Endometriosis After Hysterectomy

[Susan]

In reply to email (which I won't post here. I respect private communications):

It's okay to try to contact me by email, but I ask that people post to the group
rather than email me because I usually delete email from people I don't know. I
try to keep discussion going on the group, but it's hard to do if I'm the only
one talking! Please post!

I'm not a doctor. You can find a lot of good information on Dr. Redwine's site:
http://www.endometriosistreatment.org/

Most women who have pelvic pain do feel better after a hysterectomy, because
hysterectomy addresses so many problems other than endometriosis -- fibroids,
adenomyosis, polyps, hyperplasia, menstrual cramps, etc. etc. But endometriosis
is the one that does NOT ocur in the uterus. Endometriosis is tissue which
resembles the lining of the uterus which is found in places other than inside
the uterus. For instance, I had a large nodule of endometriosis penetrating my
colon wall, and it was making me extremely ill -- but removing my uterus would
have done nothing to address it. Endometriosis might be found anywhere in the
pelvis, so taking the uterus away doesn't always stop endometriosis pain.

People sometimes misunderstand and think I'm suggesting that hysterectomy is a
dumb idea. I don't mean to suggest that. Hysterectomy can be helpful in many
situations, but we shouldn't get drawn into the mindset that hysterectomy is the
mandatory course of action for any and all forms of pelvic pain. Hysterectomy
is not inevitable for every woman with an endometriosis diagnosis. I think it
is important to understand what it is that is being treated. There have been
too many women who had hysterectomies without removal of endometriosis who
continued to have pain, who were then referred for counseling (the "all in your
head" approach) rather than referred for more thorough endometriosis surgery.

I hope that might be helpful!

--Susan Strandskov