My Procedure

I don't think I have posted on this blog yet about the surgery I underwent in October. I've talked about it, but never what it was for. As you may have guessed, it had to do with infertility.

When I was a teenager many of my doctors wanted to have me tested for endometriosis. Every time they would recommend the tests my heart would beat wildly and I would get scared. Perhaps I thought it was a death sentence? Each time I declined testing. I figured if I had it I would rather not know. I wasn't always the smartest teenager.

Edometriosis is when the entire lining of the uterus is not shed every month. The endometrial lining is normally located inside the uterus, but sometimes it ends up outside of it for whatever reason. Endometriosis can migrate to other parts of the body and in rare, extreme cases has even been found in the brain. Typically it is only located around the uterine area. While it is treatable, there is no known cure. The best way to halt its growth is to get pregnant. In some cases, however, it causes infertility, such as in my case. When this happens, doctors can go in and either cut out the tissue or cauterize it. However, removing the endometriosis is not a cure. It will grow back in time, and even grow back on the scar tissue from the surgery.

The surgery I underwent is called a laparoscopy. The point behind the procedure was so that the doctor could go in and see if he could identify the cause for my infertility problems. We were alomost positive I had endometriosis, and that the procedure would end up in an endometrial lining resection, which it did. It turned out I had moderate endometrosis, and most of it was around my ovaries. My doctor chose to cut out the tissue, rather than cauterizing it because of the extent of the endo. He felt cutting it out would slow its regrowth and give us better chances at conceiving.

While I was in surgery, my doctor also performed what is called ovarian drilling. This is where he pokes a few small holes in my ovaries with a laser to stimulate them to ovulate on their own every month. This procedure is usually reserved for women with polycystic ovaries (meaning they have cysts on their ovaries, which prevents ovulation), but mine were a little large and my doctor felt it was a good option for us. I'm not sure of the science behind ovarian drilling, but it has been proven to work.

Lastly, he removed a uterine septum that he felt could cause miscarriages if fertilized eggs tried to implant in it.

The real shock was in the recovery room after my surgery. As I was trying to fight off the anesthesia so I could see my husband, they told me that they had removed my appendix. My first thought was, "Did they do the wrong thing on me?!" Apparently it was pretty swollen and my doctor was afraid it would become a problem in the future. I was also told that because of the extent of my surgery my outpatient visit had turned into an overnight visit. My recovery time had gone from a couple of days to a couple of weeks.

The great news is that I am finally feeling much better and almost back to my normal self. I still get tired a little easily, but that is to be expected for the next couple months. I'm just glad cleaning the kitchen doesn't wipe me out anymore! I am really looking forward to this all being a distant memory.