hi and welcome to the group. i do want to say that a hysterectomy does NOT cause endometriosis and fibromyalgia. your sister had to have endometriosis beforehand and it still grew after her surgery. btw fibromyalgia and endo can go hand in hand. secondly some women have whats called cystic endometriosis. this is when there are cysts on top of the endometriosis. endo can look different depending on the woman. some have black tar like areas, while others can have red or white lesions.

with the lap there are risks but thats with ANY surgery. the precedure itself takes between 30-45 mins or more depending on what they find and remove meaning thick scar tissue and endo/cysts. they do put a tube down your throat to monitar your breathing but you will be sleep when they do this so you wont know anything... when you wake up from surgery the tube is out. they do put carbon dixide gas into your stomach to sepearte the organs to have a better look around. you will have gas pains in your shoulders that can be painful. some women get relief with anti-gas pills but it works to keep moving around. the doctor will remove anything they see (make sure its excisized NOT lazered) lazer only removes the top layer and endo continues to grow but excision is when they cut out endo completely! everyone is different so your length of time you feel better can vary. i was back on my feet in 3 days but its best to take 1 wee off work just to be safe. you will also have 2-4 smll incisions. one in or near your bely button and the others on your lower pelvic region. i have no scarring with mine. you need to have the lap to be diagnosed with endo!

good luck! hope this helps :) if you need anything else sont hesitiate to message or add me as a friend. feel better and baby dust to you and the hubby

Hi Kuno,

As far as I understand, chocolate cysts refer to endometriomas that can develop on the ovaries due to endometriosis. They are blood filled cysts, that is why they are called chocolate cysts due to their dark color.

If you do have endometriosis what they are feeling is probably an endometriosis implant. Google the rectovaginal pouch. Endometriosis can spread there....in that area between the top of the vaginal and the rectum. I had it in the cul-de-sac, which is the area between the rectum and the uterus. I'm just taking a guess though, cause your doctor would know more of course. Did you google vaginal cysts? I'm not familiar with those. I'm just guessing if it is endometriosis, that might what they are feeling.

Try not to worry too much about the laparascopy. I just had one done a little over a week ago, and I'm feeling pretty darn good.....went Christmas shopping last night for 5 hours! You will be under general anesthesia. They will give you something via your IV on the way back to the OR to help you relax, and then you really won't remember much. At least this way, you will find out what is going on. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to message me. I know how overwhelming stuff can be :)

Thank you Sabby and Lucy.

Sabby- As both my sister and my mother had ovarian cyst, you are likely correct that the endo came first, but my sister had no fibromyalgia until after the hysterectomy.

I am not thrilled about having a tube stuck down my throat, but it is a relief to know that this will only occur while I am asleep. Also, is it just for monitoring breathing? Some website I went to claimed that it is an actual respirator that breathes for you, and that is what mostly scared the crap out of me. I also will certainly keep excision in mind. I keep hearing it is the gold standard.

Another fear I have is if they do find endometriosis in other regions such as an ovary, will they excise it? I certainly do not want this to happen as I want children.

I certainly should look up cystic endometriosis. It sounds exactly like what my doctor was describing (a mass filled with blood). I remember her saying that she did not want to lance it during my current visit because she was uncertain whether it was clotted or fresh blood? Any idea what that could mean?

Lucy- I googled vaginal cysts, and it did not describe what I had. One was caused by trauma (I have had none), and the other appeared to actually occur possibly on the vulva or the lower part of the vagina. My cyst or endo was found in the upper back wall of my vagina, one third of the way down from my cervix. Would this be in the recto-vaginal pouch? I'm statring to feel like an anatomy fool LOL! I DID read that the upper section of the vagina can at times be made up of tissue much like that of the uterus. Perhaps this is the answer? I had HPV as a kid and asked if it could be a result of this, and she said defiantly no, that this was completely different.

Another question. Is it possible to have endometriosis in a place such as the vagina WITHOUT it having been spread from another region such as the ovaries?

Sabby- My sister also has abhesions. Could this have been a result of the hysterectomy?

yes adhesions can form for many reasons such as having an infection, surgery and endometriosis. anything that disrupts the peritoneum fluid can cause scar tissue. when the body becomes inlammed the body tries to heal itself and creates scar tissue. also whenever you are hooked up to a breathing tube it has to breathe for you. you wont know anything thats going on. you can wake up with a sore throat after so just eat some ice chips to soothe it. also if they do find endometriosis on the ovary they will excize or lasor it depending on what the doctor does. keeping the endo on the ovaires can damage them more and affect ovulation/fertility. removing it can help restore the fertility of the ovaries and jumpstart ovulation. and yes it is possible to have endometriosis grow in ANY fashion. the thing with endo is it can grow ANYWHERE even outside on the skin. my doctor has seen cases in womens eyes, lungs, heart lining and brain. im not trying to scare you but you do have to know that it can grow anywhere in the body and its not something you want to leave untreated

Kuno,
Yep the area you are describing sounds like it would be the recto-vaginal pouch area. When I saw the endo specialist, he did an exam and that area was clear on me. There were no painful spots like you describe. So it sounds like you have endo in that area. My endo was higher up in the space between the uterus and rectum.

I imagine it would be possible to just have endo in that spot. It depends on how invasive yours is. Common places are the ovaries, fallopian tubes, utero-sacral ligaments, spaces between the vagina/rectum, rectum/uterus, and the bladder, oh and the lining of the pelvic cavity. I'm trying to remember what he told me haha. So I'm guessing from what your doctors says you could assume you have it on your ovary and in the space between the vagina and rectum.

You definitely want the endo excised. No burning or junk like that. Unfortunately, most regular gyns do that. Imagine endo is a like an iceberg. You need someone who can go in and not only get the top, but get the root of the endo. Most gyns just burn the surface, which all it does is add an acute inflammation on top of a chronic inflammation. I hope that helped you a bit. Let me know if you have any other questions. :)

@ Kuno, yes when they insert the breathing tube it is breathing for you. You are put to sleep for the surgery so they have to make sure you are breathing. You will be asleep when they put it in and take it out so you won't know what's happening. And you may have a minor sore throat afterwards but it should'nt be too bad. if endo is found on your ovaries if has to be excised. It will not take away from your fertility. If it is left untreated it will get worse and you won't want that at all. A chocolate cyst is endo so yes it can be found anywhere not just on ovaries.