Who's in Charge Here?

My health and body first began to dictate parts of my life in 2004. The summer before I began my freshman year in college, my left knee was becoming increasingly more painful. I tore my ACL playing soccer in 2001 and had surgery to repair it. It turns out that there was more damage done to the meniscus and knee joint itself from that injury than the doctors originally thought, and I had already developed progressive arthritis. My orthopedic doctor at the time thought I would benefit from a quick arthroscopic surgery to help "clean up" the joint. By the time the surgery was scheduled, it was a month before I was supposed to move into the dorms. It wasn't supposed to be an issue because I would be able to walk normally within a week after my surgery. Well, it turns out that the arthritis was so bad that almost all of my cartilage in my knee was gone, so the doctor did some drilling into my bone marrow to try to promote new cartilage growth. I could not put weight on it for 6-8 weeks while that healed, which meant that I got to start college on crutches.
You know what's not a fun time? Learning your way around campus while on crutches, and having to make your roommate help you carry your books to and from your classes, and have to carry your tray in the cafeteria because you can't use crutches and carry a tray of food. It was pretty miserable, but luckily my roommate was very sweet and never seemed to mind helping out.

My knee was never really the same after that. The surgery didn't help my pain much, and a year later I ended up getting a series of injections in the knee to build up the synovial fluid to create more padding in my knee in the hopes that it would reduce my pain. It helped for a little while, but I was told by the doctor that this was going to be an ongoing issue for the rest of my life, and it would be in my best interest to try to preserve my knee and to avoid a career where I would be on my feet a lot. Well the joke was on me, because I was going to college for nursing, which is very labor intensive and you are constantly on you feet. Ok... so now what?

I did a lot of soul searching and tried to find a balance between finding a career in the health care field, and finding something that I would realistically be able to do long term given my current circumstances. The daily knee pain was a constant reminder that it was not going away any time soon. I decided to transfer to a different school and major in Diagnostic Medical Sonography, also known as Ultrasound. I loved the program and loved that I could still be an active member in the health care community, just in a different way than I had originally planned.

My knee pain persisted, but it went on the back burner of my mind for a while because in 2006, the year I began the Ultrasound program, I began suffering from very severe pelvic pain. I have always had very painful periods, but birth control therapy had pretty much kept it in check. The pain I was experiencing in 2006 was a whole new beast. It was constant, searing, throbbing, burning, cramping and NOTHING helped it. I remember nights of just laying on the floor curled up in a ball crying because it hurt so bad and I didn't know what to do. I went to two different Ob/Gyn specialists who pretty much blew me off. One told me that I probably just pulled a muscle. I could have punched her! The only thing worse than being in excruciating pain and not knowing why, is having a doctor not believe you. My determination in finding an answer led me to a wonderful Gyn surgeon who not only believed me, but also promised to get to the bottom of it.

I had my first exploratory abdominal laparoscopy in 2007 and was diagnosed with endometriosis and interstitial cystitis. This surgeon did what she could to remove the endometriosis that was implanted throughout my pelvic cavity and on my bowels, but it was not her expertise, so I was referred to a doctor that specialized in treating endometriosis. My pelvic pain returned, and within 6 months I had my second laparoscopy to more effectively remove the endometriosis. My interstitial cystitis (also known as painful bladder disorder) was treated with weekly catheter instillation treatments which filled my bladder with lidocaine to help numb the pain, and then a daily oral medication, which I still have to take. My endometriosis specialist told me that if I ever wanted to have children that I should seriously consider doing it soon before scar tissue became a problem and caused infertility. Try swallowing that news at age 21 while you are still in college and all you ever wanted was to be a mom someday.

I though your 20's were supposed to be fun! I was not out to a good start!
Little did I know, this was peanuts compared to what laid ahead of me.