Chapter 8: The Post Op Visit

Tuesday was 13 days post op and my first visit to see Dr. Ghomi since my surgery. I'm feeling mostly back to normal, although it does sometimes hurt a little to stand up from a seated position, twist or bend over. I also still have a lot of fatigue. He said that's normal because I'm still healing.

Dr. Ghomi looked at my incisions and said everything was healing nicely. There are 5- one in my belly button and 2 on each side. They're itchy but other than that I haven't had many problems. It was super gross when the surgical glue started falling off. That was something I wasn't prepared for.

We then went over what he found in my surgery. He had pictures printed off from my surgery and took the time to go over everything. He found endometriosis on both ovaries and fallopian tubes plus the outside of my uterus and bladder. It was very widespread but luckily the roots weren't too deep, which meant that it was still stage one. He repeatedly assured me that I wasn't crazy and what I was feeling was completely justified.

He said that I'm genetically predisposed so it can grow back, but he is optimistic that he got it all and it won't. If I feel the symptoms of endometriosis returning, I can call his office and he will help treat me again. It's so reassuring to know that I have someone who believes me and is capable of helping me. He want me to stay on the low dose birth control that I'm on (Larin Fe) and if I find that isn't working he suggests Mirena IUD.

He said that he doesn't think the endometriosis tissue affected my fertility, but there's no way to be sure so he suggested I start having kids soon if I want them. Luckily I don't because I'm very single and not in a place emotionally, physically or financially to have them anytime soon. I have more feelings about this but I'll save it for a separate post.

We then discussed my pain moving forward. He said it sometimes takes a few months for all of the pain and symptoms of endometriosis to go away. My next period is due on Sunday and I've been spotting a lot so I'm very curious to see how that's going to go. He said that if I don't see relief from my pain symptoms by the New Year, I should look into pelvic floor physical therapy to retrain my muscles to relax. It sounds very awkward so I hope that's not the case, but if it helps I'm willing to try anything.

At the end of my appointment we had a frank discussion about endometriosis and why doctors trained in gynecology don't seem to take women's pain seriously. I am so grateful that he took me seriously and was willing to listen and help. I'm lucky that he works in my city.