An Update

Thought I'd just let you all know that I haven't gone and emigrated and not told anybody. Nope, I've just been behaving like a typical Cancerian and hiding in my shell for a bit while I waited for my hospital appointments to come... and go. Don't ask me what I've done with the time because I couldn't really tell you - it just sort of slipped past....... and I don't seem to have a great lot to show for it either. Well, apart from a few more posts on my other blog.

I had the second ultra-sound scan done last week: the cyst was still there, though looking like it was on the right side rather than the left, as it had appeared in the hospital. Bugger, and there was I hoping it would evaporate into thin air, never to appear again.

Today (11th) I saw Mr Roberts, the Gynae Consultant, to hear the verdict. The blood tests were OK and the cyst is definitely benign (thank you to all the powers that be!) but it's definitely not going to go away by itself. The confusion over which ovary it is is normal, as ovaries have a tendency to move around of their own accord. Apparently mine are real lively little beggars (at least part of me is still a bit of a party animal! LOL) and due to the large cyst making one ovary heavier than the other they have a tendency towards twisting..... and it was probably down to them twisting that I had the pain last month. He said they often don't know for certain which ovary the cyst is in until they go in there.

As I am 48 years old and not wanting any more kids (sheesh, make a baby at 48 and have a teenager when I'm into my 60's?!!! Hell, No!!!!) and they're having to go in for one ovary it's as well they take the other one out too, to save any further problems further down the line. It means a greatly reduced risk of ovarian cancer (it is still possible to develop one form of it but it's extremely rare) and also............ wait for it.............. no more monthlies.... Yay! Bring it on, said I.

Have you any idea how much cash I'm about to save, not having to buy the neccessaries every month? How much that adds up to in a whole year? No, neither do I - but I do know it's a small fortune. And it doesn't take a genius to guess what plans I have for said cash, too.

Yup....... a girl can never have too much stash. ;0)

Obviously, when I wave bye bye to the girls it will mean I go into full on menopause. I can't say that bothers me over much at this stage - I've been quite looking forward to embracing my Crone/Wise Woman Years - but I don't think DH (the poor, unsuspecting innocent) has yet gathered, let alone fully appreciates, what that means......................... that his reasonably laid back wife of 25 years is quite likely going to turn into an unbalanced, fire-breathing, ball-busting dragon lady............. at least, until Jan the Herbalist gets the right meds mix sorted for me. ROFL

Mr Roberts reckoned the waiting list was currently around 18 weeks. I tried to do the calculation as to what month that would be in my head but didn't quite make it. OK, far enough away not to get into a sweat about. I opted for normal surgery rather than keyhole: if I wanted keyhole surgery there would have been a delay while I was referred to the chap that does that, then another because he would have to see me before putting me on his list; having keyhole surgery means I'd be under the general anaesthetic for longer, compared to the 30 minutes for the ordinary surgery - far better for me, as my blood pressure tends to drop dramatically after a general; I'll only have one short incision scar, below my belly where it won't be seen, compared to four or so scars across it where they would be.
The main positive for keyhole is that you get to go home much quicker - doing it this way I won't, as I will have to spend around 3 days in hospital but I reckon I will find that a bit more reassuring initially...... because if there are any problems that crop up there are trained folks immediately on hand to deal with it. Oh, and not forgetting those marvellous morphine jabs they have for pain! :0)

So Mr Roberts filled in the relevant forms, handed them to us and told us to take them to the Booking Office and the lady there would sort out the details. With that we thanked him and left. When we found the Booking Office (clearly signed when coming in - not obvious when going out, as we found) the lady there had us in and added the operation details to my online notes. While she was doing that I said to DH that I wondered how much it would cost to have it done privately, not only to hurry things along but to get a time that suited us best and would guarantee Mr Roberts would do the op. The lady then told us that the private suite was closing shortly because there was a lack of patients for it, as the hospital was really quick on the waiting lists there was no real need to go private now - then told us that she had an available slot for me on 4th December. Sheesh, that certainly wasn't the 18 weeks Mr Roberts quoted!

After catching my breath I asked DH how that went with his work commitments, as the steelworks have a big Outage coming up - that means some 12 hour day shifts and some weekend working. The 4th wasn't looking too good, so the lady said: actually I have a cancellation slot available on the 27th of this month, with an appointment for the pre-op checks on the 17th, if that's any better. Gulp! Oh, boy - did that suddenly make it all so much more real! So, thinking that going for the earlier date will mean a whole lot less time for me to work myself up into a right old panic about it (yeah, right!), we booked it. I'll be on Ward 28 again........ hope I didn't make too lasting an impression the first time around. LOL After being given the necessary printouts and adding the dates to our diaries we thanked the lady and left...... feeling a little stunned by just how quick it's all going to be.

On the really bright side: though I shall have to seriously extract my digit to try and get all the present shopping done now, the earlier date does mean that I should have recovered enough to be able to enjoy the festivities. Oddly enough, just the night before, I'd been chatting to my DSis on the phone and said to her it would be great to get everything all done and dusted before Christmas.

I think someone up there was listening.

Eeeeerrrmmm................. is it too late to say I was only joking? LMAO

Thank you for all the lovely comments you left on my last post... and also for stopping by, despite the recent long gaps between posts. :0)