I went to Harvard, but don't know if I passed or failed!

So, I am back on the roller-coaster...almost like a Halloween joke. Is this a trick or a treat? So I got the good news following surgery that everything was benign. What they don't really stress is that your not fine until the Pathologist speaks. Well, right now mine is speaking in a foreign language.

I have been asking about my pathology since the Monday after my surgery, and kept getting vague answers from the oncologists office. First they told me that since he was on vacation, they couldn't give me any information until he reviewed it. Then they told me it wasn't "checked out" yet. So how long do these samples keep anyway?

Yesterday I had my two week post op check up with the regular gyn/surgeon...and his first comment walking into the room was that he couldn't get a hold of the pathology either!!! What the F? So I stressed my frustration and insisted that he call again to see what he could find out. Well he ended up speaking straight to the pathologist, and came in to tell me that my biopsy's had been sent to another pathologist at Harvard. Seems I am special. So gyn/surgeon got me an appointment with Dr. Oncologist for this morning.

What a futile appointment that turned in to. Evidently my "case" gets more complex as things go on. My ovaries (the main reason I went to the doctor to begin with) were fine, as were my fallopian tubes and cervix...my uterus seems to have taken center stage now. Evidently, I had a very small area on the wall of my uterus with some suspicious looking cells. And the pathologist here did not feel completely confident that he could deem them benign or malignant so he sent them to another pathologist to give his opinion. I googled the second pathologist at Harvard and he is a pretty big deal, so I guess I should feel that at least I am in the greatest of care. Unfortunately, I am also feeling like my life as I know it is now in this one man's decision. He will determine if I have uterine cancer. And what does that mean exactly??? I have not one clue. My uterus is gone, so am I safe? My oncologist today would not comment on anything, I felt like I was talking to a politician. He would not name the cells, or say one thing basically until he has the final pathology report in his hands to read. So again, I get to have a waiting game to find out my near future.

Yesterday I was so happy, I was feeling good, considering it is just two weeks post surgery, the gyn/surgeon approved me to go back to work for four hours per day starting next Monday. I guess I was just kind of oblivious to the other stuff he told me...then my good friend Connie, a OB/Gyn Nurse Practitioner, brought me back to reality. It's all about the pathology....

Post Op

Home, sweet, home...I am finally home. It feels good to be home, but I haven't a clue what to do.

Surgery went very well, except for the part where I was supposed to be operated on at 1:00, which turned into 2:30, which ended up being 4:30. The waiting was worse than anything, once under, things went very smoothly...so they tell me. Thankfully, I remember nothing! NO CANCER!!! Which I knew ahead of time in my gut, so...I told you so!!! Had to get that in there!

I have yet to speak to Dr. Puls directly, just his partners and residents, which kinda annoys me, but I guess that is part of modern medicine today. They are now referring to my cyst as a tumor, benign tumor, and after removing all of my female parts, decided my appendix wasn't looking to great so took it out as well. So I have a lovely little scar (about 4 1/2 inches) and a huge pouch above it. Hopefully the pouch will calm down soon, as it is not very attractive, but they keep telling me that when those big man hands get inside and start moving all of your parts around, things get jumbled up for a while.

The day after surgery was great, I guess I was still under the influence of the anesthetic, so was feeling high on life, no pain, etc. Day two was a crasher...not so much on pain, just sore and bored.

I want to say so much more, but just lost my energy, so will continue on in another post...hopefully later today.

Thank you all for your support and well wishes during this process.