The cyst diaries

I have a confession to make... London girl has a big massive baby cyst growing inside of her. This is probably my curse for not having kids in my early twenties. My body is saying f u c k miss, "I'll wait until I set up my own company, until i find the right man and until my travelling and life is where i want it to be".  Perhaps the big guy in the sky is reminding me that if I couldn't hear my biogological clock tick that I will definitely feel the massive weight of my cyst pushing all my internal organs and bits around. Well I am hearing you Big Guy and I have to say I don't like your approach! If you sent me Ryan Gosling we wouldn't have to be here in the first place!

Now that I am with child albeit a mucous fluid child in the Mucinous Cystadenoma family of Ovarian Cysts,  I have some work to do in the delivery department. I am neither scared or worried just pissed off because this is not the first time my cyst baby has reared its ugly cystic head. Yes, this Mucinous Cystadenoma is a repeat offender... almost like that person who comes over uninvited and you cannot get rid of them!

It all started last year February 2012 after getting flu four times in a row, London girl took things into her own hands and wanted to put a stop to the flu cramping her going out schedule! I went to the doctor not only mentioning the flu but also mentioning that my stomach was growing at a fast pace and wasn't sure if it was related. Doctor said I was fine because I guess from their perspective my stomach wasn't big but this was NOT FINE for London Girl. I went again to another doctor in Harley Street mentioning my burgeoning tummy and showing how hard my stomach had become and that I was NOT one of these exercise types so I couldn't warrant a rock hard stomach. Yet again doctor mentioned no issue and charged me £150 thanks. So London Girl did something she swore she would never do and she went on one of these things called, the diet. Don't tell my Portuguese dad! He would never forgive me!

London girl gave up alcohol, popcorn, pasta,bread and reduced her chocolate intake (you didn't expect me to give up chocolate completely did you?). She went on supplement overkill and she even went to the gym... All of these changes and the weight stayed the same. Interestingly enough after going to the Organic Pharmacy and doing their Health Assessment scans again, all my supplements weren't surfacing on the scan either. It's as if my body couldn't get access to the nutrients because something was blocking it. Anyway when I saw that and my ever increasing waistline without the fun, I went back to the doctor and basically told them there is something wrong and didn't take no for an answer (the hunger pangs are a marvelous way of finding a voice that no one can say no too).

Finally, the GP heard me and took me for tests. First they thought it was a distended bladder even after telling them that I am 30 not 90 and had no problems going to the bathroom in fact it was the opposite. Alas the NHS have a set of tests to perform and regardless of what your actual symptoms are they will run through all the initial tests first.  Its an arduous waste of time but there is nothing to do but be a pin cushion and partake in some deep breathing exercises to bring calm. After doing some scans they found a cyst of 31cm. They cannot know the type at that point so thought it was a functional cyst.  I had to have abdominal surgery to remove the cyst and my ovary stayed. The surgery wasn't painful but the morphine didn't work well with me so I spent the first night regurgitating food i didn't know I had. This was a low point for London girl but fortunately for this girl, her sister was on hand and somehow the world is a pretty place when someone is holding your hair back whilst you do the deed. The surgery wasn't painful but it was exhausting. My cyst  weighed 8kgs so I had less to carry but walking to the bathroom in my hospital room got me out of breath and put a new meaning to unfit! I wasn't permitted to carry anything but somehow i needed to carry ME. After surviving the first day of surgery I kept reminding myself 2 more nights and then I would be out but it wasn't too be. I had to have 8 packets worth of blood transfused (very un London Girl like) and that was extremely hard to be upbeat. Having people visit you and you having to act normal whilst you have blood streaming through you and feeling that course through your body is not a pleasant feeling but you somehow get through it by blocking it out and I have SATC to thank for that.

After making it out 5 nights in the hospital getting home was a relief but unfortunately we had the world over  and again I had to be friendly and courteous when all I wanted to do was pass out on my comfortable bed! The days following on from the surgery were a bit tricky. I was also in shock because of the weight loss. Losing 8kgs in a few hours is mind blowing and although alot of women would dream about that, it was hard to adjust to. My clothes didn't fit and I didn't recognise the girl being reflected back even though she had been there alot longer that the cyst girl. I was also never free of the surgery as i had a stitch sticking out right where you zip up your trousers (in winter its a curse!)  so only after 3 months did my doctor realise that the reason my stitch wasn't dissolving is because it was an internal stitch.

Surgery was at the end of August, stitch was removed mid Nov and  by December I had stomach spasms which caused you to stop breathing along with intense pain for a few seconds and then it would be gone. I believe it was my body starting again with the cysts and by January it was confirmed. Cyst baby was back when really I only wanted the Terminator back! I decided this time round I would investigate alternative therapies because none of these doctors can say what causes these cysts and if none of them can do that, how can they say what can cure them? Also there were so many blunders with my surgery and after care that I believe it is my duty to my body to treat it better this time round.

I started doing some homeopathy which turned out to not work. I don't think it has to do with the homeopathy per se but more to do with the person I went to. I then started doing Acupuncture and used chinese herbs and these two things have helped. It has helped my cyst to stop growing as quickly and it has now stopped it growing. However, that is if you know what type of cyst you have. My cyst is already at 8cm as of 8 Oct 2013.

London girl is in a predicament... keep on the chinese herbs and hope it shrinks or remove the cyst surgically. London girl would need another full on abdominal surgery as they cannot remove the cyst via key hole without spillage ( my cyst is too big/complex with chambers inside to be certain it isn't cancerous). My friends and family in particular brother, best friend and boyfriend were amazing with the first surgery but there is something very singular about this whole process.  Only you know what it feels like to be in it, in your body and therein is the problem. London Girl just doesn't think she can go through this again.

Undecided London Girl