Endometriosis Excision Surgery with Dr. Stephen Hickner Changed My Life

Picture of me after my excision surgery post-op appointment with Dr. Stephen Hickner.

I didn’t know how much my life would change after receiving expert excision surgery for my endometriosis pain and symptoms back in early June of 2019 (June 4th to be exact and yes, I will probably remember that date forever).

A part of me was hopeful, I wanted this surgery to work and at least minimize some of the chronic pain that had turned me life completely upside down the previous year. I had done so much research in Nancy’s Nook (a Facebook group dedicated to self-directed learning on endometriosis) after my first laparoscopy in late December 2018 confirmed endometriosis. Unfortunately, that surgery didn’t really do much for my pain, and created a new pain symptom. Nevertheless, I tried to find new ways to manage this disease that had finally been found and confirmed via pathology.

That alone was validating. The pain wasn’t all in my head – I had a disease that’s nearly impossible to find without surgery.

While in Nancy’s Nook, I learned why surgery with a regularly trained gynecologist is not the best course of treatment and learned that seeing someone with a more focused skill set of understanding and surgical training for endometriosis was the best way to go. The problem? There are not very many around in the United States – around 200 was the last estimate, which is not nearly enough considering 1 in 10 women have this disease.

Thankfully, I did find a surgeon recommended through Nancy’s Nook in the state of Michigan, down in Ann Arbor. I immediately made an appointment to meet with Dr. Stephen Hickner and only had to wait a few weeks to see him for my first consult after just previously having my first surgery.

My first consult with Dr. Hickner went really well – I felt like I was heard and while my previous laparoscopy surgery photos didn’t show anything alarming or potentially any endo missed, Dr. Hickner agreed to do another surgery since my pain was persisting and from feeling two different types of pain. I also agreed to another surgery and opted in for the DaVinci robot method because I wanted the camera to scan my tissues as close as possible this time. The other reason I wanted another surgery was because I was not seeing much improvement in any areas after my first one from my gyno, this is not uncommon, and decided to listen to my body.

Did I want to go through another surgery? No, surgery is hard. Recovery is hard. But was this an easy decision to make? Yes, because I listened to my body and felt that it was trying to tell me that something still wasn’t right even though I was already cut into and looked at.

Dr. Hickner also noted that I had some serious pelvic floor dysfunction during my pelvic exam and recommended I start pelvic floor physical therapy – he is the only person on my health care team to acknowledge this issue throughout this entire time of trying to find a diagnosis. I did take his advice and went to pelvic floor physical therapy prior to his surgery (and again after the surgery once I was fully healed – I plan to write a post specifically on this experience alone so hold tight).

As my date for excision surgery approached, I became more anxious. A part of me really wanted this to work, to relieve some pain so I could catch a break, and truly believed that my gyno missed some endometriosis.
Another part of me, which was created by constant tests/scans/etc. coming back ‘normal’ when I went undiagnosed, was petrified and full of doubt. What if he went in and didn’t find more endo? What if I cannot find out what is causing this chronic and debilitating pain? It was so overwhelming.

The day before my surgery it felt like everything was going wrong. We didn’t get to leave our house on time, we had a hard time finding the motel on the hospital campus (because I was the first surgery and had to check in around 6 AM), we couldn’t find any decent restaurants opened late that offered gluten-free/nutritious choices and of course, I was wired from not knowing what was going to happen or be found tomorrow so I couldn’t sleep much.

The morning of my surgery arrived and this time I did something different than my first lap surgery and truly believe this helped me mentally and physically. I meditated. I let my mind just stop and pause briefly then put my trust in myself – that following my instincts on getting this surgery was the right path to take no matter what happened, this decision was the best one I could make. I told myself if he didn’t find any endo, I could close the book on it and investigate other pelvic pain generators and if he did find any remaining endo, he would properly excise it. It was a win-win situation.

Checking in for surgery went well, but I was a little bummed that the hospital had a 2 visitor per patient limit, but it was helpful to see my mom and the love of my life before going under. Dr. Hickner also came in to see me and we confirmed the game plan: he will go in and look at everything, along with removing anything suspicious. It wasn’t too long after that before the anesthesia team came in to see me, who were great and made me feel very comfortable, and then I was out.

