October 2014
On Tuesday I will be 3 weeks Post-Op. Three weeks and I am still struggling with my pain. On Friday my friend came to visit me from Newquay. It was really nice to see her and her little boy. I could not help but pick him up and give him a cuddle. Thing is I really struggled later that night as I should not have done this. On Saturday my husband, my sister and I went for a walk around Ikea. I had a really good day but again I over done it and on Saturday evening I felt like crap with my pain. Just wish the pain would just do one. Most of the time my stomach feels ok but when I go for a wee, as my bladder empties it feels like it is tightening. The pain is also around my back constantly.
I forgot to mention when I was in the Pre-Operative Department my anaesthetist recognised me. As did the nurses on the ward. In fact the nurses could not believe that it had been 18 months since I was last there. In a way it is nice to have that friendly relationship with your nurses and that they do remember you but in another way it is not good that you are in the situation where they remember you because you have either been there so many times or for a long time. For me it has been both. I remember when the Accident and emergency doctor remembered me and if you think how many people they see every day.
I have received my letter from the hospital giving me my follow up appointment in three weeks’ time. It will be interesting to see where we go from here.
I shall give it until next weekend and then I will try and go swimming again. I will not push it but I will see how it goes.
This morning I was able to drive my car for the first time since my operation. It went well although it was a very short journey (only 10/15 minutes) I am very tired now.
It is funny how people talk about how I have had major surgery again but I just see ait as normal surgery. Although thinking of it, I guess it is classed as major surgery as they had to do a partial removal of an organ and it did take some time to complete the surgery. Mind you thinking about it I do remember thinking something similar last year. You just take it all in your stride. After all if they say you need it then you need it, whether it is major or minor surgery. They would not operate unless they feel that you need it anyway as both major and minor surgeries have risks. In fact a minor surgery could easily become a major surgery if complications occur. I say that from experience, just look at what happened last year – a simple (although it was an emergency) removal of a leaking cyst lead to 3 months off sick, paralysed ileus, blocked bowel that lead to a laparotomy – and yet my first operation (also an emergency) went perfect. Both were minor operations but both had different outcomes.
Although I have endometriosis and due to this I have had to have 4 operations (3 emergency and 1 planned), numerous painful internal examinations of which I either endured the pain or have had to be knocked out, who knows how many hospital/doctor/accident and emergency visits, just as many sick days than non-sick days at work, ad suffering from infertility. All this is my normal and I am so lucky for what I have. A kind, understanding and loving husband, an amazing and understanding family and group of friends and colleagues, owning my own house that we have worked hard to get, my lovely kitten Fernando, a job, I am not rich but do have enough money to get by. After all money is not everything it is the love that surrounds you. I feel blessed with what I do have I am lucky that I do not have a life limiting disease like cancer or that I am not bedridden for the rest of my life or that I can go to the toilet without the help of others etc.
I am so lucky that yes although I have Endometriosis and that it is the bane of my life there are so many other much worse diseases out there and I am lucky enough not to have them. I tell myself this when I am feeling down so it reminds me how lucky I am, we all have those moments that we think about ourselves and how bad our life is but really life is not that bad there are people worse off than ourselves.
I feel that Endometriosis has made me who I am, not controlled my life just shaped me into me. I am adamant that I will not let endometriosis hold me back and dictate what I can or cannot do. I have plans for my life and I shall not let Endometriosis dictate that I cannot follow these plans. In fact I feel that because I have to work harder to achieve something it makes me appreciate it more when I achieve it.
I woke up today feeling great. I have a lot more energy than I have had in a long while. Even my pain had died down. I have had mild pains in my side and pelvis but that is all. Hopefully his is it and my healing is starting to really take hold. I am three weeks and two days post op. halfway through my period of being signed off work and I feel that I am healing well on time. I think summer has truly ended now and autumn is here. The weather is changing so is my health. I am feeling really positive on how this operation had helped and will work.
I spoke too soon yesterday afternoon my left side around my ovary felt that someone was stabbing me with a knife and then just as quickly and suddenly as it would come, it would go again. This continued to happen all through the evening and night, really strange.
