Third time, not quite a charm

Had sonogram again today.  Third time.

The good news first.  Cyst on left ovary is gone, so that is one less thing to worry about.

However, uterine lining is still thickened, approximately the same as before, close to 11.5 mm. It becomes thick, the technician told me, because polyps/fibroids form and push it up.

I met with the dr. who would perform the D&C -- she does indeed recommend getting it.  (I also spoke with my radiation oncologist who also recommended I get it.)  Risk of uterine cancer is elevated because of tamoxifen.  (See national cancer institute Q 6.)  Tamoxifen also causes these polyps to form and for the uterine lining to become thickened.  Based on my “symptoms” (bleeding) she is not overly concerned, but the D&C is a sure way to know.  

She does it Friday afternoons in the same downtown building as my regular doctor at an outpatient surgical center.

Thankfully they use twilight sedation.  She does not know the specific drugs they use for the sedation, but she is sure it is not general anesthesia.  I will have the opportunity to discuss with the anesthesiologist the specific drugs they will be using before they stick any needles in my arm.

The procedure takes 10-15 minutes.  I will be asleep for it.  She will dilate cervix, go in and scrape to remove fibroids and obtain cells for cancer testing.  There is a slight risk of bleeding, slight risk of infection, slight risk of creating hole in uterus.  If hole is created, may go in laproscopically to make sure it's not bleeding.  And it would then heal on its own.

Then recovery for 30-40 minutes.  Need to have someone to bring me home.

The night before the procedure, no eating after midnight.  Can have water up to five hours before.  Ok to have xanax (whew!).  After procedure - cramping for a day or two.

How long is the screening good for?  A year only.

So, I will look to schedule this before the end of the year, and in November if possible.  Want to get this over with as soon as possible.

Deported, and then some

Last Tuesday, after 17 months, I finally had my port removed.  Or, as Nurse Alka at Sibley put it, I was deported!  I really can't say enough good things about Sibley hospital; they really made the whole process as stress-free as it possibly could be.  At the last minute, I did opt for a teeny-tiny bit of the sedation, which is a combination of fentanyl for pain and versed for the anxiety.  I was awake for the procedure, and aside from the injection for the local anesthetic, it was relatively painless.  Another nurse talked to me about hiking during it to keep me distracted.  Although now I can't remember her name, she was really nice and born one day after me, same year.

I was home by lunchtime, and rested the remainder of the day.

In other news, my endometrial biopsy was indeed inconclusive and I had my follow-up ultrasound last Thursday.  My uterine lining is still too thick (it is 11.3 mm, compared to 11.5 mm, but it should be 5-10 mm), so my doctor wants me to do a followup procedure.  Rather than risk going through another endometrial biopsy and not obtaining sufficient tissue, she wants me to do a D&C (a full scraping of the uterine lining) with some sedation.  That is something to look forward to next month.  And my ovary cyst is still there, and apparently it looks cobwebby which is either good in that it is starting to degenerate, or not good, in that it is gathering strength.  A followup ultrasound for that in January.

So apparently, the testing is never done.

Last weekend I had my photography workshop in West Virginia.  It was spectacular weather and scenery, although quite exhausting.  Will post pics soon.