What grade is my endo?

[RTC9]

I have my lap soon but worried about being told what grade it is/ severity. After the ultrasound they said that the cyst is 5 cm but could be a cluster. Luckily I have no pain but my periods have become irregular since ttc. Has anyone else been in this situation and know what grade this sounds like?

Thank u so much

[Chrissie66]

Hi

It could be grade one but then again it could be grade four - there's no way of telling until they do a laparoscopy and see it for themselves

Also, the level of symptoms isn't always directly proportional to the grade of endo. Before I was diagnosed, I had bad periods, but nothing really horrendously awful until the cyst burst. I didn't even know I had a cyst until it burst, but when they went in to sort that out, they saw the endo for the first time, all over every organ in my abdomen and very definitely grade 4.

On the other hand I have heard stories of women spending their whole lives doubled up in pain who have got to laparoscopy only for their surgeons to find just the tiniest patch of endo, putting them in the grade 1 category. If the endo is right over a nerve ending though it's going to be painful.

Don't get too caught up in the grading thing though. At grade 4, and with the extent of endo I had, there should have been no way for me to conceive even with help. But I did, 18 times (recurrent miscarriages caused by a totally unrelated condition), all completely naturally

Good luck x

[JuCeb in reply to Chrissie66]

Yes, agree with you Chrissie. I was diagnosed as stage 4 as well last summer - severe endometriosis - but I only have issues around the time of my periods which can be quite heavy and painful (when I have them, currently on the mini pill so none at present), but this is manageable and have no other major issues.

So severity not always indicative of symptoms.

[RTC9]

Thank u both. I've just had my lap so I will soon find out xx