I received a letter this morning from my gynaecologist it starts off by saying that he hopes that I am making a good recovery following my laparoscopic adhesiolysis, drainage of bilateral endometriomas and left partial salpingectomy and dye test that he performed a month ago on the 16th September 2014. The letter then goes on to say that he has received the pathology report that confirms that he removed part of my fallopian tube and that there is no evidence of any abnormality in the section of tube that he removed. He ends the letter by saying “I look forward to seeing you for the follow up appointment as previously arranged, with best wishes”. I am so lucky that I have such a good gynaecologist and that he always makes me feel like a person rather than a number. It is such a relief that no abnormalities were found in the part of fallopian tube that was removed. I am looking forward to my post op appointment.
Last night I was laying in bed and started to think how different this operation was compared to my previous operations that I have had. My first and second operations were what I thought was normal. I had already been admitted onto the ward as they were emergencies. I was then wheeled in my bed to the main theatres rather than walking to the day surgery theatres. It always seemed a blur of people rushing to do their jobs as well as talking to me. My third operation seemed to me to be seemed to me to be more like an emergency as I remember being told that I needed an operation and being wheeled very quickly into the main theatre and like the previous two times the blur of people doing what they were doing, all three times I remember saying something along the lines of “I do not want to die, please do not let me die”. However this operation was so much more relaxed instead of being wheeled down to theatre in my bed, I was walked down (with I think he was one of the anaesthetists) from the Pre-Operative Department down to the Day Surgery Theatre. As they put me under it was so much calmer. The tension seemed much less, and I remember although I was stressed about what had happened last year I did feel more relaxed than the previous operations.
On Thursday Fernando had to go to the vets for his castration. It was so weird being in the house on my own. I was so happy when I was allowed to pick him up and bring him back home later that day. He is such a good boy, he walked straight into his cat carrier with no fuss and let them weigh him when he was at the vets. When I went to pick him up you could see the unconditional love in his eyes as he was so happy to see me. Last night he was sick several times. We put it down to the anaesthetic as well as the food that they gave him that is ment to settle his stomach. He has been ok since we put him back onto his normal food. He had his check up this morning the vet nurse was happy with him. His balls were slightly swollen, but nothing to be concerned about considering what he has just had done. She did take his temperature and said that it was slightly high and she went to check with the vet as we had mentioned that he had been sick, just to make sure everything was ok. Both the vet and the nurse were happy to say that it was probably down to the stress and not to worry about it. Just need to keep an eye on him, just in case there are any changes, he seems to be bright eyed, eating and acting his normal self. He is sat next to me right now as I write. He is such a good boy and I love him so much. We are now healing together. I am just so happy that he should hopefully just have to have this one operation ever, I do not want to see him have to have an operation again.
I am wondering when these aches and pains will stop. Last week I thought that it had eased but the pain reappeared and has been going on ever since. I just feel so drained with my body constantly having to fight the pain due to Endometriosis or post operations (thanks to the Endometriosis), it does take its toll on your energy levels. Saying that today I decided to paint our little spare room it took two and a half hours to paint the ceiling and about the same to paint one wall. I am now having a break as I am shattered and sore. Will do some more painting either tomorrow or Monday.
I only have two more weeks before I go back to work, I really cannot wait. I just hope that I will have more energy and no pain by then.
Today I received a letter from work, from the human resources manager (PR manager). It starts off saying that he hopes that my recovery from my operation is progressing well and that I am not in too much discomfort. It then goes on to explain that I am entitled to the first month off sick at full pay and then the second month at half pay and after that I get just statutory pay. The letter states that my current doctors certificate indicates that I will be absent at least until 30th October, taken into my account of my previous absences (sick days) in the last 12 months. My entitlement to full pay ran out on the 14th October. I therefore am getting paid this month 10 days at full pay and 13 days half pay. My entitlement to half pay shall continue for a further 10 days any sick days after that would be on statutory pay, the letter ends by saying that they look forward to me being back at work once I am sufficiently recovered. This letter was not a surprise I thought I would run out of sick days as soon as I heard that I would need another operation, this was before I knew I would be signed off for six weeks. I hate the fact that this disease makes me have so many days off work sick. If I did not have Endometriosis I would not have had any days off sick in the past two years (maybe even more than two years) but instead I have used up all of my sick days again, just like I had done last year. Oh well there is nothing I can do about that at least this operation has been successful and over the next two (or more) years hopefully I will not need to use any sick days, just need to keep my fingers crossed on that one. Mind you hopefully by two years’ time I hope to have been on maternity leave and have a baby (or two).
