Seeking the formula for parenting

Blogger Content: September 2006 - April 2010

Flexible Links

My Blogging Inspiration
Campaign for Unshaved Snatch (CUSS) & Other Rants

Flexible Affiliations


Parent Bloggers Network
- Crazy/Hip Blog-Mamas+
(Random Site)
A Member of Bust's Girl Wide Web
Parenting Blogs - Blog Top Sites
blog search directory
Search For Blogs, Submit Blogs, The Ultimate Blog Directory

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

My Fantastic News

It was negative! That's right I got the results of my pap smear and much to everyone's surprise it was negative.

I called my doctor to basically beg for another prescription for the Pill. Yes, it gave me horrible headaches and I broke out in a rash, but seriously that was better than dealing with Mother Nature. And even though I had tried out about 4 different brands all with the same reaction, there had to be another one at there for me to try, right? I mean I didn't start of having any of these problems until I went off the Pill.

I pleaded with the nurse while simultaneously complaining about the fact that the only type of tampons that seemed to work were the kind that only come 18 to a pack. Since it's basically Crimson Tide over here that frankly is cutting it close. She sympthasized with me and started asking me some questions about going on a new Pill. However, just as we begun our conversation, she interrupted to say that a batch of test results had just arrived. Sure enough mine was there and much to our surprise it was negative! I literally danced around my kitchen.

I'm not officially out of the woods yet. I'll need to come back in July, October and January and test negative for all three. If one of those comes back positive I'll need to have the procedure (after retaking it to make sure it wasn't a false positive.) I will also be getting Mirena in the next few weeks because it seems that Mother Nature's very frequent visits are probably what's causing the problems in the first place.

I realize that to some of you of you this may be an uncomfortable topic for a blog post. Yes, this is my blog and therefore I can write whatever I want. However, that's not why I'm writing about it or being so open about it with friends that I honestly don't know that well. I'm doing it because my doctor told me that it is estimated that 80% of women have HPV. I don't have it, but the process is the same for cervical dyplasia diagnosis and treatment regardless of what has caused it.

80% is a huge number. While not all women who have it will have cervical dysplasia, a lot of them will. That means that many women will go through all the fear and anxiety I have and still on some level will have for the next 9 months. I have been surprised by how many women I know who have gone through this, LEEP, etc. I'm surprised because I've known many of them for a long time and had no idea. I had no idea because they're embarrassed. As a society we tend to be uncomfortable discussing women's bodies, so while I'm saddened by this, I can't say I'm really surprised. I've noticed an uncomfortable glance or two when I've told people that I have cervical dysplasia. They may not know what it is, but the word cervix made them sweat so to speak.

I don't have some great lesson learned or words of advice except to say that this really is so common. Do I think everyone should walk around annoucing they have this? Obviously not, but what I am saying is try not to be embarrassed by it and know that you're not alone.

Labels:

posted by Alex Elliot @ 6:57 PM   2 comments
2 Comments:
Post a Comment
Home
 
Tuesday, April 06, 2010

The Follow Up Pap

It seems like just the other day it was December when I was having my biopsy. Then suddenly the week of my follow up pap smear has arrived. Or maybe it just seems like that only when I casually glance back at the last 4 months. In reality, for the most part it has been like that with a few waves of anxiety coming here and there. Just like how a wave a little further out in the ocean is more infrequent, so were my waves of anxiety in the winter months. Much like those waves that hit the shore are more frequent much to the delight of little kids, so has been my own waves of anxiousness this last couple of weeks except no one has been delighted by them at all. Also where there's waves with little kids, there tends to be pee. I'm not sure how that last part fits in with my analogy!

Yesterday morning I felt a familiar cramping and realized that it was almost that time of the month. Not trusting Mother Nature to wait until the weekend and knowing that having to reschedule my appointment would prolong the anxiety, I called my doctor to see if there were any cancellations earlier in the week. Fortunately there was one for this morning.

With my younger son (YS) in tow, we saw my older son (OS) off to kindergarten and headed to the doctor. It was kind of ironic in a way that this is the first time I've had one of my kids with me at the ob/gyn's office; one of the few appointments I've had that hasn't had anything to do with a pregnancy.

The doctor did the repeat pap smear. My cervix does still appear to be irritated. I honestly wasn't surprised to hear it. I'll know the official results in a couple of weeks, but the test will probably come back positive.

The good news is that I had an honest talk with my doctor about this procedure, my triathlon and childcare and decided to not have the procedure until after my triathlon. First of all, while I can take time off from the training to recover and still do the triathlon, I probably won't feel like jumping back at the needed intensity to be able to complete the triathlon and have it feel the way I would like it to feel. I'm into my second week of training with a coach and I really am enjoying. I'm looking forward to the remaining 14 weeks and completing my first Olympic distance triathlon.

Second, the childcare issue is a lot easier during the summer. My MIL has said from the beginning that if I were to have this surgery during the summer she thinks that she'll be able to come out and help since she should be fully recovered from her broken tailbone by then. If that doesn't work out, my aunt has also volunteered. There's also always camp where both boys can be at one place at one time instead of trying to cordinate two very different schedules during the school year.

Finally, sometimes cervical dysplasia just goes away on its own. This will buy me some more time to see if it just resolves itself.

Right now, I'm relieved because I feel much more in control of everything. Of course this doesn't mean that a week from now I won't be worrying about the official test results, but even that seems less stressful with this new timeline.

I'll leave you with my lesson learned today about how a cervix is like a starfish.

A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: The cervix regenerates itself.

Labels:

posted by Alex Elliot @ 4:04 PM   1 comments
1 Comments:

  • At 4/07/2010 5:50 AM, Blogger Goofball said…

    I'm glad you've been able to talk it through and plan accordingly. I understand how that can make a big difference in the stress you were dealing with.

    I hope you won't have a lot of big anxiety waves coming back.

    take care

     
Post a Comment
Home
 

My Profile

Name:Alex Elliot
Home:MA, United States
About Me:Professional Mom of two cats, a dog, an ant farm, and oh yeah...two boys: a 6 year old and a 3 year old. Also found in my house is my husband who is known on this blog as The Big Giraffe.
See my complete profile

Flexible Media Appearances

The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet, Fox TV, August 3, 2007

Flexible Feeds

More Flexible Parenting

Grasshopper New Media Parents
Just Cause
Birth Days

Flexible Categories

Previous Posts

Archives

For those of us who didn't get an instruction manual with our babies and for whom parenting hasn't always gone as planned. On a more serious note this blog is about supporting a woman's ability to make her own choices about parenting including the choice, for whatever reason, to bottle feed her babies formula.

Powered by Blogger
© Formula Fed and Flexible Parenting


Creative Commons License
Formula Fed and Flexible Parenting by Alex Elliot is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Template Design based on one produced by isnaini dot com