Monday, September 17, 2012

The best negative results I've ever gotten!

Hi friends,

It's been a while! Here's the skinny:

Surgery went smoothly. This time I learned what painkillers are for. Let's just say I'm now a big fan of the mor.p.hine button and p.erc.oce.t. Also, nurses are my heros. I'm getting better again, it's just much slower than last time.

The great news is that at today's post-op appt, Dr. R shared the pathology results with us. They found no further cancerous or pre-cancerous tissue! Yay!

I am now down to one tube and ovary, but Dr. R tells me that the tube is clear and once I'm all healed up, we're ok to try to make a baby again. There's a 5% chance that LMP tumors will return, so I'm going to keep praying that they never do! Dr. R is still saying that all of this pre-cancer stuff was not causing my infertility. It's hard to believe, and I'm not sure what our next steps will be.

I only had mild endo, which they decided not to fix, again, because he says it's not a cause of infertility. I spoke with a colleague of Dr. C, and she agreed with the assessment that mild endo doesn't cause IF. Hm. I'm eager to talk to Dr. C to see what is next to look into, but honestly, I'm worried there will be nothing to do. I've done a little reading that makes it seem like it's not a good idea to be stimulating your ovaries(/y?) after having a tumor like this. Dr. C's colleague said that she's likely to ask us to try for six months again, just to see if getting this tumor out might have helped. That seems to run counter to Dr. R's assessment, but we'll see what actually shakes out to be the case.

Now, please be assured - I'm thrilled to be alive! And I'm so thankful not to be sick! I cannot believe all of the prayers that family, friends, and total strangers have been offering for me. It feels like I got a small miracle all my own, and if it's the only one I get, I will be grateful, I promise. Thank you for your prayers and words of encouragement! They truly have kept me going. Husband had a spring in his step for the first time in close to a month today after the appointment, and I'm just as thankful for the joy on his face as I am for my good diagnosis.

So thankful to everyone! Thanks be to Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and all the saints in heaven!

-January

8 comments:

  1. You know I am over-the-moon-happy for you!!!

    I will say I just don't quite follow why Dr. R. thinks a tumor can't cause problems for conceiving - it just doesn't make logical sense. I understand it is not a "typical" cause and that I'm sure people conceive with tumors, but something IN your womb that's not supposed to be, just seems to make logical sense that it COULD cause a problem...hmmmm

    I'll be interested to hear what Dr. C. says.

    And I am, of course, still praying for you every day.

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  2. Great, WONDERFUL news!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a sigh of relief!!! I'm keeping you in prayers for some even better news down the road.
    Awesome!! :-). I'm just thrilled for you, Jan!!!

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  3. So glad the surgery went well! I bet you're relieved to have it behind you. I hope your recovery goes smoothly.

    Are either of your surgeons trained in NaPro? I'm confused why they would say that mild endo doesn't cause infertility. In lectures I remember Dr. Hilgers saying that it can...which is why he emphasizes that every spot of endo has to be removed to maximize chances of conceiving. I hope in your case the tumor was the culprit and not the endo.

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    1. Yes, Dr. C is NaPro trained, and I did think she'd be about getting the endo out. The first time, I think she decided not to because the issue with the tumor was a much bigger deal, and I bet this time it didn't happen because Dr. R was in charge of the surgery, even though Dr. C was there. I will definitely be talking to her about it!

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  4. What wonderful news! Continued prayers for you!

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  5. Awesome news! Thanks for the update!

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