nancy30
01-12-2006, 01:01 AM
I just had a laparascopy and was diagnosed with mild endo, which was removed. I have not gone to my follow-up appointment to find out the next step.
I'm very depressed that I have endo. :( I've been researching on the internet and things are all over the map re: whether the surgery will improve fertility for cases of mild endo.
Does anyone have any information on whether having a lap for mild endo will improve chances of pregnancy???? Does anyone know the success rates and how long before endo will come back? Will I have to do IVF??? I'm so depressed about the situation. I would so greatly appreciate any advice right now.
I'm very depressed that I have endo. :( I've been researching on the internet and things are all over the map re: whether the surgery will improve fertility for cases of mild endo.
Does anyone have any information on whether having a lap for mild endo will improve chances of pregnancy???? Does anyone know the success rates and how long before endo will come back? Will I have to do IVF??? I'm so depressed about the situation. I would so greatly appreciate any advice right now.
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ladybug8372
01-12-2006, 09:53 AM
ok....I have been a sufferer of mild endo for 13 years. I have had 3 laps, and had the lupron injection series twice. Here are your answers....having laps done, or any other treatment method, does not always help to improve fertility. I have not used protection in the last 11 years. No pregnancy has occurred. The doctor that performed my 1st and 2nd lap told me (after the 1st one) that I had a 10% chance that it would come back. Well, the very next month after having the surgery....it was painful....I didnt see where it helped. So after a couple of years, I had it done again. Still no improvement. So I tried a different doctor a few years later, and he performed the surgery again. He took pictures of my insides so that he could show me where it was found, what it looked like, etc. He then explained to me.....endo can hide and lurk anywhere....in places not visible to the doctors...in places that they cant get to.....so they can only get what they see and are able to get to. That explains why I had problems so soon after my first surgery. So, then I tried a round of the lupron injections....it helped with the pain for 2 years...felt so wonderful!! So, when the pain came back, I tried another round...this one was a stronger medication......I quickly ended the process, as the side effects were horrible!
I was diagnosed with mild endo at the age of 19....luckily....I already had my 2 girls by then....one at 17.5 and one at 20 years of age. (was in the process of trying to find out why I was having pain at age 19....then got pg before I could have the lap done....so had to wait til after she was born, so technically i wasnt diagnosed at 19...but obviously that is what was wrong with my before i got pg) Had I chose to wait later in life to start a family......oh how depressing that would have been. I love kids....and really wanted more.....something very hard to go through and accept....but much harder for ones that have never been blessed with a child. I finally accepted the fact that I cant have more kids......even though during my last lap, the dr found no reason for me not to be able to conceive. (that was 2 years ago). My tubes were clear as a bell, and he fixed my ovary that adhered itself to my uterus and had not been working (didnt know this until after the surgery!) I am now 33 years old. My doctor told me when my youngest child was a baby....that my best chances to conceive would be within the next 2 years....well...I wasnt ready for more at that time...cause my baby was less than a year old........and I just wasnt ready to have more. When she was 2 years old, we decided to try for our 3rd........still hasnt happened. So, guess the doctor was right! I did try clomid for 3-4 months....but it was too painful to not see results, and I decided to stop torturing myself.....as we had already tried for 3 years prior to my taking the clomid.
It isnt hopeless yet for you......but if you want kids......you need to start now...and not wait...because the longer you wait....the harder it will be, and the less likely that it will happen. Stupid ole endo!!!
Most parents would get VERY mad if their teenagers get pg..(i am talking 16-18, not any age younger!).....but this helped me to decide that if my girls did get pg...there is no way that I will be mad.....endo runs in my family....so there is a chance that my girls can develop it. So, if God gives them a child before they are actually ready...I will do what I can to help them...and not condemn them....cause I know first hand that endo can keep you from getting pregnant....and I sure dont want them to go through the pain of waiting then wanting a child so bad....and not be able to have them. Obviously I have not told my kids this....cause I dont want them to think that they have my blessing to have sex.....but if one day they walk in and say they are pg..I definitely will not yell or have a fit.
I was diagnosed with mild endo at the age of 19....luckily....I already had my 2 girls by then....one at 17.5 and one at 20 years of age. (was in the process of trying to find out why I was having pain at age 19....then got pg before I could have the lap done....so had to wait til after she was born, so technically i wasnt diagnosed at 19...but obviously that is what was wrong with my before i got pg) Had I chose to wait later in life to start a family......oh how depressing that would have been. I love kids....and really wanted more.....something very hard to go through and accept....but much harder for ones that have never been blessed with a child. I finally accepted the fact that I cant have more kids......even though during my last lap, the dr found no reason for me not to be able to conceive. (that was 2 years ago). My tubes were clear as a bell, and he fixed my ovary that adhered itself to my uterus and had not been working (didnt know this until after the surgery!) I am now 33 years old. My doctor told me when my youngest child was a baby....that my best chances to conceive would be within the next 2 years....well...I wasnt ready for more at that time...cause my baby was less than a year old........and I just wasnt ready to have more. When she was 2 years old, we decided to try for our 3rd........still hasnt happened. So, guess the doctor was right! I did try clomid for 3-4 months....but it was too painful to not see results, and I decided to stop torturing myself.....as we had already tried for 3 years prior to my taking the clomid.
