Female Problems and Solutions; The Trauma of Surgery

     I have only had general anesthesia once in my whole life.  It was the only time I had surgery in my life that was not just localized, like a finger or a tooth.  In 2002 I had a D&C
dilation and curettage for uterine fibroid tumors, benign tumors of the uterus which can cause problems from chronic pelvic pain, heavy bleeding and cramping to complications during pregnancy, infertility to hemorrhages.  
     They caused problems during my pregnancy with my second child, and I was only twenty-seven years old, young to have fibroids to some degree.  I ended up in the hospital at five months pregnant with signs of premature labor, but it somehow stopped and I was able to make it to only three weeks before term, which enabled my son to be born on Father's Day rather than the third of July when he was due.  
     They are slightly more common in black women.  My sister had them as well and had them removed.  My medical coverage did not cover that option, so after my sister gave me the book, No More Hysterectomies, by Vicki Hufnagel, M.D. who actually ended up practicing in Mexico after losing her license to practice in The States due to her radical views.  
     Her cause or passion was influencing women with female problems like fibroids and endometriosis to try anything to save their uterus while mostly male doctors were constantly saying, "you need a hysterectomy."
I know women who have been very glad they had one, but there are reasons why some of us actively wanted to avoid one.
     Without going into a case history and my choices which enabled me to keep my uterus without any more surgery than the one D%C, I will go back to the topic.  I fell asleep under the general anesthesia very pleasantly with a feeling of well being, and awoke in a great deal of pain.  In the recovery room, they kept asking me from one to ten the rate of pain, and I kept saying eight, because that was how bad it was.  Well I survived obviously.
     The weird thing is when you wake up, it is as if no time passed.  It is said that there is a drug included in anesthesia which causes amnesia because surgery of any kind is quite traumatic.  
     When I saw the story about anesthesia awareness it horrified me, and made me think.  That experience of thinking you died and went to hell I experienced once on a bad marajuana experience.  I never did drugs, but I smoked a few times and once had such a bad experience I felt like I was dying...
     Basically life and death are a bit scary.  For moments I think I have all the answers and then I do not.
     I will say that for women suffering from fibroids and endometriosis, I know how hard the chronic pain is.  It is really hard, having been through it.  You at one point want to say take this organ out and stop the pain, and I would not blame anyone for making that choice.  I was just really determined, so I chose a very radical treatment called the lupron depot suspension injection, but after one shot I quit because of all the unpleasant side effects.  Also, I began to hemorrhage and that was enough reason to quit, but I got through it and am thriving.
     I want to add more, because I did not really tell the complete story, rather left it a bit obtuse.  After my son was born, since I never got pregnant again, for the next twelve years the fibroids did not bother me much.  It was not until I was around forty that the doctor started ordering ultrasounds, etc., because he found that my fibroids were definitely there from my exams.  I was having heavy periods and cramps.  
     That was when he suggested the D&C, which really did not help much.  I suggested removing the fibroids without removing my uterus, which was what my sister went all the way to Philadelphia to do.  My insurance at the time only covered my state.  He said that all that would be left was "swiss cheese".  Gross, I know.  I called one of these women's activist groups.  I mean activist in terms of women's health issues.  She said she would rather have swiss cheese than nothing, but that really was not an option for me logistically. 
     By the time I was about forty-two I was in pain most of the time and taking strong pain killers prescribed.  The pain even extended down the front of my legs sometimes, a strong pressure type of pain.  I was very skinny then, and the doctor who I liked by the way, said it would be so easy to operate on me because I was so skinny.  Still, I kept objecting to the hysterectomy.  Even when I had my D&C before hand I asked him to sign in writing that he would not just do a hysterectomy while I was under, and that if the off chance that something was terribly wrong and he had to, not to take my cervix.  He signed all of that, saying that if there was some massive hemorrhage, he would have to and that sometimes the cervix might just come with it unavoidably.  Well, I said OK, but nothing of the kind happened anyway.
     Well back to age forty-two, skinny and in constant pain all the time.  He finally said, "there is one option, the lupron depot suspension injection."  I said I would think about it and research it. 
     I could not make up my mind.  Then my mother started insisting I get it.  We went to the doctor's office, and I was feeling panicky and could not go through with it.  My mother said she would give me a thousand dollars if I got this shot, but I was still really confused.  Then I just flat out refused.  We left the doctor's office, and my mother was really mad.
     But, shortly after I went back on my own and got the shot, but like I said I could not continue after the first which was supposed to be series of shots for about six months.  The profuse endless bleeding, which premarin was used to stop, estrogen from the urine of pregnant horses, as in mare.  
     Well, believe it or not, the pain stopped and I had very little problems with the fibroids.  I believe they did shrink, and because I did not continue, my ovaries remained healthy and vital.  In fact I kind of hoped I could have another child, but that did not happen, and considering how poor I am and the blindness, it would have been hard, unless I had a spouse I suppose.
     My sister wrote her story about fibroids which I read years ago, and her myomectomy, so I wanted to share mine.  I could go on all day about female problems and doctors, and painful endometrial biopsies, but I will not today.  I hope you enjoyed this article.  This all happened several years ago, so there may be new treatments now.  I do not know, and I am sure there are other cures on the horizon.
For women with problems, there are women's health activist groups, which could be found on line I would assume.  I tried to look one up in the book, No More Hysterecomies, but I could not read the small print.  I am sorry about that.