Saturday, August 31, 2013

Pre-hysterectomy....getting to the nitty-gritty

-"Why?" 

"Why a hysterectomy?" 

"Don't you know there are other things that can be done?"

"I had blah blah blah done and I have no periods anymore."

"Are you sure you don't want to have anymore kids?"

"Is John ok with this? "

These are only a few of the questions/comments I received when I let people know that I was considering a total hysterectomy.
Then I had a few friends who have had the procedure done and said that they wouldn't change it for anything!  And it's you, friends, that I would like to thank....

See. I don't really have horror period stories to speak of. When I was younger,  they were bad. Pretty Damn painful and extremely heavy. But I managed them.

After I had Jacob, they were hardly there at all and let me tell you. ...I thanked God for that! But with in the last few years, they've come back hard and nasty. And I started noticing a pinch of depression every month. Then they started showing twice a month.  But that wasn't even the worst part.

If I would move/bend just right, I would get this stabbing sensation in my belly. Like a knife,  hitting me from the inside.
I couldn't orgasm because the stabbing would hit if I tightened those muscles.
I couldn't even think about doing crunches or sit ups. So forget about getting in shape for my wedding dress.

Time to get this checked out.

I made an appointment with my family doctor who tends to cover all bases in his practice. After all, I was WAY past due for a pap.... after examining me and talking, he thought it would be best to have an ultrasound done and get down to the problem.

Of course,  when my appointment rolled around, aunt flow thought it would be hilarious to pay me a visit. And to make matters better, an internal ultrasound was needed...

A week passed when I finally got the results. "Now, I don't want you to freak out when I tell you...." those words never help anyone NOT freak out.  Lol But anyway, Dawn (our doctors nurse) told me that there was a mass on my uterus...and my doctor was out of town til next week. (Fabulous.) They're pretty sure it's just a fibroid but I should go ahead and make an appointment with my obgyn.

Yay. Now I have to find an obgyn.....

After calling the doctor that was recommended to me....I was anxious! You mean to tell me I have to wait nearly 2 months to get in and find out what this is?!  No thank you!

A quick phone call to my husband and suddenly an obgyn office was calling ME to schedule an appointment in 2 weeks.

Have I mentioned how much I love this man?

The next couple appointment went like this.... regular exam, biopsy, blood work and ultrasounds.

My thyroid was cleared, there were no cancerous cells and that large mass....6cm fibroid on my uterus. Could that be causing all of the pain?  She didn't think it was the main culprit.  Could it be causing all of my wacked out periods?  Likely. Then the options were introduced. All of them would likely control my bleeding and some even might stop it completely but the choices were limited, due to my blood clotting and they would likely not take away the stabbing pains.

So another option was possible. A hysterectomy. I knew going in that this option would probably be presented and that it was something that I've said,  "they can have it! I'm done with it! " for a long time. She laid down the different operations.... laparoscopic, abdominal, vaginal and the Da Vinci. The final one, being the least invasive and quickest recovery time.

"Sign me up."  Those were my words, right before an anxiety attack hit me....

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