It isnt hopeless yet for you......but if you want kids......you need to start now...and not wait...because the longer you wait....the harder it will be, and the less likely that it will happen. Stupid ole endo!!!
Most parents would get VERY mad if their teenagers get pg..(i am talking 16-18, not any age younger!).....but this helped me to decide that if my girls did get pg...there is no way that I will be mad.....endo runs in my family....so there is a chance that my girls can develop it. So, if God gives them a child before they are actually ready...I will do what I can to help them...and not condemn them....cause I know first hand that endo can keep you from getting pregnant....and I sure dont want them to go through the pain of waiting then wanting a child so bad....and not be able to have them. Obviously I have not told my kids this....cause I dont want them to think that they have my blessing to have sex.....but if one day they walk in and say they are pg..I definitely will not yell or have a fit.
muna786
01-12-2006, 12:24 PM
WOW what a story!! thank you for being sooo detailed! i am 27 years old and have been TCC for about 4 months now... The docs think i might have endo too and want me to do the lap... but i am holding out as long as I can becasue i have heard it can cause more scarring... Anyway my question is what sypmtoms did you have that led you think about endo?
nancy30
01-12-2006, 04:35 PM
I didn't have a single symptom of endo. I'm 32 years old right now.
Ladybug, thanks for you detailed post. I have to admit that your post has made me even more worried. I assume you never tried IVF. Do you think IVF would be successful??? I have read that women with endo are very good candidates for IVF. Also, do you think you would have gotten pregnant if you had not waited for 2 years after your lap???
Ladybug, thanks for you detailed post. I have to admit that your post has made me even more worried. I assume you never tried IVF. Do you think IVF would be successful??? I have read that women with endo are very good candidates for IVF. Also, do you think you would have gotten pregnant if you had not waited for 2 years after your lap???
muna786
01-12-2006, 05:40 PM
Have any of you tried to have your tubes flused out? i have heard that ups the chances....
ladybug8372
01-12-2006, 06:00 PM
I am glad my story was helpful. muna...in the beginning, I had no idea what my problem was. the only thing I knew was that when it was close to that time of the month, and the first day or so of it, it HURT to sit down. As soon as I sat down, my insides felt like they were bruised...so, I had to sit down very carefully....I looked ridiculous...but it just hurt so bad. I finally got discouraged and went to my GYN...and thats when he told me he suspected endo.
After I had my baby, the symptoms flared up again. I cant remember back that far, so I can tell you how I have done for the last several years. A week or so before AF, I bloat real bad, looking 8 months pg....the bottom of my abdomen feels soooo heavy and tender, the pain is not a stabbing pain...its a BAD ache....I dont really know how to describe it, it just makes you feel sooooo rotten. My insides apparently swell up, which causes me to constantly pee. Sometimes its painful to have a BM during that time of the month. Sometimes, not always, my back will hurt sooooo bad that I just cry. I bend and stretch every which way I can to feel relief! But the majority of the pain that I experience is in my lower abdomen. I have found that if I refrain from sex....period!!!....that I dont have any pain that month. The more hubby and I have sex....the worse the pain is. Sex......oh my.....endo has made my sex life sooooo boring. The missionary position is the ONLY comfortable way for me.....and sometimes (sorry if TMI) even that hurts. Luckily, my hubby understands and doesnt get angry. He gets aggravated because we cant be spontaneous and be "adventurous" but he knows that it isnt my fault.
But please, just because of my story....dont hold back on getting the lap procedure done....for MANY reasons. If you dont have it done...it will keep growing and growing...your pain will WORSEN....because there will be so much endo there. So, its best to have as much removed as possible, to TRY to keep it under some kind of control. Like weeds....if you dont try to remove them...they just keep multiplying...before you know it...they have taken over your whole yard. If you allow it to get out of control like that....it will DEFINITELY create fertility problems, and cause you to definitely not be able to have kids. So, if you want kids, you need to act fast and get it before it gets you....For another reason....your case may be different....your doctor may go in and be able get it all...and you wont suffer anymore...unless it grows back.
