So, in order for you to fully understand how this all began, you're going to have to get comfortable with the female anatomy and what it does every month. That's your hint...if you don't like to read or talk about the very natural thing that women deal with on a monthly basis, now is the time to stop reading. I'll also add...grow up.
But to also be fair...this is not your usual "period talk." So yeah, it's okay to stop reading at this point.
For the brave and curious souls that are ready to dive into my personal hell...here you go and you've been warned.
I have always had irregular periods and have been off and on birth control pills to regulate them and to also help control my migraines. Back in September before our trip to Maui, the pharmacy stated that they stopped making my pills so they'd give me the equivalent. I trusted what they were telling me was something they must've known better than me, so I took my pills as directed.
For September and October, I didn't run into any problems. Seemed to be like my normal pills. I usually also took them so that I could skip my periods because let's be real, they're kind of a pain in the ass and I'd rather have a quarterly period rather than monthly. I have too much stuff to do than to deal with that!
In November, the pills didn't exactly work. Farrah and I had pulled into the parking lot of Fred Meyer to go shopping and when I shut off the engine, I sneezed. "Oh my god! I think I might have just peed my pants a little bit!!" Farrah and I were both laughing and I told her, "See? Don't ever get pregnant because randomly, your plumbing doesn't always work right." It wasn't a big deal and in fact, was very minor. Something that I could easily deal with when I got home after grabbing some things at the store. We grabbed our basket and I only made it to the first display by the door when it felt wet again, but a lot worse. I could feel my face go white because this wasn't anything I had ever been through before. Without even thinking, I bent my body in half to see if I'd peed myself or something else and discovered I was covered in blood.
"Holy shit. We need to go. We need to go RIGHT NOW!" I told Farrah what was wrong and all I could do was nervously laugh because what else was I supposed to do? She let me use her sweatshirt and wrap it around me and hightailed it out of there. I immediately texted James that something was very wrong with me and I didn't know if I should go to the doctor or what. When he asked what, had happened I told him I thought my uterus was falling out...I'm nothing, if not dramatic and a little funny when it comes to the weird shit with me. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that was a real thing and he was telling me to get to the hospital and that he'd seen something like that before. I quickly corrected him and told him it was probably a weird period.
Except...I was on the pill.
Except...I have never bled that much in an entire cycle, let alone a year's worth of cycles.
Except...there was no warning. No migraine. No cramping.
Except...break through bleeding was not this bad.
I got home to clean myself up and found that I had worse problems than just a "break through bleed". My anxiety level was through the roof because it wasn't like it was an isolated situation at the store. I couldn't STOP bleeding.
This problem went on for about a week. I'd be good and normal, thinking whatever that was, was a fluke. But then I'd laugh, or I'd sing in my car, or I'd cough, or heaven forbid...I sneezed. I ran the risk of bleeding through my clothes violently. I thought I was weirdly going through some sort of very early menopause. I remember even asking my aunt if she had it early or had weird signs and, nope! Not for my mom, either. I was at least 20 years too early for that,
James insisted that I see a doctor, but the problem was that I didn't have insurance yet. My job was in the middle of making a bunch of changes and one of which was finding us a health insurance program that only a handful of us would use. But I was told to go, regardless. James said it if was something serious and I did nothing, it would probably only get worse.
I went. I had examinations, I had an ultrasound, and I had blood work done.
"Well, Kathryn, all your results came back good. You're perfectly healthy!"
"Huh. That sounds awesome, but can ANYONE tell me what the hell is wrong with me?!!"
They couldn't.
