Scheduled for a bisalp, but scared about also having possible laparoscopic ablation

Surgery related

So, first of all, I'm not actually diagnosed with endometriosis right now, it's just a possibility. But I'm scheduled for a bisalp next month, and my surgeon mentioned that my symptoms sounded endometriosis-y and that he could also look for endo & get rid of any that he found. At first I was excited. I've always had excruciating pain with my periods and wondered if endometriosis might be the cause, and this surgeon was the first person to take me seriously about it. The idea of my symptoms improving even a little bit felt miraculous, and I started looking forward to my surgery day. However. This surgeon was planning on using ablation to destroy endometriosis rather than excising it. I wouldn't've thought anything of that before, but now that I've been reading threads in here I'm kind of scared. My symptoms are bad but not completely debilitating, and the idea of them getting worse instead of better after ablation is terrifying.

Do you think you would go through with possible laparoscopic ablation in this situation, if it at least meant getting a diagnosis? Do you think it would be better to call my surgeon's office and say that I'd like the diagnostic surgery without the ablation or any kind of removal? Is diagnostic surgery with no removal even a thing that surgeons do? I also don't know if I'd ever be able to see an endo specialist if I do have it. There aren't many in my state, and the few that we have are hours away from me and might not even take my insurance. I'm really leaning towards calling tomorrow and asking for nothing to be cauterized but I'm also afraid that I'm making a mistake and missing my chance for things to get better. Maybe I'm letting myself get scared by the fact that bad experiences are more likely to be posted online than good ones. I don't know anymore, maybe this is more of a vent than a request for advice. It's hard having no idea what I should or shouldn't do, I've been trying to navigate all of this for years and it never gets any easier. Even the thing that I had so much hope for last week has turned into yet another source of stress.

I'm also getting a mirena IUD placed while I'm out, so maybe that will help me enough that I won't have to worry about any sort of removal. Or maybe it'll hurt so badly that I'll be back a week later begging them to get it out of me.

Posted Jun 23, 2025, 4:15 AM UTC

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