Getting ready for my Vulvar Vestibulectomy

Tomorrow is the big day. I am really nervous for the surgery itself and even more nervous that I'll do something to screw up the recovery. I haven't taken any medicine or vitamins all week and im going to clean my entire house this evening so that I can rest easy. I want to go to bed early so I'm well rested but I also want to eat t 11:30 pm because that's the last time I'll have a chance until tomorrow around 2pm. I usually get naucious when I don't eat but I'm hoping that's not the case tomorrow. My boyfriend will be at the hospital with me the entire time and I'm so glad he's there although he's only allowed to see me for 10 minutes during the 2 hours I sit in a recovery room directly after surgery. I bought a sitz bath and a big round doughnut pillow to use when I have to sit down. I'll post again tomorrow night after I get home or Saturday. Wish me luck!

Pre-op appointment today - part 1

Today was my Pre-operation appointment with my obgyn to discuss all the surgery details. The surgery is called a vulvar vestibulectomy and involved removing the painful skin tissue and a little bit of the area surrounding it. My doctor used a qtip to touch the sensitive area to determine what area needed to be removed. For me, it consists of the area 2pm to 8pm of the vestibule area. The vestibular glands will not be removed. Although my obgyn has only done 5-8 of this specific surgery (with all success) she is a very highly demanded surgeon at the hospital which I am going to. She says that she considers this a minor surgery with minimal risks but that all surgeries have some level of risk regardless. In my next post (hopefully tomorrow) I'll go into detail about the surgery protocol and the estimated recovery time.

Comments and questions welcome!

Why Me?

That is what I asked myself when I was finally diagnosed with Vulvar Vestibulitis about 3 years ago. I had been to 4 different doctors before getting a diagnosis and every since then, it has been an uphill battle (still far from being won). I found out something was wrong ‘down there’ when I had sex for the first time at age 17. The first time was painful, but it is for everyone, right? The only difference is for me, it didn’t get better; in fact it got worse as time went on once the psychological effects of associating sex with pain set in. Anyway, more about this later. For now I just want to give an introduction to my condition and share my story with other suffering from the same thing.

What I’ve Tried (in order for the most part):

- Amitriptolene
- Topical Lidocaine
- Premarin Estrogen cream
- Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy
- Topical Gabapentin
- Cotten sanitary pads
- Natural soap and shampoos
- Estrogen/Projesterone cream
- Estrogen/Testosterone cream
- Sea Berry Buckthorn Oil
- Calendula cream
- Calcium Citrate supplement
- Chiropractic
- Accupuncture (Just started)
- Surgery (scheduled for the end of December!)

Hopefully I didn’t forget anything… Obviously I haven’t had much luck since I have surgery scheduled for the end of the month. Feel free to comment with any questions or suggestions. I would love your input! I will work backwards in this blog and tell my story from the beginning while keeping you updated on my current progress. If you have any specific topics you want me to write about let me know!