Chapter 11: The First Period

I think I'm done with my first post op period. It's hard to say when it started because I had a decent amount of post op bleeding that pretty much transitioned to a full period.

Before surgery my periods were rough. When not on the pill I bled for 8 days every 23 days. The first 2 days were so heavy and painful that I always had nausea and sometimes I even threw up. I'd bleed through an overnight pad once every 1-2 hours. The other days were slower, but the back pain, cramps and nausea were always present. I also dealt with extreme fatigue and cyclical sciatica pain on the right side. Ibuprofen wouldn't touch the worst of this pain. I also had something that I nicknamed "period poops," which would send me constantly running for the bathroom. It was miserable.

I started the birth control pill in January. I wasn't happy about it for a number of reasons that I'll get into in another blog, but I couldn't stand the pain anymore. It was interfering with my life, my physical and mental well being, my sleep and my work and social life. On the pill my periods were only 5 days every 28, so that was much better. But the pain and heavy bleeding were still there.

Dr. Ghomi warned me that this period could be really bad. Or it could be fine. It's a 50/50 chance post op. I was pretty nauseated last weekend but other than that I felt great. No back pain. Minimal cramping. Light bleeding. A lot of fatigue still, but I'm only 3 weeks post op so that's normal. The big thing is that the near constant stabbing pain in my left ovary is almost gone. It acts up once and awhile, but it I didn't realize how much of a constant companion its been until it was fixed. I hope my future periods will be this easy, but Dr. Ghomi said that I should know for sure by the New Year. Fingers crossed.