Deuterization part 1

[austin_tycho]

I'd had rough, long, painful periods since I was 10 years old. When I became sexually active at 18, I started taking the birth control pill, which was a godsend. But when I had my tubes tied at 30 (’97), I thought ‘what's the point?’ and quit taking them. I’d heard of people taking the pill to control their periods, but usually in the context of girls in high school using that as an excuse so they could get the pill and get laid. So that had never really sunk in. And within a few months after the tubal, I became re-acquainted with long, painful periods. Additionally, I had pain at other times of the month from what I would later figure out was adhesions- rubber bandy tissues that grow sometimes when you have surgery on your insides. In 2000, I participated in a study that compared two different types of surgery to control heavy bleeding. I was in the control group and got an endometrial ablation. This procedure tries to burn out the endometrial lining of the uterus, the part that grows and sheds blood every month. The problem is that it's done vaginally rather than by cutting into anywhere- this is the least invasive manner, but it also means the procedure is done 'blind' and there was no guarantee that it would get all the lining and work. But it seemed to be a great success- I didn't have a period for several months. But when they came back, they were very painful. There wasn't a lot of bleeding initially, but the pain was as bad as ever. I have since learned that the endometrial lining is sort of like mold, in that if you don't get it all it'll grow back and not always in the same places.

In 2002 I went back to my gynecologist for help. He ordered an ultrasound which came back as 'abnormal' which was expected after the ablation, but there was still some question as to what was going on in there that an ultrasound wasn't able to solve. So the gynecologist tried a d&c, which he said even then was a temporary solution but it would give him a chance to see what was going on in there. He said there was a lot of scar tissue and a couple of small fibroids, but otherwise everything looked okay. Periods were close to normal for a few months after that, but then continued to get worse. They were long, unpredictable, and painful. I changed my regular doctor and the new one was much more interested in helping me with this; she suggested I get back on the pill. It didn't help, and in April of 2004 I had cramps that were so severe I ended up in the emergency room, curled up in a ball and vomiting. I began bleeding then and bled continually for the next several weeks- even though I kept taking the pill. The doctor and my gynecologist got together and recommended a supra-cervical hysterectomy, though both were very open to try and continue with the pill, or attempt another d&c. The gynecologist suspected adenomyosis, which he explained as the endometrial lining growing between the muscle layers in the uterus. It's impossible to diagnose definitively before the hysterectomy because the only way you can tell if it's there is by cutting up the uterus, so I would be taking a chance.

I researched the options, had yet another campout almost ruined by unpredictable bleeding, and decided it was time to fire my uterus. I was having a period about once every 2 weeks, spotting on all the other days, and needing to take several Vicodin a day for several days just to function. It seemed more than time. Surgery was scheduled for 7/6. The gynecologist explained that he would remove only my uterus, leaving in the fallopian tubes, the ovaries, and the cervix- all which serve other functions whereas the uterus itself pretty much just has babies or cramps and bleeds. I brought in a long list of questions about possible complications, anticipated recovery times and so on, and he cheerfully answered them all. He signed a form for me to get the necessary leave from my job and everything was set.

Comments

[00goddess.livejournal.com]

Adenomyosis can be diagnosed with a CT scan of the uterus. I'm sorry your doctor didn't know that. I have awful periods from the planet hell and my latest solution is to just stop menstruating, via hormones. I will probably have a hysterectomy eventually.

[mielikki.livejournal.com]

Not in all cases, apparently, because I had a CT in April.

[00goddess.livejournal.com]

Whoa, that's not at all reassuring. I'm supposed to have one next month, and everyone tells me that it's definitive. Great.

Did they get any info about your uterus from the scan?

[mielikki.livejournal.com]

No, he said it appeared normal. My guess is that perhaps you can use the CT to rule it out, or perhaps it's one way of verifying the possibility, but I am just guessing. This is Dr. Breen ( http://www.travisobgyn.com/aboutUs?pageNum=1 ) at (512) 241-7200; he seemed to know his stuff and maybe you could chat with him.