More adhesion, the thick strand there is also adhesion, not a fallopian tube as you might think.
5 November 1997
It's nearing a year later that I finally got around to creating this. I'm feeling much better now. My recovery did take a while though. The following photos are not for the lily livered, they are very graphic surgery photos. These photos were taken during my first surgery, I also received a video (45 minutes-the highlights) that made some of these images make more sense. I'm afraid I don't have the bandwidth to put those videos on the web so you'll have to make due. But as there aren't too many photos of endo out there these should help.
The first surgery took four and a half hours. This was a rather unexpectedly long time to me. I was disoriented when I woke and the time was just all wrong so it freaked me out a bit. I stayed overnight at the Recovery Inn of Menlo Park. The surgery was performed by Dr. Kresh. During the surgery, Dr. Kresch found out that my previous doctor who told me I didn't need surgery was in the next operating room, and dragged him over to scold him. This man is still denying that I needed surgery. I'll just let these photos speak for themselves! I was very please to find this out. My care at the Recovery Inn was great. It was more like a luxury hotel room than a hospital. My boyfriend was allowed to stay in my room and the chair in the room even folded out into a bed for him. I give it five stars! The one complication I did have was a bladder infection. I forgot that catheters were made from rubber and since I'm allergic to latex, that's a problem. They do have them in non-rubber so don't forget to mention it if you are allergic. After the surgery, Dr. Kresch let my young man know I was okay and gave him a brief update. After I came out of the recovery room, he came in and showed me part of the surgery film or photos, I was still bleary and don't remember which...there were pictures of some sort which he explained. I stayed overnight and went home the next day. I HIGHLY recommend taking a pillow with you to place over your stomach on the way home. It helps prevent some of the vibration from the car, which for me was very painful. Don't forget to get doped up nicely first as well. I stayed in bed for the next week, and then went in a week latter on the 11th for the second surgery.
The second surgery was around 30 minutes. It was done as out patient and this made me rather scared. I talked with them and decided that if I didn't feel well enough that I would stay overnight. The second surgery I have no pictures from though I do have a brief tape of this one. It's not nearly as spectacular. Basically I had a few reformed adhesions that looked somewhat like the ones below. Dr. Kresch used a spray of water to dislodge the adhesions and hopefully discourage further re-growth.
Well now for the lovely pictures....
| This show some of the adhesive tissue on the outside of the ovary. | |
This shows adhesion between the ovary and the uteral wall. This is one of the pain causing elements of endo. This tissue is often likely to reform after a surgery. I had a second surgery a week later to prevent this from reforming. |
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More adhesion, the thick strand there is also adhesion, not a fallopian tube as you might think. |
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| The dark blue black spots are endometrial cysts on the ovary. |
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