My Journey: 01

Hello everybody! I hope you are all doing well on this lovely Sunday afternoon (or whenever it is that you read this). I am just relaxing on my couch, with laptop propped on a cushion in between my legs. Mighty comfortable. Let's jump into the point of this entry... And let me warn you, it's a long one.

I had been trying to decide if this is something that I should share with you, if it needed to be shared, and if I felt 100% comfortable in opening up about it on here. But, I decided why not? I know how much I have searched on the web for someone to answer the questions that I had/have on the topic, and failed miserably. I kept getting medical journals, and old old articles. I hope that when another woman googles on this in the future, she bumps into my entries, and gets it from someone who's lived it. What am I talking about? I am talking about uterine fibroids.

My journey began in early August when I went for my papsmear (ladies make sure you're up to date with yours!) and my ob/gyn did a pelvic exam on me. She asked me "Have you ever been told that you have uterine fibroids?" And I said "No." She said that she wants me to come back and have an ultrasound, because she strongly believes that I may have some. I didn't think much of it, and didn't even care to research. I just thought that it was a fancy name for "cysts" which I believed to having, because of my heavy, weird and painful cycles. My doctor told me that she would be away on vacation, and to have the study done, and that she would discuss the results with me when she'd return. Six days later I was back in the office, and had the ultrasound done. They did an abdominal one first, and then a vaginal. The tech asked me what led the doctor to think I needed the study, and I told her. A few minutes later, we were done. I was left alone to change, and told to walk out of the room when ready. When I walked out, I saw her talking to one of the other doctors and heard her discussing my symptoms. I went and sat in the waiting room and waited. A few minutes later a nurse came and asked me to go back into a room, and to wait for a doctor. The doctor came in, and introduced herself. She told me that they did find a fibroid. But, that it was pretty big. At the time, she told me the measurements. I don't know much about centimeters lol. So, to me it's like... umm okay? But then she showed me with her hands, and drew me a picture. Here is what she drew for me:



The bottom part is a uterus, and the top is what she drew to be my fibroid. Once she drew that, it hit me. My eyes got watery, as she discussed my options which she told me were;

1. To let it be, and monitor it (which wouldn't be smart if I am planning to have kids some day, and not really an option because of it's size)
2. Another option was to get a shot called lupron for a few months and see if it shrinks it (which I didnt/dont want to do because of my symptoms which are; severe anemia, irregular bleeding, severe bleeding, pain, discomfort, bloating to the point that I look 3-4 months pregnant, constant urinating)
3. A hysterectomy. Of course I thought hell to the no.
4. Or surgery to try to remove the fibroid. There are 2 procedures, which is a laparoscopy or a myectomy.But, before either to still get the lupron shot to stop the bleeding, get my blood count up (less anemic) and to see if it shrinks my fibroid a bit to make surgery easier.

I came home that day to discuss things with Joe, and my parents, and brother. When I talked to Joe was when it all hit me, and I broke down. He was and has been great through the entire thing. He held me, reassured me that things were in God's hands and that he'll be here during and after everything regardless of what happens. I called my parents, and found out that my mom had the same thing which led to her hysterectomy (there were no options back then) and they supported me in my decision (as well as my bro) which was to have the surgery. Fast forward... to this past weekend (9/17/11) I had an MRI of the abdomen. I called my doctor's office on Monday, and she told me that my fibroid was bigger than measured with the ultrasound, 15 cm to be exact. Which is close to 6 inches wide. With the surgery they're going to try to remove it using the laparoscopic method (recovery time: 2-3 weeks) first, and if they cant do so that way, then they'd do a myectomy (recovery time: 4-6 weeks).

With surgery comes risks, which do worry me, but I am trying to be as positive as I can be. Doc told me that if they cannot control the bleeding during surgery that the option will be to go with the hysterectomy. But, I am praying, and so are my loved ones that, it doesn't have to be that way.

Sighs... There you have it. I will be getting my first shot this week (I had to wait to be on my period, which came today) to get it. I will update talking more about the shot, and how it makes me feel. I included links in this post, to tell you more about the things I touched on, because I didn't know a thing about this before all of this. I want to thank my family for being there for me and checking on me, and to my good friend, whom I don't have to name. And to you, for reading all of this lol. Thank you. Thank you.

* con mucho amor, c i n d y.