(no subject)
It was recently pointed out to me that I posted back in December about having to go to the hospital for surgery - and then never checked back here (although people on Twitter and Instagram know that I'm still alive).
The surgery itself back then went well. However, one of the complications that can arise with ovarian cysts, particularly larger ones, is that it can tangle with the Fallopian tube, which causes the ovary to die. Supposedly, that's accompanied by an intense pain, but the doctors won't actually know for sure that it has happened until they cut you open. Once I was in surgery, they noticed that it had already happened. The right ovary could sadly not be saved and they had to take it out, too. I had to stay for the night and spent most of the time either asleep or trying to fall asleep after I had been woken up so my blood pressure could be taken or my bottle of fluids could be exchanged or whatever.
Since the surgery was done under general anesthesia, I could not watch it, but I did receive some nice, gruesome pictures from the inside of my stomach before I was released. It was a keyhole surgery - or rather, three keyholes - but you can still see where they cut on the left side. I dubbed it the "intern side" since it looked like they had allowed the intern to do the stitches there.
As for the lost ovary, women can live just fine with only one ovary, it simply takes over the job on its own. Actually everything works even better than before. My menstrual cycle, which has been a rather irregular 5 weeks +/- 4 or so days for as long as I can remember has now shifted to an almost punctual 4 weeks. Which makes me wonder how long I'd had that cyst in me wreaking havoc on my hormones.
In corona news, I'm doing fine. My job has not been affected much so far - I hope it stays that way. I did want to look for a new job this year because overall I'm not that happy with my current one, but I don't think it would be easy in the current situation, so that has been postponed. Also, I've been working completely from home for the last few weeks, and a lot of my unhappiness stemmed from having to drive an hour one way just so I can do exactly the same as I could from home. So that's a bit better.
My parents are also fine, although I wish dad - who is 76 and has diabetes - would stay home more than I suspect he does.
I am a bit worried about my sister, because the isolation hits her a bit harder than the rest of my family. A lot of her social contacts are coworkers or people who are in the same sports class, all of whom she can't see right now.
I'm very fortunate that I live in a smaller town that has lots of space and greenery around it. Five minutes from my front door, I can be in the woods where you rarely meet a lot of people, in two minutes I'm down by the river. And I have a balcony that's now cleaner than it has been in years. Once furniture stores are back open, I'll probably finally buy a nice foldable table and chairs and see whether I put up my hammock again, or buy a hammock chair or one of those egg-shaped swinging chairs.
This entry is crossposted to https://stellamira.dreamwidth.org/703760.html. You can comment there, too.
The surgery itself back then went well. However, one of the complications that can arise with ovarian cysts, particularly larger ones, is that it can tangle with the Fallopian tube, which causes the ovary to die. Supposedly, that's accompanied by an intense pain, but the doctors won't actually know for sure that it has happened until they cut you open. Once I was in surgery, they noticed that it had already happened. The right ovary could sadly not be saved and they had to take it out, too. I had to stay for the night and spent most of the time either asleep or trying to fall asleep after I had been woken up so my blood pressure could be taken or my bottle of fluids could be exchanged or whatever.
Since the surgery was done under general anesthesia, I could not watch it, but I did receive some nice, gruesome pictures from the inside of my stomach before I was released. It was a keyhole surgery - or rather, three keyholes - but you can still see where they cut on the left side. I dubbed it the "intern side" since it looked like they had allowed the intern to do the stitches there.
As for the lost ovary, women can live just fine with only one ovary, it simply takes over the job on its own. Actually everything works even better than before. My menstrual cycle, which has been a rather irregular 5 weeks +/- 4 or so days for as long as I can remember has now shifted to an almost punctual 4 weeks. Which makes me wonder how long I'd had that cyst in me wreaking havoc on my hormones.
In corona news, I'm doing fine. My job has not been affected much so far - I hope it stays that way. I did want to look for a new job this year because overall I'm not that happy with my current one, but I don't think it would be easy in the current situation, so that has been postponed. Also, I've been working completely from home for the last few weeks, and a lot of my unhappiness stemmed from having to drive an hour one way just so I can do exactly the same as I could from home. So that's a bit better.
My parents are also fine, although I wish dad - who is 76 and has diabetes - would stay home more than I suspect he does.
I am a bit worried about my sister, because the isolation hits her a bit harder than the rest of my family. A lot of her social contacts are coworkers or people who are in the same sports class, all of whom she can't see right now.
I'm very fortunate that I live in a smaller town that has lots of space and greenery around it. Five minutes from my front door, I can be in the woods where you rarely meet a lot of people, in two minutes I'm down by the river. And I have a balcony that's now cleaner than it has been in years. Once furniture stores are back open, I'll probably finally buy a nice foldable table and chairs and see whether I put up my hammock again, or buy a hammock chair or one of those egg-shaped swinging chairs.
This entry is crossposted to https://stellamira.dreamwidth.org/703760.html. You can comment there, too.