I have no stories, scary or otherwise, so I guess I'll put in my two cents on the delivery thing. Is Indian or Thai an option? Maybe a nice hot curry would be good for you.

Oh, hell no, or else i'd be knee deep in pad thai and curry by now.

My only reasonable option is halfway decent pizza/pasta at best. i think i need to look for menus and coupons before i decide to blow off the idea entirely.

Well pizza is one of those foods, that to me, really can't ever be THAT bad. So, if there's a chance of decent pizza, I'd roll those dice. Jeepers, eth, I hope answers are forthcoming, and the news is good.

Pizza is good.

When I were just a wee nipper, I used to pull the pepperonis off my pizza and eat them seperately. Not sure why, but such was the case. Anyway, one night the cat lept up on the table, snatched as much of my pile of sausage as he could fit in his mouth, and just as quickly disappeared with them. I would've thought they'd be too hot for him, but he finished them off before we could retrieve them. After that, I learned to enjoy pizza intact.

So here's hoping for a swift and satisfactory diagnosis and treatment (not to mention delivery of your dinner).

So sorry to hear about this, eth! Ugh. How miserable.

As richat said, go for the pizza.

*hug*

i've had some abominable pizza, but i think i'm going to go between the two least disturbing options. It's been so long i don't think i have any current or usable menus.
It gives the Bees a chance to flirt with the delivery boy while i steal cheesy bread.

Ordering pizza online a la The Net seemed really pointless then, and now, i think it might be my only real option.
As the world turns...

My sister in law had sixteen pounds worth of fibroids removed from her uterus a year ago this week. Some were the size of fists. She's four months pregnant now. True story. Fibroids are completely benign, and tend to run in families, does anyone else that you are related to have them?
Before she had her fibroids removed, her periods were heavy, painful and irregular. Obviously, she doesn't have her period now, but after her fibroids were removed, she felt almost immediate relief. I'm sure you have already googled the hell out of the condition, but eat all the cheesy bread you want. I know how much it sucks when you are waiting for a diagnosis.

Ugh, I don't have any "hey it could be cancer" stories. I did have that teratoma last year, but that's ovarian, not uterine. No pain, either.

Sorry eth, this sucks.

My friend's uterus was the size of a four month pregnancy when she had her fibroids removed. She's had three kids since then - all c-sections of course; since they didn't want her uterus to possibly rupture during labor, she was a scheduled c-section.

Sixteen pounds of fibroids?
???
No one in the family's had any previous fibroid stories i know of, and i thought it ran in families.
i'm more irritated by everybody's squeamish fear and inappropriate "getting to know you" timing.
i do not feel the need to get to know you, radiology tech. Not when i lack a bra and am fighting pain. My pain management ability is apparently my lose.
If you're not screaming, everyone gets to forget you're in pain. i save the screaming for when i need to get someone's attention. This doesn't mean i wanna walk the length of a parking lot into the emergency room or schmooz with every sickofantic tech in the hospital, but oops.

i thought of your Terry Toma, gaspode, and it's long blond hair.
i might have a cyst so here to hoping.

The ultrasound is no biggie, if a tad undignified - discomfort level no worse than an annual pelvic exam, even if it does take a few minutes longer. If your (male) doctor wants to do an endometrial biopsy though, be sure he's within hitting distance after he says, 'you might cramp a little.'

On second thought, if your female doctor says that, make sure she's within hitting distance too. Trust me when I say after you 'cramp a little' hitting someone is going to sound like an excellent plan.

Fibroids tend to grow, which is the problem with them.

No freaking out here, okay?

Way back when, for fibroids that caused problems the primary recommended treatment was a hysterectomy. This was how mine were treated. I don't know if they still are classified this way, but my fibroids were classified (ironically, I always thought) by weeks in size - as in pregnancy weeks. Mine were 20 weeks and I had a *lot* of them. They were also wreaking much havoc as they grew, primarily because of where they were growing, poking their little fibroid noses into organs they had no business with.

If you're diagnosed with fibroids, ask lots and lots of questions - take all of it very slow, make sure you understand the treatment options available, *why* your doctor is recommending one course over another, and never, ever hesitate to get a second opinion. Most doctors these days are willing to try other treatment options before recommending a hysterectomy, especially for younger women, and women who have not yet had children.

As an aside, I was 29 when I had my hysterectomy, and not anybody's aunt :-)

Whatever the answer is for you, I wish you much relief, quickly.

No one's even sure it is fibroids yet and it doesn't seem like anyone is pro hysterectomy, least of all me. i'm so not prone to freak outs and have had ultrasounds before. My biggest worry there is if they won't let me pee.
Seems to me, fibroid treatment is mostly noninvasive and i'm taking big doses of motrin, which should help shrink them. Surgery doesn't really bother me as i'd been thinking this would be surgical from the start, but now i don't know what's up.
Bleh.
Honestly, i was hoping i'd be getting a d&c today or some procedure by now and be done with it.
Not a fan of lingering chronic ideopathic pain.

The not knowing sucks, almost as much as chronic pain; I'm sorry ethylene.

((((eth)))) I haven't been to the gyn in, oh, about 8 years now. No $.

Oh, and there are some vases ("vay-sez" as they are under the $50 kind. Over $50 I'm told they are "vah-zez") on the table in our lobby that I call fallopian tube vases because they look like they are reaching for an egg from above with their little tendrils.

i feel a bit better having gotten to say something about it.
It was most worrisome as unknown pain. Then odd as mystery "fluid." Now it just verges on annoying.
If i was anywhere with decent Chinese delivery (like everywhere should be) i'd be surrounded by noodles and dumplings by now.
Instead, i have to find comfort blowing money on ridiculous amounts of hot cheese. i felt obligated to over order and it will keep me from having to shop for a week.


i love vases that try.

