Shortly after my January post I started to not feel well. Burning upset stomach, constant heartburn, no sleep and an ulcer diagnosis shortly after. I only went to the doctor once I hadn’t slept in almost a week. She wanted to have my labs done because apparently I looked like shit – my description, not hers. She was nice. Asked if I had been sleeping and said I looked a little more pale and tired than she anticipated.
In the meantime, she loaded me up with antacids and a list of foods to stay away from and sent me on the trip to New Orleans for Patrick’s ½ Marathon. (He did very well and the trip was great!) Upon our return, I had the labs done. The Phlebotomist looked a bit surprised at the many pages the doctor wanted results of.
Told her (the Phlebotomist) that I’m a fainter. Asked her for a room to lie down in since all I saw from the waiting room were open doors to rooms with adult high chairs in them. She rolled her eyes at me and took my insurance card. She’s a real gem. Called me back, sat me in a room and then rolled her eyes at me when I sat across the room in the little chair…reminded her I’m a fainter and we can do this on the floor or on one of the little patient beds…but we would NOT be doing this in the high chair. What I didn’t tell her is that I’ve fallen from those more than once by someone wanting to be a hero and thinking they could draw my blood without incident. Without saying another word she took me to another room, pointed to the little bed, grabbed my arm and took the blood – was all done and over with within a couple of minutes. She had me bandaged up before I even knew what happened and she was back to the front desk.
Here’s what I didn’t know: stressing out over having labs done and whether or not I’d rather faint (again) was the least of my issues.
A week later the labs came back with a note from my doctor requesting a follow-up appointment. They never request a follow-up appointment from me. Crap. And how do you even read those lab results anyway? I was convinced I had kidney failure. According to my doctor, my kidneys are fine. Other parts…well…not so much.
I’m deficient in quite a few things, so now I’m on prescription strength vitamins for 3 months when we will retest. We are also testing for Celiac at that time. I’m not worried about that. If my labs come back low again, I do the same thing I’ve been doing for 3 more months and retest. If I’m still deficient and there is no Celiac or absorption issue, I continue on these vitamins forever and move on.
The labs also revealed something else: I have PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). Ok, fine. This isn’t exactly a big reveal. I’m not shocked. I’m also not alone – fortunately and unfortunately, it is really common. What I am is really pissed and a disappointed.
Seven years ago, I went to the doctor that I had at the time with issues; after a few appointments, she wanted to remove my ovaries….I never really knew the diagnosis - just that I had cyst issues. I was 23, what did I know!? The specialist she consulted said no, that wasn’t necessary, so we did nothing. Nothing! All the while I could have been given options. There are several options to help control the symptoms and side effects. I’ve been in hell for 7 years not knowing what was really wrong or why I was in the pain I was in....and left totally in the dark about possibilities to make it all go away. I just thought this is how it was for me. My new doctors along the way haven’t seemed alarmed or bothered that I had cyst issues and I had no clue any of this was indicative of PCOS. I hadn’t been told I had PCOS, so I figured I didn’t have to worry about it.
Now I’m 30 and have been told that I may not be able to have children. Okay. Fine. I can handle that. I’m not necessarily convinced I was put on this earth for the sole purpose of being somebody’s mother. There are other risks though associated with this though. My body processes insulin differently, that means a higher risk for diabetes. Also, a higher risk for cancer, cholesterol, excessive weight gain…. All things that I could have been looking after more closely for 7 years. Okay, I get it, I was in my 20’s, and for some reason 20-year old people don’t have the same troubles 30-year old people do. But I was never not at risk; it was just lower.
It is swimsuit season. There are visible side effects – a weight I have never been before, for starters. Horrific cysts covering my back that leave God-awful scars. I have them treated with laser beams. Hurts like hell. The doctor has to numb my back with Lidocaine shots in the cysts and surrounding area then applies 2-3 layers of topical numbing cream before she can get started – then the laser hits my skin 100 times. I can feel most of it, even with it numbed. The first time, I cried throughout the whole appointment. I cried again when I tried on a swimsuit last weekend; it’s a mess and I don’t want anyone to see. We have 2 upcoming weekends with friends, and they will see it. I am mortified. They will understand, and I will survive.
A few of the internal treatments for all of this seem viable – they really are solid treatments to get the PCOS under control. One of them, on the other hand, sounds awful – Ovarian Drilling. I will so not be doing that! Ever. I’d rather have them removed – they’re causing nothing but hate and discontent – but don’t drill into them!
This is not a woe is me moment. It is however, a lot for me to deal with. I can’t get in to the specialist until the middle of June. That’s 3 whole months of waiting. My doctor doesn’t see the big deal because I’ve "had this for 10-15 years, so there’s no rush". True. But, really, I’d just like to feel better, especially now that 'it' has a name and potential treatments.
So…here I am…waiting…trying to find humor, and failing miserably, in my needle phobia, getting shot up with Lidocaine once a month to make it through the laser treatment, having labs done every 3 months, taking a plethora of pills and thinking Ovarian Drilling sounds like the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.