Roll on Monday 27th October I cannot wait for my follow up appointment only 5 more days to go now, hurry up and come. I am on the final home stretch of healing. 37 days down and only 7 days to go until I am back at work. I cannot believe that I am 36 days post op. This past week or so has gone quickly considering that I have not been as active as I normally have but more active than the past month.
What a day, I woke up this morning feeling quite nauseous. I laid in bed for a couple of hours before getting up and having a ginger tea, to try to settle down my stomach. However this did not work. I have been on the ginger tea all day. Along with the nausea my breasts are still sore. They have been like this for a couple of days now. I am putting it down to my hormones going back to normal after the three months of Prostrap.
I am back from the hospital after my post-Operative appointment. My gynaecologist is very happy with my recovery. He is happy for me to go back to work on Friday. I am afraid I can not go into too much detail about this appointment however what I can say is that it went very well. I shall post later on what happened at the appointment later on but it is not a good time to be posting it onto the internet just yet. What I can say though is that we have to redo all of the tests that I have had done in the past three years, such as the HyCoSy test, swabs, blood tests etc. as well as my husband having to redo his semen sample. We have been told to continue to try to conceive naturally over the next couple of months as this is the best time for me to conceive after my operation. I am to have my dye test and other tests such as the swabs etc. at my next appointment in a months’ time. I am a tad nervous about this because my previous examinations have been extremely painful. But I know that I need to have these tests done no matter what, and I have had them done before, so no matter how painful they get I need to have them done. At least I will be prepared as will my gynaecologist. Also you never know it may even be less painful because this operation was such a success. I need to have several blood tests when my period starts. The tests on days 2-6 of my menstrual cycle are for Thyroid, FSH, AMH, Rubella, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV. I also have to have a day 21 Progesterone test. If by my next appointment I have not started my period he will give me medication (as long as I am not pregnant) to bring on my period.
My gynaecologist explained with a diagram what they done during this operation, Basically my left tube was swollen and fused onto my left ovary. They were able to remove all of the tube apart from part of the part that was attached to the ovary which bled every time they tried to remove it so they had three options:-
I am so happy to go back to work and what with the good news that we had at the appointment today is such a good day nothing could ruin it at all.
We were due to go away that weekend of my next appointment (due back on the Monday that my appointment is on) however we decided straight away that this is much more important and that we will now not be going away that weekend. After all this is more important than a weekend away.
Looking back at everything that we have been through together this past three years I cannot believe that we have finally got to this point. I feel so happy. I am also so lucky to have such a supportive husband, family and group of friends. I know that I have said this so many times before but I mean every word of it.
Back to work yesterday it was great to be back to work. Even though it was a quiet day I was still very tired afterwards but then that was expected. I am still so happy about how well my hospital appointment went on Monday. I received a letter about my appointment the other day. The letter said how my gynaecologist was impressed with my recovery and when I asked when I will have my period again he told me that it could happen any time after 4 weeks post-op but it could take up to 8 weeks or so. He said that he wants to see me in a months’ time and if I have not had a period by then I shall be prescribed some tablets to make me have a period.
He advised us to continue to try to conceive naturally but had arranged to do day 2-6 blood tests to test my FSH, Anti-millerian hormone, Hepatitis C, Hepatitis B, Rubella anti-bodies and HIV. As well as Day 21 Progesterone level blood tests. Also he mentions about requesting a semen sample to be repeated.
