Off Topic - Medical Update

[aeronwen]

The waiting continues.

Yesterday my husband and I went to the Women's Health Center to meet with the doctor who my primary care physician referred us to. He stated that the cyst on my ovary is quite big, almost four inches long, and the weight of it is causing the surrounding organs to twist. In other words, it absolutely must come out, and my right ovary along with it. But first they needed to do blood work to check for cancer.

I'm not too proud to admit that I started to panic a bit at this point. I explained that cancer has taken both of my siblings, and now that I'm the only one left I tend to think of cancer as an evil entity that's going to come for me at any moment. The doctor was very sympathetic and said, "According to the scan, this doesn't look like cancer, and I don't think it's cancer, but we can't say that it isn't until we run a test."

He then explained that if the cyst was cancerous he would not be able to do the procedure and I'd have to go to the hospital in the next town over for it to be removed. So...before leaving the clinic I went to the lab where they drew blood and have been waiting nervously for the results.

The Women's Center called just a little while ago to set up my pre-opt appointment (March 28th) as well as the appointment for the surgery itself (which is going to be done by the doctor I saw yesterday). That appointment is April 4th.

The receptionist who called didn't have my lab results, but I am guessing (and I pray I am not making a mistake here), that since they set up the appointment for my current doctor to remove the cyst, that means they got the results of my blood work and didn't find any sign of cancer. He told us that the procedure will likely take around an hour and a half and I should be able to come home that day where I can rest and recuperate in my own bed.

I was taken aback that I have to wait until the beginning of April for the surgery to be done. It's bad enough knowing this is coming, but to have such a long wait...March is going to feel like a long month.

Comments

[pasque]

Your assessment is the first thing I thought, too - if they're setting up a removal appointment (and can afford to leave it for an entire month), they must definitely know it's not cancer. It's the only thing that makes sense, right? Also good to hear you'll be able to go home the same day, as you'd hoped! It sounds like despite the scariness of this whole thing, the appointment went fairly well.

I hope you're feeling at least a little reassured about the whole thing. I'm continuing to keep you in my thoughts.

[aeronwen]

Thank you. That's deeply appreciated.

The paranoid side of me keeps expecting them to call back and say that they found cancer and have to therefore cancel the appointment and set me up to go to the hospital. But the more logical side of me reasons that doing things in such a way would be very unprofessional. If the doctor told the receptionist to set up an appointment for him to remove the cyst, then he must know that it's safe to do so.

[darth_eldritch]

Yeah, I don't think the receptionist would have the lab results. And the go ahead with the surgery appointments is a good sign.

hopefully they will give you the lab results soon and that it is good, very soon to eliminate that concern.

Hoping for the best for you, keeping you in my thoughts.

[aeronwen]

Thank you. It's now been over twenty four hours since they drew blood. I imagine that they would have the results by now. Perhaps no news is good news.

[darth_eldritch]

Keeping our fingers crossed.