any hormones right now? Birth
control, anything else? My doc said not to bother, but he also wanted me
to start trying right away. Like really trying, with the fertility
charts and all to improve my chances. So, sorry so long, but I wanted
to explain my situation thoroughly. We both are in a similar
predicament and I hoped to kind of share and compare. So what's your
plan now? By the way, doesn't endo just suck?! I know it's not like
cancer or anything and we aren't going to die from it but it has ruled
my life for three, almost 4 years now. I know it doesn't do any good to
complain, but sometimes it feels good. Plus, it's best to do it here,
no one else gets it. Anyway, hope you're doing better and have figured
this all out and can then give me some stellar advice and hope for the
furture! Write back, I'd like to hear where you're at.
At Wed, 6 Jun 2007, Carolyn wrote:
>
>He said he used heat & lasers. The endo was stage 2 & not that bad.
>There was one piece on the rectum that he did not remove because he
>didn't want to take the chance of damaging the bowel, but he removed
>growths from the uterus & bladder, I think. Of course he explained that
>there could be endo he didn't see because some growths are pretty much
>invisible. I really don't want to go on lupron & am hoping I get
>pregnant before the fall (when he wants me to come back) but it is just
>so discouraging because i feel that my body is not completely healed,
>and if that is the case I don't think I will get pregnant. My fallopian
>tubes are clear & there was no blockage on them or on my ovaries. I
>ovulate regularly & all other fertility tests came back normal. With my
>mom the problem was that the endo had grown all over her fallopian tube,
>but with me that is not the case. The doctor said it is not clear
>sometimes why infertility happens, but it could be due to the
>inflammation. And if that is the case, and I am still inflamed, I don't
>think my body will want to get pregnant. This bothers me much more than
>the pain. But the pain sucks too, especially when I want to just forget
>that I have my period & move on with my life, go out & have a drink or
>whatever--and I can't because I am curled up in pain. Anaprox has
>helped, though.
>
>At Tue, 5 Jun 2007, D wrote:
>>
>>Hello -
>>
>>I'm sorry to hear you are still having pain! Do you know how your doctor
>>removed the endo, and how thorough a job they were able to do?
>>Especially the first period or two are supposed to be worse after
>>surgery, but if endo was left behind and it doesn't improve, seeing an
>>endo excision specialist or sending your records for a review with one
>>of the top endo doctors could be a better alternative than Lupron, which
>>is only temporary at best.
>>
>>And if the pain continues to be a problem, seeing a pain management
>>doctor helped me immensely when my PCP and obgyn weren't comfortable
>>prescribing.
>>
>>Hope this helps!
>>
>>At Tue, 5 Jun 2007, Carolyn wrote:
>>>
>>>I just had my third period & the cramps were just as bad at the
>>>beginning, maybe worse. It's pretty discouraging. It was a little less
>>>heavy than the first 2 though, and I felt better faster though maybe
>>>that's because i had better painkillers this time (naproxen). My doc
>>>said it somtimes doesn't get better for a while, but shouldn't get
>>>worse, so he was concerned. Not much he can say except suggest lupron
>>>which I don't want to do yet since I am trying to get pregnant.
>>>Michelle, how many periods did it take for you to feel better? Lisa,
>>>hope you feel better soon--sorry if my answer is discouraging. I've
>>>heard most people have relief pretty soon.
>>>
>>>-Carolyn
>>>
>>>At Mon, 28 May 2007, Michelle wrote:
>>>>
>>>>Periods can be quite bad after surgery. This is my third surgery and in
>>>>my experience the first two are really bad! It is frustrating, but if
>>>>can get better afterwards. It does depend on the surgeon though and
>>>>whether they have been able to remove most or all of it. This was the
>>>>first time my surgeon warned me that the next few would be severe.
>>>>
>>>>--
>>>>Michelle
>>>>
>>>>At Sat, 26 May 2007, Lisa wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>Hello,
>>>>>I was wondering if you have had any relief since it has been a few weeks
>>>>>since your post. I am having my first period after my lap surgery and
>>>>>it is horrible. Very heavy and lots of cramps, also a cyst on my ovary
>>>>>now. I am guessing my your post that the heaviness and cramps are
>>>>>normal after a lap?
>>>>>Any help would be appreciated!
>>>>>Thanks, Lisa
>>>>>
>>>>>At Wed, 2 May 2007, Carolyn wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>This is my second period after my laparoscopy and I'm still having
>>>>>>terrible cramps. Am waiting for a call back from my doctor but wanted
>>>>>>to see what others' experiences have been. I've been told the first one
>>>>>>can be bad but I wonder if it takes a few months for the body to recover
>>>>>>from surgery? My doctor was very optimistic about the surgery and said
>>>>>>it would likely improve my fertility. I was so happy about that I never
>>>>>>bothered to ask if it would improve my pain since that was secondary for
>>>>>>me as a concern. But now that the pain is still here, I'm afraid my
>>>>>>fertility hasn't improved either.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I don't have a long history of pain from this, probably because I was on
>>>>>>the pill for 10 years. When I went off it a little over a year ago, my
>>>>>>cramps got worse and worse over time and the last few periods before the
>>>>>>lap were pretty painful. I was just diagnosed with moderate endo when I
>>>>>>had the laparoscopy in March, and he was able to remove most of it
>>>>>>except a piece on the bowel.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Also, has anyone here conceived successfully after laparoscopy? How long
>>>>>>did it take? I know everyone is different, I'm just curious.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I can handle the pain if my doctor will give me a painkiller for those
>>>>>>couple of days when it's bad, but I'm really worried about fertility.
>>>>>>This has been a rough year for us with trying to have a baby & some
>>>>>>other big life issues all happening at the same time--it would be nice
>>>>>>to have some good news sooner rather than later.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Thanks,
>>>>>>Carolyn
>>>>
>>--
>>Find an endo specialist in the ERC's EndoDocs group:
>>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EndoDocs/
>>
>>Try an excellent endo support group:
>>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/erc/
>>
>>Info on pain management:
>>http://www.painfoundation.org/
>>
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