We went to the hospital on Wednesday to find out whether we could start the next IVF treatment. It turned out that I not only had an extra cyst, but also grown another one in the ovary. And this little litchi-sized bugger was cloudy, which means it is either filled with blood or sebaceous matter and ready to stay. There is a risk for this structure to rupture and cause an infection during the puncture in the IVF procedure, so it needs to be removed before we can start treatment. A laparotomy was needed according to the lady doctor. Shock was complete, as this is major surgery and it is synonymous to a severe case of endometriosis. Walking into the hospital feeling healthy and coming out with the knowledge that I need a large open operation was a kick in the teeth.
The hospital in Voorburg does not perform these procedures in the summer, so we were put on the waiting list for the hospital in Delft. This can’t have been a very long list, as I was called the next morning for an operation on Monday. THIS Monday! That’s when the panic started to kick in. We had so many questions and there seemed to be so many different answers, depending on who gave it. Like, was major surgery the only option? Would I have to take more drugs afterwards? I had read that they put you on drugs that make your body act like it is menopausal, to prevent recurrence. This is where I would draw the line! I spoke to both a nurse and the gynaecologist, but neither managed to put my mind at rest. So we were at a loss what to do and I behaved like a real drama queen most of yesterday. So Jonny finally put an end to my misery and said we’d postpone the operation until all questions were answered, because he could clearly see I was not comfortable. He has been an absolute godsend throughout this! :-)
This morning I called the hospital again, but got rude treatment from the nurse. She said I needed this operation and that I had spoken to her and the doctor and that should be enough. I did not agree. So when she started telling me that I needed to listen to her (for the Dutch readers: “nou moet je eens even goed luisteren”), I told her that I did not HAVE TO DO ANYTHING OF THE SORT. It was one of my long unfulfilled dreams to be able to say that to somebody. At the right time and the right place. Admittedly it would have caused more impact if I had not completely broken down in tears straight afterwards, throwing the phone to Jonny, begging him to please talk to her. It seemed she was quite humble with him and she agreed things were going quite fast and that we could postpone if that made us feel better.
We ended up going to the anaesthetist this morning anyway and I was declared fit for the operation. When he found out that not all our questions were answered he insisted that his secretary called the operating specialist and was adamant we’d speak to her before the operation or otherwise postpone. The specialist was a bit surprised to hear this since she had not read my history or even knew that I was scheduled for the operation. She agreed to see us the same afternoon. So off to Delft we went, running into my dad in the hospital who was waiting for my mum to have her x-rays taken. The gynaecologist took her time and explained about the procedure, which in principle is a laparoscopy, a keyhole procedure at the cyst is removed and any other endometriosis tissue is coagulated. This would mean at most one night in hospital and a week recovery, as opposed to four days in hospital and four to six weeks recovery. Only if the cyst cannot be removed, or in case of complications, do they move on to perform a laparotomy. As for the menopausal drugs, it has become standard opinion nowadays that giving this to women with a child wish does not make much sense.
Without surgery the cyst is not likely to disappear, but might actually grow even bigger ensuring the need for laparotomy in the future. It might cause pain and eventually rupture, causing severe infection. Together with the wish to start the IVF treatment again, we decided to go ahead with it. After careful consideration, as the reply on a job application might read….
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