The "low" Progesterone Saga Continues

[delphicdragon]

I had an ultrasound due to pelvic pain after being "diagnosed" with low progesterone on Friday, about a week ago. Had a **** of a time drinking 32 oz of water at 6:30am, and apparently my body absorbed most of it, because they could only do half the exam (just transvaginal, not pelvic).

Well, I got a call from the doctor today (on both my cell phone and the house phone) telling me that I needed to call her back. According to the message, it's not an emergency but she needs to talk to me as soon as possible. (***?)

So I called her back and was told she would call me back within the hour. She didn't, so I called back again. This time I was assured she would call me back by 5:00. At 4:45, I called the office AGAIN only to be connected with her receptionist and to be told that she had left for the day.

The receptionist is a real "peach" and, I think, feels that I am just over-exaggerating my symptoms. Whatever. So she said that my gyno was just returning my call from earlier that day. I said, "what call, I didn't call her, she called me." The receptionist pauses and says, "let me look at the list." Her voice then gets really low and she says, "Oh. You need to call tomorrow between 9 and 12 and you will be patched through directly to the gyno."

Well, I'm panicking now. It is NOT helping the POTS at all. I'm used to NEVER getting the results of tests back. My doctors seem to operate with the policy that if it's "normal" or pretty close they don't call. I've only received a call from a doctor once before and that was to tell me I had a pituitary tumor! This doctor is notorious for sending notes that say Your PAP was normal, etc.

Anyone ever had a doctor call with good news?

Sara

[Ernie]

Hi,

Doctors seldom call me back. When they do it is to renew my prescription. Otherwise I have to go back to their office.

[maryfw]

please keep us updated and I hope you know something soon.

mary

[delphicdragon]

So I finally got through. She says that it looks like I had an ovarian cyst that my body isn't dissolving properly- hence the bleeding and pain. Now I don't know what this means, but I am now told - NO BCPs, and wait for a couple months and see. Growl. I am thinking I'm going to get a copy of the results of the ultrasound and get a second opinion.

Sara

[juliegee]

Hi Sara,

Sorry you are having such a rough time. You probably know that every month, one of your ovaries release an egg, etc. Prior to that release, your ovary appears to have a cyst. That "cyst" spontaneously resolves as the egg is released and your ovary returns to it's normal size/shape. It is wise to follow this closely. It could be medically significant if that ovary dosen't return to normal. I'm sending good thoughts and prayers. Please let us know what you find out.

Julie

[delphicdragon]

Okay- So I'm both pissed and scared right now. I got the results of the ultrasound and it says two things. I'm copying them word for word here.

1. Mildly complex cystic finding right ovary which is new since 2007 study. Favor benign etiology but recommend short interval follow-up ultrasound.

(This is what she was calling me about. Apparently I have this cystic thing that is debris filled and they think is benign but "malignancy is not excluded at this time" Great- just freaking great! I've had these cysts before, but all have resolved before the ultrasound could be scheduled. This scares me, but maybe it is just the doctor covering his butt. I'm 24. Aren't I too young for this?)

2. Small uterine mass consistent with fibroid.

(She NEVER told me about the fibroid. I think that is something I should know about!)

No follow-up was scheduled. I'm currently attempting to make an appt with another gyno. ASAP. Maybe that'll help me stop panicking.

Sara

Oh, and to add insult to injury, I also saw my orthopedist this morning and he thinks that my shoulder, which I've been nursing for about 6 weeks now will require surgery because it's now grating. :-( That's gonna be fun with EDS!!

[Ernie]

Hi,

I started to have a cyst on my right ovary since the age of 18. I control it by changing my eating habits.

[MightyMouse]

I frequently have problems with ovarian cysts --sometimes they resolve after a few months, other times, I've had issue for longer than that, but it still eventually goes away, so I've not needed other intervention.

Fibroids are a very, very common finding, and perhaps that's why it wasn't mentioned to you in the phone call? For example I have bilateral pineal cysts in my brain, but that's such a common finding in the general population, that I never knew about them until I was reading over my records.

Nonetheless, it could never hurt to get a second opinion if you're having continuing problems. The bleeding could be from the fibroid. If it is, there are some really good, much less invasive than in the past, treatments. One that my friend had was done through an outpatient radiology procedure where they used a catheter to get near the blood supply to the tumor, then they inject something that basically blocks off the blood flood to the fibroid, and the body just absorbs the dead tumor tissue over the next few days/weeks. She had this a few years ago when it was really new and just approved, but it's getting more and more commonplace. She was up and around and back to her normal routine in less than 2 days--hers was done in hospital and they made her stay over b/c she was her doc's first to have it done, but she's since had it done again for some new fibroids, and was home the same day.

I hope that you get sorted out soon and feel better.

Nina

[flop]

Hi Sara,

how horrible for you to have to go through all that waiting and anxiety. I wouldn't worry too much about the ovarian cyst - they are really common and usually resolve by themselves. The reason they called was so that you know to have an early follow-up scan, usually they just watch these cysts and let them clear up on their own. Watching lets them check that they aren't getting too big (sometimes they drain the fluid out if they are really big) and checking for the tiny number that may behave odly and need checking further. The bit about "malignancy cannot be excluded" is a standard radiographers disclaimer - you can't confirm or refute a malignancy on ultrasound scan, only say if something is suspicious.

If it makes you feel any better, I saw a gynae last year over heavy periods and my transvaginal scan showed up multiple cysts on both ovaries, one ovary was about 15cm in size. The doctor actually prescribed me the BCP (yasmin) to stop me ovulating, checked bloods for polycycstic ovarian syndrome (bloods were normal) and did 2 further scans. The cysts have been smaller on each subsequent scan and I was discharged back to my GP and told it was just one of those things and not to worry about it.

I was going to post something about fibroids too but Nina beat me to it!

Flop