Surgery

Endometriosis & Leg Pain/Sciatica

| Bloomin' Uterus
Woman soaking in a bathtub. All we see are her legs.
Photo by Elizaveta Dushechkina on Pexels.com

I have heard from several EndoWarriors that they suffer from leg pain; whether it be their hips, upper thighs, or radiating pain down their leg(s).  Today we delve a bit deeper into leg pain complaints and Endo.  Have upper leg pain? Lower back pain? Tailbone pain?  So do a lot of people…but so do a LOT of women with Endometriosis.  A 2011 study surveyed 94 people with Endometriosis.  Of them, 51% complained of leg pain.  Cysts may also be contributing to leg and lower back pain. And although you may have some of these symptoms and think you have sciatic Endometriosis…please be aware that it is considered incredibly rare. And it may just be that your symptoms are a result of pelvic floor muscles being too tight (pelvic floor therapy may help) OR that adhesions and/or Endometriosis has pulled your anatomy out of whack. But, please, do read on:

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2nd Surgery pending…

| Bloomin' Uterus
operating room set-up with da vinci surgical machine

This morning I found out Surgery No. 2 is imminent, thanks to my Endometriosis. The date will be sometime in September; I’ll know more in a few days. I met with my doctor today to discuss my ongoing symptoms and worsening pain.  After a long talk and history, an a transvaginal ultrasound (OUCH), and another looooong talk in his office: he felt it’s time to peek under the hood.  I knew going in today that the surgical option was likely it. I wish we could tell if it was present in other ways.  But nope.  My CT was normal.  My US was normal.  But, as you and I both know, it may not always show up on imaging studies.  My symptom history is what convinced him:

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Cervical Endometriosis

| Bloomin' Uterus
Sprinkle-covered donut
…not really a cervix, but you get it… 😉

So, WordPress shows me a lot of the searches that people run that lead them to my site.  One has recently come up again and again.  “Cervical Endometriosis” and “Endometriosis on Cervix.”

Seeing as I’ve never touched up on that particular location, I figured I would today!

What are the symptoms? How are you diagnosed?  What’s the treatment?

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Share your Story : Alex

| Bloomin' Uterus
blond woman smiling in a gray scarf and black jacket

Alex lives in New Zealand and was diagnosed with Endometriosis when she was 14.

Alex’s Journey:  Well at the age of 14 I was seen by my specialist after going into hospital 2 with in a few weeks with abdo pain… She said I’ll see you for surgery so she did! Adhesions, endo and appendix.

By the time I was 18 I was back to square 1, pain killers are useless to this day. I have seen specialists around the country for other opinions…

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Share Your Story : Alexandra

| Bloomin' Uterus
Woman with brown hair wearing a shirt that reads "Fight like a (yellow ribbon) girl."

Alexandra is a fellow blogger out of Brisbane, Australia.  Today she share’s her Endometriosis journey with us.  She was diagnosed when she was 20, and now five years later here she goes, starting us out with a *bang*:

Alexandra’s Journey: “Uterus.” There, I said it! Uterus! Periods. Ovaries. Fallopian Tubes. Bleeding. Tampon. Rectum. Hormones. Bladder. Cervix. Menstruation. Vagina. Discharge. Pelvis. Pads. Endometriosis. Awkward.

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Share Your Story : Jen

| Bloomin' Uterus
Smiling Caucasian woman in a big floppy white hat and sunglasses

Jen reached out to us to share her story about her diagnosis with Endometriosis.  Now seven years after she found out she had the disease, see how she’s doing today…AND if you’re in the Sarasota, FL, area and hosting any Endo events or need a local EndoSister, here’s your gal!

Jen’s Journey: I was 23 when I was diagnosed with endometriosis, it took Doctors 5 years to diagnose me, I was lucky it wasn’t longer like most. I never had bad periods, but I did have extreme cramping & headaches. I feel pregnant a lot of the time & unfortunately I have to deal with that feeling knowing I’ll never have another child because I had a complete hysterectomy when I was 28.

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Share Your Story : Donna

| Bloomin' Uterus
donna

Donna lives in Britain and was in her early 20’s when she was diagnosed with Endometriosis. Nearly 20 years later, she tells us her story…including something that happened to her eyes about 10 years ago.  She continues to live with Endometriosis and her eye-issue.  

Donna’s Journey: Hi my name is Donna, it all started when I was nine years old when I started my periods. My childhood was ripped away from a very young age. I never had normal periods my cycle was every 14 days. When I would bleed I would often drench the bed with blood. My Mum took me to my doctor and he decided to put me on hormone replacement tablets to begin with. The pain I would experience was unreal yet no one really understood. Year in and year out my periods stayed at a 14 to 19 day cycle.

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Reader’s Choice : Oophorectomy & Endometriosis

| Bloomin' Uterus
A plushy ovary by I Heart Guts
Plushy ovary available on iheartguts.com

When I was getting ready to get wheeled into the Operating Room back in 2014 for my cystectomy, my Doc tells me that if he gets in there and there’s extensive damage, he may need to perform an oophorectomy (pronounced oh-uh-fuh–rek-tuh-mee).  I signed the permission slip/waiver without blinking and off we went.  Luckily, he didn’t have to perform one.  And this turned out to be my Endo diagnostic surgery.  Quite the day.

One of our readers & fellow blogger, SnowDroplets, asked the other day if I could look into the pros & cons of oophorectomies, when to have them, and hormone replacement therapy after the ovary(ies) is removed (especially how it may affect with with Endo).  You know how I love to learn about new things, so here goes!  And thank you, SnowDroplets, for asking this question.  I learned A LOT today.

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Surgeries for Diaphragmatic Endometriosis

| Bloomin' Uterus
Text that reads Laparoscopic management of diaphragmatic endometriosis by three different approaches

A video released on April 19, 2016, discusses three surgical options for removing diaphragmatic Endometriosis.   As you may know, I have Endometriosis on my diaphragm (and I’m not talking about the birth control), as do several other EndoWarriors that I know.  What does that mean?  Read all about Endo and the lungs or diaphragmatic Endo.  If you’d like to know what Endometriosis looks like inside some patients, fast forward to the 4:01 mark of the video…

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