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Re: lap vs hysterectomy
From: Karen (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Tue Sep 23 08:38:59 2008
Thank you for your response. My doctor put me on seasonique birth
control which stops your period except every three months. That eased
off the pain a little (instead of reaching pain level 10 6 times a day
only 4, but constant pain levels of 3-6 didn't change). That pill was
making me nauseated and sick so she changed me to the ortho evra patch
which you take for three weeks and then have a period on the 4th week.
Well, the day after I started my 2nd week, I started my period! Still on
it a week and half later and still super heavy (toilet gets completely
filled with blood when I go) and my pain levels sky rocketed from the
moment I switched to the patch. One of my concerns with a lap is that
the doctors have said that I have polycystic ovarian syndrom which is
causing problems as well and I have some endometrioas cysts on my
ovaries - so how exactly will a lap take care of my ovary problem? The
doctor said they would cut off the cysts during the lap, but if the
problem is with my ovaries (which are about 3 times larger than normal
size) won't they just come back unless the ovaries are removed? As for
my family, they have no current problems with this. In fact, until I
told my grandmother about my problems just a couple of weeks ago, I
never even new ANY of them had gone through this and I am very close to
them (especially my grandmother - I grew up with her and currently live
just down the street from her). My grandmother told me that she went
through years of various types of treatments from the doctors and after
10 years they finally did a hysterectomy which took care of the
problems. I just don't want that to be me - going through 10 years of
pain (which gets worse every day) and treatments before getting relief -
it scares me. Plus thinking of how much it takes me away from my family
and my son - who is almost 3 yrs- I just don't want it affecting him but
it already is. When I have my really bad moments he comes over, gives
me a hug and asks "mommy hurting?" and gets a sad look. That kills me!
I should be on the floor playing with him, not curled up in a ball in
the chair not able to move!
Thank you for listening to me and for all of your adivce. I really do
appreciate it. My husband is wonderful and tries to talk with me about
it and tries to help, but it's nice to talk to someone who has gone
through this and knows first hand what it is like. Thank you.
At Mon, 22 Sep 2008, bren wrote:
>
>Forgot to mention-I should also mention just in case it wasn't brought
>up to you by your doctor, that depo provera can be given by injections
>or taken orally as in my case & instead of taking this progesterone pill
>for 15 days, stop for 15 days, & start again 15 days, it can be taken
>regularly to completely stop your period. There's also other forms of
>birth control pills that stops your period every month & you only get
>your period like every 3 months or something like that. Did you just
>have your son? I heard of women who start their period a little after
>they stop breastfeeding & initially their periods are prolonged & heavy,
>like if it's never going to end. Like I said, your doc should offer
>lots of treatment options & I agree w/ him that you should avoid a
>hysterectomy. From your family history of hysterectomies, did they all
>have complete relief & did they try any other treatment options besides
>the lap before deciding to have a hysterectomy? Just a thought. Also
>from extensive research & reading stories of many women who had a
>hysterectomy, it just seems like majority of those who had a
>hysterectomy before trying many other treatment options all regretted
>having the surgery to remove their uterus either because of worse
>symptoms after (such as hot flashes, menopause symptoms etc., having to
>take another pill everyday that gave them neg. side effects, or because
>their endo still grew back in other places & they still had pain). What
>kind of pain & symptoms do you have now besides what you mentioned &
>what treatments have you tried & what was it like for your
>grandmother/family members after they had their hysterectomies?
>
>At Mon, 22 Sep 2008, Karen wrote:
>>
>>I am new to this site and I am looking for some advice/comfort from
>>others going through the same thing. My doctors have unofficially
>>diagnosed me with endometriosis and pcos. By unofficially I mean they
>>look at blood work, symptoms, and various other test results and say
>>that it what it is (basically short of a lap which I know is the only
>>way to know 100% that it is endo). I am in severe pain, have
>>unbelievably long (up to a month and half) and heavy periods and I just
>>want to get out of the pain in one shot with a total hysterectomy and
>>have them take everything. The only problem is that I am 26 and because
>>of that the doctor doesn't want to do a total hyst but do a lap instead.
>>I am happily married with one son and my husband and I agree that our
>>family is complete (so much so that before this started with me he had
>>gone to a pre-op for a vasectomy but had to put off the surgery because
>>of this). My fear is that if they do a lap, I will still have problems
>>and they will have to go in for a total hyst anyway and that means 2
>>surgeries with 2 recoveries. Let me add that endo apparently runs in my
>>family: grandmother, 2 of her 3 sisters, and their mother all went
>>through numerous laps and all had to have total hysts in the end anyway;
>>and my mother who, was able to avoid the painful side, had to go through
>>numerous D&Cs to get pregnant. Should I just listen to the doctor and
>>try the lap and then the hyst if needed or should I keep pushing to get
>>him to do the total hyst that I want. Thank you in advance your
>>responses.
>
>--
>Bren
>
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