Good News, Everyone! [Sept 2012 Edition]

I don't feel up to detailing more of my treatment side effects here--some days I like to vent, other days it makes me feel self-aggrandizing and whiny. There have been a few developments in endomees in the news recently and I decided to link them here as they appear.

First of all, a long-term study was just evaluated for the use of plasma (read: LASERS!) in treating endomees. The study focused on the participants' fertility, which isn't really my bag, baby, but the results seem encouraging. According to the article,

"[t]he study...included 55 patients who had unilateral or bilateral ovarian endometriomas removed by PlasmaJet® ablation. After a mean follow-up of 20 months (range 12-39 months), 67 percent of women who wished to become pregnant had conceived, 59 percent of them spontaneously." 

The "PlasmaJet®" symbol and company information features prominently in the article, so I don't know if they paid for the study or what. But the data seems to offer hope to women with endomees, especially ones trying to conceive.

Reading this article reminded me of the comments of Libby Bruce at the Democratic National Convention this month. She discussed her struggles with endomees--a familiar story to sufferers. Unexplained abdominal pain, doctors telling her it was normal/expected/all in her head, desperation and fear. A nurse at Planned Parenthood finally diagnosed her, helped her get treatment, and Bruce eventually conceived and gave birth to her daughter, Ruby. Once again, of course, endomees is conflated with infertility. It's not that I mind treatments focusing on fertility. It makes me feel pushed a bit to the back, that's all.

At the end of last month, GUT journal released a report that suggested women with endomees have a higher incidence of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Now this is a study I can relate to. This is a heavy journal article filled with a lot of information I didn't understand (the article itself requires a subscription, but the abstract was weighty enough), but the authors' summary is pretty straightforward:

"The risk of IBD in women with endometriosis was increased even in the long term, hence suggesting a genuine association between the diseases, which may either reflect common immunological features or an impact of endometriosis treatment with oral contraceptives on risk of IBD."

 My own experiences certainly back up this conclusion. Hopefully the study leads to more investigation into, and maybe treatment for, endomees-related IBD symptoms.

Heat Wave!

So the hot flashes are in full force. At first I wasn't sure I was even having them. It's the middle of summer after all. Being hot is my default state.

Gradually I began to notice the difference between being outside-hot and inside-hot. When I'm hot because of the weather, my skin gets warm. When a hot flash hits, it's like a furnace clicks on in the center of my chest. Heat spreads out from my core and radiates off my skin. I feel like I could power a small town with the energy blasting from my body.

The flashes don't last too long, and at first they were kind of cool (no pun intended). Normal normal normal I'M A MINI SUN! normal normal normal. Now, though, they're happening ALL THE TIME.

I estimate I have about one an hour when I'm awake. Hot/spicy food or exercise seem to trigger flashes. Last night I woke up three times gasping for air and scrambling to turn on the fan.

The novelty has definitely worn off.

However, the hot flashes are infinitely preferable to the endomees. I feel physically excellent, and going supernova regularly seems a fair exchange.