Monday, October 27, 2008

When is a Polyp Not a Polyp?

Answer: When it is the tip of the iceberg.

During my hysteroscopy today, the doctor discovered that the small polyp removed earlier this month was only the little bit sticking out from the neck of the cervix, and that in fact the much larger section is sitting inside, and blocking the neck. And probably stopping me from keeping my pregnancies, either by preventing the sperm from entering, or by excreting hormones which send mixed messages to my body and prevent implantation. (Kind of like the effect of an IUD.)

I wonder if the outcome of all these attempts at IUI would have been different, if the smaller polyp had been removed two years ago, when it was discovered by my gynecologist on a routine annual check-up.

So next Wednesday I have surgery, real surgery with anesthesia and recovery time, to remove this non-malignant growth and generally explore my innards. I asked the surgeon to break my hymen, as long as he was visiting anyway and I would be unconscious. He agreed, and I will then no longer be a technical virgin.

Polyps are certainly a better diagnosis than fibroids (with which my mother had suffered for many years) and yet I cannot get excited about surgery, no matter how beneficial it will be to my quest.

It's good that I will be asleep, as evidenced from my hysteria today, doctors make the worst patients.

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