Roids

Happy Friday!!  Sadly – I only have one more Friday off left of my summer. But I am okay with it. After my fabu trip to Target last week – I am getting more and more excited to begin my second year of teaching!

 

As many of you may recall – I talked about being super stressed last week.  It was a culmination of stress that had added up over time – and last week was big.  I have been torn about whether this is blogworthy material – or if it is something that should just be kept personal.

 

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When I asked Justin his opinion on it – he told me to go for it.  There may be readers who relate to my recent problems – and perhaps some that could offer me advice… much like when I decided to share about my bathroom difficulties.

 

As a forewarning – this posts talks about… girl stuff. Stuff a lot of guys may not be comfortable with. So if you happen to be of the male species and reading today’s post… I would totally understand if you go back to your google reader and find another post to read. I will NOT take any offense.

 

The Background-Medicinal Maddness

 

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About 5 months ago – I began spotting inbetween my periods.  Now – I am on birth control (at this point – I was on loestrin 24)  - and I am very strict about when I take it  - and am sure it is taken every day at the same time.  There really is no reason for this spotting to occur.  I waited one cycle to see if this would reset once I started a new package of pills.

 

No dice.  So I called my doctor and explained my symptoms.  She decided to change my birth control to Femcon.  It controlled the spotting. For two weeks.  And I was back into the same problem.  Now – please understand.. when I say spotting – I mean enough to use a tampon.  Every day. I worried that this may do some damage – but the doctor assured me that it would not cause harm as long as I changed the regularly. (I can’t stand pads… I don’t even own any.)  So – I used Femcon for two full cycles.  For the second cycle – the doc told me to take 2 pills every day until the bleeding stopped.  It didn’t work. So I stopped taking two pills because I was weary about what I was doing to my body.

 

I hated what was going on. To constantly feel like it is “that time of month” and  have all of the symptoms that came along with it… really sucked.  I was frustrated and felt like my quality of life was really dwindling.  I felt like I was getting nowhere with my doctor and honestly had every intention on finding a new one as soon as possible.

Then, when I returned home from San Francisco – where the problems of spotting worsened.. I called the doctor again.

 

She was on vacation.  I explained how I was experiencing some pretty intense stomach cramps as well.  My IBS-C was acting up like no other (but I had also just been away for 5 days – and being away = Caitlin cannot go to the bathroom). I was near tears on the phone expressing my frustration.  Another doctor in the practice said that it sounded like I was taking in too little estrogen in my current birth control.  While I swore I would be finding a new doctor – this made sense… so I filled the perscription for yet another new birth control pill – Generess.

 

Fast forward to the 3-Day.  I was still seeing little improvement. But I wanted to wait until I had held steady for more then one cycle. Often times – there is spotting when you switch to a new pill.  I returned home on a Sunday – and things went way downhill from there.

 

Emergency…

 

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Monday night – I am going to bed before Justin.  I go to the bedroom – get ready for bed – go to the bathroom.  I return to him in a panic.. in tears.  I tell him that we need to go to the hospital right now because I am bleeding at an uncontrollable rate (I was not even supposed to have my period).  He does a fabulous job of remaining calm.  I call my parents to tell them what is going on .. and they immediately know something is wrong before picking up the phone.. because I never call home at 10:30pm.

We go to the emergency room.  I sit in the waiting room with extreme cramps… stabbing pains… and consistent blood loss.  In the end – the blood tests came back fine – the loss of blood had not caused me to become anemic. Nothing alarming jumped out from a pelvic exam.  After filling me with an IV bag – the told me to make an appointment ASAP with my OB-GYN to have an ultrasound.

 

You are going to do what… where?!

 

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After visiting my doctor and having another battery of blood tests run – I am ready to have my first ultrasound.  As far as the blood panel goes – my active thyroid is normal – but another one (inactive) is a bit high. (I have an appointment with an endocrinologist in Sept.).

 

Ultrasound #1:  Two things of interest are found.  First of all there is a cyst in my cervix.  This is fairly common – and there isn’t much that can be done with this.  Secondly – there is a mass on the wall of my uterous.  The doctor mentions that it could possibly be a polyp.  While it is not likely – because I am so young – I will need to have a biopsy performed incase whatever has attached itself to the wall of my uterous is cancerous.

 

Cancer?  I push it to the back of my head.  It won’t be. It can’t be. I am young.  Try as I might… it never really goes away.  I return to the office a couple of days later (last Monday) for a Saline Sonogram.. and a biopsy.

Normally, I prepare myself for these appointments and research what will be happened. My mind was too busy thinking of other things then to do research. I am happy I didn’t.. because I could only be scared as the doctor performed my procedure.  I will spare you the details.. but there had to be a catheter inserted.. err.. somewhere… to get the fluids in.

 

The Waiting Game

 

The biospy would take 4-5 days to process. Last week was the longest week of my life.  I wanted to be working. I wanted to be busy. But I wasn’t busy. I tried to hang out with as many friends as possible. But those that I did hang out with.. were in the medical field – so I just talked about everything that was going on anyway.

 

I couldn’t push the possibility of cancer out of my mind.  But I was also glad that we knew what was causing the bleeding.  Once the biospy came back negative.. I could have the polyp removed and my life would be back to normal.

 

Friday – while I was on the elliptical at the gym… my phone rang (and my heart stopped).  I nervously picked up the phone.  With a hugh sigh of releif  - my doc told me the biopsy came back negative. Thank you, God.

 

Roids… Fibroids

 

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What the biopsy did show – is that this mass was a fibroid enclosed by the muscle surrounding my uterous.  I would not be a candidate for surgical removal.

Well then how are we going to get the bleeding to stop?

We are going to precribe you a birth control with a much higher level of hormones.

Isn’t that what we’ve been doing for the past couple of months.. unsuccessfully?  By the way – I have bad mood swings when I am on those types of pills.

We will try something different. We have to try this option first before doing anything else.

 

Hopeful – but warey…

 

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I am beyond thrilled that all of the test came back a-okay.  But I am nervous that what I am going to be doing.. is just not gong to work.  My symptoms have been getting worse- having practically a heavy flow period.. all…the…time.  I am going to be more proactive about what is happening in my body with this new birth control that I will start in a week.  I am hoping for the best – because I am more then ready to begin living a normal life again.

 

 

So – thank you for continuing to read my blog. Things may have seemed a little bit different over the past few weeks.. and they were. I honestly didn’t know whether I was coming or going.  I am trying to return to some sense of normalcy – and feel that a relaxing vacation at the beginning of the week was a perfect way to kick off my fresh look.

 

A special thank you to my family – for their endless support – and to my mother for her calm and reassuring words when I would call her in tears – worried, scared, and uncertain.  And to Justin – who was of course by my side and understanding the entire time.

Tagged as: Biopsy, Fibroids, Saline Sonogram, Spotting, Uterus