Same stuff, different year, still NO ENDO! 7 YEARS Endo free after expert excision!

I am 7 YEARS ENDO SYMPTOM FREE TODAY!!!
As I sit here, contemplating what to write, wondering what I can add to my novels of posts from years past, I’ve decided to sum it up in the most elegant sentence possible-

Same stuff, different year, still NO ENDO!

For the first few years after my expert excision, I kept “looking over my shoulder” waiting on my endo to “come back”. After all, I had gotten a very poor prognosis from multiple physicians – a lifetime full of nearly yearly “burn off” surgery, hormonal suppression, pain and infertility. I had chosen a different route with a significantly higher chance of success (specialist excision) but would I really beat the odds given to me by regular OBs/REs?

I have indeed.

My backstory-
My life in 2009-2010 was suddenly very bleak. I had – seemingly overnight – changed from the athletic martial artist to the girl who needed her husband’s help to get out of bed. We had gone so far as to re-arrange our bedroom so that I could basically live there, as my 24/7 pain quickly “canceled” my life. I spent the next year desperately trying almost every natural remedy, diet, option you could think of – to absolutely no avail. I eventually came to terms with needing surgery, and, by sheer chance, met women who told me of “excision”. But wouldn’t my regular OB/GYN do the same surgery? I learned that the answer was “no“.

On June 24, 2010, I went into excision surgery with Dr. Ken Sinervo in Atlanta, GA.
I woke up feeling better than when I had gone in and I continued to improve.
I lost only my appendix (and a bunch of pathology confirmed endo and some adhesions).

Reproductive organs lost to endo: ZERO.

Excision got me OFF of the hormonal suppressants that I was supposed to be stuck on indefinitely.

3 months after my excision surgery, I competed in – and WON – a redneck pig chasing contest. Yes, that’s right. The previously bedridden me jumped in a mud pit, outran other people, chased down a pig and football tackled it. I even took a picture with the poor piggy after the event.

A year after my excision surgery (and only 3 months after we “quit preventing”), I found myself naturally pregnant with the baby that local doctors didn’t think I could ever have.

1 year and 10 months post surgery, I gave birth to my daughter.

4.5 pain free years after the excision, I developed symptoms of a different condition (adenomyosis) and needed a hysterectomy (I kept both ovaries). The silver lining? THERE WAS NO ENDOMETRIOSIS FOUND ANYWHERE. There had been NO RECURRENCE after my excision years before.
Since then, I’ve also gone to pelvic floor physical therapy (highly recommend).

It’s now been 7 YEARS since the excision, and I’m thrilled to say that I’m still completely free from endometriosis and its symptoms. My ovaries cycle every month – totally
un-suppressed. My husband I can tell from *cough* my PMS attitude *cough* when my cycle is every single month – but I have no pelvic pain or cramps.

In addition, I recently began using an ESTROGEN cream.
Not only has my estrogen fixed me right up but #StillNoEndo.

To date – despite having BOTH OVARIES CYCLING RIGHT ALONG EVERY MONTH AND TAKING PRESCRIPTION ESTROGEN, I have not had a recurrence of the endometriosis symptoms that sent me to the OR on June 24, 2010.
If I had to describe expert excision in a phrase, it would be “life changing”.

2 weeks ago, I got home from a pain free, multi-thousand mile road-tripping vacation with my family.

The next time your regular OB/GYN tells you that they need to castrate you by removing your *healthy* uterus/ovaries so that endo will “die off” (it won’t), call out their misinformation and inform them that endo can be removed AND you can keep your healthy parts. #RemoveDiseaseNotHealthyOrgans

RIP MY ENDO 6/24/2010! Haven’t missed you!
#EndometriosisFreeSince2010
#ExpertExcisionSurgeryForTheWin