The Change

I've been feeling kind of crappy (health wise) for most of this year due to "girl" problems.  I finally went to my doctor in October because I was fed up with them and wanted to fix them.  He thought my problems might be due to the fact my IUD was due to be removed.  So, he removed it and said he thought things would be great and if they weren't, I was coming back for my annual in a few weeks and we would investigate further then.  Removing the IUD didn't solve anything.  The problem continued.

I had my annual exam on November 15th and he found that my problems may not have been caused by the IUD.  Great.  Some funky things were going on and so, I had an ultrasound on the 19th.  It turns out I have uterine fibroids.  One rather big one, for sure.  It's located in place that would make it very difficult to remove the fibroid alone and there's also no guarantee I won't get more.  So, he recommended a hysterectomy.  It's been scheduled and I'm having it done on December 19th.  I'm not upset about it, but I am irritated at the timing.  A hysterectomy wasn't something I wanted for Christmas.  :)  I'm also irritated because we have really crappy insurance.  Unfortunately, if I didn't do it then, I would have to wait until the end of January because of his schedule.  We'll have different insurance starting January 1st, but the cost really won't be different.  It will be slightly less crappy, but we'll still have to pay quite a bit out of pocket.  So, the financial reason of waiting is really kind of a moot point.  The fibroids are by no means life threatening, but they are life altering because of all the annoying problems they cause.  (I won't bore or disgust you with the details.)  So, what it came down to was would I rather feel better in 3 weeks (I scheduled last week), or would I rather feel better in 2 months.  I decided the obvious answer was to feel better sooner rather than later.

A hysterectomy really is the best choice for me, too.  The only reason we would go the route of simply trying to remove the fibroid, would be to try to preserve fertility by keeping the uterus.  Well, I retired my uterus in March 2011 by having my tubes tied when I had my bladder correction surgery.  If it was gone, it wouldn't be a bad thing.  ☺  (By the way, my uterus was totally clear then and so that means I went from nothing to this in just a year and a half.)  So, I will be spending my Christmas break lounging in bed and being pampered by my family.  You know, maybe that won't be such a bad Christmas present after all.  ☺