An ultrasound & a Biopsy

So, an ultrasound is no big deal. It really isn't. I don't mind having ultrasounds done. This one was no different. The technician was personable. The room was actually warm (versus the usual cold of every doctor's office). Truthfully, there are no details from that event worth sharing. The results, however, might be.

My patience thus far was rewarded with the results of the ultrasound being phoned to me within 72 hours. The nurse that called told me "you have a large uterus and the endometrial lining is thicker than normal." Ah, this would explain my "problems." I finally felt like I wasn't nuts for feeling like my period was abnormally heavy. I mean, who actually talks about how heavy their periods are? I have a couple of very close friends, and while we do talk about personal things, we don't generally go into gory details.

With the results of the ultrasound in, it appeared that I was a good candidate for NovaSure. The next step was an appointment with good ol' Dr. W. for an edometrial biopsy.  Before going in and totally burning the uterus, the doctor wants to be sure there isn't cancer hiding and causing the menstrual problems.

Have you ever had one of those biopsies done? It's not something you'll soon forget. First, you assume the position (heels in the stirrups, bum nearly hanging off the exam table, knees spread). Then, the doctor dilates the cervix. OUCH! Dr. W. told me that if I "did OK with the pain, we could do the NovaSure procedure in-office. Otherwise, we'd have to do it in the hospital under full anesthesia." She also warned me that it would feel like a bad cramp. Honestly, it felt like a bad cramp. It was the gathering of the samples for the biopsy that about did me in. There are no words to describe what it feels like to have a part of one's uterus picked-off to be sent to a lab, so I'm not even going to try. Let me just say that I handled it well enough to be told to make an appointment for the procedure on the way out. I was also handed prescriptions for ibuprofen, an anti-anxiety drug, a narcotic, and told to fill them and bring them with me to the appointment.  

May I make a note here? Oh, that's right, I'm the one writing this blog. I'd like to point out that at no time has any one asked me whether or not I'd ever tested positive for Group B Strep. It never came up. If it had, I would have told them that, yes, as a matter of fact, I did test positive with both of my pregnancies. This is important because Group B Strep (GBS) is a bacteria that, if you test positive for it, requires that you are hooked up to an I.V. of antibiotics before the doctors will allow you to deliver your baby. The antibiotics are to protect the baby during travel through the birth canal. They are also to protect mom from having that bacteria enter the blood stream during delivery. My doctors never told me that last part. They only said it was to protect baby. Given that GBS lives in the vagina and vaginal births generally end with tearing at best and episiotomy at worst, it's the perfect chance for that bacteria to get into the blood stream. So, one would think that since NovaSure involves taking an instrument up through the vagina (possibly picking up GBS), beyond the cervix, and into the uterus, testing for GBS would make sense. Again, the bacteria lives happily in the vagina, but is not supposed to get past that cervix. The cervix is, ideally, an exit only from the uterus.

Back to the story. On my way out from the biopsy, I stopped and made the appointment. Thursday, August 16, 2012 was the day appointed for my NovaSure procedure.