I had the distinct privilege of living 20 miles outside of Vail, CO, with my parents. I adore my parents! My welcome home gift was my own stocked section of the bar, just for me. My family is like a tribe, or a clan... there is a current that connects us and it can't be broken. My family is everything to me. When I moved, I was still taking celexa and was very careful to take it everyday but trying to wean myself off of it. I was happy and unpanicky. I was just 22, thought I knew everything I wanted and thought I was emotionally invincible. Ironic, I know. Then one day, I was in pain. A LOT of pain. It was all over my lower abdomen but mostly on the left side. DISCLAIMER: I shall now speak of womanly things having to do with female anatomy and other female ickies. And I was bleeding, a lot. My mom, God bless her, had been through a whole host of womanly type ickies herself and immediately suggested a trip to the Gyno. Yippee. I went to see a doctor who would change my life and most likely save my fertility at the Vail Valley Medical Center. He and his nurses were a Godsend and he instantly knew I had endometriosis, a fibroid tumor, a cyst on one of my ovaries and God knows what else. He then said, "I can schedule for surgery in three days." Well shit, okay, what the hell is wrong with me? He gave me the lowdown on endo, a slippery little condition which affects so many women and is silent and persistent in its assault on a woman's reproductive and abdominal organs. A condition EVERY woman should know about. It terrifies me that my girls may be plagued by this condition.
I went into surgery with my Dad by my side as Mom was on a trip she couldn't cancel. Funnily enough, we don't ever talk girl stuff with my Dad, never. They shot me up with my little demerol cocktail and Pop asked if they could put one of those in a martini glass for him while he waited. Unfortunately for him, they declined. I went into surgery afraid and nervous not knowing what to expect. I woke up in recovery silently crying, wondering if I could still have children, looking at my doctor who was explaining all he did. It was a blur but I got, "Stage III Endometriosis, something-or-othered fibroid, big mess, try to lay flat for 24 hours..." Then I felt really nauseous and remember sitting in the bathroom, getting a shot of phenergan and trying like hell not to throw up because I had stitches in my belly button and three other places on my abdomen. Then the RN checked my sutures and got me ready to be on my merry little way. I would later run into said RN at my parent's ski club. He was our bartender. He'd seen me in the buff, how embarrassing. They decided to start me on a nine month course of Lupron injections, medically induced menopause, sounds like fun huh? I was so terrified of gaining weight, I lost 25 lbs in three months. I looked great but the hot flashes were a bitch. The thing that really sucks is when the pain comes back when you're only 7 months into your injections. It's also really hard because you don't want to talk to anyone about it. No one.
No comments:
Post a Comment