The 30th of November, I got word that my brother and Hollie were in labor and I knew I needed to get over there to meet Violet. I packed clothes to stay the night and items I needed just in case I bled. Farrah and I were on our way and were half way up Blewett Pass (at night, mind you) when Farrah and I were talking and I laughed. GASP!! No!!!!!! This was bad. I was at least 30 minutes from any place I could discretely take care of myself. Not only that...I could feel that the bleeding wasn't stopping. I drove with my pelvis up the whole way into Cle Elem while Farrah grabbed all the napkins I had stashed in the glove compartment. We laughed and I was sweating through the whole drive. We got to Safeway and with what little room I had, I shoved clean clothes into my tiny purse. Again, I grabbed Farrah's sweatshirt to hide myself as we rushed into the women's restroom. This was my worst experience ever. I was in the stall for over 20 minutes because I couldn't stop. I'd try to get up, and bleed. I'd move and bleed. I'd clean myself up and then bleed more. Doctors say, if you go through a tampon in less than an hour, that's not good. So, what is it when you go through 3 in twenty minutes?
That, my friends, has been my life. The doctor I saw when all my results came back saying I was super healthy, said it was likely that the pills I was switched to were the culprit because of it thinning the uterine lining. Blah, blah, blah...cool...can we please put me on the right pill to make it stop?
It didn't. So, for the next few months, I was on alert at all times. It would stop and then come back. I noticed a trend with the full moon and even thought I had synced up with my daughter. I always packed extra clothes no matter where I went or for how long, and in many cases, I was simply told to "wear black". It was exhausting. It was humiliating. It was stressful. It was ruining my life in several different ways.
Finally, I saw Dr. O'Brian, the only available OB/GYN and was told of a few options to stop it. All of which included hormone therapy and excluding estrogen from my system, However, I'd looked up uterine ablation and heard amazing things about it. He agreed it would be a great choice, but should consider waiting until I had my insurance first as it was $18,500 without! Yup! I'll do the pills.
The pills were still sitting at the pharmacy when I ended up getting my insurance the first of May and ultimately scheduled my Pre-Op for mid-May and my surgery was scheduled for the 30th. At my pre-op, O'Brian told me we needed to do a quick biopsy of the uterus just in case there was any signs of cancer, because if we did the ablation, it would form scar tissue and we'd never know if it was there or not.
The biopsy was traumatic. It was so painful and there was nothing given to me to alleviate the pain or reduce the anxiety. I've had a mole removed and at least with that, I had Novocaine. I bled a lot after that, but I figured that was what was expected.
Come to find out later...cancer bleeds...a lot.
But to also be fair...this is not your usual "period talk." So yeah, it's okay to stop reading at this point.
For the brave and curious souls that are ready to dive into my personal hell...here you go and you've been warned.
I have always had irregular periods and have been off and on birth control pills to regulate them and to also help control my migraines. Back in September before our trip to Maui, the pharmacy stated that they stopped making my pills so they'd give me the equivalent. I trusted what they were telling me was something they must've known better than me, so I took my pills as directed.
For September and October, I didn't run into any problems. Seemed to be like my normal pills. I usually also took them so that I could skip my periods because let's be real, they're kind of a pain in the ass and I'd rather have a quarterly period rather than monthly. I have too much stuff to do than to deal with that!
In November, the pills didn't exactly work. Farrah and I had pulled into the parking lot of Fred Meyer to go shopping and when I shut off the engine, I sneezed. "Oh my god! I think I might have just peed my pants a little bit!!" Farrah and I were both laughing and I told her, "See? Don't ever get pregnant because randomly, your plumbing doesn't always work right." It wasn't a big deal and in fact, was very minor. Something that I could easily deal with when I got home after grabbing some things at the store. We grabbed our basket and I only made it to the first display by the door when it felt wet again, but a lot worse. I could feel my face go white because this wasn't anything I had ever been through before. Without even thinking, I bent my body in half to see if I'd peed myself or something else and discovered I was covered in blood.
"Holy shit. We need to go. We need to go RIGHT NOW!" I told Farrah what was wrong and all I could do was nervously laugh because what else was I supposed to do? She let me use her sweatshirt and wrap it around me and hightailed it out of there. I immediately texted James that something was very wrong with me and I didn't know if I should go to the doctor or what. When he asked what, had happened I told him I thought my uterus was falling out...I'm nothing, if not dramatic and a little funny when it comes to the weird shit with me. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that was a real thing and he was telling me to get to the hospital and that he'd seen something like that before. I quickly corrected him and told him it was probably a weird period.
