New Adventures in a (hopefully) Healthier Jessi
Oh yeah, I said I was going to start writing here more again, didn't I?
So, just as a recap for anyone still reading this who doesn't read me on Facebook, a number of months back, I was diagnosed with a uterus goblin (okay, well technically, it was a giant polyp that was causing my uterus to do terrible, goblin-like things). After a series of ultrasounds, blood tests, and then more blood tests I had a D&C to remove the goblin. It was biopsied just to make sure, and wasn't anything scary aside from being large and a goblin.
After healing up, I realized that I felt about 150% better than I had in a very, very long time. Apparently, the physical unwellness had been creeping up on me so gradually I didn't realize how lousy I really felt. I mean, I knew I was always fatigued, was usually sleeping poorly, was always stressed, had trouble focusing on tasks, and felt generically sick much of the time. Part of it was my asthma (my breathing took a long time to recover from having The For-Real Actual Flu*, though I admit this it was in part due to allowing my medication to lapse for a while, because I'm not smart), but there was more to it. Of course, I didn't really notice it was a problem until it had gotten very bad. At that point, I still couldn't put my finger on what the problem was and decided I must just be lazy, unmotivated, and stupid. I'm sure you'll be shocked to know that didn't make me feel better.
As soon as I was healed, and even while I was still sore, I noticed that there was a discomfort --not so much what I would call "pain", but a consistent feeling of pressure-- that was gone. In hindsight this is not surprising. The goblin was 2cm in diameter, and the uterus of a woman who has never been pregnant is about 5cm wide and 3cm thick. For the organ it was inhabiting, that's a significant size.
All I know is that I feel incredible. I have energy again. I've been drawing consistently again. I've been able to do more reading again. I'm sleeping better than I have in years *without* taking sleep aids. I'm not sure whether I feel like a whole new person, or if it had just been so long that I didn't remember what feeling like ME felt like. My stress levels are even so much lower that for the first time in years I have fingernails.
I had a follow-up appointment at the end of May. The nature of the polyp and my blood tests all point toward PCOS. I'll be on a hormone treatment for another five months, then I will possibly need to have another D&C so they an get samples of my lining again. If everything is all good, the PCOS will be managed with birth control after that.
The doctor also made the suggestion that I monitor my nutrition and physical activity. She said that a healthier diet would help manage the insulin-resistance that often comes along with PCOS, and that regular exercise could help my ovary function. This was all part of the plan once I started feeling better again, but it never hurts to have a little nudge that "if you can manage it this way, maybe we don't have to throw more medication at you than you're already on".
Since the end of May, I have been tracking what I eat on what is essentially a knock-off of the Weight-Watchers program, and for the past two or three weeks I have been hitting the gym regularly. I'm trying not to focus on the numbers on the scale too terribly much, but I am averaging about a pound per week. I feel that's not bad at all considering I take weekends off from point-counting, that there is muscle gain to take into account, and the fact that I'm on asthma medications and hormone treatments. What is far more important is how completely awesome I feel.
And the best part? The Wi-Fi at the gym is good enough that I can watch Netflix on my Kindle Fire! One hour of cardio = One Episode of Dr. Who! It's like it's meant to be!!!
* - The Real Flu is nothing like what sitcoms and NyQuil commercials have led me to believe. Instead of a bad cold along with digestive problems, it was a solid two weeks of wheezing and hurting. And then at least an additional month of feeling weak and consistently short of breath. Every last moment of it sucked, and I will never doubt whether I should get a flu shot again.
So, just as a recap for anyone still reading this who doesn't read me on Facebook, a number of months back, I was diagnosed with a uterus goblin (okay, well technically, it was a giant polyp that was causing my uterus to do terrible, goblin-like things). After a series of ultrasounds, blood tests, and then more blood tests I had a D&C to remove the goblin. It was biopsied just to make sure, and wasn't anything scary aside from being large and a goblin.
After healing up, I realized that I felt about 150% better than I had in a very, very long time. Apparently, the physical unwellness had been creeping up on me so gradually I didn't realize how lousy I really felt. I mean, I knew I was always fatigued, was usually sleeping poorly, was always stressed, had trouble focusing on tasks, and felt generically sick much of the time. Part of it was my asthma (my breathing took a long time to recover from having The For-Real Actual Flu*, though I admit this it was in part due to allowing my medication to lapse for a while, because I'm not smart), but there was more to it. Of course, I didn't really notice it was a problem until it had gotten very bad. At that point, I still couldn't put my finger on what the problem was and decided I must just be lazy, unmotivated, and stupid. I'm sure you'll be shocked to know that didn't make me feel better.
As soon as I was healed, and even while I was still sore, I noticed that there was a discomfort --not so much what I would call "pain", but a consistent feeling of pressure-- that was gone. In hindsight this is not surprising. The goblin was 2cm in diameter, and the uterus of a woman who has never been pregnant is about 5cm wide and 3cm thick. For the organ it was inhabiting, that's a significant size.
All I know is that I feel incredible. I have energy again. I've been drawing consistently again. I've been able to do more reading again. I'm sleeping better than I have in years *without* taking sleep aids. I'm not sure whether I feel like a whole new person, or if it had just been so long that I didn't remember what feeling like ME felt like. My stress levels are even so much lower that for the first time in years I have fingernails.
I had a follow-up appointment at the end of May. The nature of the polyp and my blood tests all point toward PCOS. I'll be on a hormone treatment for another five months, then I will possibly need to have another D&C so they an get samples of my lining again. If everything is all good, the PCOS will be managed with birth control after that.
The doctor also made the suggestion that I monitor my nutrition and physical activity. She said that a healthier diet would help manage the insulin-resistance that often comes along with PCOS, and that regular exercise could help my ovary function. This was all part of the plan once I started feeling better again, but it never hurts to have a little nudge that "if you can manage it this way, maybe we don't have to throw more medication at you than you're already on".
Since the end of May, I have been tracking what I eat on what is essentially a knock-off of the Weight-Watchers program, and for the past two or three weeks I have been hitting the gym regularly. I'm trying not to focus on the numbers on the scale too terribly much, but I am averaging about a pound per week. I feel that's not bad at all considering I take weekends off from point-counting, that there is muscle gain to take into account, and the fact that I'm on asthma medications and hormone treatments. What is far more important is how completely awesome I feel.
And the best part? The Wi-Fi at the gym is good enough that I can watch Netflix on my Kindle Fire! One hour of cardio = One Episode of Dr. Who! It's like it's meant to be!!!
* - The Real Flu is nothing like what sitcoms and NyQuil commercials have led me to believe. Instead of a bad cold along with digestive problems, it was a solid two weeks of wheezing and hurting. And then at least an additional month of feeling weak and consistently short of breath. Every last moment of it sucked, and I will never doubt whether I should get a flu shot again.