After I had my ultrasound, it must have been a week before pain levels subsided, which isn't normal. Well, it's probably pretty normal for me, all things considered.
When I had my follow up phone call with the gynaecologist I made sure to let her know that I was in quite a lot of pelvic pain and discomfort following the ultrasound.
As I already knew, the scan didn't reveal any big problems. I had another call with the gynaecologist this afternoon and she said that the scan did show that I had a "coarse" uterus lining and congestion. The latter I'm already familiar with due to my diagnosis years ago of Pelvic Venous Congestion Syndrome.
The next stage of investigations is to send me for a hysteroscopy. The procedure itself starts off sounding like a smear test but instead of having my cervix poked with a fancy cotton bud, they'll be sending a camera up there to have a better look at the uterus lining and also to take a biopsy. Thankfully, they can still carry out the procedure with the coil in situ.
I'm awaiting confirmation of my appointment but the date I was offered was 7th of June. It's a Friday, for which I am grateful. Considering how much pain I was in after the ultrasound, I am expecting a similar post-procedure experience. The procedure will involve anaesthetising my cervix but I am intending to make sure I am codeined up before I get there.
I had a microgoogle (very quick dip into Google) for "coarse uterus lining". It basically means thickening of the uterus. Considering I have had the coil in place for a number of years which is supposed to keep that kind of behaviour in check, I can't help but wonder what it might be like without it! I suppose it would be nice to know there was some proof that some of my treatment options have been working.
One of the causes of this thickening, according to Dr. Google is a condition called Adenomyosis. This condition has already been familiar on my radar for a while as it's quite common in conjunction with Endometriosis. With Endometriosis you have tissue similar to the endometrium growing outside of the uterus, whereas Adenomyosis is where the tissue burrows into the muscle wall of the uterus.
There's also Endometrial Hyperplasia which is a pre-cancerous condition. I know, I know, it sounds very scary, but what it really means is that it can be cancerous in some women, so I'm not unduly worried, and this is all speculation on my part. The gynaecologist, smartly, didn't say anything about what they could be potentially looking for, that's the point of the procedure, to follow where the evidence takes us. I dipped back out of Google after that.
It occurred to me that perhaps I have endometrial polyps again. My second laparoscopy found them and I had to have a "scrape out", which thankfully took place there and then.
I'm going to put it all out of my mind now that I've splurged some words at a screen and then we'll wait and see what the investigations reveal in a few weeks.
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