yes, i know, the thought of your styling, not very girlie friend "v" in a skirt is humorous...but 12 years ago, i would sport one to work every once in awhile....this particular day, i was heading out the door and i glanced at the full length mirror to make sure everything was in place...i noticed that my skirt was lop-sided...so i tried to straighten it out...then i noticed this "bulge" on the left side of my body (the hip/butt area)...it looked very-very swollen, but there was no pain...after noticing this "bulge", i also noticed that i was going to be late for work, so i made do with a lopsided-skirt and continued my journey....after arriving, i called my doctor's office to see if he could get me in to see to tell me what was going on (to make a long story a little shorter i saw 5 doctors over 2 weeks before the 6th doctor could tell me what this mystery bulge was).
the 5th doctor i saw said...(in my words of course) "i don't know for a fact what is happening, i know it's not just some random swelling, but i know who can tell you what is going on, i am going to make a phone call, i'll be right back"....so minutes later he comes back into the room and says that this 6th doctor "can see you right now, she is at the university of michigan medical center"....blah, blah, blah...so my parents and i head to u/m med center to see what this woman has to say.
first of all this mass (as it is called now) is protruding out of my left hip and into the left butt cheek...as she is doing her exam...so are her 3 students...(nice, right?) i have all these strangers looking at my butt...after her exam she says...(again in my words)..."i have a good idea what this is, i will need to do a biopsy to be sure, i can do this right now, let me get the necessary tools"...leaving me with my butt in the air, she leaves the room for awhile, to return with what i called the necessary tools to do this biopsy...she explains the procedure...i am thinking that there are too many needles on the table for my comfort...but after what seemed like hours, the biopsy that actually only took a few minutes was over...waiting for the results is what took for ever....i thought i would get the results the same day...doesn't work like that...(well, maybe it does for some folks on tv, have any of you ever seen the television show house? only if those doctors were on my case...anyhow, i had to wait a couple of weeks, because this 6th doctor went on vacation and i had to wait for her to return, for the results).
again to shorten the story...the results came back positive for malignant cells, the mass was called a neurofibrosarcoma...after many mri's, x-rays, blood-test and such...i was set up to have radiation treatments to try to shrink this tumor which was continuing to grow...i had radiation everyday of the week except weekends, for awhile (don't remember how long the treatment lasted...but it was over a month), then i had a break before surgery, to have this tumor removed.
prior to the surgery the doctor told me that because the tumor was so large, she couldn't tell if it was wrapped around certain nerves in my leg (the sciatic nerve to be exact)....and the only was she could tell was when she was in there to remove the tumor...if it encompassed the nerve, she would have to take my leg...if not then there would be minimal nerve damage....so going into this procedure, i didn't know if i would wake up with my leg or not...(talk about stress prior to entering surgery)...well luckily enough, the tumor wasn't in the nerve and i woke up with my leg...i had what is considered a buttockectomy (look it up)...i also found out that the tumor was 6lbs., i was in the hospital for almost 2 weeks then i went home to recover (where i had to lie on my stomach for about a month)...(i had just graduated from college, 2 months prior to learning of the tumor...good timing eh?)...there were some rough moments during that recovery time...but i made it through with the help of my family and friends.
the 5th doctor i saw said...(in my words of course) "i don't know for a fact what is happening, i know it's not just some random swelling, but i know who can tell you what is going on, i am going to make a phone call, i'll be right back"....so minutes later he comes back into the room and says that this 6th doctor "can see you right now, she is at the university of michigan medical center"....blah, blah, blah...so my parents and i head to u/m med center to see what this woman has to say.
first of all this mass (as it is called now) is protruding out of my left hip and into the left butt cheek...as she is doing her exam...so are her 3 students...(nice, right?) i have all these strangers looking at my butt...after her exam she says...(again in my words)..."i have a good idea what this is, i will need to do a biopsy to be sure, i can do this right now, let me get the necessary tools"...leaving me with my butt in the air, she leaves the room for awhile, to return with what i called the necessary tools to do this biopsy...she explains the procedure...i am thinking that there are too many needles on the table for my comfort...but after what seemed like hours, the biopsy that actually only took a few minutes was over...waiting for the results is what took for ever....i thought i would get the results the same day...doesn't work like that...(well, maybe it does for some folks on tv, have any of you ever seen the television show house? only if those doctors were on my case...anyhow, i had to wait a couple of weeks, because this 6th doctor went on vacation and i had to wait for her to return, for the results).
again to shorten the story...the results came back positive for malignant cells, the mass was called a neurofibrosarcoma...after many mri's, x-rays, blood-test and such...i was set up to have radiation treatments to try to shrink this tumor which was continuing to grow...i had radiation everyday of the week except weekends, for awhile (don't remember how long the treatment lasted...but it was over a month), then i had a break before surgery, to have this tumor removed.
prior to the surgery the doctor told me that because the tumor was so large, she couldn't tell if it was wrapped around certain nerves in my leg (the sciatic nerve to be exact)....and the only was she could tell was when she was in there to remove the tumor...if it encompassed the nerve, she would have to take my leg...if not then there would be minimal nerve damage....so going into this procedure, i didn't know if i would wake up with my leg or not...(talk about stress prior to entering surgery)...well luckily enough, the tumor wasn't in the nerve and i woke up with my leg...i had what is considered a buttockectomy (look it up)...i also found out that the tumor was 6lbs., i was in the hospital for almost 2 weeks then i went home to recover (where i had to lie on my stomach for about a month)...(i had just graduated from college, 2 months prior to learning of the tumor...good timing eh?)...there were some rough moments during that recovery time...but i made it through with the help of my family and friends.
2 comments:
you saw mine at your wedding. i get to see yours. you owe me some skirt photos...
Not sure if you're still using this blog, but my husband will be having a similar surgery (buttockectomy) for the same type of tumour. I would love to get in touch with you if possible (thekgs@gmail.com). Thanks!
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