Symptoms and Diagnosis
Saturday, August 2, 2008 Labels: bleeding, doctor, pelvic pain 1 commentsAlmost a year ago, I had major pelvic reconstructive surgery. The surgery was an attempt to diagnose and cure my symptoms. However, the only answers I received were that my fallopian tube was ruptured and my abdomen was filled with adhesions. The tube was repaired and a majority of the adhesions were delicately removed. I was sent away with the “wait and see” instructions.
The pain from surgery was excruciating, but worth it if, after recovery, I would be pain free. As the days went by, my post-operative pain began to subside but that pain I felt before surgery started to rear its ugly head. Since I had surgery out of town, and I was never going to see my old doctor again, I needed to find new health providers.
I can’t even count the number of times I had to go to the emergency room before I could get in to see a new Gynecologist. When I finally got into one office, the doctor ignored my surgical reports and insisted on an ovarian cyst and endometriosis diagnosis. About a week later, I met with a new doctor who took the time to listen to my story. He was very sympathetic but never commented on the ruptured tube ordeal. He is considered one of the best and I liked that he believed in conservative treatments first, so I stayed with him.
My main symptoms were, and still are, constant pelvic pain and bleeding (sorry…kind of graphic). I had been bleeding constantly since my pregnancy, so my period never returned. The doctor put me on continuous birth control which somewhat controls the bleeding. Nobody seems to understand why it continues. I was referred to a General Internist and a Pain Management Specialist for my chronic pain. I will discuss this later.
So now I have a team of Specialists, all treating different symptoms; yet, not one definitive answer.
Thanks for your comment on my blog! I think you're doing a nice job with this, although I don't think it's ever easy. I've added your blog to my list of chronic illness blogs.