Going back and forth on laparoscopy - how much does it change things?
Ugh. I know this decision is up to me at the end of the day, but I am STRUGGLING on whether to get my lap scheduled on July 1 or not.
On one hand, it’d be nice to have a definite yes or no answer. On the other, if I do have endo, how much does a laparoscopy really change things for me ?
The latter part is what I struggle with. I don’t have 24/7 pain in my pelvis but my first 36 hours of my period are rough. I was recently given a strong NSAID and muscle relaxer combo (Toradol + Robaxin) and it’s been life changing. I have to take them around the clock for 2-3 days but it’s helped me avoid the extreme menstrual pain that has me moaning involuntarily and crying for hours at a time.
I’ve been working with an endo specialist team and a really talented surgeon (who also works in gyno oncology) will be performing the lap. I know I’ll be in the best of hands, but I wonder: even if endo is removed, will my experience really change much?
I’d get the Liletta IUD while under if endo is found and/or if adenomyosis is suspected. But it doesn’t fully stop the growth anyways, it just slows it down. The growths will still keep happening.
My thoughts are: if I have a lot of endo, then maybe that decreases some inflammation to get as much as I can removed and protects my fertility (I’m only 26).
But what if there really isn’t anything found anyways? Then I go through a surgery and scars and recovery and for what ? I’m a bit scared of recovery and the possibility of it going poorly for me.
I’m doing pelvic PT regardless (long wait list so not able to start until the fall), and I could get the IUD regardless, but then I risk not knowing how bad the endo actually is, if I do have it.
I guess I’m wondering the pros and cons of getting it versus not getting it and just doing pelvic PT + IUD. How has your life changed and your pain and inflammation since getting your lap?
Sometimes I think, I HAVE to have it, or at the very least, I have adenomyosis given my bladder symptoms and extreme cramps. But how much is a lap really going to change my day to day and monthly cycle experience? Is it really going to protect my fertility that much by getting excisions now, or do I just avoid surgery and trauma to the body and get the IUD and wait and see ?
Ofc it’s hard to say without knowing how bad it is, if it’s even present at all. It’ll also be cheapest for me to get it now cuz I hit my deductible for the year and this surgeon is in-network (and I work for the healthcare system doing it, so I have extra good coverage). Estimated $400 max OOP versus if I wait for next year or anytime in the future, it would be thousands.
Any thoughts welcome 🤍