Hello again .... cataracts operation

Wow it's been quite a long time since I've update my dear old blog here ...Anyway, guess what .... I went for another operation!! This time for my eyes ...I had bilateral cataracts and had to operate on both eyes ... cool right ???

Quite scary when they ask you to sign the "Informed Consent" form .... you know ....but anyway I did it and it has been a week since both eyes surgery. I am not yet jumping for joy because I get to see without wearing glasses or contact lenses (after so many years !!!) as I feel I'm not getting 100% vision as yet. I still feel hazy and the focus is not sharp. Doctor said that it is still in the healing process and so .... give it some time. I still need to put eye drops but have been lessen to 4 hourly instead of 2 hourly.

I am praying hard for a good and complete recovery and I really hope everything will be well soon ....

And one more thing, it cost me a bomb for the lens since the insurance company does not pay for multifocal lenses. Doctor said that I will regret if I went ahead with the normal monovision lens ...

Doctor please be correct correct correct ... I took your advise and went with the multifocal and keeping my fingers crossed !!!

Chinese New Year is coming very soon ... 3 days away .... the year of the horse .... gallop gallop ...

Gangnam Style ???

Fibroid or Cyst ... that is the question .....

Continued from my "endometriosis" ....

So I asked my friend who had her fibroid removed recently, to recommend me her gynae. So made appointment at UMSC for Prof BK Lim. You know what, I tried to make an appointment with Dr Siti but she was full until the middle of Sept and I cant wait too long (that was in mid August). I saw this Prof BK Lim and he seems like a nice guy, not very friendly. Told him my problem and wanted to show him the pics of the scan but he refused to see it. He ask me to go on the bed and did a ultrasound himself. "You dont have fibroid!" .... "OH NO, then what do I have ???"

"You have a cyst and it's exactly 5cm!!!??? Huh ??? It's getting pretty confusing now ..." But the gynae at Columbia Asia told me I have a 5cm fibroid ! He said "Nope it's a cyst at your right ovary". Hmmmmm ....

So what do you recommend, the doc said same thing, to take all out. Frank said he mentioned a few times, you are 48 years old .... yeah take out everything ! Unless you want to have a baby ... huh ??? of course not! Actually the doc said if I have a baby now, then no need to operate. ... should I .... haha ... no lah I think I'm too old to have a baby now ..... Doc said he will do a laparoscopic hysterectomy, where he will make 3 or 4 holes in the abdomen instead of the big cut like a c-section. Recovery will be much faster and less invasive.

Doc continued "Then you dont have to worry about ovary cancer, uterus cancer and cervical cancer" .... that's nice to hear 

But I'm not menopausal yet and if I take out everything, I will be into surgical menopause. I quite worried about the symptoms of menopause , read that it could be quite bad for some and of course a breeze for others ... well .... decision decision decision.....

So I have decided to get a third opinion. Spoke to a good friend who is a child specialist and she recommended Dr KK Wong of Gleneagles and I managed to make an appointment with him the next few days. His clinic looks very old school and so is his nurses ... but anyway ....he did a pap smear for me and and ultrasound and also a vaginal scan.

He confirmed I have a cyst measuring about 4.5cm on the right ovary. He said I have this endomitrosis. He even took his time to draw a diagram of the whole uterus/ovary/cervix thingy and explain to me what it is all about. Btw he's not young .... should be in his early sixties. He also told me to take out all and told me "Uterus is only good for two things, one is to grow babies and one is to grow cancer !!!".

But KK Wong did say that if he opens up and the left ovary is still good, he will keep it.

So what did I decide to do .... after a lot of reading and researching on the internet and also listening to a few people's advice, I decided to remove all. I read that cyst comes back very often once you have them and since I'm already 48 this year, will be nearing menopause, I decided once and for all, remove everything and be rid of it. Doc said once everything is removed the endometriosis will not come back. 

So it was a cyst after all .... was wondering if I can take any action on Columbia Asia for wrongly diagnosing a fibroid instead of a cyst ??? Anyway ..... sighhhhh ... feeling scared and nervous of my impending surgery. How about my work ??? I need to be on 4 to 6 weeks MC ...gosh ... but thank God, all my bosses were very nice and asked to to go ahead with my surgery, have a good recovery and rest.

Well I never expected to be faced with this phase in my life but I thank God the almighty for everything.  The growth could become cancerous if it was left inside and started growing and stuff like that. Even KK Wong was telling me that he needed to shift his perspective. Last time he used to tell his patients, if the fibroid or cyst does not bother you, just leave it but 8 to 10 yrs down the row, he has seen many that have become cancerous and nowadays he advises this patients to take it out.

