Pathology showed no ovarian tissue on the small piece that Dr. Miller removed. Bummer. It was identified as a fibrovascular bundle. This is what he went looking for and what he removed. He believed that it contained ovarian tissue. Fingers crossed that the Lupron had suppressed the hormone so that it wouldn't show up on the pathology.
He found no endo. He had me wide open and there is very clearly no endo. We will repeat the bloodwork and consult a reproductive endocrinologist and setup a co-appointment. He also consulted another doctor in his practice and they agree that I'm not making sense. Imagine that! I'm his difficult child.
We'll wait 4 weeks to see if any of my estrogen symptoms return. If I start having symptoms again, we'll repeat the imaging and bloodwork to try to find out where it is coming from.
The mass that appeared on previous scans was nothing. He assumes that it was just the way it was laying and scar tissue on the first CT. On the most recent CT, when I had a "full fecal load", it must have been stretched out because it no longer looked like a mass.
My next visit with Dr. Miller is scheduled for next week. My hot flashes seem to be calming down a bit. I'm afraid that's because the estrogen is returning!
This is my attempt to document the next few months. To cope with what I'm facing and to capture what will certainly be a struggle! Endometriosis wins! Hopefully someday, for someone else, it won't.
Monday, June 13, 2016
Surgery #6 May 13, 2016
My bowel prep was more successful than any other I've done (and I've tried them all), although not complete. It's a life goal! A clean colon is on my bucket list.
I managed to get all of my work done on Wednesday so that I could focus all of my Thursday energy on drinking fluids and succeeding at the bowel prep. This requires all of my love and devotion. My cocktail this time was the bottom shelf stuff. Magnesium citrate, the lemon limey salty clear "oral solution" that is sold over the counter. I found mine at Target for $1.02. I drank 3 ounces every 30 minutes and chased each dose with 8 ounces of water. Things didn't really start working for a few hours. Did I mention that I had a "Large Fecal Load" on my last CT? I'm full of shit.
It sort of worked. I never ran clear. No checkmark on the bucket list.
Friday, May 13, 2016
I arrived at York Hospital at 10:30 and quickly registered. Mom and I went into the pre-op room to get changed and an IV started. I followed protocol and wiped every square inch of my body with the Sage wipes. They are the devil to someone with my particular level of skin sensitivity, although I didn't know it at the time. Jason and Dad had avoided the ugly IV business and arrived in my pre-op space in time to see Dr. Miller. He joked that he couldn't see without his bi-focals. I'm glad that I get his humor, and that the da vinci robot has better magnification than his bi-focals!
Jason was updating my work girlies via text. He makes me smile. Even though I know that he was stressing, he managed to keep them giggling with his jokes. At 3:27 he wrote, "She is out of surgery. They did not have to cut her. The doctor thinks the "mass" they were seeing on the scans was the way they had re-shaped her colon from a prior surgery. He said there was very little endo, everything looked pretty good. There was a tiny piece of ovary, about the size of a pinky nail which he removed. Back to signing autographs in the waiting room. It never ends."
So back to the devil. Sage wipes are the devil. I awoke from anesthesia with flaming balls of fire on my skin. I was begging for Benadryl and ripping my skin to make the itch stop. Meanwhile, my insides hurt so bad that I was fighting hard not to vomit. "Time to walk honey girl!" Joe the nurse, no. I walked about 10 feet when the vomit-ey feeling hit. He suggested that I lean forward against the IV pole. It felt like my guts were flopping out of place. No more leaning forward for me! I was discharged right around my 23 hour maximum observation time after I had proven my ability to eat solid foods and pee like a champ!
The next few days consisted of pain meds, Zofran and benadryl every time the bell chimed! For about a week I had to be careful not to lean forward to avoid the feeling that my guts were spilling out. That feeling slowly passed! I went back to work a half day on Day 12. My follow-up with Dr. Miller was on Day 13.
On Day 14, I finally pooped and it lasted for several hours! I returned to work on Tuesday, May 31 ~ Day 18!
I managed to get all of my work done on Wednesday so that I could focus all of my Thursday energy on drinking fluids and succeeding at the bowel prep. This requires all of my love and devotion. My cocktail this time was the bottom shelf stuff. Magnesium citrate, the lemon limey salty clear "oral solution" that is sold over the counter. I found mine at Target for $1.02. I drank 3 ounces every 30 minutes and chased each dose with 8 ounces of water. Things didn't really start working for a few hours. Did I mention that I had a "Large Fecal Load" on my last CT? I'm full of shit.
It sort of worked. I never ran clear. No checkmark on the bucket list.
Friday, May 13, 2016
I arrived at York Hospital at 10:30 and quickly registered. Mom and I went into the pre-op room to get changed and an IV started. I followed protocol and wiped every square inch of my body with the Sage wipes. They are the devil to someone with my particular level of skin sensitivity, although I didn't know it at the time. Jason and Dad had avoided the ugly IV business and arrived in my pre-op space in time to see Dr. Miller. He joked that he couldn't see without his bi-focals. I'm glad that I get his humor, and that the da vinci robot has better magnification than his bi-focals!
Jason was updating my work girlies via text. He makes me smile. Even though I know that he was stressing, he managed to keep them giggling with his jokes. At 3:27 he wrote, "She is out of surgery. They did not have to cut her. The doctor thinks the "mass" they were seeing on the scans was the way they had re-shaped her colon from a prior surgery. He said there was very little endo, everything looked pretty good. There was a tiny piece of ovary, about the size of a pinky nail which he removed. Back to signing autographs in the waiting room. It never ends."
So back to the devil. Sage wipes are the devil. I awoke from anesthesia with flaming balls of fire on my skin. I was begging for Benadryl and ripping my skin to make the itch stop. Meanwhile, my insides hurt so bad that I was fighting hard not to vomit. "Time to walk honey girl!" Joe the nurse, no. I walked about 10 feet when the vomit-ey feeling hit. He suggested that I lean forward against the IV pole. It felt like my guts were flopping out of place. No more leaning forward for me! I was discharged right around my 23 hour maximum observation time after I had proven my ability to eat solid foods and pee like a champ!
The next few days consisted of pain meds, Zofran and benadryl every time the bell chimed! For about a week I had to be careful not to lean forward to avoid the feeling that my guts were spilling out. That feeling slowly passed! I went back to work a half day on Day 12. My follow-up with Dr. Miller was on Day 13.
On Day 14, I finally pooped and it lasted for several hours! I returned to work on Tuesday, May 31 ~ Day 18!
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