Endometriosis Surgery #1

May 2019:

After my surgery in May- the OB from Cornelius told me that I possibly had one spot of #endo on my ribs and liver. The problem is, she never took a sample to send to a pathologist to prove this theory. This OB also never removed the large cysts on my ovaries - which was the entire reason I had surgery to begin with. She reported my ovaries and my uterus as ‘Normal’. Either she was completely uneducated to know what endometriosis was or she was incompetent and lied on my surgical notes. Nothing about my abdomen was “Normal”.

My body never recovered after that surgery in May. I lived in a constant state of inflammation and pain. My belly button was so badly scarred from the surgeon that I couldn’t wear pants, running skirts or tights for months. And she was a highly recommended doctor in Huntersville. It took months to get my medical records over to the specialist. We should not have to fight this hard for our health. And we should not have surgery by a provider that is not knowledgeable enough or willing to fix the problem or even document it. At this point I am glad she left the cysts and the endometriosis, because I have no confidence in her ability to have removed them.

October 2019:

Thankfully, after months of fighting with the OBGYN about my records, I was referred to an endometriosis specialist here in Charlotte, NC.

I spoke with Dr. Vilasagar about my symptoms, showed her my photos from my previous surgery in May and told her about my experience with the previous OBGYNs. She wasn’t surprised at my struggle to find answers, but she knew exactly what was wrong with me.

I was informally diagnosed with endometriosis, because a diagnosis requires a biopsy. I was able to schedule surgery for after the RunDisney Marathon Weekend in January 2020, because we were signed up for Dopey and I wasn’t going to miss it.

January 2020

During the RunDisney marathon Sunday I was in an endometriosis flare.

I knew my endometriosis was getting worse. Each month more little places would seize up and cause pain. I was averaging 21 days a month that had pain.

Today’s surgery proved my theory.

I know now why Dr. Vilasagar wanted me to get this surgery done ASAP. My surgeon did a total hysterectomy but left my ovaries and excised all the endometriosis throughout my pelvis, abdomen and chest wall.

I had endometriosis lesions EVERYWHERE. I had cysts, and I had fibroids. NOTHING in my abdomen, my bladder, my ovaries, my bowels, my uterus was NORMAL. The lesions were big and had been there for years. The spot on my chest wall had grabbed on to my rib cage, diaphragm and liver. One of my ovaries was attached to my pelvic wall- creating the intense pain in my pelvis and inflammation in my hip joint.

I’m back home now and not looking forward to the all recovery time that will be required.
But if I can run a marathon in that kind of shape what will I be able to accomplish when I am healthy again??

Recovery was not that fun.

I can only sleep so much and I’m very sick of feeling sea sick from the meds.
I don’t sit still well.
I am frustrated and emotional.
I had a meltdown the other day because it’s winter and I won’t be able to wear pants. So I have nothing to wear- I don’t leave the house in pajama pants.
So I cried. I cried a lot. I’m 37 years old and had to have a hysterectomy. And everything hurts.
But I’m praying this was a means to an end. This was the miracle I had hoped for- the answers I had been looking for the past 2 years. I had hope because @drvilasagar_endosurgeon removed all the endometriosis lesions so they don’t continue to spread thought my body.
But honestly this sucks, this sucks worse than a marathon in 85 degrees.
I’m ready to be through this recovery time, I’m ready to stop crying about being in pain, and I’m ready to be back out running on the road.

February 2020:

4 and a half weeks after my hysterectomy and endometriosis excisions I ran the @rundisney Princess 5K and then the next day the Princess 10K with no pain.

Never give up. When you have endometriosis, there is a lot of darkness. There were a lot of times where I was scared I would never be pain free again. There was a lot of days that felt hopeless. There were a lot of runs where I couldn’t keep going because the pain made it impossible to hold myself up and breathe. But I will tell you there are options. Doctors like Dr. Vilasagar have made it their mission to educate others and provide relief from this disease. There is hope.

2020 Dopey Challenge Finishers… No matter how much pain I was in, I was going to finish 48.6 miles.

Mavis kept me company while I recovered from my hysterectomy.

2020 RunDisney Princess 5K - I was back running pain free 4 and a half weeks after surgery.