A Not So Gentle Reminder

Some interesting things have been happening to me over the past week. It began one week ago with what felt like appendicitis but turned out to be (the docs think) cysts. Turns out I have a load of 'em in me. Good and bad. Good it wasn't life threatening and bad because it wasn't life threatening. You may question my "bad" reasoning, but now it means I'm just waiting for this to strike again. Or not. If the cysts do what they're supposed to do and just shrink on their own, then great. Or they grow some more, twist around and cause intense pain, or burst, and cause intense pain, or cut off a blood vessel, and cause intense pain....not so great. I suffer for a couple of hours, go to emergency to rule out appendicitis, then wait again.

Turns out there's absolutely NOTHING I can do about this state of affairs. Until they become emergent, I let 'em be. There's absolutely NOTHING I can do to prevent these things. And that pisses me off. I WANT to do something.

A friend of mine is going through a gynecological nightmare of her own. There is a history of gyne cancer in her family and she's previously had two procedures to remove pre-cancerous cells of her own. This is a healthy-living person who recently has had abnormal mid cycle bleeding and needs results of her latest pap smear ASAP. The normal turn around time for these tests where we live is two weeks. Right now, the waiting time for results is 6 weeks. 6 bloody weeks. Her doctor scheduled her for an immediate biopsy, he's not waiting for 6 weeks for results, so if any treatment is needed, then she can get started right away. 6 weeks! THAT pisses me off.

If male genitalia are involved or a prostate, do you think it takes 6 weeks to get results?

What research is being done on cysts? Nothing that I could find on the net. Except for polycystic ovary syndrome(PCOS) which is a disorder of the endocrine system. What research is being done on deadly cancers like ovarian, uterine, or cervical? What kind of fundraising is going on for these cancers?

Tuesday evening, I vented to John. I was very discouraged about the whole episode on the weekend, my friend's experience, and just the whole general feeling of helplessness I had. John, sweetheart that he is, suggested retail therapy. That got me out of the slump for a little bit. Until the next day.

Wednesday (yesterday) the skin on my face began to flake off. Red splotchy patches appeared. WTF? I suspect excema or some such thing but, have to wait to see my doc for a diagnosis. It may have just been stress induced from the weekend's events, it could just be my hormones going wonky with perimenopause. I saw someone at the cosmetic counter at the drugstore this afternoon and said I wanted something to cleanse and moisturize my face gently until I got this diagnosed. He (yes, he) was extremely helpful and asking all the right questions about allergies, new product use, new foods, etc. And he sold me some very expensive moisturizer with the caveat that if it didn't work for me within a week they'd take it back (how nice is that?). Plus he gave me some sample sizes of cleansers to try. I am so pleased with his customer service his boss will be hearing about it (I like to inform managers of good service).

The best part is that he gave me a trial canister of...wait for it....good ole H20. Water in a can that you spritz on your face for cleaning. He told me I might think he's crazy, but he swears by this stuff. It has thermal spring water in it, nothing else. I have never heard of water in a spray can. Perfume, body spray, and tanning lotion yes. Anyway, I will begin using the stuff tonight and continue until the doc says nay, or my face completely falls off.

This past week has been eventful, what with discovering I posed "an interesting case" to the gynecologist and her student who saw me Saturday afternoon (which is a post for a later date, believe me) and my face peeling away. Oh, and the water in a can (!). It also reminds me that MS is not always the culprit of anything that goes wrong with my body. I freakin' knew that already, but I guess I needed reminding. Or someone reading this does.

S.