So, it’s been about two years since I really posted about how my lady bits are doing. For the first few months of this blog, it was all lady bits drama all the time. But since mid-2010, things have calmed down in my down there since I started taking birth control pills for hormone replacement therapy.
If this was not already obvious, TMI abounds.
So, for the most part, POF is one of those diseases where pretty much everything stops working, so there’s never really a need for me to post frequently about My Uterus and Her Partner-In-Crime, Rightie. (For those of you new to this blog, I only have my right ovary. Long story short, my Leftie went AWOL back in 2000.)
There’s never really much to post about because, well, they don’t really do anything anymore. Granted, I still get withdrawal bleeding about every three months when I take my week of sugar pills, and sometimes I have the occasional (and annoying) breakthrough bleed, but for the most part, not a whole helluva lot is going on in my ‘ute.
Until last week.
Late Monday night, I was working on some stuff at my desk and noticed that Rightie was incredibly tender and sore. So much so, that I was having pain in my lower back and down to my right knee. Larry called me on the way home from Boston, a good 45 minutes away. I told him I was feeling like poo and would be in bed by the time he came home. I popped two Advil and went to bed.
By the time he came home, the pain was worse and the Advil only made me sleepy, doing nothing for the pain. We debated going to the ER but decided since it was so late, that I would call my doc first thing in the morning.
By morning, the pain had dropped somewhat. That afternoon, I met with the nurse practitioner who does women’s wellness and GYN appointments at my doctor’s office. I got a pap smear, since I told her I think I went all of 2011 without getting one (bad Keiko, bad!) and she did a pelvic exam. Nothing felt out of the ordinary, but I was still pretty tender. She ordered bloodwork and an ultrasound.
(In other news, I bled like a stuck pig after my pap smear. That was new. Has this ever happened to anyone else?)
I couldn’t get an ultrasound until the next afternoon, which I knew would be pointless since I bet that my pain would be gone by the next day. I was right, but I still had the ultrasound just the same.
My ultrasound tech was rather cheery and G-d love her, she took me back right away since I was pretty sure if I had waited another minute, I would have peed all over the waiting room floor. Being kind of fat means they have to press down harder for the abdominal part, so she’s very lucky I didn’t pee all over the table.
One quick and much-needed trip to the bathroom later, it was time for my Date with Wanda. This part sucked. The transvaginal ultrasound took easily 20 minutes. Lots of digging around, trying to get good images. It took her forever to find Rightie, since she’s super small (as a result of the POF). And then she asked me…
“Do you have a history of fibroids?”
“Um, no? Why, do you see any?”
“I’m not sure…”
In the waiting silence of the next 10 minutes, I think about the craziness I had two years ago when they tried to tell me I had endometriosis. Which, thankfully, I do not. But her question reminded me of that time I was laying on the table, ultrasound wand up my hoohah, and the tech bringing in a second doctor to try and figure out what the weird half-inch anomaly on my right ovary was. (Which, turned out to be… nothing.)
The tech didn’t say much as she finished. I bled again as she had the wand pressing so much on my cervix it aggravated whatever the pap smear had irritated the day before. And I was all kinds of sore.
I got my results Thursday morning.
“There is a probable pedunculated posterior fundal fibroid measuring 1.1 x 1.0 x 1.1cm.”
Translation: I most-likely have a dime-sized doorknob-shaped fibroid on the back of my uterus.
Um, great?
A Dr. Google search revealed that fibroids have a 1 in 1,000 chance of becoming cancer and may get huge, fill with blood, and cause severe hemorrhaging during vaginal childbirth. They also could be completely harmless and never bother you. After exactly 2 pages, I stopped reading about fibroids online.
Nobody knows what causes fibroids, but they can run in families. I learned that three of my aunts had fibroids so bad they eventually had hysterectomies after they were done having children. Fantastic.
I have a follow-up appointment next Wednesday. From what I can tell, I shouldn’t worry about the fibroid. Keep an eye on it yes, but worry about it no. So we’ll see.
The other fabulous revelation I got from my test results was that my TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) was through the roof: 5.29. Second-highest reading I’ve had since 2009, when I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s. For reference, my last TSH reading back in October was only 1.41. TSH in the 1.0 range is my happy thyroid zone. Anything over 1.5 and I feel like mush. It makes sense – all of the exhaustion I’ve felt recently I’ve been writing off to the stress of working from home and working crazy hours all the time.
