Kicking My Uterus to the Curb

Following the birth of my second little miracle in July of 2010, it didn't take long for my endometriosis to rear its ugly ahead again. For the next 3 years, I tried to manage my symptoms naturally, but as I floundered through life attempting to keep up with three children, a part-time job I loved and a husband who needed his wife back, it became more and more evident that I was quickly going back in time to the place of desperation that had led me to schedule a hysterectomy the first time in 2009.

I did some research via Dr. Google. I was so frustrated at the range in commentary on hysterectomy for endometriosis.

"It changed my life."

"It doesn't cure endometriosis."

"It is a viable treatment for endometriosis pain."

"I never had pain again."

"My endo came back a year after my hysterectomy. Now what?"

"Cure endo with a hysterectomy."

"Hysterectomy saved my marriage."

"Hysterectomy ruined my life."

My doctor had not made any promises about whether or not a hysterectomy would help, but it was honestly the only thing that I hadn't yet tried. I decided to stop reading, realizing that regardless of the perspective, I could find something online supporting its validity. I had to make a choice for ME, Bethany. 

I knew I was done having children. I was exhausted and hovering dangerously just below the 300 pound mark on the scale. I had just turned 40. I was quickly going back to being the bed-ridden girl I had been and I wasn't going to stand for it. 

In the fall of 2013, after yet ANOTHER visit to the ER, I pulled the plug and decided it was time to kick my uterus to the curb. I guess that medically, 40 was the magic number for me not being "too young" to have one (as I had been told many times previously) and I was able to schedule the procedure with the local OB/GYN who had delivered my little miracle in 2010. 

On November 4, 2013, I had a radical hysterectomy which included the removal of my uterus, remaining ovary, both fallopian tubes and my cervix. I spent 72 hours in the hospital following my surgery and woke up on the second morning to a beautiful sunrise out my window that I tried to capture with my phone cam. Maybe it was the pain medications talking, but in that moment, it felt like a foreshadowing of a brand new day, a future full of potential. 

Room With a View

I had a little visitor in the hospital!

The procedure was fairly uneventful although my doctor casually mentioned seeing "a few endometriosis lesions" in there. She reassured me that they would "die off" due to lack of estrogen. I left the hospital hopeful that my life with endometriosis was over...