I just wanted to write a quick timeline of my experience for anyone with a similar case. I couldn't find anything when I was looking for comfort over the past year.
I first fell ill in June 2021, serious abdominal pain, it almost mimicked appendicitis. Strong pain in my lower abdomen and pain down my leg. I was in and out of hospital over the course of a few weeks. It would flare up and then vanish again.
I was lucky enough to get an all female team the second time, and the Dr knew straight away it wasn't my appendix.
Cue ultrasound and transvaginal camera.
They discovered that I had bilateral Cysts that looked completely solid, they couldn't see my ovaries at all.
One looked to be 8cm and the other around 7cm.
Then a slight panic, as I'm transferred to a different department for CA125 blood tests to rule out the big C. My levels came back slightly raised. So I was then referred for an MDT meeting amongst the specialists to decide what to do next. I was also referred for an MRI scan.
Unfortunately due to the COVID backlog, I eventually went private for my MRI, as I was losing my mind by this point 😅 (I went to The Oaks in Colchester, which cost around £500).
I saw a consultant there and he said I was high risk of losing my ovaries and being catapulted into an early menopause (34, no kids). Which wasn't very reassuring at all. I could have chosen to have my surgery with him (around £3,500), but he actually referred me back to the NHS as the consultant I was under was more skilled (Mr Whitlow) 😅
In the meantime, just guzzling painkillers from the GP, and living in heat patches.
Roll on August 2021, I finally get to meet my consultant on the NHS, he says it's a very easy case and everything will be fine! He's putting me as an urgent case and I should have keyhole surgery in the next 3 months. So always look at that second opinion!
Then nothing, for a long time...
Then I have a conversation with someone who has gotten lost on the waiting list, so I decided to ring the department every month to see how things were progressing. Told the wait is 52 weeks or longer 😩
When I rang in April 2022, I rang and got told I'd only been waiting a week... So definitely keep a check on them if you're on a waiting list!
Over a year later, still waiting...
In August 2022 I got a phonecall asking if I'd be happy to go to Ipswich hospital instead of Colchester, as there were more available places there. Jumped at the chance!
Met another consultant at Ipswich (Mr Mweemba) and he accepted my case, booked in for a pre op assessment (basically a health questionnaire, weight and height, blood tests) and got a date for the beginning of September.
Cue a lot of tears of relief!
On surgery day I had to be at the hospital for 7.30am, I was checked in and had to provide a urine sample.
Around 8am I was seen by the consultant to run through the consent form, and to run through any things that could go wrong, they could cut the bladder or bowel with the instruments, but risk was very low.
Shortly after that I was seen by the anaesthetist (Leo) who ran through the procedure as well.
Then I was transferred to my bed, had a COVID test, and was collected by the theatre team around 9.30.
You go in to the anaesthetics room first, where you meet your team, I was so lucky they were all so lovely. Then they fit the cannula in your hand for the anaesthetics to go in.
Then you're wheeled in to the theatre and transferred on to the bed, and they will start to administer the drugs to knock you out. I didn't even count, I was gone straight away!
Waking up the other side in the recovery room I was a little sore and has a small dose of Morphine. My surgery has been 2.5 hours and it took me a further hour to wake up.
Once I was awake I was taken back to the ward and had to wait for the Surgeon to come round to tell me what had happened.
He had discovered 2 cysts, one 8x8cm, the other 6x6, and showed me a picture. They were both solid masses, but were filled with fat and hair, nothing suspicious, but a biopsy had been sent off just incase. He said he'd removed as much as he could and hoped they wouldn't return, but there is a slight possibility. Both ovaries still fully intact!
I had an overnight stay, I actually had a drain in my abdomen incase of internal bleeding, and that was probably the most painful part. It made it very difficult to sit upright, I had to pull myself up using the bars on the bed. Luckily it was removed after 12 hours.
I found the first week of recovery a lot harder than I thought, I was lead to believe it would be quite quick. I had to take antibiotics for 5 days and blood thinning injections in my stomach for 10 days (they're just awful).
I took my dressings off after a few days, the one from my drain was still weeping and I promptly fainted!
However, the second week was a huge turn around, I felt so much better and things seemed to be healing nicely. I returned to work on the third week, but was unable to lift heavy objects for another 3 weeks. After 8 weeks I'd joined a gym and was working out like nothing ever happened!
I got my biopsy results in the post a few weeks after surgery with the all clear. No follow up appointments needed! My 3 keyhole scars are barely noticeable now, it's just the small line from the drain that's visible, but this is below my bikini line.
Hope this has been helpful to some of you out there. Please feel free to ask any questions about my experience, x
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