Approaching My 1 Year Post-Hysterectomy Anniversary

It’s coming up to the 1st anniversary of my total hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. Not usually something to celebrate, I’m sure, but it does feel like a milestone of some sort.

It’s not been an easy year to say the very least. And, although I had already known from past experiences with Zoladex and Decapeptyl that things would be a little different, I hadn’t realized quite how different life without my ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus and cervix would actually be.

A new beginning?

Post-surgery, the loss of these organs hit me like a bull in a China shop. I felt terrible. The lack of hormones made me an emotional mess and the hot sweats, oh, the hot sweats floored me!

I learnt over the next few months quite how much hormones control in our bodies. Everything from my moods, to my energy levels, right through to my eyesight changed. I mean, I had no idea at all that the heavy fatigue I was experiencing was because my HRT dosage was too low!

I eventually found the right HRT which calmed the symptoms of menopause, but still, life was different. And I also had some stark realizations when it came to my endometriosis too.

A not so new beginning for my endometriosis

My hysterectomy wasn’t for endometriosis. It was for a variety of reasons including the fact those parts of my body didn’t work how they should, and the 14 month long period that I was experiencing, well, I simply couldn’t hack it any longer. Periods were the bane of my life. But, that huge fluffy myth of hysterectomies curing endo still lingered in my mind.

That bubble burst a few months later when the all too familiar ache in the now non-existent ovaries started. I suddenly realized that I had been thinking of my endometriosis in the wrong way. My ovaries were always the epicenter of my troubles. I had thought removing them would take away the worst of my endometriosis. But, that endometriosis is still inside me so if it likes that area the most then all I’ve done is remove the shield that my ovaries were acting as.

So, what now??

Now, as I approach the 1 year mark, there is also one other thing I am feeling. Lost.

I could always judge my endometriosis by how my periods were. So, to not have them anymore, well, it’s kind of made everything a big guessing game. Is that very painful twinge endometriosis? Is it gas? Is it something completely different?... Heck, am I imagining it!?

And, what I really want to know is, what’s next in terms of treatment? Because they’ll be no more endless combinations of contraceptive pills and devices.

I feel as if there are a lot of expectations put upon women post-hysterectomy to be cured and therefore "no further action required". But that’s just not the case.

So, here I am. A little lost, but moving into a new chapter of life with endometriosis.

The unknown awaits.