Thursday, May 24, 2012

Endometriosis

During my follow-up appointment with my surgeon's nurse, I learned that I heard correctly after my surgery - I do in fact have endometriosis. If you're not familiar with the condition, here's how MayoClinic.com defines it:
"Endometriosis is an often painful disorder in which tissue that normally lines the inside of your uterus — the endometrium — grows outside your uterus."
The link above explains the symptoms and other details. Basically, it sucks. But I've always had extremely painful periods and at least now I know the cause. Unfortunately, there's not much you can do to help, but I already know all about that scenario. ;) I thought the surgery might have helped, but I got my period soon after the appointment and it's been as painful as always.

Then there's the whole fertility thing. My husband and I haven't tried to have kids yet because we haven't felt ready (even though we've been married eight years this month), but now I feel like we should at least start trying because there's no telling how long it will take, if it happens at all, due to the endometriosis. I'm trying really hard not to stress over it, but I'm 29 and at the age where EVERYONE and their mothers are popping out babies (okay, maybe not their mothers...), so that doesn't help. Anyways, I'd rather not think about it right now.

I was also hoping the surgery would have helped my head, but no such luck. I had another one of those migraines where it wakes me up and I can't move without feeling like I'm going to throw up. My husband brought me everything I needed before he left for work, and the Butalbital (Fioricet) ended up working although I had to take another dose later on that day because the pain started to come back. My husband brought me graham crackers to take with my meds but since we were almost out of them, he also brought a box of cheddar duck crackers which are basically like Goldfish. Can anyone imagine eating those when you're nauseous? I don't think Jonathan gets nauseous very often LOL. At least he was trying to help. :)

Art for Migraines
So I got an email from a migraine sufferer in the UK who is doing an online art exhibit through June 30 and he's donating a percentage of purchases to Migraine Action, a UK charity. If you're looking to buy some animal/landscape paintings, check out Mike Jory's website; I included one of his paintings below. His work is gorgeous!

"Riverside" by Mike Jory