Except...I was on the pill.
Except...I have never bled that much in an entire cycle, let alone a year's worth of cycles.
Except...there was no warning. No migraine. No cramping.
Except...break through bleeding was not this bad.
I got home to clean myself up and found that I had worse problems than just a "break through bleed". My anxiety level was through the roof because it wasn't like it was an isolated situation at the store. I couldn't STOP bleeding.
This problem went on for about a week. I'd be good and normal, thinking whatever that was, was a fluke. But then I'd laugh, or I'd sing in my car, or I'd cough, or heaven forbid...I sneezed. I ran the risk of bleeding through my clothes violently. I thought I was weirdly going through some sort of very early menopause. I remember even asking my aunt if she had it early or had weird signs and, nope! Not for my mom, either. I was at least 20 years too early for that,
James insisted that I see a doctor, but the problem was that I didn't have insurance yet. My job was in the middle of making a bunch of changes and one of which was finding us a health insurance program that only a handful of us would use. But I was told to go, regardless. James said it if was something serious and I did nothing, it would probably only get worse.
I went. I had examinations, I had an ultrasound, and I had blood work done.
"Well, Kathryn, all your results came back good. You're perfectly healthy!"
"Huh. That sounds awesome, but can ANYONE tell me what the hell is wrong with me?!!"
They couldn't.
The 30th of November, I got word that my brother and Hollie were in labor and I knew I needed to get over there to meet Violet. I packed clothes to stay the night and items I needed just in case I bled. Farrah and I were on our way and were half way up Blewett Pass (at night, mind you) when Farrah and I were talking and I laughed. GASP!! No!!!!!! This was bad. I was at least 30 minutes from any place I could discretely take care of myself. Not only that...I could feel that the bleeding wasn't stopping. I drove with my pelvis up the whole way into Cle Elem while Farrah grabbed all the napkins I had stashed in the glove compartment. We laughed and I was sweating through the whole drive. We got to Safeway and with what little room I had, I shoved clean clothes into my tiny purse. Again, I grabbed Farrah's sweatshirt to hide myself as we rushed into the women's restroom. This was my worst experience ever. I was in the stall for over 20 minutes because I couldn't stop. I'd try to get up, and bleed. I'd move and bleed. I'd clean myself up and then bleed more. Doctors say, if you go through a tampon in less than an hour, that's not good. So, what is it when you go through 3 in twenty minutes?
That, my friends, has been my life. The doctor I saw when all my results came back saying I was super healthy, said it was likely that the pills I was switched to were the culprit because of it thinning the uterine lining. Blah, blah, blah...cool...can we please put me on the right pill to make it stop?
It didn't. So, for the next few months, I was on alert at all times. It would stop and then come back. I noticed a trend with the full moon and even thought I had synced up with my daughter. I always packed extra clothes no matter where I went or for how long, and in many cases, I was simply told to "wear black". It was exhausting. It was humiliating. It was stressful. It was ruining my life in several different ways.
Finally, I saw Dr. O'Brian, the only available OB/GYN and was told of a few options to stop it. All of which included hormone therapy and excluding estrogen from my system, However, I'd looked up uterine ablation and heard amazing things about it. He agreed it would be a great choice, but should consider waiting until I had my insurance first as it was $18,500 without! Yup! I'll do the pills.
The pills were still sitting at the pharmacy when I ended up getting my insurance the first of May and ultimately scheduled my Pre-Op for mid-May and my surgery was scheduled for the 30th. At my pre-op, O'Brian told me we needed to do a quick biopsy of the uterus just in case there was any signs of cancer, because if we did the ablation, it would form scar tissue and we'd never know if it was there or not.
The biopsy was traumatic. It was so painful and there was nothing given to me to alleviate the pain or reduce the anxiety. I've had a mole removed and at least with that, I had Novocaine. I bled a lot after that, but I figured that was what was expected.
Come to find out later...cancer bleeds...a lot.
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