I finally had my surgery yesterday--the one that was going to diagnose and possibly treat endometriosis. I was certain that I had endometriosis. So was my mother. My doctor diagnosed it with 90% certainty.

Well, always look at out for that 10%. As, it turns out, I do not have endometriosis. I have primary dysmenorrhea. Actually, it explains my symptoms far better than endometriosis ever did. Endo could never account for the horrible pain that I got in my thigh, but that's one of the tell tale signs of dysmenorrhea. Vomiting, which commonly happens to me is also a common symptom.

"Symptoms of dysmenorrhea usually begin a few hours before the start of menstruation, and may continue for a few days." Yep, that too.

This doesn't actually change my treatment. Endo can't be cured, so treatment was just going to be pain management, which work just as well now.

I'm feeling pretty okay. Some shoulder and abdomen/stomach pain. The shoulder pain comes from fact that they filled my abdomen with gas in order to see better. This gas rose, as gas does, until it settled at the top of my shoulder. This hurts. It will keep hurting until all of the gas is gone. I was actually told to drink soda to help me burp it out (seriously). It was really bad right after the surgery, but now it's faded to the point where it doesn't feel like much more than a pulled muscle. The abdomen/stomach pain comes from the fact that they, you know, sliced me up and now the cuts hurt.

This brings me to an oddity. After a blood draw/injection/IV removal, the nurse always puts a huge piece of gauze on top of my hand or arm and stick it place with a big piece of medical tape. I usually remove them almost right away. There's never more than a few drops of blood and a little pinprick wound there. After slicing into me? They put a little piece of what appears to be medical tape over the cut and then stuck a plain ordinary band aid over it. One of the band aids had to be replaced as soon as I got home because it was so blood soaked. (The other band aid was covering the cut across my belly button. It seems that most of blood pooled in my navel. Fun.) I don't understand the logic.

I sound rather caviler about the blood draw/IV part, but the truth is that I'm downright terrified of needles. Cutting me open? A little scary, but all right. The long list of possible side effects, up to and including DEATH? I'll just count on that not happening. The intense pain afterward? It will pass. The fact that I was going to need an IV? OH GOD, PLEASE NO. SO TERRIFIED. I'M GOING TO CRY. (And I did.) And the fact that nurses kept pointing out that there was not in fact a needle in the IV; it was a piece of plastic? Not helpful, okay? I'm terrified of the idea of needles. It's an intense, irrational fear.

But the worst part in the long run was probably... ( cut for medical/female body part TMI )

The genuinely annoying part? When the nurse told me that the pain was a good thing, because it meant that I wasn't "a loose woman." Thank you for that sexist sexual judgment. May I have another?

Anyway, that concludes this update. In seven to ten days, I'll have another appointment and discuss treatment.