He continues to say that he will see us again in a months’ time. At this clinic appointment he will take swabs for chlamydia and if I have not started my period by then he will discuss the possibility of administering some progesterone tablets in order to take advantage of the withdrawal effect of progesterone and initiate a menstrual cycle in order to be able to do the blood tests.
I forgot to mention when I was in the Pre-Operative Department my anaesthetist recognised me. As did the nurses on the ward. In fact the nurses could not believe that it had been 18 months since I was last there. In a way it is nice to have that friendly relationship with your nurses and that they do remember you but in another way it is not good that you are in the situation where they remember you because you have either been there so many times or for a long time. For me it has been both. I remember when the Accident and emergency doctor remembered me and if you think how many people they see every day.
I have received my letter from the hospital giving me my follow up appointment in three weeks’ time. It will be interesting to see where we go from here.
I shall give it until next weekend and then I will try and go swimming again. I will not push it but I will see how it goes.
This morning I was able to drive my car for the first time since my operation. It went well although it was a very short journey (only 10/15 minutes) I am very tired now.
It is funny how people talk about how I have had major surgery again but I just see ait as normal surgery. Although thinking of it, I guess it is classed as major surgery as they had to do a partial removal of an organ and it did take some time to complete the surgery. Mind you thinking about it I do remember thinking something similar last year. You just take it all in your stride. After all if they say you need it then you need it, whether it is major or minor surgery. They would not operate unless they feel that you need it anyway as both major and minor surgeries have risks. In fact a minor surgery could easily become a major surgery if complications occur. I say that from experience, just look at what happened last year – a simple (although it was an emergency) removal of a leaking cyst lead to 3 months off sick, paralysed ileus, blocked bowel that lead to a laparotomy – and yet my first operation (also an emergency) went perfect. Both were minor operations but both had different outcomes.
Although I have endometriosis and due to this I have had to have 4 operations (3 emergency and 1 planned), numerous painful internal examinations of which I either endured the pain or have had to be knocked out, who knows how many hospital/doctor/accident and emergency visits, just as many sick days than non-sick days at work, ad suffering from infertility. All this is my normal and I am so lucky for what I have. A kind, understanding and loving husband, an amazing and understanding family and group of friends and colleagues, owning my own house that we have worked hard to get, my lovely kitten Fernando, a job, I am not rich but do have enough money to get by. After all money is not everything it is the love that surrounds you. I feel blessed with what I do have I am lucky that I do not have a life limiting disease like cancer or that I am not bedridden for the rest of my life or that I can go to the toilet without the help of others etc.
I am so lucky that yes although I have Endometriosis and that it is the bane of my life there are so many other much worse diseases out there and I am lucky enough not to have them. I tell myself this when I am feeling down so it reminds me how lucky I am, we all have those moments that we think about ourselves and how bad our life is but really life is not that bad there are people worse off than ourselves.
I feel that Endometriosis has made me who I am, not controlled my life just shaped me into me. I am adamant that I will not let endometriosis hold me back and dictate what I can or cannot do. I have plans for my life and I shall not let Endometriosis dictate that I cannot follow these plans. In fact I feel that because I have to work harder to achieve something it makes me appreciate it more when I achieve it.
I woke up today feeling great. I have a lot more energy than I have had in a long while. Even my pain had died down. I have had mild pains in my side and pelvis but that is all. Hopefully his is it and my healing is starting to really take hold. I am three weeks and two days post op. halfway through my period of being signed off work and I feel that I am healing well on time. I think summer has truly ended now and autumn is here. The weather is changing so is my health. I am feeling really positive on how this operation had helped and will work.
I spoke too soon yesterday afternoon my left side around my ovary felt that someone was stabbing me with a knife and then just as quickly and suddenly as it would come, it would go again. This continued to happen all through the evening and night, really strange.
