Endo Excision: Day 95 (NEXT SURGERY)

Left: 9 days before surgery with end-stage endometriosis flare + frozen pelvis. Right: 95 days after surgery that removed 20 endo lesions to help free organs and resolve frozen pelvis.

This past Tuesday (8/19) marked exactly 90 days from my surgery and happened to be the day I had my post-op follow-up ultrasounds scheduled. A few days later, I had a follow-up telehealth appt. with my surgeon, Dr. Zaidan, to discuss the results.

Firstly, this was one of the quickest medical calls I've ever had. Secondly, we got some REALLY great news. Not only did my ultrasounds look "normal" for where I'm at in the recovery, but he said there is literally no reason he can see to not move forward asap with the partial hysterectomy (uterus only) and a second look for endometriosis! THE CROWD ROARS!!!

Disclaimer: if you don't want to know some really personal things about me, maybe stop reading. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Dr. Z wanted to schedule my surgery for November but when I told him that I have been bleeding for an entire week (or sometimes longer) every other week for the last 2 months, he agreed that we should move quicker.

I should say here that what my body has been through in the last 3 months is A LOT, let alone then last 25 years of trauma to my organs from the endometriosis. I definitely expected irregular bleeding for months. It's the first time in 8 years that I haven't had an IUD, so that alone takes time for my body to regulate. I didn't bleed at all during those 8 years so I did expect some bleeding when they took it out. It wasn't bad - just some spotting. But if you've been through any major surgery, you know its very common to bleed for a few days to a week after. That's exactly what happened 3 months ago. But it then got a little weirder...

I then had my hysteroscopy and D&C about 7 weeks after my surgery (7/28), and the day after the procedure, I actually STOPPED bleeding, which was a shock to me. But then about a week later, I went right back to bleeding every other week for a whole week. (The results of those tests came back normal and benign, by the way.)

Dr. Z didn't seem surprised by this even a tiny bit, which is what I expected. I keep having to remember that what I've gone through isn't normal but now that we're trying to "course correct" as much as we can, anything can be normal, such as spotting a lot.

I realize I've used a few different words that people might not know specific terms for so let me clear that up; "bleeding" or "spotting" are used interchangeably here. "Spotting" is any bleeding that can't be tracked to a menstrual cycle. I don't even have a way to track my cycle right now because the hormones I'm on (Norethindrone) are meant to stop a regular period from occurring. There is another term that people use incorrectly often in cases like this, and that's "breakthrough bleeding". This ONLY occurs when you are pregnant and you are experiencing bleeding/spotting. If you are not pregnant, you're just spotting.

It's possible that some of you are thinking "ok, if you're bleeding for a week, that's just a period." But here's the thing - I don't have any other symptoms. No mood swings, no cramping, no body aches, no consistent levels of bleeding from day to day. One day is heavy, and the other six are light. Then 3 are heavy, not in succession, and the other 4 are light. Any version of that. So no, I do not think I'm ovulating and actually having a period.

In any case, this whole post is just to say that I FINALLY GET TO MAKE PLANS TO YEET THE UTE!!!

The official plans that are being put into place are these:

• Early October ultrasounds to triple check that everything is ok before another surgery.

• Middle October surgery to remove uterus and to take another look for endometriosis lesions.

None of it is scheduled yet, as my appt. was afternoon on Friday, but I do know I'll be in touch with staff to get the ball rolling this week.

I'M SO EXCITED TO ENTER THIS NEXT CHAPTER!!

<3 E