It's a Boy....NOT!

Finally, I’m back in the office -- back in the real world! I did not know my one week sick leave could serve as my holiday. Well, I did get a time off from work. (wide grin) It’s surprising though that today feels like a typical Monday (when it’s actually a Wednesday). You know that going-back-to-work-after-a-weekend kind of feeling. Maybe if I had more than the prescribed anesthesia last week, I wouldn’t even remember that exactly a week ago, I was on a boat to San Carlos City, anxiously thinking about my so-called operation.

The Second Appointment

A week before I left for San Carlos City (the day I had my first gyn visit), I was advised by my doctor to have my polyps removed as soon as possible. Polyps, by the way are otherwise known as tumors but I’d rather use the word “polyps” because tumors sound terminal or whatever. Anyway, the procedure would cost about P20,000 to P35,000 depending on the hospital that I’ll be admitted in. We are a little short of budget right now that we had to consider other options. I totally understand that my family doesn’t want to compromise my health. It’s just that if we could find someplace else where the procedure isn’t as expensive as Cebu’s rate then it would be better. So, it’s San Carlos Doctors Hospital. The doctor who will do the procedure is the same doctor who removed my aunt’s fibroids like a year ago.

After about four hours of travel, I arrived in San Carlos City 12:30PM that Wednesday. (Wow! I was like wearing the exact shirt I’m wearing today!) I directly went to my aunt’s house where my father was waiting for me. I had lunch there. More like my last lunch before I’d be lying on the operating table!haha I don’t know but my family was kind of excited to go to the doctor that we were an hour early for my appointment. With me were my aunt, cousin and my stage father. (My mom had to stay home. My father didn’t even give her updates until I got out of the operating room. More on that later. ) Outside the doctor’s office, I was like talking and laughing the whole waiting time but my pits wouldn’t lie! They were like sweating like never before!haha The doctor came in about 15 minutes past three in the afternoon. I was first in line. She did not do a pelvic exam on me anymore.(Thank goodness!) Instead, I just showed her my ultrasound result and she just scheduled the procedure. Our conversation was like:

Doctor: So, unsa man? When do you want them removed?
Me: Anytime, doc.
Doctor: When was the last time you had food or water?
Me: About 12:30PM but I finished lunch past 1:00.
Doctor: Ok, no more food intake for you. We’ll do it 7:00 tonight.

Inside I was like, “Whaaattt??!!!” Okay, that was it. The doctor’s secretary did blood typing and hepatitis test on me. It hurt! Yaayyy! After 24 years on earth I finally learned my blood type! I’m an A+!

The Emergency Room

After my check up we went to the ER to be admitted, whatever. I hate emergency rooms! You could expect someone bathed in blood would be rushed there anytime! Eewww.. I was just lucky to be the only patient there at that time though. Whew! I changed into my watchamacallit gown then the nurse checked my vital signs...etc, etc, etc.. They asked me to remove my nail polish! (Nooo!!! Not my newly painted pussy red nail paint! Aarrgghh…) Anyway, I was talking non stop to my cousin, Krisna when another hospital staff came to me. She took blood samples for my complete blood count (CBC). Is that even necessary? I don’t like needles! It truly was a day of my ‘many firsts’!. After the ER experience, I had my first wheelchair ride. Hahaha Mr. wheelchair guy took me to my room. We had cable TV. Woohoo! I was glad my father loved me that much that he didn’t put me in the ward station. (sigh)

The Operating Room

I swear it was my first time to be lying on a hospital bed in a hospital gown and all the works.hehe I had my first ever IV therapy (intravenous therapy which people usually call ‘dextrose’) my whole life. Did it hurt? Of course it hurt! I could bitch slap the nurse!hahaha joke! Maybe some minutes before 7:00PM, the nurses came back for my ‘pre-anesthesia’ shots, whatever. Okay, they said it was for sedation. One was through IV and the other was IM (intramuscular slash injection). It was the most painful injection ever! If tattoos would hurt that much then I think I wouldn’t get one in the future!hehehe My arm was swollen for days!

After the shots, Mr. wheelchair guy took me to the OR – probably the scariest place to be in! The nurses made me lie down the operating table while waiting for my doctor and anesthesiologist and while they were preparing their stuff. The room was so quiet. Well, it wasn’t really that quiet because the nurses were talking but it would really help if they had radio in the operating room! They placed a medical cap on my head, some clip-like thingy on my left index finger, and a BP apparatus on my left arm. I talked to everyone in the room, maybe to ease the tension. One of my nurses, by the way, was gay. I love gay people.=) I wasn’t knocked out yet when the doctor and anesthesiologist came in. The latter asked me questions like if I had allergies and stuff. I told him I had asthma. The last words that came out my mouth were: “Doc, pila ka minutes before mutalab ang anesthesia?” I slept during the whole procedure. I was under general anesthesia. They did D&C (Dilation and Curettage) and Polypectomy on me.

