Preparing for Surgery

I arranged to take a full 3 weeks off work. My Dr. made it sound like I might be pretty okay after 2 weeks, but I feel like all doctors lie about recovery times. Plus, I have a pretty low pain threshold, so I didn’t want to have to go back to work before I was ready.

There wasn’t a lot to really “do” to prepare for the surgery. From all the reading I had done, I started taking stool softener a few days before the surgery.

Deciding to Have Surgery

Even when I had exhausted all the other options and the Dr. told me that I should have the surgery, I just did not want to accept it. I was in denial and didn’t want to face the pain of surgery.  I kept hoping that if I just waited long enough, it would magically heal.

 
About nine months later, I finally faced the truth that I would not be getting better without surgery. So I called the Dr. and met with him once more and scheduled the surgery.

Exhausting Other Options

The Dr. was very understanding of my aversion to having surgery. So he was on board with the idea of trying other options first. I tried a couple different creams – one of them was estrace and I also tried using lidocaine. Neither of these was successful. Just applying the creams was quite painful and I experienced a lot of burning. Physical therapy wasn’t even ever discussed – likely because my source of pain was not muscular at all. Finally the Dr. told me that he really thought that I should have the surgery.

Find the Right Doctor

I met with the new Dr. shortly after and explained what I was experiencing. He told me he thought it sounded like vulvar vestibulitis. He did a quick 1 minute “exam” in which he very gently touched the area with a q-tip. And man did it hurt! From the exam it was obvious that I had finally learned what had been plaguing me. I was so relieved to know what was wrong with me. However, the relief was short lived when I learned that the best option for me would be surgery.

Dr.'s That Suck

During this time, I went to my gynecologist (we’ll call him Dr. Clueless) and told him what I was experiencing. He had no idea what was wrong and mostly had the attitude of “you need to toughen up” or “it’s all in your head”. He would try to give me my yearly exam and I would bawl throughout the whole thing.  It was very traumatic.

Finally, at one of my appointments, Dr. Clueless was out of the room and a physician’s assistant was in the room with me. She told me that I should come make an appointment with another Dr. she had been working with – who specializes in pelvic pain. (I have never been more pissed off at a Dr. when I realized that Dr. Clueless is colleagues and works in the same office as this man who specializes in pelvic pain and he never thought to refer me to him when he didn’t know what the hell was going on with me. It would have saved me a year of pain and wondering what the crap was wrong with me if he’d been a decent person and referred me.)

When It All Started

It’s hard for me to pinpoint when exactly my vulvar vestibulitis began. I had been sexually active for a while with no problems . I was always able to insert tampons without a problem. About 3 months after I was married I started to experience consistent pain when having sex. It worsened over time. After another 3 months or so, intercourse was out of the question.