Tales from the Love Shaque: I'm alive & back!

I've been flying under the radar lately. So let's get caught up with the lovely female issues, shall we?

Daisy was helping me journal last night.

February 26, I went to see the gyn and had an ultrasound. I played phone tag with her for a couple days before finally catching her call on Wednesday 3/2. I do indeed have fibroids, dammit. First of all, I don't know if these means anything, but my uterus is tilted and slightly enlarged. It's approx 8 cm across, or the size of a large fist (which I have so a good visual!) Fibroid #1 is 5 centimeters or about 2.5 inches. #2 is 2cm and #3 is 1cm. If there are more, they're much smaller. They are all embedded in the uterine wall, so a D&C wouldn't do anything. I had an appointment with the gyn again on Friday the 4th to talk about options so I made Randy go with me.

I did have a whole 2 days of freedom! The bleeding had actually stopped! That made for a whopping 6 days since mid-January....then it started again. WAH wah.

I was really nervous for this appointment and I'm not really sure why. And the same girl who took my vitals (and had to clean up after me) at the exam was the one who took us back - I'm sure she probably changed her tune after telling me "a little bit of blood doesn't bother us, or we wouldn't be in this field!"

So my options. Oh, my thyroid functions were all fine. And I was only a wee bit anemic, which the gyn was happy about, after all the blood I had lost. Anyhoo. I could stay on the pill, which is supposed to be controlling the bleeding, but isn't very effective. I could get an IUD, also to control the bleeding. Or she could basically burn the lining of my uterus, to control the bleeding. Ugh no. I really don't like that idea at all! But no matter what I chose, the fibroids would still be there. The only way to get rid of them is by having a hysterectomy.

It's funny that before I was all about that. Yeah - take those parts, I don't want them! And even tho I know 110% that no more kids are in our future, actually being faced with making that decision kind of made me freak out!

So. Since the problem isn't life-threatening, I'm starting at the bottom. I'm staying on the pill for three months, then I have an appointment with the gyn again so she can see how things are going. Then at 6 months, I need to have another ultrasound to make sure they're not growing. Fibroids are supposed to be very slow-growing but she wants to make sure no surprises happen. So if things aren't going well, we can move up the steps of drama.

Hmm. now that I think about it. I had a physical last August, but the doc didn't do a pap smear. He said I didn't need to do one every year. Hmm. So these have been baking for around 18 months.

I really thought I had a powerful imagination. I was willing to bet that I could feel something in my lower belly. It still feels almost distended, like I have no muscle tone to hold my innards in. I know I'm out of shape, but sheesh! So I told the gyn about it. She said I probably WAS feeling them! That's when she told me how big they are. I really like wearing jeans now. It feels like they push everything back into place.

For the heck of it, here's my reports for the last couple weeks.

week ending 2/28 - didn't weigh in.

Didn't journal at all. Pppft.

week ending 3/6 - up 1.9lbs

I'm actually pleasantly surprised with this.

I am feeling better. I'd feel a LOT more better if I didn't have to wear a darn mattress in my undies, if ya catch my drift. But it's not anywhere near as heavy and gross as it was those couple days. It's just enough to be annoying now.

But I'm back watching what I'm eating and not shoveling in whatever I happen to see. I am going to town on veggies! I missed 2 weeks at WW (in my defense, last Tuesday we got dumped on with snow and the roads were icy. So I played pansy and didn't want to drive in that if I really didn't have to!) Wednesday I was at a funeral home, my sister's mother-in-law passed away so I was at the visitation. Then Thursday was dress rehearsal at Miss Angela's dance studio because they had regionals this weekend. So I really didn't have another chance to go. By the way - here's incentive to get back on the ball! And they started offering Zumba classes at the studio again, so I went for the first time last night. Ugh! It's my shoulders & back that hurt the most today. I thought I got rid of that knot between my shoulder blades from shoveling snow, but it's back! I can only imagine how it would be if I already knew the moves and did ALL the arms!

And if I'd been at my WW meeting last week, I would have known they started this Walk Happy thing where they're introducing the classes to the joys of Leslie Sansone's Walk At Home DVDs! So we did like 10 minutes of a DVD so people could experience it. I was in a skirt & flats. So I kicked my shoes off & did it barefoot! The leader also forgot and had a skirt, tights & heels on, but she did it, too!

Funny what a week can do!

Last Tuesday was cold, snowy & icy. This Tuesday I took this.

And I have crocuses blooming out in the yard!