What it feels like to be 3 weeks post-endometriosis excision surgery

I’m officially 3 weeks post-op from my first (+ hopefully only) endometriosis excision surgery. 

If you’re new to me, my name is Rita Utterback and I’m a functional nutritionist with endometriosis that helps women with endo, adenomyosis, PCOS, fibroids, gut issues + perimenopause feel amazing in their bodies again without restrictive diets.

I was diagnosed with endometriosis 14 years ago (at stage 1) and have previously had 2 laparoscopic ablation surgeries for it, but most recently had excision surgery which is the gold standard of treatment for endometriosis and yields the lowest recurrence (~5-20% rate).

For years, I was managing my symptoms naturally without birth cobtrol + was able to keep most of them at bay. However, last year was one of the hardest years of my adult life, stress was at an all time high + I spent most of the year feeling like a shell of a human.

And when I’m feeling LOW like this + just this out of alignment, my body really keeps the score. Every few months, I’d have an ovulation period that would completely wreck me– I’m talking DEBILITATING pain from my lower abdomen all the way up to my diaphragm that made it hard to walk for days at a time, function and almost landed me in the ER a few times because I couldn’t get my pain under control.

And then starting in March of this year, I began having DAILY + intense pain in the right lower part of my abdomen. It legit felt like muscle spasms in my core and I was like ????? 

It would happen every single night + would wake me up from sleep (WEIRD). First, it would start in the second half of my cycle, but then it eventually became an everyday thing, no matter the time of month. 

My sleep was awful, and if you have endo, you know how important sleep is for improving pain :( So I felt STUCK and couldn’t take it anymore.

I’d had ENOUGH so I went to see a new OBGYN who did an ultrasound and found a 6 cm endometrioma (aka a “chocolate cyst”) + another complex cyst on my right ovary. Based on my symptoms, it was pretty obvious it was stuck. So I did my research and consulted with an endo excision specialist in Summerville, SC + got my surgery booked.

While I waited for surgery, I hired a pelvic floor PT because I knew I had a history of pelvic floor dysfunction + this helped bring me a LOT of relief pre-surgery– The spasms finally stopped happening at night + it helped me FINALLY get some sleep without waking up in pain!

The surgery was performed via the DaVinci robot and stage 3 endometriosis + adenomyosis were found, but NO deep infiltrating endo (DIE). 

I had endo in my cul-de-sac (the area between my rectum + uterus), all over my bladder, both ovaries (The R contained the large endometrioma + the L had a tiny one) with adhesions all over my ovaries + pelvis. No bowel endo was found. Both ovaries were stuck to my pelvic walls, but my right one was completely stuck + unsalvagable so they removed it and my fallopian tube.

The first week post-op was great and the pain that I had gone in with was gone! Maybe it was the pain meds, anesthesia or the LITTLE movement, but I was feeling good + hopeful!

But just before week 2 hit, I started to have more pelvic/ bladder pain + pain with a lot of walking. 

Honestly, It was very humbling at times.

For a few days, I was wondering if I’d made a huge mistake and had taken a few steps back on my journey. And some days I’d just cry because healing isn’t a linear journey + some days are a little harder than others.

That intense pain with peeing + bowel movements has since improved tremendously. But I’ve had bouts of intense fatigue.

Honestly sitting here at week 3, fatigue feels to be my biggest symptom at the moment. 

And maybe some hormonal fluctuations since my cycle has been weird/missing post surgery lol.

But I am still healing + trying to ease my way back into my regular routine + my business. I can tell my body is tired though, especially if I move a lot / work a little more.

I feel like now more than ever, especially leading into the fall/winter/ cooler months… my body + mind are ASKING for SLOW, which has historically been hard for me, especially as the first born in an immigrant family AND a business owner.

But I want to honor her in this season. As a functional nutritionist, I’ve put a lot of work into my own wholistic health journey and was able to improve a lot of endometriosis symptoms naturally before even having excision surgery.

Working on my gut health, correcting mineral imbalances, vitamin deficiencies, blood sugar balancing, etc has been a huge game changer for me and my overall quality of life day to day. 

And while I’ve really worked on regulating my nervous system over the years, as a business owner, sometimes I get REALLY sucked into work, work, work mode + I REALLY want to change that so that I can continue to support my body post-op.

Stress has ALWAYS been one of my biggest triggers for pain + my pelvic floor issues too. Sheesh.

So this month and into the last chunk of 2025, I really want to focus inward more, move slower + just really honor what my body needs as I continue healing.

If you are having surgery soon here are a FEW little pieces of advice I have for you pre/post surgery:

DO’S: 

-support your gut health + immune system pre-surgery

-get your post-op essentials for recovery

-plan for a little bit of a longer recovery than you think

-ask for help when needed instead of toughing it out

-diaphragmatic breathing to help reconnect to your core + relax pelvic floor

-give yourself grace + compassion

DON’TS:

-expect surgery to be a “fix all” for endo

-ignore constipation after surgery (pain meds + anesthesia slow things down some)

-ignore the feelings that may come up

-compare your recovery timeline to someone else’s

-rush back to work, working out or being productive

-be a d*ck to yourself while you’re healing

So here’s to healing + I wish you the best of luck on your endo healing journey <3 

If you’d like to connect on IG, you can shoot me a message here.