It’s bad enough wanting to write but coming home from work day after day brain dead, it’s really frustrating to actually try to log in and find there are major server issues preventing access to the site. So this is long overdue but it’s important to me to post it anyway.
It occurred to me the other day that it had been exactly a year since my laparoscopic surgery to remove endometriosis.
The past year could not have been more different from the three years that preceded it. I have been able to go to the office and sit at my desk every day, I have travelled to 8 countries, I have socialised and partied, I even started going to the gym — all without feeling like I was being tortured with a knife lodged in my spine. I am not completely pain-free, I have moments of dreaded stabbiness in my back or abdomen, but so far they are moments — they pass and I come out the other side, grateful. Especially when I recall the before, when I was curled up in a ball of tears for what felt like weeks on end. When the pain of sciatica was etched on my face. People who have rarely seen me since that time invariably comment on the change in my face.
There was a moment, during a levada walk down a mountain in Madeira, that I wondered aloud when I became this gym-going, snorkelling person who takes walking tours around cities and trots down the side of a mountain in the rain.
I should say that it isn’t just the surgery that has made all the difference — it’s my determination to continue taking the Pill continuously. I’m sure it isn’t an entirely good idea. But it enables me to live my life and keep my job, which wouldn’t last long if I stayed in bed for at least one week a month. Losing the previous job that enabled me to work from home every day could’ve been a disaster.
Having encountered a string of doctors just as useless as most when it comes to recognising endometriosis I will be forever thankful for the resources out on there on the web that provide sufferers with that “a-ha” moment when it all falls into place.
Endo Resolved (
http://www.endo-resolved.com) is an invaluable resource. The symptoms page lays out endometriosis symptoms in relation to the location of the disease in the body. It clearly indicated to me that I had reproductive area and gastrointestinal symptoms and had sciatic endometriosis, so it was no surprise when my hospital discharge report said adhesions were removed from my pelvic cavity, uterosacral ligaments, and (the wonderfully-named) Pouch of Douglas. The diet page is a good starting point for the whole endometriosis diet odyssey, listing foods to avoid, beneficial foods, and recommended vitamin/mineral supplemens, as well as links to other articles.
The Endometriosis UK charity (
http://www.endometriosis-uk.org) is great for its reassurance that you are not a melodramatic baby – there are other women out there (sadly too many) who completely understand what you’re going through. (As is the EndoStories section at
http://www.endometriosis.org.uk) The message board has a
“laparoscopy tips” thread that is a must-read for consulting with doctors and knowing what to expect before and after surgery.
Laparoscopy is often done as a one-day outpatient procedure, which my diagnostic surgery was, but for the second surgery to remove the adhesions, I was admitted the day before for blood tests, etc. and to take laxatives to completely clear the bowel (I was sent home the day after the surgery). I was sent a list of approved foods for a low-residue diet for the three days before. All of that makes the stomach feel particularly fragile after surgery, so the website of the The Endometriosis and Fertility Clinic (
http://www.endometriosis.co.uk) has a useful page on “Recovering Digestive Health after Surgery for Endometriosis”. (The clinic is run by Dian Shepperson Mills, co-author of the book
Endometriosis: a key to healing and fertility through nutrition).
It’s also worth reviewing the
Wikipedia page on endometriosis, which has endoscopic photos showing what adhesions actually look like, so you can visualise the source of all that pain.
My focus now is on the challenge of sticking to the endometriosis diet — gluten-free, soya-free, dairy-free, meat-free…essentially vegan — to keep new adhesion growth at bay and minimise the irritable bowel (IBS) symptoms. It means a constant focus on what you are and are not putting in your body, whether at home eating out, or travelling. Along with the occasional recipes, I’m thinking about adding restaurant and product reviews here, but given my erratic posting I can’t promise anything…
