Thursday, October 27, 2016

Holding On

I guess I have strong fingernails, because I'm still hanging on.

On Tuesday, my mom came with me for a consult with Dr. Welsh, my OB/GYN. She agreed that I was in pain and something needed to be done. However, she explained that she is not completely convinced that the fibroids are the cause and she doesn't want to put me through major surgery - I've never had a vaginal birth so she would have to make an incision in my abdomen to do a hysterectomy - if it won't fix things. She actually called my primary physician, Dr. Woolley, and talked to him about my situation. She is willing to go ahead with the surgery if I want to, but she also wants me to talk to my Psychiatrist, Dr. Nielsen, about possible psychiatric side effects to a surgery-induced menopause, the pain and restrictions of the post-op recovery.

I am impressed and reassured that my doctors are talking to each other and trying to get to the bottom things. My only major concern is that doctors by nature tend to be single-cause oriented. I am of a strong opinion that my pain and exhaustion are caused by multiple problems. I have no doubt something uterus-oriented is causing me major pain. If not the fibroids, then possible scar tissue from past endometriosis. I also think that my costocondritis has been overlooked as a cause for the severe pain in my sides and back. For instance, I could be unconsciously hunching over because of pelvic pain and it causes my ribs to compress and become inflamed.

My next appointment with Dr. Nielsen is on November 9. I was going to try to move it up, but I decided to use the time to gather more info. I have started a pain log. I enter in when I take pain meds, amounts, etc. I also enter in any notable pain events, with location, type of pain, and pain level. Hopefully it will yield some answers.

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