Excision Recovery in Pictures

At about 4 weeks postop from excision surgery, here are a few pictures that seem to sum up my recovery process:

Let me just say at the start that recovery is like this:

 

I had trouble once I went home and anesthesia wore off with my pain feeling like:



(lightening and spasms in my abdomen-back through the ER and an overnight stay)

The first couple of weeks, I felt like:

Still dealing with keeping pain under control (toradol is a blessing), fatigue, bloating, insomnia, and don't get me started on bowel problems!!! And why not add in a little hormonal sobbing to top it off??

And I realize that:

 



 

 Week 2: I was more like:

 

 

Week 3: Starting to go back to work part hours:

 

(although feeling like s**t is also appropriate)

 

Week 4: Starting to feel a little better, able to walk/yoga a little more, feeling like:

 

About this time, I realize the time for my first postop period has come and I'm like:

But then:

But at least my uterus isn't as bad as usual:

Usually it's like:

Although you still feel like:

 

But I will continue to:

 



Eat healthy.

Practice yoga. (blessing for body & mind)

Keep walking.

Take supplements.

Keep stress under control.

Try to get the insomnia under control.

 

And most importantly:

 

 

 

 

 

 



 



Mullerianosis- misplaced tissue and the development of endo and adeno

Mullerianosis: four developmental (embryonic) mullerian diseases.

Batt RE, Yeh J.

Source

1Department of Gynecology-Obstetrics, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA.

Abstract

The theory of müllerianosis predicts that embryonic müllerian tissue, misplaced during organogenesis, results in the formation of 4 benign müllerian diseases-developmental adenomyosis, endometriosis, endosalpingiosis, and endocervicosis-(developmental müllerian diseases) that will be identified in human female fetuses, infants, children, adolescents, and adults. Direct evidence is presented to support the existence of developmental adenomyosis, developmental endometriosis, and developmental endocervicosis in human female fetuses along with strong circumstantial evidence supporting the existence of all 4 developmental müllerian diseases in human female infants, children, adolescents, and adults. This evidence throws light upon the pathogenesis of rare müllerian lesions whose pathogenesis remains inexplicable by classical and modern theories. Furthermore, this research has scientific and clinical relevance: scientific relevance because it opens up a new field of comparative research-the 4 developmental müllerian diseases complement the 4 acquired müllerian diseases; clinical relevance because it identifies rare müllerian diseases curable by complete surgical excision.

KEYWORDS:

adenomyosis, choristoma, endocervicosis, endometriosis, endosalpingiosis, müllerian choristoma, müllerianosis

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23314961

The role of the peritoneum in the pathogenesis of endometriosis

"Several studies indicate that differential expression of peritoneal mesothelial adhesion factors occurs in women with endometriosis, providing potential ectopic endometrial cell attachment sites for the establishment of endometriosis lesions. Changes in the peritoneal mesothelial cell phenotype, including loss of tight junctions, may allow ectopic cells to bind to, or early lesions to invade into, the extracellular matrix.... Peritoneal immune scavenging function may be lowered in women with endometriosis; for example there is a notable increase in macrophage-derived secretion products in women with endometriosis associated with increases in cell proliferation, cell adhesion and neovascularization. CONCLUSIONS: The pelvic peritoneum appears to play a key role in the development and maintenance of endometriosis."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23720497

Circadian Dysregulation of reproduction article

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3736045/pdf/fendo-04-00092.pdf

Shift work and circadian dysregulation of reproduction

Karen L. Gamble¹, David Resuehr² and Carl Hirschie Johnson³*

• ¹Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
• ²Department of Cell and Developmental and Integrative Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
• ³Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

Health impairments, including reproductive issues, are associated with working nights or rotating shifts. For example, shift work has been associated with an increased risk of irregular menstrual cycles, endometriosis, infertility, miscarriage, low birth weight or pre-term delivery, and reduced incidence of breastfeeding. Based on what is known about circadian regulation of endocrine rhythms in rodents (and much less in humans), the circadian clock is an integral regulatory part of the reproductive system. When this 24-h program is disordered by environmental perturbation (such as shift work) or genetic alterations, the endocrine system can be impaired. The purpose of this review is to explore the hypothesis that misalignment of reproductive hormones with the environmental light-dark cycle and/or sleep-wake rhythms can disrupt menstrual cycles, pregnancy, and parturition. We highlight the role of the circadian clock in regulating human reproductive physiology and shift work-induced pathology within each step of the reproductive axis while exploring potential mechanisms from the animal model literature. In addition to documenting the reproductive hazards of shift work, we also point out important gaps in our knowledge as critical areas for future investigation. For example, future studies should examine whether forced desynchronization disrupts gonadotropin secretion rhythms and whether there are sleep/wake schedules that are better or worse for the adaptation of the reproductive system to shift work. These studies are necessary in order to define not only whether or not shift work-induced circadian misalignment impairs reproductive capacity, but also to identify strategies for the future that can minimize this desynchronization.

Keywords: endocrinology, pregnancy failure, misalignment, sleep, circadian disruption, infertility
Citation: Gamble KL, Resuehr D and Johnson CH (2013) Shift work and circadian dysregulation of reproduction. Front. Endocrinol. 4:92. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2013.00092

Received: 02 May 2013; Paper pending published: 05 June 2013;
Accepted: 10 July 2013; Published online: 07 August 2013.

