Wow, it has been way too long since I posted here. Shame, shame on me. Here’s an update about what’s going on in my world…
At the beginning of September my little family went on a weeklong beach vacation. In the days leading up to vacation I started to feel pretty lousy, bloated, nauseous. It was our first time traveling with our daughter and we were a little nervous on how well she’d do in a strange environment so I chalked the ickiness up to stress. Our vacation was amazing, hassel-free and nothing short of the best time of my life, yet I still felt ill throughout much of it. When we returned home, I still felt off and it was getting worse. I had an unnerving heaviness in my lower abdomen and pelvic region. I self-diagnosed myself with a hernia and was convinced my guts were falling out of place, thus creating the heavy pressure I felt.
Finally, the discomfort became unbearable so we paid a visit to the ER. The doctor there had some serious concerns with my description of the pain and ordered a CT scan.
The imaging revealed that I have a very large fibroid growing on the top of my uterus. It’s very large and when my belly, intestines, and bladder they push on my uterus and cause the pressure and heaviness. I was advised to follow-up with my lady doctor who in turn referred me to another lady doctor who specializes in hysterectomies.
Yup. A hysterectomy.
This doctor did a pelvic ultrasound and it was discovered that I don’t have one large fibroid, I have five. FIVE! And they are large. They collectively are larger than my uterus itself so they have over doubled the size that my uterus should be. They cause me extreme discomfort when I have to pee or if I skip a job (if you know what I mean) so it is imperative that I stay super regular.
TMI? Probably, but there ya have it.
It is strongly advised that I have a hysterectomy in the very near future. The doctor said I could wait but not too long, as to avoid additional growth and continued pain and discomfort.
This makes me sad for so many reasons. The Mr. and I have all but decided Jax would be our only child, and we are happy and content with that decision. However, he longs for a boy and I get pangs of jealousy and longing for a new little baby to love. We definitely are not trying to conceive, but if it happened neither one of us would be devastated with an unexpected addition to our family.
But there is physically no possibility of that ever happening. Even if I decided against having a hysterectomy my uterus, in it’s enlarged state likely could not support a pregnancy.
So there’s that.
I also worried about Jax, my sweet girl is so very, very dependent on me. She has a loving and doting daddy who would do his best caring for her while I am recovering, but she needs mama. I have been assured that I would only require one night in the hospital but the longest I’ve been away from my daughter is about six hours – one entire day and night away from her seems unfathomable to me. She’ll be fine – I know. But I worry.
And the surgery itself scares me. The doctor said I’d need a full week of rest, followed by a week of light to moderate activity and by the end of the second week I could resume normal activity. Doable, but I’m scared.
We decided to get through the holidays and then schedule the surgery for January or February 2015.
That’s the plan and I’m feeling so much better now, still some pressure every now and then but I can deal for a few more months.
Ugh. Lady problems are no fun.
Men, be thankful for your frank and beans!
