On Endo: Tubeless…a salpingectomy!

I wrote this a few weeks back but hesitated to share until well…now.

You know those car tyres? They are apparently the better kind. Less risk of a flat. Here I am on a cold Nairobi morning….thinking how I might articulate the things I am thinking and feeling. Reduced risk. Hmmm.

I had my second surgey for majorly Endometriosis a few days ago. Very thankful that this finally happened and that I actually came out alive. Nonetheless, it still feels like some mountain I must keep climbing. And not for fun!!

Since the diagnostic surgery I had in August 2020 and the excision surgery I just had – end of July 2022, the mess in the pelvic cavity had worsened so fast!

Everything was attached to everything. Bladder to the uterus and the fallopian tubes to the uterus. Blood in the cavity. Thanks to the technology of laparoscopy, one can watch one’s surgery after.

I am thankful for the medical team at 3rd Park Hospital in Nairobi (specializing in Endometriosis) that worked on me for almost six hours to excise the endometriosis lesions, endometriomas, fibroids, adenomyosis and the adhesions caused by scar tissue. The body is wonderfully complex! It still amazes me that I would have some pain-free days given the chaos on the inside.

Well, I lost both fallopian tubes as they were irreparably damaged. Thankfully, we had discussed all this with the daktari prior to surgery. Might I ever desire to get pregnant, I would have to use the IVF route. Let’s pray the desire keeps away!! There are perks to being single! Honestly, I am just thankful to be alive NOW.

Tubeless. I remember the question on Women’s Anatomy at my June Physical Fundraiser for Surgery; How many fallopian tubes does a woman have? Seems easy for those who know a little human anatomy. Two. Right? Mostly! I am now tubeless!! And yes, I remain a woman.

The thing that stresses me is the uphill and unending journey. Yes, endo is chronic. Now that a big part of managing this endo is done…I have to decide what course of action to take to suppress this estrogen-dependent Endo. Hormones – pill/injection/implant? Pseudo-menopause vs pseudo-pregnancy? All these have side effects! Eh .. to be a woman!!

Surely, it’s for relying on God day by day. One day feels like I am beating the monster that is Endo, while the next one feels like Tolkien’s orcs in Mordor coming at me – a little hobbit from the Shire. Mine is to trust God and see what He is doing in and through me.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. – 2 Corinthians 4:7 – 10 NIV

And honestly, I have seen Yesu each step of the way. How He carries me. How He uses His people to support me in more ways than I ever dreamed. How He keeps showing me that He is Lord over all. 

May I keep remembering.

May I see Yesu

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