I received a letter this morning from my gynaecologist it starts off by saying that he hopes that I am making a good recovery following my laparoscopic adhesiolysis, drainage of bilateral endometriomas and left partial salpingectomy and dye test that he performed a month ago on the 16th September 2014. The letter then goes on to say that he has received the pathology report that confirms that he removed part of my fallopian tube and that there is no evidence of any abnormality in the section of tube that he removed. He ends the letter by saying “I look forward to seeing you for the follow up appointment as previously arranged, with best wishes”. I am so lucky that I have such a good gynaecologist and that he always makes me feel like a person rather than a number. It is such a relief that no abnormalities were found in the part of fallopian tube that was removed. I am looking forward to my post op appointment.
Last night I was laying in bed and started to think how different this operation was compared to my previous operations that I have had. My first and second operations were what I thought was normal. I had already been admitted onto the ward as they were emergencies. I was then wheeled in my bed to the main theatres rather than walking to the day surgery theatres. It always seemed a blur of people rushing to do their jobs as well as talking to me. My third operation seemed to me to be seemed to me to be more like an emergency as I remember being told that I needed an operation and being wheeled very quickly into the main theatre and like the previous two times the blur of people doing what they were doing, all three times I remember saying something along the lines of “I do not want to die, please do not let me die”. However this operation was so much more relaxed instead of being wheeled down to theatre in my bed, I was walked down (with I think he was one of the anaesthetists) from the Pre-Operative Department down to the Day Surgery Theatre. As they put me under it was so much calmer. The tension seemed much less, and I remember although I was stressed about what had happened last year I did feel more relaxed than the previous operations.
On Thursday Fernando had to go to the vets for his castration. It was so weird being in the house on my own. I was so happy when I was allowed to pick him up and bring him back home later that day. He is such a good boy, he walked straight into his cat carrier with no fuss and let them weigh him when he was at the vets. When I went to pick him up you could see the unconditional love in his eyes as he was so happy to see me. Last night he was sick several times. We put it down to the anaesthetic as well as the food that they gave him that is ment to settle his stomach. He has been ok since we put him back onto his normal food. He had his check up this morning the vet nurse was happy with him. His balls were slightly swollen, but nothing to be concerned about considering what he has just had done. She did take his temperature and said that it was slightly high and she went to check with the vet as we had mentioned that he had been sick, just to make sure everything was ok. Both the vet and the nurse were happy to say that it was probably down to the stress and not to worry about it. Just need to keep an eye on him, just in case there are any changes, he seems to be bright eyed, eating and acting his normal self. He is sat next to me right now as I write. He is such a good boy and I love him so much. We are now healing together. I am just so happy that he should hopefully just have to have this one operation ever, I do not want to see him have to have an operation again.
I am wondering when these aches and pains will stop. Last week I thought that it had eased but the pain reappeared and has been going on ever since. I just feel so drained with my body constantly having to fight the pain due to Endometriosis or post operations (thanks to the Endometriosis), it does take its toll on your energy levels. Saying that today I decided to paint our little spare room it took two and a half hours to paint the ceiling and about the same to paint one wall. I am now having a break as I am shattered and sore. Will do some more painting either tomorrow or Monday.
I only have two more weeks before I go back to work, I really cannot wait. I just hope that I will have more energy and no pain by then.
Today I received a letter from work, from the human resources manager (PR manager). It starts off saying that he hopes that my recovery from my operation is progressing well and that I am not in too much discomfort. It then goes on to explain that I am entitled to the first month off sick at full pay and then the second month at half pay and after that I get just statutory pay. The letter states that my current doctors certificate indicates that I will be absent at least until 30th October, taken into my account of my previous absences (sick days) in the last 12 months. My entitlement to full pay ran out on the 14th October. I therefore am getting paid this month 10 days at full pay and 13 days half pay. My entitlement to half pay shall continue for a further 10 days any sick days after that would be on statutory pay, the letter ends by saying that they look forward to me being back at work once I am sufficiently recovered. This letter was not a surprise I thought I would run out of sick days as soon as I heard that I would need another operation, this was before I knew I would be signed off for six weeks. I hate the fact that this disease makes me have so many days off work sick. If I did not have Endometriosis I would not have had any days off sick in the past two years (maybe even more than two years) but instead I have used up all of my sick days again, just like I had done last year. Oh well there is nothing I can do about that at least this operation has been successful and over the next two (or more) years hopefully I will not need to use any sick days, just need to keep my fingers crossed on that one. Mind you hopefully by two years’ time I hope to have been on maternity leave and have a baby (or two).