The Recovery

I believe I was in the recovery room that time already when I heard people’s voices. I was kind of scared at first because I thought the procedure isn’t over yet and that I was already awake!hehe They brought me to my room and the attendants transferred me to my bed. I was fully awake about 9:00 or 9:30 PM. (What time is Pinoy Dream Academy aired again? My cousin was watching PDA that time.) I don’t know but I think my oxygen made me sick. I asked people inside the room to remove the apparatus. My father told me I was super pale and my blood pressure went down like 90/60! Or maybe I was just hungry because after I had some food, I felt okay. Hey, there was no pain, no discomfort down under. Thank God! And by the way, my dinner was Caldereta. My tita brought me some food from a party. Right before my procedure I kept telling everyone that I’m craving for Caldereta and Pato Estofado!hahaha Wish granted. They just didn’t have duck.

I don’t know if it was my medicine or the dextrose which made me want to pee like every 30 minutes to an hour. My nurse was so shocked to find out that I was in the bathroom when she came in my room to check my vital signs. She told everyone that I’m not supposed to stand up yet and instead I’m only to try to turn side by side!hahahha I didn’t want to use a bed pan! No way! I had like four to five trips to the bathroom the whole night.

I was discharged after lunch the next day. I came home to Canlaon with my dad. It was my long awaited vacation ever. Hehehe It’s just sad I missed my Trekkers class and The Dark Knight’s opening day.

I am to have my follow-up check up this Saturday. I will also know the biopsy results that time. I’m all well now. For those who prayed for my so-called operation, thank you very much. I’m back on track.

Health Stuff

It must have been the numerous trips to my pedia which made me want to be a doctor while growing up. I still have a vivid picture of my doctor’s clinic – there were toys all around, so much eye candy! What do you expect; I was a kid!haha But when I realized you’d be dissecting cadavers in med school, I totally dropped the idea of wanting to be a doctor or anything in the medical field. The thought of blood, scalpels, syringes and even just the smell of the hospital just freak me out! Oh well, I have to give credit to myself for being a healthy kid that after my asthma, I would only visit the doctor for vaccine shots. I have not tried being admitted in a hospital so much more being ‘dextrose-d’. Now you can just imagine my horror yesterday when finally I decided to pay my friend’s gynecologist a visit for the first time!

It wasn’t any regular check up actually. I experienced some abnormalities down under for months now and when I heard four of my friends have been diagnosed to have an ovarian cyst, I fretted. My plan was to schedule the check up Monday. Then it became Tuesday and then finally Wednesday. No one could go with me so I made a solo trip. Some courage I got there huh…going to the doctor alone.=) It was very much a nerve-wracking experience, I tell you. From the moment I entered the doctor’s clinic up to lying on the examining table and finally when getting the results. Sadly, the doctor saw something during my pelvic exam. You bet there was some dropping of pants scene! She advised me to have a transvaginal ultrasound to check the rest of my reproductive organs. By the sound of it, you probably get a picture on how the test will be done. That was like past 11AM. And since another gyn (and in another building too) will do the procedure at 1PM, I went to Ayala for lunch. I was kind of like in a complete shock when I got out of my gyn’s clinic. I don’t know if I should cry and breakdown that moment. And since I have no one to comfort me, I texted my closest girlfriends about the news. I went to Max’s to have a nice meal to somehow compensate how I felt. I am very much thankful to my girlfriend’s boyfriend, Leo, for leaving work in the afternoon to accompany me the rest of the day. I met him at Max's. He brought me goodies from Davao. (Thanks, Ben!) So there, I had my ultrasound after lunch. (Be posting the results after I scan them.) I brought the results to my doctor for final advice/ opinion. (Drum rolls, please) I have a cervical polyp, an endometrial polyp and an intramural myoma. There is no known cause on how I got them. They just grew inside of me and that they have to be removed as soon as possible except for the myoma. My myoma is inside the uterine wall and it will be hard to remove. It won’t have any impact on my reproductive function as long as it won’t grow bigger.

Leo and I had pizza afterwards. I was calm after the diagnosis actually. At least I still get to laugh about the whole experience. I already told my Dad. My Mom? Maybe next time. She has hypertension.=( Haaaayyy...Wish it were a nightmare. Hello surgical table, hello general anesthesia, hello dextrose, hello recovery room!!!

P.S.
If you experience something unusual down under and you feel there are abnormalities (bleeding, heavy period, pain, whatever), go to your gyn. Take it from me.
Were the examinations painful? No. There was a bit of discomfort but they weren't painful. Or maybe it comes with the choosing of a good gyn.=)