mel-kurtulus

Pain Journal: January 2019

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Summary of Lisa Howard's pain journal from January 2019

I’ve decided to start publishing my pain journals; not only in the hopes of documenting my Endometriosis Journey, but possibly helping others with theirs. Let’s get intimately familiar with my habits, shall we? 🙂

I use Google Slides to track my food, drink, bowel movements, medication, sex, and pain levels. I also track the location of my pain. And I’ve found this method helps me stay more in touch with my body and it acts as a great aid for my doctor and surgeons. I can access Google Slides from my PC, my phone, and my tablet; so it’s never too far away. And if I’m too lazy to open the app, I just shoot myself an email with a timestamp and description of what’s going on (i.e, 2:45pm ate a bowl of vanilla ice cream). Then the next day (or whenever is convenient) I rebuild my Google Slides with that information.

There are several Smartphone Apps out there that act as diaries and symptom trackers, too, but I’m all paranoid about permissions and developer access. 😉 BUT…the most important thing: you do what’s best and easiest for you.

So, welcome to my world. I will likely retroactively post my prior pain journals just to have them all in one place and can compare!

I’m pleased to say that January was relatively uneventful! Surgery was a huge success and most of my pain has been discomfort from my incisions and staples, learning my new bowels (and what NOT to eat/drink), and very very mild period pain. I literally forgot I was on my cycle for 99.9% of my period!

You can feel free to scroll through the slides of every day in January:

I also wanted to start tracking my new bowel movements by type and pain levels. I’m a visual kind of person, so I like all the info in ONE place. And I simply cannot believe the difference since my surgery! To poo almost EVERY day multiple times a day and to have zero pain most of the time is incredible! AND to see the difference when I’ve eaten (or in this case…drunk) something that didn’t agree with me. January 25th and 26th were Life Lessons, that’s for sure. I’ll most definitely have to go back in time and rebuild my pre-surgery poop charts!

Blue is the number of poops in a day, the orange line shows if I had any diarrhea (and how many times in a day), and the red line shows pain levels during bowel movements:

I am so grateful for my Endometriosis surgeons: Dr. Mel Kurtulus (my gynecologist and excision surgeon) and Dr. Matthew Schultzel (my colo-rectal surgeon). You have given me my life back.

My 4th Endo Excision Surgery

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"Uterus & Guts," created by Ivy Denton @deathwindchimes 

Before I get started, let me explain the image above. A talented artist by the name of Ivy Denton created it for me (they also created the EndoGuy and PoopChuteSnakie you’ll see below). They’re taking commissions if you’re interested in throwing ideas their way! “What is it,” you may be asking yourself. It’s a whimsical interpretation of my insides: a uterus with two cervix, no fallopian tubes (hence the band-aids and floating ovaries), and it’s accompanied by it’s new buddy: an intestine missing some pieces. I think it’s adorable! Thanks, Ivy!!

On with the good stuff! If you didn’t already know, back in July 2018 during an excision surgery Dr. Kurtulus discovered a pair of Endo lesions on my small intestine . He brought in a colo-rectal surgeon, Dr. Schultzel, to look at it and decide if we could remove it then. Unfortunately, it was deemed too deep and risky without a proper bowel prep and a future resection would take place.

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Pain & Poops: Then & Now

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Happy poop with daisy on it's head

Well, here we are in 2019 and I’m starting my blog off talking about poop…Why? Because I’m SUPER excited to share with you how different my bowels (and pain levels) have been since my recent bowel resection and Endometriosis excision surgery.

If you weren’t aware, I underwent a bowel resection to remove deep-infiltrating Endometriosis from my small intestine.

Embrace this discovery with me! Here’s my pain journal summary for November of 2018:

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The Bowel Resection is Coming!

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Diagram of the human large intestine
The red circle is the approximate area where my Endo is

If you’re one of my dedicated readers, you’ll remember that I had my third Endometriosis excision surgery on July 18th of this year.  You may remember that during that surgery it was discovered that I had a few big ol’ chunky Endo lesions on my bowels (where my small intestine and large intestine meet) that couldn’t be superficially removed.  A colo-rectal surgeon was brought into my surgery and advised that a bowel resection should take place.

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July 2018 Surgery Recovery

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Photograph of Dr. Mel Kurtulus and Lisa Howard before surgery, titled Resilience; photo taken by Brandy Sebastian
Dr. Mel Kurtulus and I before heading in. Photo courtesy of Brandy Sebastian

As you may know, I like to take extensive notes during my recovery from my Endo surgeries. This helps me better be prepared in case I have another one – just to get a sense of what was normal and what I can expect next time. And who knows – it may help you…or someone you know.

A good friend of mine, Brandie, typed up my chicken-scratch notes. (Thank you BRANDIE!) BUT, the “cliff notes” version is below:

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Endometriosis Excision Surgery 3.0

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Pre-surgery photograph of Dr. Mel Kurtulus and Lisa Howard taken by Brandy Sebastian, titled Resilience.
Dr. Mel Kurtulus and I before heading in. Photo courtesy of Brandy Sebastian; used with her permission

On July 18, 2018, I underwent my third robotic-assisted laparoscopic excision of Endometriosis by Dr. Mel Kurtulus ( of San Diego Womens Health).  As always, I love to share my experiences with you – not only to create awareness of this illness, but in the hopes that the process of my surgery (and later recovery) may help you, or others.

Before I go on, I just want to take a moment to express my joy in the above-photograph.  I am a detached head, floating beneath a fluffy warm-air blanket in the pre-op area, enjoying a wonderful moment with an incredible surgeon and man.  Thank you, Brandy, for capturing this.  And thank you, Dr. Kurtulus, for being so marvelous!

Okay, on with the nitty-gritty!

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There was a cancellation!

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Calendar with July 18th marked by a yellow ribbon

My August 15th surgery has just been bumped up to July 18th!!

My work is totally cool with the change.  HR even came in to offer some kind words followed by, “I’ve never been more excited for someone to get a surgery.”  He knows how much I’ve been hurting lately.

My Mum can still join us!

And I’m nervous and excited and scared and and and…the whole spectrum of emotions that bubble-up with a pending surgery.

Best news ever.

Today’s visit with my Gyno

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Dr. Mel Kurtulus,recipient of the 2009 Patient's Choice Award
He’s absolutely earned this award.

So, today I had an appointment with my gynecologist and surgeon, Dr. Mel Kurtulus.  It was to discuss my Endometriosis symptoms, which I felt have been worsening.  My (two) July periods, and my August period were horrendous.  Going through my 2017 Pain Diary, March and April were also up there on the pain scale.  I was all prepared to go on in and ask for another surgery…and possibly a hysterectomy just to rid my life of periods (since that’s when most of my pain is present).  I know it’s not a cure, but it would most certainly help some…

Then, last Thursday evening I started my period: the night before I was to leave for a family camping trip…I was devastated.  I expected to be fully-medicated the entire weekend.  I packed my Naproxen Sodium, my Tylenol 3 with Codeine, my Tramadol, and my Zofran.  BUT…surprise surprise…my period cramps NEVER rose above a 1 (on a scale of 1-10) for pain levels!  I didn’t even have to take an Ibuprofen…the ENTIRE weekend!  (Insert elated exclamation here)

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