Confused

[lucky4me]

Hello, I am 31 yrs old with 4 health kids. I have been told I have endometriosis and my uterus is the size of a football. Doctors say I will need a hysterectomy, they would try to leave my ovaries but was not shure if that would be possible until they looked inside. Here is my problem, what happens to my body and my emotions by going ahead with this. We are starting a new business! Two of my kids are in their teenage years and one entering next year but you would think she's already there. That’s enough drama by itself. I now this sounds stupid by part of me is thinking right now I should just deal with the pain and wait till things settle, I know life never settles but my kids need me to have it all together right now! better yet I need me to have it all together. I now what about my health... Well here is what I have been thinking about a lot!!! Right now pain is hard on me but my family helps me threw it and it does go away. Life is manageable right now even with me in pain. So I have the hysterectomy done and then what happens to my life, I have heard some say they go threw he!! major life changes. Then I have heard some say it was a piece of cake but not many. So my question is what would you do if you were me at this time in my life. Gamble it and hope for the best out come, or wait till life is settled a little or till I can't take any more. I have always joked about if they took all my women org. away I really would not care, but now they want to and I am scared.

[ticked]

Gosh that sucks i really hope that you can get some answers.  As for the uterus growing.  When i first had an ultrasound done I was told i had a 10cm behind my uterus.  I was sent to this doctor to do the surgery and he didnt answer my questions and was very rude to me so I bailed and went to a new doctor.  I was told by that other doctor that they wouldnt do the surgery and they would do the watch and wait with the pill.  It did shrink however but I was not satisfied with the watch and wait so I found this onc/gyn at the hospital and got a referral to see him.. He thought that i had cancer so he did every test on me imaginable.  After all the results came back he felt that it was just endo and sent me back the to the one that didnt want to do surgery. I went on Endo-resolved.com and found a doctor in toronto that specialized in endo so i went to see him and he sent me to his collegue that was just as good as him.  He book the surgery within 2 months.  Before this i was told I had fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, etc... not sure if i do anymore since the recent findings of endo but there is a link with a weakened immune system and endo.  So i was told i would need a hysterectomy because of the size of the cyst and yada yada yada.  When the surgery was done I was told that the 10cm cyst that was showing up on the US was actually my ovaries, fallopian tubes and my ureters wrapped around the back of the uterus.  The doctor because he was skilled removed all endo without me losing anything.  I really believe that if you have a competant doctor that knows about endo and has preformed many surgeries you will be okay.  I suffered for 15yrs (i am 30) and i was told i had everything under the sun. Please at least find a good doctor and have a lap done to verify if it is endo because it can mimic symptoms of other diseases like that.  Make sure you get all copies of tests that are done everytime as well.  if you ever want to chat i am here :)  I wish you all the luck.  My heart really goes out to you during this time

angela

[lucky4me]

Thank you so much for your thoughts, I did not have any surgery. They did an ultrasound a saw that my uterus has growing a lot since the last ultrasound (8 months apart), fibroids and the blood veins running threw my uterus were large. Those are all signs guess. I asked for the second because of the increase pain and the new symptoms. Well today I found out they are going to watch me for Lupus. It just does not end first endometriosis, next Raynaud's phenomenon, Now Lupus. Anything else. Sorry I have to crack jokes to deal with how crazy I am feeling with all the meds blood work and so on. Anyway they are doing the best they can. I do have to appreciate that. So I will just be patient.

[ticked]

wouldnt rush (sorry)

[ticked]

The choice in the end is yours. If its not the time to do it than dont.  Maybe you should get a second opinion. I would rush into something that you were not 100% sure about.  Did you have surgery to determine if you indeed had endo?  If they leave your ovaries also you will not go throught the change of life but if you have endo the ovaries is what makes it grow.  

[juliesmom]

I know exactly how you feel, I had my second lap in 2006 and it was such a horrible experience that I swore that the next time they had to go in they were going to take it all with them when they left...then why my gyn found the 10cm adnexal mass on my left ovary last year and wanted to remove the ovary, after an elevated ca125, I lost it!  I cried and cried and didn't know how to deal with the thought of having it removed...so many questions.  Things like, do I have the one ovary removed with hopes that the mass is benign?  Or go ahead and have a complete hysterectomy just in case, especially since my granny died from ovarian cancer?  It was a really rough time, I just went and got a second opinion and was able to find a doctor who could remove the mass without taking the ovary and compromising my fertility.  I have a healthy 14 year old who seems to constantly need something from me so I can imagine what you're thinking as far as your family goes, but you need to do what is best for you and your health...they'll probably agree.