Ow, and Then OWWWWW

Summary

As I mentioned last week, my doctor wanted me to have an ultrasound to make sure that there wasn't something bad behind my getting my period recently. The result is that she thinks it was probably a hormonal imbalance, and we're adjusting my meds. She did a biopsy to make sure there were no precancerous cells; hopefully that will be clear and we move on and my ridiculous post-menopausal, this-ain't-supposed-to-happen body will settle down.

In more detail

Since I appreciate when people give details on this sort of thing, so I know what I might expect should I need to go through it, I decided to write it up more than that: not every detail, but some. No need to read it if you don't want that detail!

The ultrasound was ... very unpleasant. I had one before and uncomfortable is not a strong enough word for it. Even "pressure" is not a strong enough word for it! But it's in a good cause, and if it was intrusive enough for me to be glad I hadn't had a big lunch, well, again, I want to know if something's wrong.

After another stint in the waiting room, the nurse took me back to go over things, and told me that the doctor would do a pelvic exam (ugh) and might need to take a tissue biopsy. When the doctor came in, she told me that I have a "baby fibroid" that doesn't need to be treated, and as my endometrial lining was a little on the thick side, she did want to biopsy that to check in case there were any precancerous cells. Fair enough! 

She said that we could try doing the biopsy during the pelvic exam, and encouraged me to let her know if she needed to stop because it was too much. And it almost was too much! It went from uncomfortable to really hurting, but at least it didn't take very long. She was very kind about it, though that may sound odd under the circs, talking through it and encouraging me, telling me how well I was doing, and that she got a good sample. I should hear about the results in 7 to 10 days.

When it was done, she mentioned that I had just saved about $3000 (which is a hell of a thing, isn't it? health insurance in this country is serious messed up), and I said that I might be pleased about that in an hour, but right then it wasn't a lot of comfort. She said to stay lying down as long as I needed to, and offered Motrin and water, to which I said yes please, and she said she would have someone bring some in.

I stayed there for a few more minutes after she left, then sat up and stayed there for a bit. The promised Motrin was brought in, along with a cup of water (with ice cubes, even), and I asked for and was given a pad to use, so I didn't spend the whole drive home worrying I was bleeding through my clothes (it's close to an hour away, so I would have been thinking it). I slowly got up and dressed, and left the office.

I've noticed before in this building that the elevator is a little jerky in its movements, so I made sure to hold onto the rail, and I'm glad I did, because my legs were a bit wobbly and I would have staggered sideways otherwise. I got out to the car, where I had to hold onto the wheel with both hands to get myself in, so I decided not to be in a hurry, and pulled my book back out and read for probably 15 minutes, until I felt somewhat better.

The drive went fine, and I decided I had the energy to stop for therapeutic ice cream, which I did--still feeling a bit under my usual energy, but not unable to proceed.

When I went to the bathroom after I got home, there was quite a bit of blood, but it gradually tapered off until it was pretty much done by bedtime. Today I felt ... okay. Not great. But not bleeding, not super crampy, and honestly if my back hurts, who knows why? It may or may not be related: the older I get, the more things hurt, you know?

At least I have ice cream.