We have an answer

[MaddieMay]

Surgery went well today-I'm back home and doing great. Lots of pain between the shoulder and general soreness in my abdomen, but not as bad as I prepared myself for it to be. Only 2 incisions. They gave me nausea meds right away as I requested and so I never had to deal with that. I can heal much more quickly as long as I'm not nauseaus. (Spelling?) The doctor did a wonderful job and the nurses were equally as great.

The good and bad news is that we have an answer...I definitely have endo. It's only stage 2 right now and they were able to remove it. I have it between my bladder and uterus and my colon and uterus. They were able to remove some of it, from what I understand.

I think from here we're going to try some natural remedies as well as officially TTC. The doctor mentioned Depo-Provera to my husband??? There will definitely NOT be any of that! Have you ladies heard that? Doesn't sound right to me. He did most of the talking to my husband afterwards, but I have a follow up appointment on Thursday, so I'll be sure to ask more questions.

Thanks for all the good vibes-I am SO relieved to have an answer, even if it wasn't the greatest news. Could be worse though.

[Jenny1231]

That's great Nicole! Not that you have endo but that your surgery went well and your on the road to TTC. I wish you the best. Did your dr say how long he would give you on your own before you start fertility treatment. I got 3 months with stage IV. BTW my RE suggested if I wasn't planning on TTC for a while to go on lupron and if I wasn't planning TTC for a few months to go on bcp because both would supress the endo. Obviously we had already been trying for a while before my surgery so we opted to start fertility treatment asap. However, even after children I don't think I will go on lupron because I'm not ready to go through "menopause". We'll see. Pg and bf both supress the endo too so I hopefully won't have to worry about that for a while. Again, great news that you now have an answer. Good luck and feel better soon!!!

[Dena]

Nicole, I am so glad you have an answer. That in itself is worth alot.

I don't really know anything about endo, as that has not been my challenge. But I know you will get some great advice here, and I hope you find the answer that is right for you soon!

[MaddieMay]

Thanks for all the support! I'm an so relieved to finally have an answer-it's been a long road getting to this point. I am healing great-I haven't taken any pain meds in 12 hours and I don't miss them (yet). I've been taking it really easy and while I'm sore, the worst part is the excess gas. I can literally feel my internal organs move when I get up. It sounds wierd, too! I suspect that will go away here soon. I don't plan on doing anything for the rest of the long weekend.

I'm already typing a list of questions for my next appointment. I did request a copy of the surgery report, so that should answer some. Can endo get progressively worse-I'm a stage 2 now, could it change? I did some reading and it was interesting to find out that pain is NOT related to the stage of endo you have-I thought it was.

I do know that the doctor did not get all of it, as we both agreed that he would be conservative for now. I'm going to take that approach with treatment as well, for now and I know my doctor will be supportive of that. In my readings, I did read that Depo is often used like the bcp for endo symptoms. Again, I'm definitely not going that route. Has anyone used natural progesterone cream or heard anything about it? I've read and heard from several sources now that it is very helpful for endo and TTC. I don't think we'll do fertility treatments for now-we haven't been officially trying up until now, so I think we'll just wait awhile. We have a ton of things going on between now and the end of the year, so I think it would be best just to let things be for now and explore other options when we have less going on. I don't want to wait forever, but I also don't want to be stressing over things when so much else is going on.

My last question is (and yes, I'm getting ahead of myself)-does endo affect what kind of birth you'll have? Can you still have a home birth/birth center birth or is it suggested that you have a hospital birth? Does it affect C-section rates?

Okay, enough of my rambling!

[wannabe]

Nicole, no endo does not affect anything once you get pregnant. Unless you've had HUGE abdominal surgeries or adenomyosis, which you haven't.

The best news for you is that just as the amount of endo and the amount of pain are not associated, they are aslo not associated with infertility. So you might be very fertile - there's no way of knowing until you try.

Yes, endo inevitably progresses - every period makes it worse. If you choose to seek fertility treatment, do not use clomid or IUI, go straight to IVF. The drugs will make it worse, so you need to stick with the high success rates of IVF. If you are not ttc yet, I would very strongly suggest you go on the pill and skip as many periods as possible.

[kittykorat]

I have endo. It was stage 2 when they found it- during the c-section that brought my first son into the world.

It progresed between my first and second child. I didn't get AF for 14 months, and after maybe 5 cycles of TTC I had a huge ovarian cyst. They put me on meds to shrink. no luck, had a lap, they removed what endo they could, but discovered it had progressed to my tubes... and straight to IVF I went. I got pg my first cycle of IVF. Thankfully my insurance covered it.

Did they check your tubes during the lap? My insurance only covered the IVF because the surgical report detailed the tubal damage.

[MaddieMay]

My follow up appointment went very well on Thursday. My doctor is so great about allowing my husband and I to ask questions. He also does a great job of telling us ALL our options, without pushing one way or the other. The doctor said he was absolutely floored when he got in there and saw the endo. For some reason (I'll have to ask my husband-I'm terrible at remembering unless it's written), it was a type that he VERY rarely sees. My ovaries and tubes are fine, so I really think (even if it takes awhile) that we have a good chance of conceiving naturally. I'll be so sad when we move and I have to switch doctors.

At this point, we're not "really" trying (as in charting, temping, keeping track of ovulation) but not preventing. We're just going to have fun and let whatever happen, happen. We may get serious a little later, but not until the holidays are over.

My cycle, once 25 days for years, is now 40 and counting. We do not want to use fertility treatments at this point. Our insurance will not cover IVF, although it's awesome about covering everything else. Two ER visits, an ultrasound, CT scan, and laparoscopy and we won't pay a dime. We are very thankful for that.

Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I really think I will be able to get pregnant on my own. I hope, anyways. I know we should probably be serious about TTC right now because my endo will get worse, but things are so crazy between now and the end of the year I just don't want to stress over charting and that on top of everything else. I really do want to get pregnant and it is important, so I feel horrible saying that. But then again, I don't even know where to start without AF having shown. Maybe I'll have to dig out the TCOYF book this weekend.

[Dena]

Nicole,

I am personally a big fan of keeping stress down when you are ttc. I think if temping is going to be too stressful the next few months, it is worth just trying when you want and seeing what happens. I know a lot of women can tell by cm or just by general "sexy" feelings when O is near, and just try more around that time. I don't know anything about endo, but would three or four months really be enough time for everything to grow back?

[MaddieMay]

"Trying when you want"-gee, since I've gone off the pill, it seems like I want to "try" all the time! I'm not hearing any complaints from my husband, though.

Although I don't really have any timeline-this month would be a great month to conceive! Yes, it is very wishful thinking, but it could happen! It would be a great Christmas "present" for all the parents and the baby would be due right around my birthday. I can't wait to see their reactions. I'm really thinking my husband should wear the "Look what I did" t-shirt and just wait for reactions.