Edited by:
James Olcese, Florida State University, USA

Reviewed by:
Ted H. Elsasser, United States Department of Agriculture, USA
Jari Rossi, University of Helsinki, Finland

Copyright: © 2013 Gamble, Resuehr and Johnson. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Carl Hirschie Johnson, Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, 465 21st Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37235, USA e-mail: carl.h.johnson@vanderbilt.edu

Mild endo photos/different colors of endo

An interesting thing about endometriosis is it comes in a wide arrange of colors and variations. It takes a skilled surgeon to be able to find milder forms of endometriosis. Endo can appear red, white ,tan, clear, and so on. Another clue to endo activity is increased vascularization in one area. Here are a few examples:

 

 

Food sensitivity testing sites

One my gyn told me about:  http://www.camnutri.com/foodprint-c-21.html

Another one an IBS/endo sufferer told me about:    http://www.nowleap.com/

Article: Endometriosis can continue to negatively impact quality of life even after treatment

Author Info

From:  http://www.dailyrx.com/endometriosis-can-continue-negatively-impact-quality-life-even-after-treatment

 

 

Reviewed by: 

Robert Carlson, M.D By:Liza Baskin

Endometriosis can continue to negatively impact quality of life even after treatment

(dailyRx News) Endometriosis is a common health problem for women. This condition can be very painful, and researchers are learning more about how that pain and other symptoms can affect patients' quality of life.
Researchers recently set out to see how living with endometriosis affected patients' overall quality of life. Endometriosis is a condition in which tissue, that normally lines the inside of the uterus, grows outside of the uterus instead.
The researchers found that, even after these women were treated, the symptoms of endometriosis negatively affected both their mental and physical health. It was also found that women with endometriosis were likely to experience problems at work and in their relationships because of their symptoms.
According to the study's authors, these findings suggest that medical care for endometriosis should focus on each patient's individual needs in order to address the emotional, sexual and social problems that may come with endometriosis.

"Talk to your healthcare provider about a multi-discipline approach to treatment."

This study was conducted by the WERF EndoCost Consortium — a research network of 12 tertiary care centers from 10 countries that specializes in endometriosis symptoms. The lead author of this study was Aisha De Graaff, MD, of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology within the GROW Research Institute at Maastricht University Medical Centre in The Netherlands.
The fact that the women in this study were enrolled in tertiary care centers could lead to a possible over-representation of women with moderate-to-severe endometriosis, because the participating centers typically treat more complex and referred cases of endometriosis.
The findings from this study suggest that endometriosis affects women on both the physical and mental level. The authors believe that a comprehensive care plan tailored specifically to the patient's needs, involving collaboration between multiple types of doctors such as pain specialists, psychologists, sexologists, and social workers is the best way to adequately manage long-term care and improve the overall quality of the patient's life.

Previous studies suggested that women with endometriosis have a lower quality of life, but this study is the first to look at a large population of women and to focus on women who had already gone through treatment.

"Endometriosis is a disease of the pelvis in which endometrium (tissue from within the uterus) gets outside in the pelvis and implants on the external uterus, ovaries, bowel, or pelvic wall. This can lead to a host of symptoms including pelvic pain, pain with intercourse, and infertility," Andre F. Hall, MD, physician and owner of Birth and Women's Care, P.A., told dailyRx News.
"Unfortunately, there is no real correlation between the amount of endometriosis in the pelvis and the degree of symptoms. Treatments must be individualized to the given patient and must be specific for the various physical as well psychological manifestations of the disease," said Dr. Hall.
The authors of this study stated that between 2 percent and 10 percent of women of reproductive age within the general population are affected by endometriosis. Therefore, this study examined the effect of endometriosis on women's work, education, and general social well-being.
This study included 931 women who had already been diagnosed with endometriosis and had had at least one contact with any care center within the WERF EndoCost Consortium for endometriosis-specific symptoms during 2008.
Each of these women answered a questionnaire that asked about their education, work situation, marital status and medical history including any surgery, fertility treatments or other illnesses that occurred at the same time at any point in the woman's life.
The researchers then used a second questionnaire that asked the women to discuss how endometriosis had impacted their lives starting from the moment when they were first diagnosed to the time they finished filling out the questionnaire.
This questionnaire measured health-related quality of life through experiences in eight different areas: physical functioning, role limitation due to physical problems, general health, mental health, social functioning, vitality, bodily pain and role limitation due to emotional problems.
It was found that 48 percent of the women in the study had to decrease their work schedules due to endometriosis. Overall, 51 percent reported having their job be greatly affected at some point in time.
Within the group of women who had significant others, 67 percent had large issues arise with a partner. And 19 percent said that endometriosis played a role in divorce.
The researchers also discovered that 57 percent of the women still had painful menstrual cycles, 47 percent reported painful sexual intercourse and 60 percent still had chronic pain after treatment.
Overall, 71 percent of the women still suffered from at least one of the three painful symptoms.
Overall quality of life was determined based on the combined data gathered from both questionnaires. The researchers saw a significant decline in the quality of life for all age groups within the study population.
It should be noted that all the women in the study population had undergone multiple hormonal treatments and fertility treatments, and most had had surgical treatment. Yet the majority of the study population still experienced symptoms that interfered with their everyday lives.
The study concluded that endometriosis is truly a chronic disease that continues to affect women's quality of life even after treatment. The authors argued that this finding points to the fact that endometriosis can't be cured, but rather controlled.
In addition, the study's authors suggested that women need to directly address the sexual, emotional and social problems associated with endometriosis. It's important to work on the personal aspects of this disease, such as building a healthier and more open communication with intimate partners about emotions and sex. It's also recommended that women and employers discuss strategies to manage any issues in the workplace more effectively.
Ultimately, the study concluded that endometriosis will continue to greatly affect many women's overall quality of life regardless of treatment or level of care. The authors of this study encourage all women with the disease to address all areas of life that are affected by discomfort in order to build a stronger well-being and quality of life.
This study was published online in the July 11 edition of Human Reproduction. The World Endometriosis Research Foundation provided funding.