My Endometriosis Diary Part IV

Endometriosis is such an insidious disease that lifestyle changes can only take you so far. You have to live and eat clean, exercise, distance yourself from toxic people and situations. Each little tick in the box takes away some pain and gives you a tiny bit of relief. But it's still not enough. You have to take medicine and you have to visit the doctor regularly. And that’s where I faltered. You could say that I became overconfident and careless about my health. I just felt that I improved so much with yoga that there wasn’t any need to go to the doctor. I would get bouts of pain, although not as severe as in the past. I would be in constant pain for a week - 10 days and then it would slowly melt away. I was also treating my tolerance towards pain as a badge of honour - I was so strong that I could tolerate physical discomfort. And this was my biggest mistake.

Sometime last year the pain spiralled out of control. It became so extreme that I found it difficult to sleep. From dull and throbbing it became sharp and stabbing. It kept me awake for 48 hours till I finally decided to visit my doctor. At this point I was hunched up because of the pain. The kind nurse took one look at my face and ushered me in quickly. The doctor asked me to get an ultrasound after I told her that there was a swelling on the right side of my pelvis. Anyway, what we found was a complete mess. 

There was a tennis-ball sized cyst that had eaten up my right ovary and everything in my pelvis was stuck together. I was admitted to the hospital that evening, for surgery the next day at 2:00pm. By now the pain was knife-sharp. I was given morphine injections to knock me out so I would get some relief. The surgery (which lasted four hours) took away one ovary and tubes that were swollen up. In IVF it’s quite common to staple the tubes. This inflammation and swelling was because of the stapling.

I felt immediate relief when I gained consciousness. Although it took me a two months to begin any sort of exercise again. My good habits, yoga and clean lifestyle helped me recover at a very quick speed. It's not even six months since my surgery but already I’m practicing the full Ashtanga primary series. And doing all the arm balances. I’m also on this new medication called Dienogest, which basically is a progesterone only pill. I like my new medicine, but more on this in my next post.

To be continued…
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