This is going to be the first part of my personal experience with ovarian cysts and endometriosis. I left a few details out because they could be considered graphic to some readers. If you have any questions please feel free to email me! I would be more than happy to answer discuss anything pertaining to this topic!!
Pre-Surgery
Growing up my doctor had always said that if I wasn’t sexually active, then I didn’t need to see an OBG/YN. Not only did I learn that is completely false, but I also learned that not going to the OBG/YN had caused me to go years without knowing what was growing inside my body.
I moved to South Carolina in August of 2017 (I was 22 years old). During my first five months, my family and I had moved three times. As you can imagine, it was a lot of heavy lifting. I thought that I had just pulled muscles or bruised something internally.
In early 2018, I made a doctor’s appointment concerning the pain I was feeling in my lower back. I was not concerned, and neither was my doctor. We figured that since I hadn’t kept up with regularly going to the gym (since before I moved), I pulled a muscle when I moved. My doctor and I both agreed that I would keep an eye on it, and I would keep her updated.
I was working a retail job and In May of 2018 I had begun experiencing worse pain that was spreading to the sides of my abdomen. I over think a lot, so my mind jumped from appendicitis to some form of cancer. But I was stubborn, I didn’t want to call my doctor because I thought it would be nothing. So, I waited, trying to push through the pain every day.
I had begun to regularly take Advil. Once I gained a tolerance to that I switched to Acetaminophen, tricking my body with something a little stronger. But that too soon stopped working. Every day was the same. I would take some form of Tylenol or Advil and hope that it would work. The pain was getting worse, but I still believed it was all in my head.
In July of 2018, I started a new retail job. The pain had gotten so bad, that when it would come time to move shelving units around in the store, I wasn’t able to lift them, or I would be engulfed in excruciating pain. When I was folding clothes, I had to sit on the ground because standing put too much pressure on my legs. My mother also noticed that I was in far more pain than I had been in before. Some days it would take all my effort to get out of bed that I would fall asleep on the couch as soon as I sat down. I was becoming exhausted.
In August of 2018, I decided (with my mother’s persuasion) that I needed to go to the doctors. So, I made an appointment and they took me within the next couple of days. It was the same doctor I had seen before. She was currently training either a nursing or pre-med student. The doctor came in and brushed me off, making it seem like she could have cared less. The trainee that was with her took a bit more time and gave me a couple of ideas that she was having. One was that I had an ovaria cyst, which is surprisingly common in women. Once the doctor came in the trainee told her what she was thinking, and the doctor brushed her off as well. She told me that she would put in an order for blood work and that someone would be in contact with me within the next week to schedule an ultra-sound. I left that appointment in tears.
After the appointment I went to work as usual. Throughout the day I was popping Tylenol like it was candy. For most of my shift I didn’t do much. Since I was still new to the job, I had to do learning online at the work places’ computers. Which is what I did for the last hour. The pain had become so bad that even tapping my foot would send me doubling over in pain and tears would stream down my face. I called my mom and told her that once my shift was over, I was going to the nearest emergency room. I couldn’t handle the pain anymore.
The moment the clock displayed eight o’clock I punched out and drove to the hospital. My parents and sister met me there and we waited to be taken in. Since it was a busy night for the emergency room, I had to go in alone. I had never experienced being in the hospital alone before. I’m originally from a small town where the emergency room is rarely ever full. I was terrified but I knew I had to grow up and find out what was wrong with me.
I was seated on a bed that was placed in the hallway. I was in an alcove of sorts right in front of the nurse’s station. I truly think that if I had been placed anywhere else, my anxiety would have gotten the best of me. All throughout the night I was constantly checked on and the nurses made me feel like I wasn’t alone. Honestly, it was the perfect experience for my first time ever being alone in a hospital.
Even though I had just gotten my bloodwork done that morning, I had to get it done again. I’m an emotional person so of course I cried. But I had two awesome nurses, while one held my hand the other talked to me about anything to take my mind off the needle. I also had to get an ultrasound as well. I thought they were going to do the same thing you see on television. They rub the blue gel on your stomach and then just rub it around. I was so wrong; they wanted to do an internally ultrasound. Now I won’t go into the details of that but use your imagination, I’m sure you’ll figure it out. I should mention that I am a virgin so hearing internal ultrasound sent me straight in to panic mode. I immediately started word vomiting to the woman and she assured me that she was not going to be doing the internal ultrasound. She said something along the lines of
“I don’t want to scar you.”
I thanked her and I was sent back to my bed. A little while later she took me back in to prepare me for the ultrasound that gets rubbed across your stomach. That is when she told that she saw an ovarian cyst. It didn’t look to be large, but that was what was causing my pain. She sent me back to my bed again and told me one of the doctors would be by to talk to me about what I would need to do.
The doctor came by and told me that once he took a closer look at the image, he believed he saw two cysts. Rather small so he didn’t believe that I would need surgery, but he made an appointment with the OBG/YN that the hospital recommended. I would have to go see her for further analysis of the cysts.
I went to the OBG/YN not knowing what to expect. My mom told me what they usually do for checkups and I was nervous. I had to pee in a cup so they could ensure I wasn’t pregnant and then they brought me to the exam room. The doctor and I talked about the pain I had been feeling and what she saw on the ultrasound. Then she started the exam.
After the exam, we went in her office and she told me that she wanted me to do another ultrasound. She told me it wouldn’t be internal because she didn’t want me to feel violated in any way. I went home that day with another appointment to come back the following Tuesday.
I show up to the next appointment where the nurse tells me that I will be doing an internal ultrasound. I told her absolutely not. The doctor had assured me I wouldn’t have to. The doctor came in and we both talked for a while about how the internal ultrasound would give them a better picture so she could properly see what she was working with.
I agreed and the nurse told me that I would be able to guide the probe so that I would only do what I was comfortable with. Which, if I am being honest, wasn’t much. However, the picture was enough and soon my doctor was back in the room and we were already discussing when would be best for surgery.
My cousin was getting married that weekend so we decided that a couple of weeks later I would be getting surgery. We discussed that it would be laparoscopic, which would mean three small incisions. One would be across my belly button and the other two would be on either side of that. If something went wrong, then the incisions would have to be a bit wider. I told the doctor that whatever she had to do to save not only me but my ovaries, I was okay with. She went into detail about how there was a possibility that I would lose both of my ovaries, but she would do everything she could to save them.
A couple of days before my surgery I went in to do another checkup and to get another order to have my blood drawn. Everything looked the same and we were on the path to surgery.
I had gotten a few instructions on what life would be like post operation. I would bleed a bit because the surgery would involve them inflating my uterus which meant another probe. I would be wearing a lot of pads so only granny-panties for me. My stomach would be swollen, and I would be out of work for two weeks, which sucked mostly because I had just gotten a new car and needed to pay bills.
I went to the hospital early in the morning to get ready for my surgery. I was taken into pre-operation and my family got to come with me. I got my I.V. put in and changed into the gown they make patients put on. I was given a heated blanket and instructed that I would wake back up in the very same room with my family around me. I was given an anesthetic and before we made it down the hall, I was asleep.
Check back next week for my next steps.