let's twist again?
Aug. 19th, 2010 12:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jinianSaw the recommended gynecologist this morning.
I quite liked her; she seems honest and sensible, and she talked me through her thought processes respectfully. She was also willing to completely blow off the stupid right-ovarian-cyst hypothesis, so pretty much won me over right away! She also doesn't think that a dime-sized fibroid in the midline would be causing left-side pain like this, or that endometriosis is likely, or unfortunately that any idea she has would completely make sense. The thing that comes closest is a torsion. While normally your organs stay put, it's possible for the membranes etc. that hold them to get screwed up, so the organs can twist around and, in severe cases, cut off their own blood supply resulting in hideous necrosis. This, being a bad thing, tends to hurt like a motherfucker.
The idea is that, in June, for some reason a torsion happened, possibly related to the ovulation I was doing that day. (It can't have been related to the gel I was loading, and it's not like I was taking advanced gonadal yoga classes. A weak point in the theory.) It went back on its own, perhaps slowly, since I had pain for a long time. That incident may have weakened the suspensors somehow? so that later periods have caused temporary recurrences. Wim suggests something swelling during that time so spatial relationships are changed. Could be, there's a lot of cramping going on in there, and my uterus usually feels enormous; overall the recurrences make more intuitive sense than the initial problem.
I'm concerned that I still feel slightly sore of belly but pokings of my specific reproductive organs didn't hurt at all. Seems like maybe it's not them, then.
Also apparently I am to be tested for gonorrhea and chlamydia with my Pap test. She said "I trust no one" in a way that makes me think people must argue with her sometimes. Come on, it's her job, and it is formally possible that I caught something years ago and it didn't show up on a test before.
My options, basically, are two. It's pretty much up to me.
1. The temptingly geeky yet somewhat alarming option: laparoscopy! Small incision, poking a fiber-optic camera around inside my pelvic area, seeing what we can see. Advantages: I might be able to get it on video and/or watch it while it's happening, which would be awesome; it would also show anything not on my reproductive organs that might be the problem. But honestly, I only want it because I am dying to know wtf is going on, and probably sheer curiosity is not a great reason to open my abdominal cavity. Plus, although it's outpatient surgery it would require time off work for recuperation.
2. The uninformative but likely to have a good outcome option: hormone pills. This is basically what I'd come up with on my own -- if periods are a problem, change the periods. Birth-control pills tend to reduce the amount of uterine lining overall, resulting in less evil cramping and possibly therefore less of whatever mysterious new sucky thing is happening to my innards. My eventual goal would be to just stay on the pills and have fewer periods overall, but that is something to push in the future, I didn't go there today. Advantages: probably going to help with cramps regardless; did I mention that it is probably going to help with cramps regardless? Disadvantages: have to take at the same time daily; potential stupidity like with the NuvaRing, though that has a very different formulation than this Micronor pill; other possible side effects. I did get along well with my Norplant, I think, though there was a lot going on at that time and I might not have noticed side effects as such. (Also it was twelve years ago. Yikes.)
So the plan for now is to start the pills with my next period and call her to say how it went after the period's over. If I have another severe episode I am to go to the ER and squawk for them to fix a torsion! which would be kind of awesome. Still not convinced, but just have to go with it for now.
I quite liked her; she seems honest and sensible, and she talked me through her thought processes respectfully. She was also willing to completely blow off the stupid right-ovarian-cyst hypothesis, so pretty much won me over right away! She also doesn't think that a dime-sized fibroid in the midline would be causing left-side pain like this, or that endometriosis is likely, or unfortunately that any idea she has would completely make sense. The thing that comes closest is a torsion. While normally your organs stay put, it's possible for the membranes etc. that hold them to get screwed up, so the organs can twist around and, in severe cases, cut off their own blood supply resulting in hideous necrosis. This, being a bad thing, tends to hurt like a motherfucker.
The idea is that, in June, for some reason a torsion happened, possibly related to the ovulation I was doing that day. (It can't have been related to the gel I was loading, and it's not like I was taking advanced gonadal yoga classes. A weak point in the theory.) It went back on its own, perhaps slowly, since I had pain for a long time. That incident may have weakened the suspensors somehow? so that later periods have caused temporary recurrences. Wim suggests something swelling during that time so spatial relationships are changed. Could be, there's a lot of cramping going on in there, and my uterus usually feels enormous; overall the recurrences make more intuitive sense than the initial problem.
I'm concerned that I still feel slightly sore of belly but pokings of my specific reproductive organs didn't hurt at all. Seems like maybe it's not them, then.
Also apparently I am to be tested for gonorrhea and chlamydia with my Pap test. She said "I trust no one" in a way that makes me think people must argue with her sometimes. Come on, it's her job, and it is formally possible that I caught something years ago and it didn't show up on a test before.
My options, basically, are two. It's pretty much up to me.
1. The temptingly geeky yet somewhat alarming option: laparoscopy! Small incision, poking a fiber-optic camera around inside my pelvic area, seeing what we can see. Advantages: I might be able to get it on video and/or watch it while it's happening, which would be awesome; it would also show anything not on my reproductive organs that might be the problem. But honestly, I only want it because I am dying to know wtf is going on, and probably sheer curiosity is not a great reason to open my abdominal cavity. Plus, although it's outpatient surgery it would require time off work for recuperation.
2. The uninformative but likely to have a good outcome option: hormone pills. This is basically what I'd come up with on my own -- if periods are a problem, change the periods. Birth-control pills tend to reduce the amount of uterine lining overall, resulting in less evil cramping and possibly therefore less of whatever mysterious new sucky thing is happening to my innards. My eventual goal would be to just stay on the pills and have fewer periods overall, but that is something to push in the future, I didn't go there today. Advantages: probably going to help with cramps regardless; did I mention that it is probably going to help with cramps regardless? Disadvantages: have to take at the same time daily; potential stupidity like with the NuvaRing, though that has a very different formulation than this Micronor pill; other possible side effects. I did get along well with my Norplant, I think, though there was a lot going on at that time and I might not have noticed side effects as such. (Also it was twelve years ago. Yikes.)
So the plan for now is to start the pills with my next period and call her to say how it went after the period's over. If I have another severe episode I am to go to the ER and squawk for them to fix a torsion! which would be kind of awesome. Still not convinced, but just have to go with it for now.
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no subject
Date: 2010-08-19 07:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-19 07:18 pm (UTC)*hug*
no subject
Date: 2010-08-20 01:30 am (UTC)Also, torsion is weirdly cool though of course also hideous at the same time.
I am glad you liked the doctor!
no subject
Date: 2010-08-20 09:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-20 10:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-21 01:06 am (UTC)