Don't accept a "diagnosis" of IBS without the proper tests...
#22717 - 10/07/03 02:10 PM
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Els
Reged: 09/17/03
Posts: 1
Loc: United Kingdom
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Hi,
I was "diagnosed" with IBS last year, without any proper examination by my doctor. After relentless efforts to get an accurate diagnosis, I was admitted to hospital last month for a laparoscopy.
Instead of a silly diagnostic test, the doctor had to perform a laparotomy, because all my pelvic organs were infested with endometriosis. My bowel was stuck to my left ovary and I had a huge chocolate cyst in the left ovary. No wonder I was in excruciating pain for the last year or so.
I now have to deal with the painful truth: I may never be able to have children, since my doctor waited for over a year to admit that his first diagnosis may have been wrong. My left ovary is damaged beyond repair and it is not certain that my right ovary is still ok. I'm only 26...
Please, if your doctor says you have IBS, make sure it's the correct diagnosis! I thank Heather for her wonderful books; they made me realise that my symptoms didn't match the IBS ones. Thanks to her books, the doctors maybe saved my chance of a child.
Thanks!
Els
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I would just like to say...please don't be discouraged about not being able to have children.
I don't want to fill you with false hope...but I know two women who both had endo and both had the surgeries and are both having babies. Actually the one was a friend of mine and I am covering her mat leave while she is at home with her new baby girl.
And the other one is my sister who is having her baby in a matter of weeks.
Please remain positive. Both of the ladies were told they were not able to have children and both did not use birth control because of that and now Voila!
I wish you the best,
--------------------
Lana_Marie
Proud Mommy to Bentley Taylor
Born May 12, 2004 9lbs, 3oz
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I'm so sorry that you did not have the correct diagnosis. This is why it's so important for sufferers to rule out other things before settling on a diagnosis of IBS. I read in the newspaper the other day that ovarian cancer is often misdiagnoses as IBS because it has the same symptoms---bloating, constipation, abdominal pain. By the time a patient has the diagnosis of ovarian cancer, it's uaually too late to do anything about it. I hope in your case permanent damage was not done. Like Lana Marie said, there are many women with severe endrometriosis that end up conceiving. I have a good friend that adopted 2 children and then got pregnant and had a little girl. She now is expecting again!!! Never in her wildest dreams did she think she'd be the mother of four!
Thank you for sharing your experience with us.
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