MP3 – YouTube
Transcript
Doctor: | Hello Miss Wells. Please come in and sit down. I’m Miss Moore, the Consultant. I’ve read your GP’s referral letter which details your history of endometriosis. I wonder if I could start off by asking you a few questions. How old are you? |
Miss Wells: | Twenty-two. |
Doctor: | Are you married? |
Miss Wells: | No, but I live with my partner. |
Doctor: | Have you ever been pregnant? |
Miss Wells: | No. |
Doctor: | And when was your last cervical smear? |
Miss Wells: | Ah…that would have been done when I went to see my GP. Probably three months ago now. It was all normal. |
Doctor: | Okay, great. Now I gather you’ve had some pelvic pain recently. |
Miss Wells: | Yes, that’s right. It started in February of this year as sharp pain in the left side of my stomach. It usually came on a few days before my period and then seemed to settle down at the end of my period. After February the pain got really bad and it wouldn’t go away, so I was admitted to hospital. The Consultant there performed a laparoscopy and it revealed that on my left ovary and behind my womb I had endometriosis. After that, he suggested I should take the pill without a break, but the pain didn’t get any better so he started me on progesterone tablets, which made me feel horrible. I put on weight and felt bloated all the time. I also developed acne – I hadn’t had that since I was a teenager – but the pain still didn’t get any better. So the Consultant readmitted me in May of this year and performed another laparoscopy and treated the endometriosis with a diathermy. After that, I was much better and the pain almost completely went away. That was until August, when it returned. It’s been slowly getting worse since then, and again, as in the beginning, it’s in my stomach and hurts just before my periods, only now the pain is there at all different times and it really hurts when I’m having intercourse, especially in certain positions. |
Doctor: | Right, I see. And are your periods regular? |
Miss Wells: | Yes, regular because I’m taking the pill again with a week’s break. The last one was about three weeks ago. |
Doctor: | What about any other health concerns? |
Miss Wells: | No, everything else is fine. I’ve never been a smoker, but I do like a drink at weekends. Just one or two though, nothing crazy. My family are all well too. No serious illness in either my mum or dad, or in my older sister. Nothing else I can think of really. |
Doctor: | Okay. And do you have any problems passing urine or with your bowel motions? |
Miss Wells: | No, that’s all good too. |
Doctor: | All right Miss Wells, I think it would be sensible to have a look at you and run some tests. Then we can chat about how to take things forward. But from what you’ve told me my initial suspicions are that the endometriosis might have come back. |
Miss Wells: | That’s what I was afraid of. Since I was first diagnosed I’ve been doing a lot of reading, so I was really worried when the pain returned. I’d like to be able to have children in the future and I’m worried it might be difficult with the endometriosis. I really don’t want to be one of those women who ends up having problems getting pregnant. I’m also really sick and tired of the pain. It’s beginning to feel like I’ll be stuck with it forever. I can tell it’s starting to affect my mood. Just ask my boyfriend. |