I thank God for being with me through this journey and I pray that I will get full recovery from this without side effects and move on with my life. Now I am taking supplements to boost my health. Doc prescribed Livial for HRT but I'm not taking it cuz I read about the many side effects especially breast cancer but doc said got no side effects but I'm not taking any chances. I joined Amway to be able to buy their vitamins especially the Protein powder drink and the black cohosh and soya supplement. Hope everything goes well and my road to recovery will be good and life can be back to normal again. Praying hard .....

What is endometriosis ...

Endometriosis (en-doe-me-tree-O-sis) is an often painful disorder in which tissue that normally lines the inside of your uterus — the endometrium — grows outside your uterus (endometrial implant). Endometriosis most commonly involves your ovaries, bowel or the tissue lining your pelvis. Rarely, endometrial tissue may spread beyond your pelvic region. In endometriosis, displaced endometrial tissue continues to act as it normally would — it thickens, breaks down and bleeds with each menstrual cycle. Because this displaced tissue has no way to exit your body, it becomes trapped. When endometriosis involves the ovaries, cysts called endometriomas may form. Surrounding tissue can become irritated, eventually developing scar tissue and adhesions — abnormal tissue that binds organs together. Endometriosis can cause pain — sometimes severe — especially during your period. Fertility problems also may develop. Fortunately, effective treatments are available.

Flashback to about 4 months ago, I had my first attack at around 3am in the morning. Suddenly I felt a sudden sharp pain on my lower abdomen. At first I thought it was just a passing pain and that it will go away but the pain never went away and I started to sweat due to the pain and I woke Frank and said "Please take me to the hospital, I have this very very painful pain in my abdomen!!". He drove me to the nearest hospital which was Columbia Asia emergency room and they took some urine sample from me to test. I think about one or two months earlier I did some blood test there and found that I had some urine infections. I told the MO that I'm having period now and it's the second day and she said it's ok. While waiting for the urine test to come back, the pain somehow subsided and the results came back negative but because of blood in the urine, they suspected stones but I told the MO I've got my period !! Anyway, she gave me some antibiotics and pain killers and ask me to go back for another urine test after my period. She did not even suspect that it was due to some gynae problems cuz it's during my period , did not do any ultrasound or scan or whatever on my abdomen, what kind of MO is that ??

So I was on MC for 2 days due to pain which was due to wind in the abdomen after taking the antibiotics and pain killers, as I was told by another doctor. The pain was quite bad , if you touch your abdomen or sneeze or walk too fast or even in the car going over a bump causes pain! All due to the wind!!

The second attack came a month later, same second day of period! The same sharp pain on the lower abdomen. I then knew that it was something to do with my periods and gynae matters. I went to Klink Samurkh to check since it's a women maternity centre. The Doctor checked and did an ultra sound and found nothing! He said I had severe menstrual cramps and send me home with some pain killers. When I showed him the pain killers from Columbia Asia, he said that I don't need to take such strong pain killers. I then told him the whole story about my first attack and he said normally these antibiotics and pain killers will bring about lots of wind in the abdomen which will cause a lot of pain. 

I was getting phobia when the third month came, expecting the sharp pains but luckily it did not come. I dont know if it is due to the Shaklee GLA which I was taking at double dose or what. The fourth month came and also no sharp pain but I did feel intermittent pain on and off at the lower abdomen that sometimes can be quite uncomfortable. So I decided to go check out again and I went to see Dr Yong (Surgeon) of Columbia Asia.and he recommended colonscopy and an ultra sound. So I decided to do the ultrasound first. Lo and behold, the radiologist found a 5cm fibroid in the scan !!! He proceeded to scan the rest of the other organs which he said was in good shape. Then I was referred to the gynae, Dr Suhaimi Hassan since this is a gynae matter and no more under the general surgeon. He asked me quite a lot of questions and then he did a pelvic exam and also an ultra sound too as he wanted to see for himself. He confirmed that I had a cyst measuring 5cm and that a total hysterectomy including ovaries. He said that in universal medical terms at my age this is what will be recommended to do, then I will go into menopause (surgically) as I'm not menopausal now.

Wham !!! that was a hard one to swallow ...such a major surgery ... do I have a choice ....never imagined that I would got through this at this stage in my life. Doctor asked me to think about it and do the surgery as soon as possible.