Progress Report

"The first step to getting anywhere is deciding you're not willing to stay where you are."

First of all, I'd like to offer a quick apology. Since my excision surgery I haven't written a post and at first it was because of post-surgery madness but it soon became about the fact that you always hope for the best and when things don't go exactly as you had hoped, it can be a little hard to face. So I'm sorry for not facing the emotional happenings after surgery and refusing to write a post. But I'm here now, ready to write.

Overall, my excision surgery went well with no complications. I ended up getting three incisions, all fairly small, and they healed up well and quite quickly. The first few days I was a pretty groggy mess but the pain wasn't too bad. Slowly, we came to learn that I developed a bladder infection from catheterization; which has led to a painful couple of weeks. I had hoped that after surgery the only pain I would feel would be the recovery pain, but unfortunately I have felt quite a bit of the pain that I associate with being caused by endometriosis. Which has been discouraging. I know that sometimes, it takes a few solid weeks to see how much the surgery has helped and will affect my day-to-day life, but a good outcome is always what I hope for.

Another thing that was a little frustrating post-surgery was the fact that endometriosis was found covering most of my uterus (front and back - causing pelvic, lower back, hip and sciatic pain) and covering much of my bladder (causing frequent urination, achey lower pelvic pains, etc.) but the endometriosis was not found where we expected to find it (bowels). I have been having a lot of digestive issues and problems with what we thought was my gastrointestinal system. After a colonoscopy and endoscopy we were able to rule out chrones, ulcers and polyps. Which led us onto the track of endmetriosis being the source of the problem; but that doesn't seem to be it either. Now, we're needing to look to keeping my GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) in check with new medications and controlling symptoms that may be caused by IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). Trial and error.

So, as you can see, I have been slightly discouraged after surgery. But I remain hopeful that my quality of life will be better than it was pre-surgery. Progress is progress, no matter how small and I'm making progress, even if it is hard for me to see it right away. Small progress is better than none and for that I am grateful.

Thanks for the support! xo