A bit of background about my health (gynecological)

[cjsmith]

Sometimes I think I gripe about this too often, and then I forget there are also folks who don't know my history and are curious about it. Feel free to skip this if you've heard it before. Backstory here.

I've had severe monthly pain since I was twelve. I tried all the remedies that seemed to help other folks: vitamin B, heat, exercise (fitness seemed to make it worse actually), weird herbs, etc etc. I developed a pretty strong resistance to most OTC painkillers and almost all anti-inflammatories. (My record is 17 Aleve in a day. It keeps me walking, although slowly. I don't remember how many aspirin I was taking, back when there weren't OTC anti-inflams. It was a dangerous dose.)

Exploratory surgery in early 2002 finally ruled out endometriosis. (I have the video. Hee!)

I went to a specialist. She diagnosed me with herniated nerve bundles along the sides of my pelvis. The nerves are pinched, basically. I sometimes refer to this as sciatica in my belly. [EDIT: This is most likely caused by body fat working its way into the channels in which the nerves run. Some women can lose 15 pounds and get rid of this kind of pain. The doctor agrees that I don't have fifteen to lose.] We have tried various nonsurgical things.

I am now on continuous monophasic birth control (which makes most people quit bleeding) AND a Mirena IUD (which dispenses progesterone and by itself makes some people quit bleeding). The result is the hernia pain is greatly reduced and I now bleed every single day. I also have cramps -- moderate ones -- every other day or so. (Two days ago I had to call for someone to give me a ride home. I could get in the car under my own power, though. That's on the high end of what I mean by moderate.) I believe the cramping is because my uterus is retroverted (it has a strong bend in it), and thus there's very little room for the IUD. Interestingly enough, I have never had "cramps" before in my LIFE. Only after the IUD did I discover what "cramps" felt like.

As soon as I qualify for FMLA (unpaid leave from work for medical reasons) I intend to ask for hernia repair surgery. Recovery is very long and apparently quite painful. [EDIT: Repair involves pulling out anything that doesn't belong in the channel, tightening up the channel itself, and putting a little screen in the way. Unsurprisingly, this hurts. Unsurprisingly, I've stopped believing doctors when they say something hurts. They have no IDEA how much I ALWAYS hurt! But if everyone who has this surgery already has my basic pain level to start with, and THEY say it hurts, then I bet it actually does hurt.] If insurance will help pay for it, I'll ask for a partial hysterectomy too. However, since the uterus is likely not the problem, this might be denied.

Comments

[partywhipple.livejournal.com]

You've had this post up for quite some time. Did you get the surgery?

Came here from tupelo's journal.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Hi tupelo's friend!

I haven't had the surgery for a couple of reasons. My feet got worse, so they're top priority right now, and at the same time the cramps got quite a bit better. I have very light cramping maybe one day in ten. For now I'm willing to wait it out. Every so often my abdomen knots up and I swear to schedule the operation the next day... and the next day it's better and I wait. :-)

[partywhipple.livejournal.com]

Ah I can completely understand. Are you going to have surgery for your feet? i didn't read what the problem with them was.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I did have surgery for my feet. It didn't work. The short story is that there's damage in there, cause unknown, solution unknown. I'm probably going to wind up with an electric scooter and a disabled placard.

I am doing my darndest to avoid getting bitter. I had really hoped to -- heck, I had assumed I would -- have a couple more decades of ability to walk. Maybe the Swim from Alcatraz would be a good shift of focus! :-)

[partywhipple.livejournal.com]

O.o

Youre going to swim the bay?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking about it. (Well, half the bay.) I'd have to train up, of course. But people without feet can do this swim. If I work hard, I believe I can too!