Happy December – the start of winter and the holiday season!!
I wanted to drop a reminder to all women (and fathers, husbands, friends of women) to NOT forget to schedule your annual GYN appointment. Even though it can be a little uncomfortable and embarrassing, it’s an important part of taking care of yourself. At my annual this year, I had a little scare and regret that I held off on my appointment for the few months that I did (I believe my last appointment was 16 months prior, instead of the recommended 12). My new GYN found a teratoma (a multiple celled cyst). He did an in-office ultra-sound and said that it appeared to be about the size of a four month old fetus, and unsure what exactly it had attached itself to (but was blocking his view of the uterus). After a CT scan and an ultra-sound, it was decided that it was bigger then something he would tackle in his office and he sent me to Miami, a specialist in the Sylvester Cancer Center at the U of M medical campus.
Dr. Twiggs was wonderful and his assistant, Lilly, helped to get me in as soon as possible (she called me during her Thanksgiving vacation to help schedule both the in-office visit and surgery). Surgery was last Tuesday, and I still haven’t heard all of the details of the flurry of activities yet – in short, it sounds like they put me under and then conducted a complete pelvic exam to determine the size and precise location of the teratoma. In doing so, they realized that it was not only larger then they expected, but shaped like a question mark around my other organs in the area. Dr Twiggs had warned me during my in-office visit that they may find it necessary to do something more then a traditional C-section, and they did. The incision is from my naval down, and they still had some trouble getting the teratoma out in one piece (but were successful). They did a complete hysterectomy (which we discussed as a possibility) and removed my appendix, as well. The first two of the three biopsies of the cell have come back benign and I have no reason to believe that the third will come back with the same result next week.
Lesson learned – so lesson being shared…. Do not skip your appointments. I don’t even want to have a conversation with the doctor about what could have happened had this thing grown and gotten bigger before we caught it. Buck it up and get over the embarrassement and schedule the appointment. The only reason why I waited is because I found myself in a new area and I really didn’t want to have to go through the hassle of finding another doctor again this year ….. Silly Sharron.
We take care of our kids, our spouses, our houses and our jobs…. Why don’t we take the time to take care of ourselves??? If we don’t, who will?
Your online blogger friend,
Sharron
Sharron Grzybowski
Lifestyle Makeover Specialist
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