"Since I was diagnosed with adenomyosis, the doctor advised me to remove my uterus, but I still want to have a second child and a third child, so I don't want to. But the price is that I have been tortured by huge pain for the past few years." Wang Chunhong (pseudonym) on the hospital bed said that her greatest wish is to cure adenomyosis and live like a normal person.
Adenomyosis is also known as "immortal cancer". Many female patients suffer from dysmenorrhea and anemia for a long time, and even cannot work, which seriously affects their physical and mental health and family harmony.
There is currently no effective cure for the disease, and hysterectomy is mostly used in clinical practice. Therefore, many women seek medical treatment in order to preserve the uterus.
During the two sessions of Guangdong Province this year, Zhao Guangjun, a representative of the Guangdong Provincial People's Congress and a national moral model, "Advice on Paying Attention to Patients with Adenomyosis" drew people's attention to this special group.
How can we let the sunshine of life shine into their lives?
Recently, the reporter visited this group on the spot.
Text and photos / All media reporter Xiao Huanhuan of Guangzhou Daily
The doctor advised her to remove the uterus
But she still wants to have a second child
Wang Chunhong has dark circles around her eyes and looks much older than her actual age. If she is not reminded, it is hard to believe that she is the mother of a 5-year-old child.
In the past five years, in order to treat her adenomyosis, Wang Chunhong has been renting a house in Guangzhou.
Because of this illness, she has not been to work for two years. Wang Chunhong's mother also came to Guangzhou from her hometown in Shantou to take care of her. The burden of supporting the family falls on her husband.
She hasn't had a good night's sleep since being entangled with adenomyosis.
Every time she had an attack, she rolled on the floor in pain, and she cut her long hair into short hair for ease of care.
Wang Chunhong told reporters that she had struggled with the disease for 5 years.
"It won't kill you, but it will make you miserable." She noticed that her body was abnormal after giving birth to her daughter.
She has never had a history of dysmenorrhea before, but since 2016, Wang Chunhong has been experiencing unbearable pain in her lower abdomen every time she has her period.
"I went to the hospital for a B-ultrasound examination, and the results showed that the uterus had increased in size and the front wall was significantly thickened. The doctor said that I had adenomyosis." After that, she had two failed pregnancies.
The doctor told her that because her uterus is thickened and often combined with pelvic adhesions, it is not conducive to ovarian ovulation and embryo implantation, and the pregnancy success rate is much lower than that of women of normal childbearing age.
Wang Chunhong is a strong person.
She didn't want to stay at home and be a housewife.
But every time she got sick, she couldn't keep working at all, so she had no choice but to quit her job.
Wang Chunhong said that the most direct symptom of adenomyosis is severe dysmenorrhea, and the pain often aggravates with the menstrual cycle.
At first, painkillers such as ibuprofen capsules relieved her dysmenorrhea symptoms, but after two years, perhaps due to drug resistance and other reasons, the painkillers are no longer effective for her.
In the past few years, Wang Chunhong has sought medical consultations everywhere, and doctors in many hospitals have proposed the same plan: hysterectomy.
Because her adenomyosis lesions are diffusely distributed, and the myometrium is distributed with hundreds of small and large spots, it is these scattered lesions that make her period pain unbearable.
But Wang Chunhong never agreed to the removal of the uterus, because she has always had a wish over the years-to have another child and give her daughter a companion, but this wish has never been realized.
Because she has adenomyosis, if it can't be cured, it will be an extravagant hope for her to get pregnant and have children in the future.
This entanglement has been tormenting her.
"I don't want to have my uterus removed, it's an organ in my body, and I want to keep the possibility of having a second or third child."
But if the uterus is not removed, Wang Chunhong will face pain like ten thousand arrows piercing the heart every month.
What made her even more unbearable was that her period was extraordinarily long.
"Only two or three days a month can live like a normal person. I spend the rest of the time in pain." Wang Chunhong said.
Ten years of fighting with pain
She looks forward to being a mother one day
In the past two years, Wang Chunhong has joined many communication groups for patients with adenomyosis.
Everyone gathered together to "warm up" and exchange treatment experiences.
Like Wang Chunhong, 41-year-old Yang Mei (pseudonym) and her husband have been wanting to have a healthy and lovely baby for 10 years, but this wish has never been fulfilled.
As early as 10 years ago, Yangmei went to the hospital for examination because there was no obvious incentive for lower abdominal pain, and the menstrual flow increased significantly, and was diagnosed with adenomyosis.
