4 min read

No More Endo by Catherine Fulford

No More Endo by Catherine Fulford
No More Endo by Catherine Fulford
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For 8ish years I was told by countless gynecologists that my non-existent periods and excruciating “period pain” were part of being a woman and that I had nothing wrong with me. Unfortunately, I just took that as an answer and did not advocate enough for myself. It was not until June 2017 that I started experiencing severe endometriosis symptoms including pain with exercising, pain, and spotting with sex, severe back pain/kidney pain and much more. In September 2017, I met with a family practice gynecologist in Mississippi (where I lived at the time), the ninth doctor in 8 years. After explaining my symptoms and running countless tests, he stated that he thought I might have endometriosis. At that point, I had never even heard of endometriosis but when he suggested surgery, to be sure it was indeed endometriosis, and that he could get it out, I jumped right in.

Little to my knowledge at the time that was the worst decision I could have made. A week after surgery (a failed ablation) I was put on Lupron. After the 3 months of being on Lupron, I was at my wits end. All my pain was back and on top of that, I had horrible menopausal symptoms. I was crying multiple times a day, fatigued, super emotional, the hot flashes were terrible and I just did not feel like myself. I decided to seek a second opinion in Boston, at the Boston Center from Endometriosis. Again, instead of getting to the root of my pain, I was given Synarel- the nasal version of Lupron.

The band-aid approaches started making me very angry and I felt even angrier that I was taking multiple meds to counteract the Synarel and its side effects. I did as much research on endometriosis as I could. In May 2018, I stumbled across Nancy’s Nook on Facebook. After reading file after file, I decided that I personally felt I still had endometriosis ravaging inside my body and that something needed to be done about it.

I knew I was moving to Missouri in November 2018, so I sought out Dr. Patrick Yeung after seeing him on the Nook list and reading all the comments from other patients. In June 2018, I called to schedule a consult with Dr. Yeung, but I also mentioned to the scheduler that I had already had one surgery, a failed ablation and that I felt I would be in at least the 90th percentile for needing a second surgery. The scheduler agreed and I was able to get a consult scheduled in November and booked a potential surgery for December

Upon first meeting Dr. Yeung, one can tell how truly invested he is in treating patients with suspected or confirmed endometriosis. My husband and I sat through a long and detailed consultation with him going over everything from the first surgery, my lifestyle changes (including diet), and the current symptoms I was having. It was decided at the end of the consultation that another surgery was completely necessary.

On surgery day, the nurses and surgical team were so kind and understanding of my anxiety and nausea and made my experience much more pleasant prior to surgery. Flash forward 3 hours, while I was in the recovery room, Dr. Yeung spoke to my husband and parents, where they recorded him going over before and after images of the disease and excision (which I got to bring home and restudy them). I have come to find out after watching the recording; my body was infiltrated with endometriosis.

Waking up from surgery, I was in a lot of pain, but the nurses were able to manage that very well and I was soon in rest and recovery with my family and husband.

3 months post op, the pain was gone. I could not believe how much different and better I felt after this surgery than the first surgery. Surgery #1 (in Mississippi with a general OB), I could hardly move for a week after surgery, barely walking around and in a ton of pain. Surgery #2 (with Dr. Yeung), day 2, I was up walking around and truly feeling better, I could not believe the difference (it is scary not knowing what the first doctor did to make me feel so much pain). I have clear tubes, unadheared organs, and a cleaned-out uterus. I no longer have daily back pain, pain with urination and pain/bleeding with sex and exercise.

At one year post op from my excision surgery with Dr. Patrick Yeung. I had never felt better. I still had no pain, ever, no cramping pre or during my period and I had completely normal periods (which I did not have before). Post-surgery I did not need pelvic floor therapy and I did not go on any form of birth control. Knowing my husband and I wanted to start a family and under Dr. Yeung’s guidance and recommendation, I began natural family planning with the Creighton Model System. This system allowed me to track my fertility and every aspect of my cycle. It has also allowed me to become more in tune with my body than I ever had been.
After a couple months of tracking, it was clear something was not right and after some blood tests, we found out that I had a low ovarian reserve (AMH) and not ovulating.

Dr. Yeung and I (along with my husband) made a plan and went through the process of trying to treat my infertility. I started taking some medication and on the first cycle of Letrozole and METformin became pregnant with twins.  Unfortunately, I was again moving and could not stay in St. Louis and see the doctors there.  However, upon moving and finding a new obgyn, I was able to continue to stay in touch with Dr. Yeung through my MyChart and keep him up to date on my pregnancy.  We even discussed what my OB could do during a C-section to reduce the chances of further spread of endometriosis.

Today, I have 10-month-old twin girls who are as vivacious as ever.  I am still pain free, I have monthly cycles that are regular and virtually pain free and I enjoy being able to live my life to the fullest.