hi hrtofluv
Adenomysis (or endometriosis interna) involves the growth of endometrial tissue from the uterine lining into the uterine muscles. This disease may coexist with external endometriosis in which endometrial tissues are located outside the uterus. The abnormally located endometrial tissue tends to bleed with the menses and the blood and debris may accumulate creating small fluid collections inside the uterine wall. It can lead to swelling and the uterus often becomes larger (i think the docs call it "boggy"). Adenomyosis may present as a diffuse condition or it may be focal. In the latter, there are local areas of swelling, so-called adenomyomas, that may mimic other uterine masses.
What I know from personal experience is that it wont go away and in many cases gets progessively worse until you are forced to do something about it. For me, i had flooding, extremely painfull cramps leading to fainting and nausea, bloated and anaemic. I tried bcp for years, d&c, mirena implant, laser treatment. Most of the treatments did work for a short while before the condition got worse. I often wonder what would have happened if i had never touched a bcp ......... who knows.
In the end, it was affecting my work, family, and i was just a miserable person with no enegy for anything. I was advised that a hysterectomy would be a solution to certainly the bleeding and probably most of the pain. I did have a 2nd opinion and also enquired about ablation but the original choice stuck. I also found out that I was one of those women that had a very small amount of endometriosis and adenomysos but even the smallest amount gave me the most excrutiating pain.
I had a TAH in April and am now feeling great. I still get a bit achey but the pain of the operation itself was less than the pain i had every month. I decided to keep my ovaries as I might get 5 years use out of them, 10 if im lucky. A lot of women opt to remove them as they say it can cause endo to come back. My ovaries seemed to get over the stress of the operation and I can tell when Im ovulating but dont get any pain.
I was also given the choice of keeping my cervix which would have meant having a SAH but it runs the risk of mini-periods and all that entails. It means they have to move your bladder out the way to take it out and brings with it more risks but I think it was worth it. There is also a school of thought relating to sexual response/desire following removal of cervix and/or ovaries. I have found no problems
I would certainly ask for a 2nd opionion. It is an elective surgery and invasive but I have to say that even though i did go for 2nd opinion, my gut instinct told me it was the right thing to do even before the doc suggested it.
good luck anyway
ktee
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