"The day has been eventful"

[cleolinda]

@cleolinda: Anxious about doctor visit. Have to go, don't want to go.

@cleolinda: I'll talk about it more elsewhere, rather than inflict the details on everyone. It's a pro-active effort, not serious illness

Comments

[greyduck]

Sweet hoolies, all I can say to this is: I really hope that everything afterward is onward-and-upward, because damn but you've been put through the ringer. Putting a name on the thing, though, means maybe you can be directed to actually useful treatment and all that jazz. Fingers: Crossed.

[cleolinda]

The worst part was that I had a name and was just too scared to try and ask for help again. But yeah, I think the reason I'm even willing to talk about it is that things seem to be uphill from here. Thanks. :)

[jwdmeow]

I read this as "jazz fingers crossed" and yes. Jazz fingers crossed for you, Cleo.

[greyduck]

Hah! Well, jazz hands have jazz fingers, so yeah let's run with that. *grin*

Were I more awake I'd try to come up with a Bob Fosse joke, but alas.

[elbales]

I am so sorry you went through all that. Unsympathetic/unkind doctors are the actual worst. These are people who are supposed to support and take care of us during some of our most difficult moments, and some of them just suck at it. So glad you were able to get that done for yourself. Best wishes for your improved health in the very near future.

[cleolinda]

Thank you!

[apey1013]

Jeez, Cleo, I'm so sorry you've been going through all of this! This is some heavy stuff and I 100% say your health and emotional well-being come before any deadlines always and forever

[cleolinda]

Aw, I'm so sorry you went through that. I've read tons of stories of people getting treated like shit by doctors because of their weight, also, which filled me with extra dread. I was really surprised that they didn't comment on my weight at all yesterday--she advised a low-sugar diet and exercise in the context of pre-diabetes thing, she never once said "because you obviously need to lose weight." It was like she just... trusted my intelligence enough to know that was true, and to prioritize treating the hormonal conditions and let everything else fall into place? I really, really appreciated that.

I appreciate reading what other women have to say about these sorts of things because our society rarely talks openly about these things

I am very, very private about a lot of things--again, as people have noticed--but it was important to me to be like "vaginismus, nbd" here. I really have no idea at what point I stopped being ashamed of it--several years ago, I guess--but it's a feeling I'd like to pay forward.

[thistleingrey]

I'm glad about the supportive doctors and staff this time (these times? that's a lot to do in a day even if one feels calm and placid about all of it). Also, yes, gel usage has changed; it used to be cold and now it can be warmed, though sometimes they do it at room temp or cold even now.

(I had ovarian cyst issues mid-1990s--dermoids with two surgeries. Much sympathy to you.)

[cleolinda]

Eeeeek, that must have been rough--I hope things are okay now? And yeah, I had naively thought it would just be a pelvic exam to get through, and I might be out of there in an hour. "Oh... there's a mammogram first...?" I got to a point where I was like, just do it all NOW before I go hide under my bed and never come out again.

[thistleingrey]

Yes, they are--thanks. Getting things over with makes sense!

[jenncatt]

Apologies for this whole massively oversharing essay, but this is very 'there but for the grace' for me - I did the same thing (kind of) when I was 21, finally saw a GP after years of shitty period related stupidity - heavy periods that went on FOREVER, cramps so bad my blood pressure plummetted and I fainted, in public, multiple times (no painkillers ever worked when it got to a certain point), lots of other crap, a lot of which were possible symptoms of PCOS. Once I collapsed on a train and someone called an ambulance, and I had to explain that, er, nope just really bad period pains I'm so sorry let the ground just open up and swallow me, kthxbye

[cleolinda]

Ayyyy, I think I've heard of Yasmin. I hope Spiro and Sprintec work for me, but it wouldn't be the first time I've had to experiment (doctor supervised) with medications and deal with side effects, so I guess I'm game. Little bit of back pain today with the Spiro, I think. Not starting The Pill for about a week to schedule it around the convention, so not sure how I'll do on that yet.

I will say that in my experience of working in healthcare, someone ordering you a mammogram that young is... just plain wrong. I used to work for a breast cancer surgeon and spent more time explaining to younger patients that they weren't even allowed to have a mammogram until they were around 36, no matter how much they wanted to

I swear to God, I know I had one and I THINK I had two, because I remember thinking, "Yeah, this is just as painful as the first one." Because they pressed REALLY hard. The one I had yesterday was NOTHING like it. Again, another argument for shadiness.

[jenncatt]

Oh yep, when you google Yasmin the whole class action law suit thing comes up...! Which sounds awful but that was more about it being advertised incorrectly from what I can work out? Like, taking it to reduce PMT isn't enough of a reason to increase your risk of DVT? Which I guess depends how bad the PMT is, among other things. Also drug companies are not the best source of reliable information about their own product, go figure

[inaurolillium]

You may actually find the spiro and sprintec have an incidentally helpful effect on the bipolar, as well. My wife takes one of those and I take the other, and we both have bipolar (she has II, I have I), and both find out moods more stable off those than on them.