NANCY30.........I never considered IVF....I dont know why...just never did. I have heard that its very costly...so, I just never considered it. I have no idea how successful or not it would be to have it done. So, I would be afraid to comment on that one. As far as my getting pg within that 2 year frame....I honestly dont know....I almost wish that I had've tried......but I knew that I wasnt ready for another....because.......when I gave birth to my first daughter....it was such a LONG labor....and a trying time....dont know much information, I just know at one point, they told hubby that he may have to make a decision....to save me, or the baby......All I know is that I was losing conciousness...and they had to give me oxygen. Luckily, things were fine. With my second daughter....3 weeks after she was born, I had a TERRIBLE infection...from where the dr left part of the afterbirth in me....and had to hospitalized....which the infection could have been fatal....it had already reached my abdomen, they said that once it got that far....that it was just a matter of time before it entered my bloodstream...which is when it would have become fatal. My daughter.....was around 4-5 months old when I was told about that 2 year time frame....after all that I went through after her birth, and the way things went with my first daughters birth....at that time, I was terrified to think about giving birth again. So, that 2 year time frame just didnt mean anything to me at that time.
I hope this helps. But just remember that if you want to have kids, and you have endo....dont postpone having kids, get started on it now. I have learned that no woman should take her fertility days for granted.
After I had my baby, the symptoms flared up again. I cant remember back that far, so I can tell you how I have done for the last several years. A week or so before AF, I bloat real bad, looking 8 months pg....the bottom of my abdomen feels soooo heavy and tender, the pain is not a stabbing pain...its a BAD ache....I dont really know how to describe it, it just makes you feel sooooo rotten. My insides apparently swell up, which causes me to constantly pee. Sometimes its painful to have a BM during that time of the month. Sometimes, not always, my back will hurt sooooo bad that I just cry. I bend and stretch every which way I can to feel relief! But the majority of the pain that I experience is in my lower abdomen. I have found that if I refrain from sex....period!!!....that I dont have any pain that month. The more hubby and I have sex....the worse the pain is. Sex......oh my.....endo has made my sex life sooooo boring. The missionary position is the ONLY comfortable way for me.....and sometimes (sorry if TMI) even that hurts. Luckily, my hubby understands and doesnt get angry. He gets aggravated because we cant be spontaneous and be "adventurous" but he knows that it isnt my fault.
But please, just because of my story....dont hold back on getting the lap procedure done....for MANY reasons. If you dont have it done...it will keep growing and growing...your pain will WORSEN....because there will be so much endo there. So, its best to have as much removed as possible, to TRY to keep it under some kind of control. Like weeds....if you dont try to remove them...they just keep multiplying...before you know it...they have taken over your whole yard. If you allow it to get out of control like that....it will DEFINITELY create fertility problems, and cause you to definitely not be able to have kids. So, if you want kids, you need to act fast and get it before it gets you....For another reason....your case may be different....your doctor may go in and be able get it all...and you wont suffer anymore...unless it grows back.
NANCY30.........I never considered IVF....I dont know why...just never did. I have heard that its very costly...so, I just never considered it. I have no idea how successful or not it would be to have it done. So, I would be afraid to comment on that one. As far as my getting pg within that 2 year frame....I honestly dont know....I almost wish that I had've tried......but I knew that I wasnt ready for another....because.......when I gave birth to my first daughter....it was such a LONG labor....and a trying time....dont know much information, I just know at one point, they told hubby that he may have to make a decision....to save me, or the baby......All I know is that I was losing conciousness...and they had to give me oxygen. Luckily, things were fine. With my second daughter....3 weeks after she was born, I had a TERRIBLE infection...from where the dr left part of the afterbirth in me....and had to hospitalized....which the infection could have been fatal....it had already reached my abdomen, they said that once it got that far....that it was just a matter of time before it entered my bloodstream...which is when it would have become fatal. My daughter.....was around 4-5 months old when I was told about that 2 year time frame....after all that I went through after her birth, and the way things went with my first daughters birth....at that time, I was terrified to think about giving birth again. So, that 2 year time frame just didnt mean anything to me at that time.
I hope this helps. But just remember that if you want to have kids, and you have endo....dont postpone having kids, get started on it now. I have learned that no woman should take her fertility days for granted.
ladybug8372
01-12-2006, 06:06 PM
Oh yeah....I meant to say something to that effect....LOL.....when you have your laps done....be sure to ask your doctor if he will check to make sure your tubes are clear.....and make sure everything else looks good. when i had my last lap done...i asked him to do so, and he did....after the surgery was over, he told me that he found that my right ovary had adhered itself to my uterus, therefore, had not been working. But he repaired it....and got it to working again!! I have no idea how long I had been with only one working ovary!!
muna786
01-13-2006, 10:31 AM
ladybug8372 again thank you for your post, I have been off the pill for about 4 months now and i am beginning to have the same issues you described... I am going next week to get a polyup removed from my cervix and then i will talk about the lap procedure.... Will keep you postded!!
Baby dust to all!!!!! :wave: :angel:
Baby dust to all!!!!! :wave: :angel:
ladybug8372
01-13-2006, 11:50 AM
good luck and let us know how things go. will be praying for you.