Roll on Monday 27th October I cannot wait for my follow up appointment only 5 more days to go now, hurry up and come. I am on the final home stretch of healing. 37 days down and only 7 days to go until I am back at work. I cannot believe that I am 36 days post op. This past week or so has gone quickly considering that I have not been as active as I normally have but more active than the past month.
What a day, I woke up this morning feeling quite nauseous. I laid in bed for a couple of hours before getting up and having a ginger tea, to try to settle down my stomach. However this did not work. I have been on the ginger tea all day. Along with the nausea my breasts are still sore. They have been like this for a couple of days now. I am putting it down to my hormones going back to normal after the three months of Prostrap.
I am back from the hospital after my post-Operative appointment. My gynaecologist is very happy with my recovery. He is happy for me to go back to work on Friday. I am afraid I can not go into too much detail about this appointment however what I can say is that it went very well. I shall post later on what happened at the appointment later on but it is not a good time to be posting it onto the internet just yet. What I can say though is that we have to redo all of the tests that I have had done in the past three years, such as the HyCoSy test, swabs, blood tests etc. as well as my husband having to redo his semen sample. We have been told to continue to try to conceive naturally over the next couple of months as this is the best time for me to conceive after my operation. I am to have my dye test and other tests such as the swabs etc. at my next appointment in a months’ time. I am a tad nervous about this because my previous examinations have been extremely painful. But I know that I need to have these tests done no matter what, and I have had them done before, so no matter how painful they get I need to have them done. At least I will be prepared as will my gynaecologist. Also you never know it may even be less painful because this operation was such a success. I need to have several blood tests when my period starts. The tests on days 2-6 of my menstrual cycle are for Thyroid, FSH, AMH, Rubella, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV. I also have to have a day 21 Progesterone test. If by my next appointment I have not started my period he will give me medication (as long as I am not pregnant) to bring on my period.
My gynaecologist explained with a diagram what they done during this operation, Basically my left tube was swollen and fused onto my left ovary. They were able to remove all of the tube apart from part of the part that was attached to the ovary which bled every time they tried to remove it so they had three options:-
- To burn the ovary,
- To remove the ovary, or
- Leave that part of the tube attached to the ovary, therefore saving the ovary.
I am so happy to go back to work and what with the good news that we had at the appointment today is such a good day nothing could ruin it at all.
We were due to go away that weekend of my next appointment (due back on the Monday that my appointment is on) however we decided straight away that this is much more important and that we will now not be going away that weekend. After all this is more important than a weekend away.
Looking back at everything that we have been through together this past three years I cannot believe that we have finally got to this point. I feel so happy. I am also so lucky to have such a supportive husband, family and group of friends. I know that I have said this so many times before but I mean every word of it.
Back to work yesterday it was great to be back to work. Even though it was a quiet day I was still very tired afterwards but then that was expected. I am still so happy about how well my hospital appointment went on Monday. I received a letter about my appointment the other day. The letter said how my gynaecologist was impressed with my recovery and when I asked when I will have my period again he told me that it could happen any time after 4 weeks post-op but it could take up to 8 weeks or so. He said that he wants to see me in a months’ time and if I have not had a period by then I shall be prescribed some tablets to make me have a period.
He advised us to continue to try to conceive naturally but had arranged to do day 2-6 blood tests to test my FSH, Anti-millerian hormone, Hepatitis C, Hepatitis B, Rubella anti-bodies and HIV. As well as Day 21 Progesterone level blood tests. Also he mentions about requesting a semen sample to be repeated.
He continues to say that he will see us again in a months’ time. At this clinic appointment he will take swabs for chlamydia and if I have not started my period by then he will discuss the possibility of administering some progesterone tablets in order to take advantage of the withdrawal effect of progesterone and initiate a menstrual cycle in order to be able to do the blood tests.