At that time, the technology was immature, and the doctor only advised her to have regular check-ups without treatment.
Since 7 years ago, her dysmenorrhea symptoms have worsened. Each menstrual period lasts for more than 20 days, and her menstrual volume is 2 to 3 times that of the previous period. In addition to unbearable abdominal pain, her legs and waist are also sore.
Because of the long menstrual cycle, bayberry also has long-term symptoms of anemia, requiring daily oral Chinese medicine to stop bleeding.
Yang Mei told reporters that in the past ten years, every time she had her period, she was facing a big enemy. The severe dysmenorrhea made her restless. Since a year ago, taking painkillers can no longer relieve the pain.
Yang Mei's older sister, Yang Jie, currently lives in her home to take care of her younger sister.
She told reporters that after her sister was diagnosed with adenomyosis in a local hospital, she was told that a hysterectomy was recommended. Considering her sister's reproductive needs, she directly rejected the plan to remove the uterus.
Two years ago, Yang Mei was diagnosed with ovarian chocolate cyst in the hospital and underwent cyst removal surgery. Since then, she has had heavy menstrual flow every time she has a menstrual period, accompanied by dizziness, fatigue and other symptoms.
The doctor told her that in addition to adenomyosis, she also had pelvic endometriosis and hydrosalpinx. If the adenomyosis lesions were not removed, it would be difficult to relieve her pain and become pregnant.
Yang Jie admitted that her sister is under a lot of pressure now.
On the one hand, they have been unable to have children after ten years of marriage, and now the risk of childbearing at an advanced age is very high.
But my sister still didn't give up and still wanted to be a mother.
On the other hand, suffering from adenomyosis, my sister has never been able to work outside.
"It can be said that this disease has brought a double blow to my sister's family and career."
She has struggled with adenomyosis for a long time, and Yang Mei has become more and more aware of it. She still remains strong and optimistic. There are often patients in the group who share their treatment experience, which makes her a little more confident in her illness. .
More common in women of childbearing age
Comprehensive treatment and long-term management
"Adenomyosis is difficult to cure and easy to relapse, which seriously affects women's reproductive health and quality of life. Many patients have not been cured even after repeated treatments for more than ten years." Weng Zujian, deputy director of a maternity hospital in Guangzhou, told reporters.
According to Weng Zujian, the incidence of adenomyosis varies greatly according to different populations and statistics. Some literatures report that the incidence rate is about 20% to 30%, and there are also literature reports that the incidence rate is 15%.
The disease mostly occurs in women of childbearing age between the ages of 30 and 50.
In recent years, the incidence of adenomyosis has increased significantly and the age of onset is younger.
Among them, 35% of patients have no obvious symptoms, 15% of patients with adenomyosis have endometriosis, and 50% of patients have uterine fibroids.
Weng Zujian said that the treatment methods for adenomyosis mainly include drug treatment, surgery, etc., and individualized treatment plans should be selected according to the patient's age, symptoms and fertility requirements.
For patients with diffuse adenomyosis, due to the numerous and complex lesions and different sizes, excavation of the lesions is difficult, time-consuming, and difficult to manage postoperatively. Most of the clinical methods use hysterectomy. As a result, the patient has no uterus.
The director of the gynecology department of a tertiary hospital in Guangzhou also told reporters that adenomyosis, especially diffuse adenomyosis, has many and scattered lesions. It is difficult to clean up at one time with surgical treatment, and it is easy to recur.
The female patient population is often very distressed, and even spends their lives fighting the disease to preserve the uterus, and it is a chronic disease that requires comprehensive treatment and long-term management.
In the past, hysterectomy was required to cure severe adenomyosis.
This has a great impact on the quality of life and marriage of women of childbearing age.
However, in recent years, through technological innovation, the industry has been able to control and even eliminate lesions through drugs, surgery and other methods, such as uterine artery embolization, Haifu knife minimally invasive surgery, etc.
The pain suffered by patients with adenomyosis has also attracted the attention of Zhao Guangjun, deputy to the Guangdong Provincial People's Congress.
In 2021, he has repeatedly visited many hospitals in Guangzhou for research.
During the two sessions of Guangdong Province this year, Zhao Guangjun put forward the "Suggestions on Paying Attention to Patients with Adenomyosis". He said that the advanced technology of uterine preservation treatment for adenomyosis should be promoted. Appropriately reduce the financial burden of medical treatment for patients.