My Treatment.

Yesterday, I had my second shot of injectables for my endometrium cyst. Not aware of what it is? Well, lemme tell you about it.

Months back, I have been experiencing a painful menstruation. I have been complaining of too much pain which I thought was just dysmenorrhea. It was hard to sleep - it felt like something was punching me inside. I couldn't go to school because it was hard to walk or even stand. All I wanted was to stay in bed and sleep. I even lost appetite. I only eat when I needed to take pain killers that require meal before the dosage.

The pain grew more painful every month. But I ignored it. I thought it was just due to my dysmenorrhea.

It was the month of July when I started to experience an irregular menstruation. Usually, it lasted for about a week or less. That July, I only had it for 4 days which is unusual. It was not that strong either.

The month of August came and I had my regular menstruation back. The usual heavy flow, dysmenorrhea, pain and other kinds of sickness was there so I didn't worry about my irregular menstruation not until September came and my menstruation only lasted for 3 days. It was even just spotting. But I did feel pain on my left side. I even thought it has something to do with my urinary tract. I worried it was UTI. I saw an internal med doctor and I had a lab test. It showed that I have a high acid in my urine. I was given medicine to cure it. It did ease the pain a little but the pain continued.

It was October when I had my menstruation again but instead of having a normal redish blood discharge, I had a darker one. It did not cause me panic not until it lasted for more than two weeks- then a month. The pain I have in my left side continued and my mom advised me to see my doctor again. I knew it has nothing to do with my urine anymore. I have thought that it might have something to do with my reproductive system so I decided to see and OB instead.

I first saw a doctor in Asia Medic Hospital. He asked me if I was still a virgin and all the other information with regards to sexual activities. He even thought I was pregnant. He told me to have an Transvaginal Ultrasound. It is a type of pelvic ultrasound. It is used to look at a woman's reproductive organs, including the uterus, ovaries, cervix, and vagina. Transvaginal means across or through the vagina.

It is performed by lying down on a table or bed with your knees bent and feet in holders called stirrups. The health care provider will place a probe, called a transducer, into the vagina. The probe is covered with a condom and a gel. The probe sends out sound waves, which reflect off body structures. A computer receives these waves and uses them to create a picture. The doctor can immediately see the picture on a nearby TV monitor.

I got the result within that day but I have to see my ob-gyne for the full reading or analysis of the given paper and ultrasound. Since I was experiencing trouble because of pain, I searched for another ob-gyne but this time, in another hospital. I visited University Medical Center (La Salle Hospital) in Dasma. I met the ob-gyne named Dr. Jasmin S. Sapanghila-Tamon. For me, she's pretty. Anyway, that's out of my story.

She explained to me what was in the ultrasound, what the figures in the paper stated and what were the cause and effects of it. She diagnosed me to have a cyst on both my ovaries. One of which is almost 5 centimeters big (diameter) and the other which is smaller of about 2 centimeters (in diameter). She told me that if the cyst reaches 6 centimeters, they will advice me to have an operation right away. She explained to me that the cause of the cyst is that my cyst is feeding from the hormones that we, females, secrete during menstruation. So meaning, whenever I have a menstruation, the cyst grows bigger through the hormones that I secrete. It is also why my dysmenorrhea was becoming more and more painful every month.

She told me that there are three cures to this - through operation, the treatment (injectables) and one natural cure which is to get pregnant immediately. She explained that the operation is not an assurance that the cyst will not come back. And with the operation, and in this young age, it might affect my capability of conceiving a child.

I went for the treatment of having an injection for six months. Then I will have another ultrasound to see if the cyst grew or not. If it grew, even for a small measurement, they will advise me to go for operation right away. But if it stayed as it is, they will continue the treatment for another six months. If it goes smaller after that, it would be a good sign. If it doesn't, I will have another test to see what exactly is happening. And from there, I will have a choice whether to have the operation or just choose to get pregnant.

The injectables are very painful, I tell you. It's not the typical vaccine we get. The pain isn't coming from the needle that entered your skin layers but the medicine itself. After the treatment, it's hard for me to move the arm where I had my injection. It will last for about 3 days to 1 week. I can't lift my arm up nor stretch it. By the way, during the injection, you should keep your arms relax because if not, it will cause bruises around the entrance of the needle. And I was told that it's going to be more painful.

I still have four to go before my second ultrasound. I do hope everything goes well. If you have the same situation as I do, and you're experiencing bleeding from time to time, I was told by my doctor that it's normal. But the bleeding shouldn't cause you to wear a pad (sanitary napkin). If it does and the flow is strong, consult your ob-gyne right away. But if you experienced heavy flow the week or days before your scheduled injection shot, it's normal. If you're experiencing pains from time to time, treat it with a pain killer.

Sorry for the long post. It's just that I wanna share the process I go through in this illness. So that in case you are starting to feel pain and experience irregularity with your monthly period, I suggest you see an ob-gyne immediately.