My story so far....

I had a benign tumour removed in 2003 and needed a yearly check up to make sure it hadn't returned for five years. During this time my periods were still a nightmare. I had a coil fitted soon after the excision of the tumour and was advised to discontinue the pill, which I did. My periods then became very irregular and I had to go back on the pill just so I could have a smear test; I was meant to be on six monthly checks as I was diagnosed with CIN1 after a Colposcopy in 2004, but had to keep cancelling the appointments because my period would always get in the way. My periods and the pain were ruling my life and I would bother my GP frequently. endometriosis was mentioned... but they refused to re-refer me to Gynae because I was already under their care for the tumour observation. I was basically give a prescription for antidepressants and told to think seriously about having children.

In 2007 after an abnormal scan I was booked in for an operation within four weeks for a suspected reoccurrence of my tumour. It was decided that due to my continuing problems with my periods that they would do a laparoscopic examination while they were there. Finally it felt like someone was listening. I had the operation and what they thought was a tumour turned out to be one of the strings from the coil tucked up inside my cervix. (I had been to my GP with concerns that I couldn't feel the strings. A quick scan in the GP surgery revealed one of the strings tucked up inside and was informed that it wouldn't work properly and advised to use another form on contraception and I'd have to live with it!! I wasn't using the coil for this, but to help my periods; how was it going to do this? It turned out that I did have endo and they cauterized some of the affected areas. I was in soooo much pain when I woke up from the op, so much so that I spent two hours in the recovery room before they brought me back into the day area and required a lot of extra painkilling drugs. It was a relief to finally have a diagnosis.

The period problems continued months after the operation and I was offered injections to stop my ovaries from working for six months. I decided against this treatment and decided to have the coil removed and go cold turkey to let my body have a rest from everything to see what it did on it's own. The result: over a year of almost pain free periods. I had a bit of pain when I was meant to have pain - the first few days of my periods and my hormones had settled down. I felt in control, but, there is always a but, it came back with a vengeance, only this time worse.

After my op I did start to notice a problem with urine frequency at night, but couldn't really put my finger on what the problem was and just put up with it. The problem got worse and by July 2009 the urinary problem had started to affect me during the day. I needed the toilet all the time, even though I didn't always pass very much, pain after passing urine, pain holding urine and sleep disruption to name a few symptoms.

I went to my GP (I'd moved GP'S in 2007, best thing I ever did) and they sent off samples and got the ball rolling with an ultra sound scan and referred me back to Gynae. To cut a very long story short, not only is my endo back, but I also have an overactive bladder, both of which are affecting my life on a daily basis. I don't want to have another endo operation yet though as my fiancée and I were planning on starting a family this year. I still have blood in my urine eight months down the line, but my consultant doesn't want to do any more tests because we are thinking about babies. After a lot more pain, tears and heartache we've decided to try some medication to relax my bladder for a few months, just to see if I can get some relief from my bladder problems and then we will try to see if I can conceive and if we have no success then I will have no choice but to get another appointment in a year's time and have surgery for my endo and overactive bladder.

So we will have to wait and see what comes first, a baby or an operation and then try again?

Thank you for reading my story.

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