Nope, turns out my thyroid is probably eating itself again. Hooray for anti-thyroid antibodies!
So next Wednesday I’ll be asking my doc about upping my thyroid meds (again, in this endless yo-yo of dosage adjustments) and double checking that no, I don’t need to worry about the doorknob in my hoohah.
We’ll see what she has to say and of course, I’ll keep y’all posted.
How are your lady bits doing? 😉
Sorry to hear of your troubles, hang in there!
I too have recently found out that I have a fibroid about 3cm on my uterus. It started causing problems for me about a year ago, while taking the pill, I started having longer and longer periods. Tried changing to different BC Pills, and stopped completely after no change. So, after a year I’ve finally got an answer and will be going in for a Myomectomy, Abalation and Essure(permanent birth control alternative) in the next couple of months.
I’m nervous and a little sad, but mostly can’t wait!!! This past month was the worst yet, leak week has become leak 3 week. Just when I think it’s over and I am going out of town to see my husband away at work (wink, wink) it comes back! Ugh!! So frustrating, I want my life back!
I’m glad you found your door knob early. They grow more as you get into your mid thirties, sometimes causing huge problems. MOST women (har har) are done with their childbearing by then, so usually they just remove the ute. When I went in with mine, at the tender age of 34, my GYN actually said “well, you’re done with having children, right?” (Ha ha ha, surely you jest?). In any case, fertility treatments make those suckers grow….FAST. If your RE says that knob is no problem before you pursue treatment he/she lies. If yours is small, they can probably take care of it with a simple laproscopic procedure. All fibroids can mess with embryo implantation, and after all the effort and money needed to make them, you don’t want to take that chance. I threw away 2 cycles before I had removed mine, and I wish I hadn’t.
This artist’s rendering made my day. 😉 You have a great sense of humor and it is evident that there is one strong lady attached to those bits.
My lady bits are stubborn teenagers. They have no reason to be uncooperative, but nonetheless they don’t want to do what they should be doing.
I’m so sorry things seem to go from bad to worse for you. You deserve a break girl!!! Hang in there, your in my prayers.
I have no news from my lady bits, but I went to my thryoid doc today, and was reminded for about the billionth time why I drive over an hour and a half each way to see him. Hope that your doc is similarly awesome, and that your yo-yo plateaus again soon. The dosage adjustment does suck.
My lady bits are currently hating me.
Since the boyfriend got back, we’ve been making up for lost time (wink wink). That and I’ve been Super Domestic Goddess and doing lots of things, so they’ve been overworked.
Thankfully I have pelvic PT tmrw which should hopefully get things relaxed again.
Up til Sat/Sun, my pain med usage is way down and I’ve been able to do more “normal” things. So things are getting better!!
Thanks for the update; I have been thinking of your lady bits. Not in a creepy way.
If there is a non-creepy way of saying that.
I’m sorry your lady bits are revolting, and causing you undue stress and pain. I hope they calm the eff down and soon.
I also hope you get your thyroid in check. No one should have to deal with all of this. I’m so sorry you are.
Oh good grief, Keiko. What an unpleasant set of tests and bits of news! I hope that a quick dosage adjustment and a “don’t worry about the stupid fibroid” will have you right as rain soon.
As for my lady bits, they’re old and tired. Sigh.
I’m sorry you have gone through all this. It sounds painful and horrible! I can relate to the thyroid…stupid hashimotos. I hate how tsh levels trump everything when it comes to ttc. I feel you on that one.
I really try to be nice to my lady bits, but damn if they don’t put up a fight.
So, I went back to your high-lighted post and have a question. Do your ankles swell from TSH issues? I have Hashi’s too and didn’t realize that that is why my ankles have been swelling…
Oh man I’m really sorry that there seems to be yet “something” else to deal with! But I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the artist’s rendition, especially the “hoohah” – if we can’t laugh at our pitiful misfortunes, what good are they?
Hang in there, Keiko. I hope everything works out with this fibroid. As for my lady bits? Well, all is calm on the lower end. For once it’s not the ovaries that are misbehaving!
Hey Keiko, you really sound like you’ve been through the wars. (Hugs!)
I also had a nasty fibroid removed, well hope that yours will not interfere too much…
I also had TSH problems and now that I am on the thyroid meds they really do help a lot. And it does make you feel so tired…
To your good health and healthy lady bits!!
Mine hate me. More than I can properly express. Most of my body hates me right now. And the feeling is mutual.
I’ll try to hang in there if you will.