Health Update

Well, I'm going to have time to catch up on news pretty soon. This coming Friday (9th) I go in for outpatient surgery. Michael went with me to see the new doctor (Guidices -- he's very nice) yesterday. Well, it looks like the endometrial ablation isn't necessarily the best choice for someone like me. See, it does stop the monthly bleeding in 75% of patients with the other 25% having spotting. Gee, with my luck, which % would I probably be? Also, it doesn't cause infertility so there would still be a likelihood that I could get pregnant. That would be bad because with out the endometrial lining, there are all sorts of problems for the fetus. So, they normally tie a woman's tubes when doing the procedure. This also wouldn't eliminate the possibility of uterine cancer which is a high risk for someone like me who has PCOS (add in my maternal grandmother dying of ovarian cancer and father of colon cancer and we can say uber odds). AND, 1 in 5 women who have the procedure eventually have to have a hysterectomy.

So, we decided that I should just eliminate most of that worry and just have the partial hysterectomy done now. I get to keep my ovaries and cervix (so I won't need hormones, etc) but I lose the uterus. They do it all the time with laproscopic surgery and the recovery time is pretty quick (1-2 weeks).

Actually, they wanted me to do it the Friday BEFORE Thanksgiving because while Dr. Guicides has an opening, the hospital did not before then. I was like, "Oh my God, no! I have to work that week! I can't not work black Friday and the weekend." So, the appointment woman (who was very nice) spoke with the doctor and they fit me in next Friday. I have to go to see him on Wednesday to discuss everything. I'm also going to have him remove a few of the questionable moles I have. Especially one on my right arm because it has black spots now. He said it would be easy to do. He also said that they could do a procedure that should help with the PCOS symptoms so that I may be able to lose weight better. That would be awesome. And we're going to up my dosage of Metformin cause it just isn't working at this level.

I've already given everyone at work a heads up. The new DM was like, "Are you going to use your vacation time for this? Make sure that you have all of your ducks in a row." What does she think I am? A moron? Believe me, if I could put this off longer, I would. It's not like I've been planning to be sick right now. In fact, since I've been off of the progesterone and not having a wonky cycle, I feel better. But I know it won;t last if I don't fix it. So, I'm a little annoyed at the statement. My reasonable side says that she's just doing her job but the rest of me is like, "Do you know how much of my life is invested in that store?" Good God. I haven't spent an entire day away from there when I'm in Columbia for weeks now. Sheesh.

Anyway, I will keep you all up to date as things happen. This surgery should be fairly routine unless something else has popped up. I have so much to do before Friday that it isn't even funny.

Gotta run and eat dinner. Hugs to all.