Mrs. Doohickie had fibroid cysts several times. She also had two successful pregnancies and, eventually, a hysterectomy (long after our sons were born and after she already had a tubal). It was something she put up with for 15 or 20 years.

While I won't say they are nothing to worry about (we worried plenty; you just can't help that), most of the time they are not life-changing.

Make your own peace with your concerns, but there is only a tiny chance that the worst case will happen. (I hope that sounded reassuring.)

Now that i've finally eaten the first decent amount in days and reread this thread, pragmatism has flown out the window.
Fibroids sound horrifying.

Sixteen pounds, and what do you get?
Four month pregnancy?!
Good god.
But did they hurt?

You'll be fine....

Sorry for the pain and delay and yuck, eth. Hopefully, the ultrasound will clarify things and you and they can get on with the business of making fixy. I don't have any stories or advice, but I have a big old hug with your name on it.

{{{{eth}}}}

No stories or advice here either.

(((ethylene)))

My mom's fibroids caused her periods that soaked tampons AND pads with big clumpy messes of fluid and clots in a matter of a couple of hours. I didn't realize it runs in families. Awesome. Anyhoo, she ended up with a hysterectomy, but she was maybe 55 when that happened.

Big hugs to you.

I have stories. I had a cyst on my ovary when I was a senior in high school. I could barely walk from the pain. It was PID. UGH. Usually a benign or malignant ovarian tumor does not cause pain.

I had a fibroid tumor that prolapsed. I was bleeding like no tomorrow. There was no pain, but there was blood. Frank blood. A literal blood bath. My GYN thought I was having a miscarriage. I had an emergency D&C. They were able to remove the tumor during the D&C because it was hanging by a stalk. (Isn't that a lovely picture?) It showed mutations, mitosis (rapidly dividing cells) which is pre-cursor for cancer. Since I have two children, a previous tubal ligation and no wishes for future children, or cancer, I agreed with the doctor to have a vaginal hysterectomy. My ovaries are still intact.

Fibroids really aren't that horrifying. They are somewhat common and can be hereditary.

Good luck ethylene. I'm thinking of you.

Oh eth, that sucks. I hope they can clear it up soon and in the meantime give you decent pain meds. *hugs*

Oh, eth, this stinks. Sorry for the pain and worry.

I will tell you the only fibroid stories I know, and they both turn out fine! YAY!

A good friend of mine suffered for months and months with debilitatingly heavy bleeding which eventually started happening out of cycle. She was weak and anemic, and in lots of pain.

They took out her fibroid tissue (but did not perform a hysterectomy), and after a brief recovery period, she is leaping around like a flea! She's more active than I've ever seen her, with tons of energy and no pain. The non-surgical treatment wasn't doing it for her, but it might for you.

The thing to take away from that story: there was no long-term after-effect. She's as good as new --- better.

Apparently, I have big ole fibroids. I found this out when I was given a CAT-scan (an MRI? Can't remember) for a totally unrelated matter. (Okay, that one doesn't so much have a happy ending as, uh, no ending yet, since they haven't caused a problem. Yet.) Just a little message of solidarity and sympathy, and with the hugging, always the hugging.

Anyone lose a ball?

i got a look at it and it looks perfectly spherical. i think i could just give birth to some sports equipment and call it a day. i'm not the only one who thinks this is weird, and there is nothing else wrong with me in any respect.

It's an alien egg or device. There, i said it.
Now who the hell put it there?
Come clean.
And come to think about it, i'm not at all sure what i did Thursday. Why don't we have that daily page back feature again?

i hate Vicodin. It was making me mean because i hate it so much. If i could have drawn a picture of what i thought was going on, this is what i would have drawn. In fact, i think i'd draw it.

Bees is my little Pyewacket and insists that holding hands and a laying on of paws will help.

Bees is my little Pyewacket and insists that holding hands and a laying on of paws will help.

Smart Bees.

Hey Eth, I had a brood of fibroids until a couple of years ago. The big ones were "alien babies". The little ones were "matzo balls".

This happens when your uterus has a very fine work ethic and knows it's supposed to be making something. Without the wherewithal to make babies, it gets busy making decorative little spheres out of muscle tissue. Sometimes it gets carried away doing this and makes big awkward ones like mine and yours.

Nothing hurt, my periods were fine, I felt fine. But there were a lot of them and some of them were enormous. I had to pee every few minutes, because my poor squished bladder didn't have any storage space. Plus, as my friend Max once said about his tuba in the corner of the room, they were "kind of an eyesore".

I had an abdominal myomectomy. (They cut a slit in your abdomen, pop your uterus out through it, take the uterus apart in layers, clean all the fibroids out, put it all back together, and tuck the uterus back in. Movie here.) I was in the hospital for a few days. After that I took it easy for a few weeks because I was supposed to, but mostly I felt fine and it was like having a three-week vacation.

My period turned up right on time, four weeks to the day after the surgery. There was a little horizontal scar, but it's basically invisible now.

It wasn't scary at all, and it felt great to get them out.

Bees has the right idea. Laying on of paws is fine. Walking across newly-refurbed bellies, though, is right out. I had to cut up a laundry basket to use as bed armor so the animals wouldn't trample the site when I was lying down.

Email or call if you have any questions.