A little more than six months ago, I wrote about receiving my thirteenth chronic diagnosis, plantar fasciitis. I did not expect that I would be writing so soon about the next one.
And yet, here we are – adenomyosis – a condition where uterine tissue grows into the muscle. It is similar to endometriosis, but the one symptom I have is only related to adenomyosis. It’s common, especially in women who have had kids (I have not), and right now, it is no more serious than my other nuisance conditions. It causes me to make minor accommodations but does not interfere with how I live my life. This could change if it causes my intermittent anemia to become more present.
But it’s hitting me hard. Maybe harder than it should. That’s because most of my diagnoses make sense. Several are related to nerve damage incurred during my rebellion against diabetes. I hope they don’t, but I sort of expect those. Even the plantar fasciitis wasn’t a surprise because I, like so many others during the pandemic, stopped wearing shoes when I stopped leaving home. I have gotten used to developing conditions in this mold. I really thought I was done breaking new ground.
Adenomyosis is definitely new ground. It is wholly unrelated to anything I have dealt with before, and it indicates damage, or at least dysfunction, to a system I thought was ok.
For a few hours, I just wanted to talk to my mommy, which is impossible, of course.
Being sad about this new development doesn’t negate the fact that I have to deal with it, though. I have plenty of nuisance conditions, the ones that fly under the radar until they don’t. They can be treated fairly easily.
But easy does not mean simple. As I consider the options open to me, I will have to go over how each one might impact the other thirteen. First step: doing research from credible sources. I knew nothing about this condition, not causes (no one knows), treatments (complicated for me), or prognosis (nuisance only, it shouldn’t be more dangerous than that).
Second step: considering treatments. There are three, none of which are straightforward. I can take over-the-counter anti-inflammatories but those can exacerbate kidney disease, so no. I can increase the hormones I am taking, but that can increase both blood pressure and blood sugar. I do not want to jump into the vicious circle of increasing some medications to just to treat the side effects from another medication. So, maybe. I can also get a hysterectomy. Flat no. That would violate my no-invasive-treatments-unless-absolutely-necessary rule (see: putting off cataract surgery for 16 years and counting).
As all of this was swirling around in my head, a friend who is an advocate in the women’s health space, and who has gone through all of this herself, texted me about something unrelated. So, I asked her. I went over everything I was thinking – the risks of increasing hormones; that the semi-permanent option one doctor was pushing wasn’t what I wanted; talking over my options with the doctors who know me best; and including the possibility of stopping the hormone medication completely in the discussion. She thought I was on the right track, which made me feel better.
Now I just have to have those discussions and make a decision. Just. Ha!
The good news is that this condition should go away when my reproductive system retires (menopause). Hopefully in a decade or less. If only they all did that. Until then, I will have to make myself more comfortable with breaking new ground.