Chronicles of Chaos

Chronicles of an existence... Perfect Order within the Chaos.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Another round of Bloodshed

I was discovered with a little medical condition when I was 25 or 26 and that was when my self confidence took a rather severe beating. I had cysts in my ovaries and this causes a hormonal imbalance. More importantly, PCO sufferers gain weight exponentially and it is hard for them to lose it, even with regular exercise and a stern eye on the diet. I know this personally because I have tried exercising and nutrition watch and it came to nought.

When I was 25 or 26, I had to have an immediate day procedure done as I was bleeding for over 2.5months. The first gynaecologist I went to gave me pills and told me to go back for another consultation in 3 months.

I was getting weaker with each passing day and my spine hurt so bad that I couldn't sneeze without excrutiating pain. I had initially thought I sprained my back or hips but no amount of chiropractor visits helped.

I was then brought to another gynaecologist for a second opinion and when he took one look at me, he said I had to have an immediate surgery as I was losing too much blood and losing colour. It was a simple procedure where I was given general anesthetics and I could go home within an hour of waking up. When I groggily awoke, I noticed that the pain in my spine had miraculously disappeared.

Since then, I still had the infrequent cycles and I discovered a few symptoms of PCO sufferers. For one, I get mood swings that affect me rather badly at times. It messes my mind and if I didn't take a hold of myself and remind self that this is the PCO 'talking' I don't believe I would be sitting here and blogging about this experience. Also, there were times when my blood sugar ran severely low and if I didn't get sugar or food in my system immediately, my body would shiver and shake uncontrollably and eventually I would pass out.

Accordingly to my gynaecologist, most PCO sufferers do not remove the cysts because any scratch on the ovaries would render one barren and I had cysts on both ovaries. The good news is that since it's benign and annual check ups do not indicate cancerous cells, the cysts do not need to be removed. I was also told that unless I tried getting pregnant for at least 1.5years, there is no reason to think that it will be difficult for me to conceive.

Anyways, fast forward from when I was 25 to last year when I was 35. I woke up one day and noticed that the bleeding was unusually heavy. I went to my regular doctor and he gave me a referral to see my gynaecologist immediately. I saw the gynae the following and he said the dreaded words that I was to have another procedure to clear the blood as there was a lot still left in my womb. I had already prepared myself for this and decided that in order to be 'normal' I would go alone and come home alone. I reasoned that there is no point in bringing someone to wait for me for over 3 hours and then bring me home when I was perfectly capable of doing so myself. I think the nurses were surprised that I came alone. When I messaged my best friend who is also my colleague that I was about to go into surgery in 10 mins, she was dead worried and wanted to rush down. I told her not to be silly and it's a simple procedure and I will be home in no time to rest. So that was how that came to be. It did feel lonely in the end, when I saw that everyone came with someone and no one went through this alone. The nurse offered to walk me down to the cab stand but I assured her that there wasn't such a need.

Fast forward to 8 months later... I started bleeding again yesterday and it feels bad again. I couldn't go to work today because the flow is too heavy for me to get clean without a shower each time. I went to the regular doctor again and told him that this time round, I do not want to rush to the gynaecologist and asked if he had pills I could take to stop the bleeding. He gave me 6 days' worth of pills but told me that he insist I go back to the gynaecologist on the 7th day because it is very likely that the bleeding will stop the minute I stop the pills.

I am sitting here in my room, trying to get a handle on my emotions and trying to assure myself that I wouldn't be bleeding that heavily in a couple of days and not to over think things. I keep telling myself that I will be fine and there is no need to worry about going to the gynae and being told that I need yet another surgery. I don't even have to think about whether I should call a friend to go with me this time because there is no surgery to be had.

I will be fine...

5 Comments:

  • At 12:46 PM, Blogger babyviolette said…

    I have PCOS/PCO too - my weight just could not come off. It is becoming more common apparently. Went to see a specialist, did my laparoscopy surgery. Have you thought about seeking a second alternative opinion? I went to see a chinese herbalist who told me that I have a fatty liver. If you research fatty liver you will find that more often than not, the two are linked. So am now on a course of herbs and accupuncture to cleanse the liver and hopefully, after that the rest will start functioning normally again.

     
  • At 1:54 PM, Blogger ChroniclesofChaos said…

    Heyas BV

    Where were your cysts?

    Current gynae is my second opinion actually.

    After your surgery, did your weight go down? What about after TCM, did the weight stay off?

    Did you spend a lot on these treatments?

    Actually after removal of the cysts, you should be back to normal already I think.

    I can't remove mine as it is in the ovaries and I don't really trust TCM for anything other than skin issues.

    =(

     
  • At 9:10 PM, Blogger Acey Deucey said…

    Hey friend, I will be most willing to accompany you. Dead serious about this.

    You have my phone number and it is not difficult for me to get half a day's leave if required.

    Take care of yourself... I note that today is the 6th day.

     
  • At 12:40 AM, Blogger ChroniclesofChaos said…

    First of all, thank you very much for the offer. =)

    I was wondering for the longest time what to say to that. It's not that I don't have anyone to ask ... it's just... well, it's hard to say this.

    I actually only want a partner to be there with me and seeing as I'm single... that's going to be quite hard.

    Saying that actually makes it sadder I think. My warped theory is this... the only person who is really interested in my well being would be a partner. That being said, I think it says a lot of what I feel my friends and parents feel for me, as far as care and concern goes.

    I blame the loss of blood during that period. But things are good now... it went as suddenly as it came and I'm no longer sappy and illogical. =)

     
  • At 11:47 AM, Blogger babyviolette said…

    I tried to find an email address to send you a note, but there is none so I'll put it all here instead. If you want to know more - babyveej@gmail.com

    My cysts were in my uterus. At the time I was diagnosed I was told to also see a nutritionist as sometimes weight loss can help PCOS. I am not fat or obese, neither am I a skinny minny either, and could probably lose some more weight (dont we all).

    As I was already spending lots of $$ (lucky for me I have private health cover which covered alot of my costs thank god) I decided against contributing more towards a nutritionist and changed my diet. It worked and I have lost some weight and maintained it.

    Hope you are feeling much better.

     

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