I started I Wish This Would Endo back in 2022 because I wanted to share my experience with different products, treatments, supplements, and health modalities while trying to find something to relieve my endometriosis pain. At the time, I was terrified of having surgery, mostly because I was scared I had made the pain up in my head.

In 2023, I decided to pursue surgery after my pelvic floor physical therapist encouraged me to do so. I started researching surgeons and considered having another OB-GYN in my doctor's practice do it, but they wouldn't let me bring an advocate to my consultation, so I backed out. I ended up joining a few Facebook groups (Nancy's Nook and Michigan Endometriosis) and learned that I should see an endometriosis excision specialist. By 2024, I discovered there was only one such surgeon in the state, and his calendar was completely booked. I was told he wasn't taking new patients, which turned out to be because he was in the middle of moving practices. The moment he opened his books at his new practice in February 2025, I got on his schedule and set my surgery date for September 2025.

The waiting period before surgery is a strange place to be. My body was genuinely breaking down. I was in constant pain for those seven months and even started using a cane to get around. I was bloated and uncomfortable all the time and felt like a complete shell of a person. I was literally counting down the days.

And then finally, September 2nd, 2025, surgery day! My surgeon was so sweet and came to see me before I went back for anesthesia. He answered any last-minute questions, asked me what song I wanted playing while I went under, and asked if I was ready. I was so ready.

In pre-op, I was given a scopolamine patch and Emend for nausea, so I felt totally fine after surgery on that front.

When I got to the operating room, I told my surgeon I was terrified he wasn't going to find anything, that I'd had a nightmare about it the night before. He held my hand and said, "I wouldn't be doing this surgery if I didn't think you had endometriosis." At one point, the nurse anesthesiologist tried to put the mask over my mouth while I was still talking, and my surgeon looked at her and said, "She is talking. Please wait until she is done." When we finished talking, he held my hand while my song played. I felt like Jesus was holding my other hand as I went under. I fell asleep mid-prayer, asking that my surgeon would find something, anything, to explain why I'd been in so much pain.

My surgery was two hours long. When I woke up, I thought someone was holding my hand. To this day, I still don't know if it was my surgeon or Jesus. I asked the nurse if I had endo, and she said, "I don't know, your family will talk to you when you move to the next room." I felt deflated. Like I should have known immediately. I also had the most urgent need to pee, and the nurse brought me a bedpan, which, for the record, is nearly impossible for me to use, so I told her I needed an actual toilet. I managed a tiny tinkle, and it HURT. She gave me some pain meds and moved me to the next room, where the nurses handed me a peri bottle (game changer for the pain) and a nice cold Coke.

My family met me in that room and told me I had endometriosis and adenomyosis. They'd recorded the conversation with my surgeon. I CRIED. Not from joy or sadness, from validation. He had removed endometriosis from my sigmoid colon, rectum, uterosacral tissue on my left side, both pelvic sidewalls, and perirectal tissue on both sides. He told my family I had a lot of endometriosis.

I was given Toradol and other long-acting pain meds during surgery, which made a huge difference in my recovery. The post-op pain was genuinely so much less than what I had been living with every single day. I ended up not needing the narcotics they prescribed and just used extra-strength ibuprofen and acetaminophen. I made a point of walking around each day to get some fresh air. I also started pelvic floor physical therapy three weeks after surgery, which was incredibly helpful.

Surgery didn't cure me, but it has been the best thing I've tried so far. I'd be lying if I said I'm 100% pain free. I still have pelvic and hip pain, which is likely more anatomical at this point after years of being in pain. But I am so much better than I was last year.

Endometriosis is not a fun disease to have, but I'm making the most of it and using my experience to help others.

If you have questions about surgery, please reach out. Next up: surgery must-haves!

Happy Menstruating!

—Aubs