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September 25, 2007

My Journey With Endometriosis (Part 6): The Follow-Up

I had my follow-up appointment with my doctor.

He explained the pictures that he took, took out my stitches and cleared me to do any activities that I feel up to such as lifting, exercise, etc. The good news is that I came out of the surgery healthy. However, they did find some endometriosis, but not a lot. Apparently, even just small amount of endometrial lesions can cause big problems for some people. Mine was located on my sacrotuberal ligament.

Unfortunately, the surgery may not have cleared up my problem. I have a condition known as retrograde menstruation which means that menstrual blood backs up into the peritoneal cavity causing irritation and paving the way for other endometrial lesions. My options are doing nothing, taking hormones to reduce the number of menstrual periods, or surgery to tie the tubes to prevent retrograde menstruation.

I've decided to wait and do nothing for now and see how my month goes. If I have problems, I may consider the hormone therapy. I need to research the advantages and disadvantages hormone therapy before I commit. Or course, I bemoan the fact that the surgical option was not done while I was under the knife, after all, this was considered a diagnostic procedure. Even though I tolerated surgery well, it's not something I'm going to rush out and do again on a whim.

As far as my back pain is concerned, I am confident that the location of the lesion is partially responsible for my discomfort. However, I still wake with back pain and still need to "decompress" my back as part of my morning routine. While I was hoping this procedure would be a panacea to my back pain, it clearly is not. However, I am optimistic that with time, my back will have less tendency to splint against pain if the source of that pain is not present.

Last week I blogged about my experience with endometriosis. I shared information about what endometriosis is, its symptoms, treatment options and my personal experience with the disease.

tags: massage massagetherapy wellness massage therapy bodywork health endometriosis

Posted by linda at September 25, 2007 8:53 AM