Hysterectomy

Many of you would have already known about my struggles with hormonal imbalance over the past 5 years. (You can read about it HERE and HERE if you have no idea.) At the beginning of this year, I experienced a relapse of the symptoms despite still being faithfully on the supplements. I quitted my part-time job and relinquished my worship ministry in the hope that reduced stress levels will help me. However, the pain grew worse and worse to the point that I was in varying degrees of pain everyday. My right thigh, hip and back started aching badly too. Finally, one day in late May, it was so bad that I thought that something was going to explode from inside me. Since the pain was concentrated on my right lower abdomen, I thought it was my appendix getting infected. 

I dragged Joram along with me to the polyclinic to get a referral so as to save money and they sent me to the hospital via ambulance immediately. Joram got to ride in an ambulance for the first time! LOL I was so thankful for the family of God. When I sent out an SOS for prayer support, a sister-in-Christ even helped me take my little boy off my hands and watched over him till Joshua returns home from work. My older children were all very independent and well-trained enough to autopilot everything during the afternoon by themselves. 

At the hospital, a CT scan revealed a large mass on my right ovary. After a detailed scan by a gynaecologist the next day, a 7cm cyst was found and I was referred to a very very busy specialist. It was a torturously long wait before my next appointment but after my relentless insistence, she finally saw me within the week and scanned my uterus herself. That was when she discovered that the endometrial cyst had grown so big that it had adhered itself to my bowels. Apart from that, there were smaller cysts embedded into my womb, most likely the reason for my painful periods ever since I started menstruating at 14 years old. 

There are a lot of people who don't understand what its like to have painful cramps during menstruation, especially those who don't have them at all. I was often ridiculed for being a drama queen when I had to take MC or looked like I was dying during the three days of woe. Needless to say, some superiors and colleagues were unhappy with me because of this. Since I had delivered a baby without the epidural before, I can safely say that if childbirth is a 10 on the pain scale, the cramps I experienced every month for decades is a 7. Due to pressures to perform at the workplace, I went to the hospital for a scan in my early twenties in the hope of having a solution and was diagnosed with endometriosis, a condition that have been dubbed as the "Silent Life Sentence". Sadly, the only viable option they gave me was to be on hormone therapy which I refused since it would affect fertility later on. I definitely did not want to jeopardize my chances of having children; not after the vision of four kids God had shown me. And so I left it as that and took the prescribed painkillers for the monthly agony.

During the scan 5 years ago when I first started having ovulation pain, the doctor already detected the cyst on my right ovary. However, it was only 1.2cm which she said will normally resolve by itself, not knowing that it was the cause of the hormonal imbalance. 3 years later when they scanned me again to try to find another way to fix me apart from the hormone therapy which had the terrible side effect of depression, the cyst grew to 2.1cm. Still, they thought that it was too small to be of consequence and dismissed it. I am actually glad that it has now grown too big for them to ignore.

My hysterectomy was scheduled to be performed on 11 July. In the meantime, I had to manage my pain for one and a half months using three types of painkillers. Since they'd be separating my bowels from the cyst, there was a 5% chance of perforation whereby they'd then have to schedule yet another surgery for the colorectal resection afterwards. Anyways, I was totally rested in God regarding the operation. God showed me that 2019 would be my Sabbatical year. I had initially resented God for my declining health but I understand now that this will be the year I'll learn to fully abide in the Lord.

Praise God for a successful surgery! It was the most difficult experience of my life but I am grateful that I am now resting at home. I'm finally on the long road to total recovery.

Farewell, my uterus. You have done well nurturing my four children for 9 months each despite being diseased right from the beginning. Many women suffering from endometriosis are infertile. You are truly a testimony of God's amazing miracle!

"Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from Him" Psalm 62:1