Reproductive Health

Here is what happened to me.

In December of 1997, I woke up in extreme pain. It was a pain that I cannot describe and I have felt only a few times since that day. I went to see several doctors, none of whom were able to figure out what was wrong. I was seeing Oncologists, Endocrinologists, Rheumatoid specialists, Hematologists, Infectious Disease specialists, etc.

Finally, the Infectious Disease specialist at Michigan State University suggested that I see an OB/GYN. We tried and tried to figure out what was wrong. I took almost every kind of birth control possible, I tried Depo-Provera and finally Lupron. I had a laparoscopy that showed nothing but the only thing that stopped the pain was Lupron. I stayed on it for six months and then was told I had to go off the medication. I started to suffer again. This time I had hemorrhaging monthly which soon turned into twice a month and then weekly. I moved states and had to start all over with doctors. I can’t remember how many times I was told “women have pain with their menstruation, you are going to have to learn to deal with it”. I was not willing to accept this. Obviously I spoke with other women and no one seemed to think what I was going through was normal.

I finally found Wesson Women’s Group located in Springfield, MA. These doctors not only believed me but were very determined to find out what was wrong. We tried many different things including a Nova-Sure ablation, which is a cauterization of the endometrial lining of the uterus, but again, the only thing that stopped the pain was Lupron. Unfortunately, Lupron has very difficult side effects. This medication puts your body into a menopause type state which causes the patient to suffer menopausal symptoms. I was having night sweats, massive headaches that came on quickly, mood swings, and depression.

I went back to Wesson Women’s and told them I could no longer deal with the side effects. The down side of the Nova-Sure ablation is that once performed, they strongly discourage women from trying to get pregnant. I had pretty much given up on the opportunity to have children once the procedure was done. Considering that I shouldn’t have children, they talked to me about a hysterectomy. There was no real understanding of what was wrong with me going in to the hysterectomy. We knew that I had ovarian cysts, endometriosis, fibroidal tumor tissue was found in my endometrial lining but none of this made sense for the pain I was feeling. We decided to do a partial hysterectomy, leaving my ovaries only.

At my two week post-operative appointment, I found out that I had Adenomyosis. Adenomyosis is defined as “abnormal growth of the endometrium into the uterine wall”. Basically, my endometrial lining, which is what sheds during menstruation, was implanting in the muscle of my uterus causing extreme pain. It is difficult to diagnose without a hysterectomy because the likelihood that a biopsy taking a portion of the wall that is “infected” is small. Therefore, many women are diagnosed by hysterectomy only.

So, I am a 30 year old woman without a uterus or cervix and no biological children. My husband and I are planning on adopting but this has been a huge loss to me. I am hoping that with this blog, women will have a place to turn to for support and educational links. I am not an authority on medical issues regarding women’s reproductive health, however, I am woman that has gone through a lot and can only offer my opinion and a place to share your opinions.

For more information about women’s health issues, check out these websites (watch for more to come).

www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/

www.fertilitylifelines.com

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