Upon waking up in recovery, I saw my parents and boyfriend there sitting and waiting for me to come back around. They let me know that they already spoke with Dr. Hickner and that he did think he found more endo but wanted pathology to confirm it all. Immediately, tears of happiness and overwhelm hit me – I’m sure the anesthesia also played a role in this as it often makes me emotional upon waking up, but it felt so reassuring to hear that he found more endo.  

After a very rough recovery from the anesthesia, I was discharged around 10 PM and don’t remember much of the car ride home. Once I got home though, I was so happy to be there in my own house with anything I needed to make recovery better. This time around, I was a little bit smarter with managing my post-op pain, the bloating/gas pain, eating well and made sure I was up and moving slowly every hour or so to help avoid any blood clots.

Within one week of recovery, I already noticed an unbelievable improvement, which blew my mind.
As we went to my post-op appointment at Dr. Hickner’s office, I still wasn’t feeling great post-op (my body is very sensitive to meds and tends to take a while to flush everything out). However, Dr. Hickner went over my surgery photos and my pathology report with me, which confirmed over half of what he removed confirmed endometriosis. He also said that he’s very confident that I would not need another surgery for endometriosis for a very long time, maybe 8-10 years, and only if I noticed the pain coming back.
I couldn’t believe it – it was such an amazing feeling to be validated and told that endometriosis is something I could finally close the book on!

Since that surgery, I cannot even begin to tell you how much my quality of life has improved. I was able to slowly start doing my daily walks on my treadmill, go kayaking with my boyfriend, walk my dog further than I had in months, I could work more from home and so much more, and the pain was completely missing. I think I will always remember where I felt that distinct pain, which was likely caused from my endo, no matter how much time passes. I remember being out on the kayak in the middle of a lake telling my boyfriend and pointing where my pain exactly used to be and that my body and mind was so confused because it was just gone. It’s such a bizarre experience to feel that pain, which became a part of you and your life for so long, vanish into thin air.

With all that being said, this is one of the main reasons I have been missing from my blog. I have been busy getting my life back in order now that I had a very successful excision surgery with Dr. Hickner in Ann Arbor, Michigan and have fully recovered.

I just finished up my second round of pelvic floor physical therapy with such an amazing and kind physical therapist, Lisa Priestap located in Flint, Michigan. We waited until I was fully in the clear and healed up far enough after my excision surgery and wow – was this round of pelvic floor physical therapy so different compared to my first round before surgery. When I was recently discharged, I reflected on all my progress with my pelvic floor muscles and movement and am so happy I stuck with it. Pelvic floor physical therapy was a hard journey for me – not just because of the mild to moderate pain from my pelvic floor dysfunction but it was really hard on me mentally too (and yes, I plan to share more about my experience with this in that other article I mentioned so stayed tuned).

Now that I have wrapped up my second round of pelvic floor physical therapy, I am on my way to see a nutritionist who focuses on women’s health issues including endometriosis and interstitial cystitis and am getting ready to start that next step for long-term relief and disease management. I will also be training to become a certified Yoga Teacher to deepen my own practice and to create new routines that work well for my health issues, along with hoping I can share these practices with others who are looking for routines dealing with chronic pelvic pain. I will also be getting a full body massage once a month to see if that helps me feel better overall as well. I continue to meditate and journal daily, which has impacted my mentality so positively that I truly believe now that I’ve practiced for over a year, this is something I will never stop doing daily.

In case you can’t tell, I want to do anything and everything I can to keep my body healthy and happy, along with keeping my mentality strong. Your optimal health is a process and will not happen overnight, but I can truly say that everything I have done so far has made a positive difference in how I feel and am confident about my next steps and that the new year will also bring forth a positive change as I continue to implement new changes to feel better day to day and for long-term endo management.

I feel like I’m finally ready to live my life, to the fullest, even with my endo and other health issues, and that is such a powerful and comforting feeling after such a long and traumatic battle.

To all of you, whether you’re starting fresh in your undiagnosed journey or starting the next steps to make you feel better overall long-term and manage your chronic illness(es), please know that I am cheering you on and sending you all the positive juju possible because I want you to live your life to the fullest, no matter what health conditions you have to endure.

Stay strong and take it one day at a time, in the best way you know how.