Hello there!!!! I am currently on the couch with an ice pack on my uterus and Gilmore Girls in the background. The windows are open too! Oh how I love the fall air! I wanted to share a quick blog post about my recent surgery. I wanted to thank EVERYONE who has reached out to me, offered up prayers, brought us food, etc. Your kindness is something that did not go unnoticed and I truly feel so blessed to be loved by so many <3
Now, I will say. I totally included a picture of the dermoid cyst I had removed. I didn’t include the inside photo of the cyst…just in case any of you are squeamish. It’s pretty crazy! I named my cyst “Ferbie” for a good reason…it was filled with fat, hair, and teeth!
Dermoid cysts are actually present at birth and grow overtime. Mine just happened to really present itself at the ripe old age of 26. Looking back, I noticed signs several years ago. Painful bloating, the constant need to pee, acne around on the lower half of my stomach, etc. My mom kept telling me to go to the doctor but I never did…whoops! It wasn’t until this past summer when I KNEW something was wrong. At first I thought it was in my head but then I mentioned the bloating and the pain during sex to my PCP in July. She sent me in for an ultrasound and a CT right away. I found out in August I had a dermoid cyst that was 10 cm on my ovary. The cyst had already gotten so large that they weren’t sure what was cyst and what was ovary. My OB informed me that surgery would definitely involve the removal of my ovary if they were going to take the cyst out. I was pretty devastated by this. To lose something so important, such as an ovary, so young was a really big deal to me! I told my doctor I wanted to wait on surgery but things started to get worse. My stomach began to be CONSTANTLY bloated. I would send my mom the photos below and joke that these would make “cute” maternity photos if I was actually pregnant. This really messed with my mental health. I knew I needed to get surgery. It was getting incredibly painful and uncomfortable. I was peeing ALL the time and experiencing low energy and a poor self image. My stomach was seriously hard as a rock all the time and tingly…it felt like I was so bloated that nerves were popping!
Scheduling the surgery was a bit tricky but I am so glad I finally got in to get this sucker out!! I was SO nervous. I have never gotten surgery before but luckily God blessed me with a wonderful nurse as a husband. Leon kept me calm and answered all my unnecessary questions!
***WARNING…ferbie image ahead!**
I was incredibly relieved to get this cyst out of me!! It grew to be 15 cm. It grew 5 extra cm in just a few short weeks!! While I was happy to get this cyst removed, I was not prepared for the recovery process. Something I did not think too much about. They had to do a c-section type incision to get the cyst out and its been an incredibly painful recovery. I was pretty nauseous after the surgery so I stuck to sprite and the bread my parents picked me up from Panera!
The doctors and nurses were incredibly kind and AWESOME at The Medical Center. If you are in need of a great OB, I reccomend mine. She was incredible! She was so excited to show me the pictures of my cyst because of how huge it was!! Sadly, they did take my ovary. It was too immeshed with the cyst. But! I did get to keep my fallopian tube! Small victories! I slept though most of the night and was up early the next morning. My sweet husband brought me flowers and a coffee!! š We got to leave around 11 that morning and then it was off to our house where a week of bed rest awaited.
I will blog all about my week of bed rest + other things in another blog post. I just wanted to share a quick update on what surgery I had! I hope what you take away from this post is to listen to your body! (and your mom. lol). I didn’t know if something was wrong but my body was literally screaming at me that something wasn’t right! I don’t even want to think about what would have happened if I hadn’t ever gone to the doctor. Thanks for reading!!
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