Successful surgery ends years of agony

A 30-year-old woman says she feels like a ‘‘new person’’ after a hysterectomy she spent more than a year waiting for.

Sinead Hodder, of South Auckland, was in excruciating daily pain from what doctors told her was endometriosis.

After surgery four weeks ago, she was told it wasn’t endo, but adenomyosis, which occurs when endometrial tissue grows into the muscle of the uterus.

‘‘It’s endo’s ugly sister,’’ Hodder said. Despite being in recovery after having her uterus, fallopian tubes, right ovary and cervix removed, the Weymouth mother-of-three said it was ‘‘amazing’’ to no longer be in constant pain. ‘‘If I do get pain – Panadol works! Who would have thought, it hasn’t worked for the past four years.’’

Before the surgery, Hodder was getting through the day on a cocktail of opioids and nerve blockers.

It’s the small things she’s enjoying. Cooking dinner in 40 minutes is a revelation – she used to have to start at 3pm to get dinner on the table by 6.30pm because she needed so many breaks.

Hodder has an 11-year-old daughter and 3-year-old twins. The pain started in August 2019 when she had a termination less than a year after giving birth to twins. Two years prior, doctors had found endometriosis when she had surgery after a miscarriage.

‘‘I’m able to do things with the kids I haven’t been able to do since they were born,’’ she said.

Jumping on the trampoline, visiting the beach, going for bike rides, ‘‘having a dance party with my kids like we did last night . . . and I didn’t cry, because I wasn’t in pain’’.

‘‘I don’t even know what this life is, but I love it.’’

As well as looking forward to summer, Hodder is itching to find a job after years as a stay-at-home mum. Before, chronic pain made work impossible. ‘‘Now I’ll be able to actually do something without ending up in agony within half an hour.’’

Finding out it was adenomyosis, not endometriosis, causing the pain was good news. Removing the uterus removes the root of the pain for adenomyosis, whereas endometriosis involves the tissue growing outside the womb, so it can recur even after a hysterectomy.

Hodder always suspected it wasn’t just endo. Now she feels vindicated, but frustrated she wasn’t listened to.

She also remains concerned for other women in her position.

When she got a call, two days after her story was published by Stuff, telling her a surgery date was available on November 5, she said she went quiet after the initial excitement.

‘‘What about all the other people who suffer from chronic illnesses and can’t get any treatment?’’ she asked.

She said her anxiety is better since the surgery and her outlook on life has changed.

‘‘I’m a lot more upbeat constantly because I don’t think I’m being let down by the system.

‘‘I was for so long, and it took an article for them to hear my voice, which sucks, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.’’