I finally got my menses Monday.  At work, of course. Anyway, now this means the cycle officially begins. It's different this time. For one thing, I'll be taking a birth control pill starting today for the next few weeks. Seems counterproductive to me, but I guess it has something to do with the hormone balance the doctor wants. Then I'll be taking an injection of something called Lupron. We've read up on it and it doesn't sound fun. Plus we have to take the medication to the doctor to have them show us how to use it, so I'm a little nervous about that. All this doesn't happen until near the end of the month, though. Until then I'll continue posting my flashbacks from the last cycles. Oh, yeah and my random pictures. Um, lets see...what's in the ol' picture folder in my documents...

 

Yeah, I don't really have any good pictures for today. Most of my pictures have my ugly mug in them and although I don't really care if my face is on the Internet, I don't know if my girlfriend wants people oogling me. Plus I'm still on the fence with some anonymity issues like where we live and stuff and a lot of my pictures give that away. Like I said, I mainly don't want my students reading this and knowing its me, but the Internet is full of other weirdos too. Not that any of you are weirdos. I appreciate anyone even caring about this. Anyway, so I guess I'll have to figure that out. Until then, here's the next flashback.

The Sonohysterogram & Hysteroscopy – March 2011

After the doctor reviewed the bloodwork and everything was good, next on the list was a sonohysterogram. This is a procedure similar to a transvaginal ultrasound, but with one painful exception. A balloon is first inserted into the uterus with a catheter and is inflated with saline. I read about the procedure before I had it done and most of what I read described the feeling as cramping but for me it was painful. Plus it has to be done with a full bladder, which adds to the discomfort.

I squeezed my girlfriend’s hand as they inflated the balloon, that’s when it started to get painful. Once that was done, the vagina wand went in and they started checking things out. It didn’t take long for them to see I had polyps. And even though it wasn’t that serious, I cried because it’s always something with me. 

Around this time I had also found out that I had nodules on my thyroid and had to have two biopsies for that. Why two, you ask? Not for shits and giggles, I can tell you that because that shit hurts too. But because the doctor didn’t get a good enough sample the first time. This was the same doctor that told me later that if I got pregnant I would certainly miscarry. I have since ended his services and found a new endocrinologist.

Anyway, back to me sobbing on the table. It took a while to compose myself, but I did and put my clothes back on and headed out to talk to the doctor. She said that it was a simple procedure to remove the polyps called a hysteroscopy (not to be confused with a hysterectomy). They first dilate the cervix and go in with a scope to get a better look. Then they take out the polyps and anything else in there that might need to go. It’s also sometimes called a D&C (dilation & cuttage).We decided to try to see if my regular obgyn could do the procedure and that way my insurance would at least pay for that, which they actually did minus the regular surgery co-payments.

I called them up and got everything scheduled. I took a Tuesday off from work (the doctor only did surgery on Tuesdays) and we went to have my polyps removed. It was a long wait because they always make you get there hours before, like the airport or something. I’ve had a few surgeries before and it’s pretty nerve-wracking, sitting in a paper gown and hairnet reading a People magazine that’s at least 4 months old. At least this place gave me a blanket while I waited.

Finally, the nurse came in to brief me on the procedure and take me back. By which, I mean I walked back and I found this odd because the surgeries I had in the past they wheel you the surgery room. Well, anyway, when the door opened I kind of panicked a little because there was so much machinery and it was really intimidating. If you’ve seen medical shows, you know what I’m talking about but it’s crazy seeing that stuff in person. They had me lay on a table in there and hooked up a tube to the IV I already had in. The last thing I remember is the doctor saying “Start the propofol” and I swear to God I said “Isn’t that what killed Michael Jackson?” And then I was out.

I woke up in the recovery room and the nurse said “I know we just met but I’m going to check your pad here.” They had me in a giant maxi-pad to absorb the blood from the surgery. I was still pretty woozy so I didn’t care much. She brought me some juice and let me sleep for a few minutes before calling my girlfriend to come pick me up.

We went home and I slept most of the rest of the day, well into the afternoon. I felt fine when I really woke up, no pain or anything and I went back to work the next day. I went for a follow-up with the doctor and she showed me the polyps she removed (in pictures, not in a jar she saved or something). She said she would send the report back to my fertility doctor and wished me luck. So, with one more obstacle past, we were ready for the next step.