All better?

I haven't posted about my postpartum appointment, largely out of frustration. The short version is that I'm still anemic despite supplementation, the pelvic exam was AWFUL, but neither that nor the ultrasound (also miserable to the point of tears) showed any smoking guns. I'm not running even a low-grade fever, and don't have an elevated white blood cell count, so Dr. Pro doesn't think I have an active infection. She did some hand-waving about breastfeeding and hypoestrogenism, but basically said she doesn't know why I'm hurting, since there's nothing obviously wrong.

I am still hurting, though, and consistently. I sometimes wonder if I'm just being a whiner, because after all, it's not crippling pain, and I can function normally most of the time. It's like an uncomfortable period, where you're aware of feeling crappy in the back of your mind, but don't hurt so much that you're balled up and writhing. Still, I haven't made it through a day without naproxen in... I dunno, weeks, and on bad days I wish I had something a little stronger. The funny thing about pain, though, is that it's two-dimensional -- there's the level of sensation, and then there's the duration. Even a low-level pain which goes on for weeks takes on an outsize presence in your head. The longer it goes on, the less you feel like just tolerating it, and the less energy you have for coping with everything else.

We talked about what to do next, and that wasn't a very satisfactory discussion. She initially didn't seem inclined to pursue it farther, but when I mentioned that I was very seriously considering getting my tubes tied, she said she'd want to do a D&C and a hysteroscopy at that time. I don't understand the linkage -- if she thinks they're worth doing, they shouldn't be dependent on the tubal ligation, but if she doesn't, don't do them just because you're there -- but it's a moot point now. I'm booked for the lap, the tubal ligation, the D&C, and the hysteroscopy at some point in December (I don't know the exact day yet).

I hope some answers come out of it.