Today started out badly... very badly. I woke up in a lot of pain at 3:15am, then couldn't get back to sleep for what seemed like forever. When I finally got up, it really hurt to walk. The cyst had gotten bigger - just what I needed...
Getting in the car to go to my OB appointment was excruciating, it had me in tears. I didn't see my OB until about an hour after my appointment time (nothing new there, really) but when she came in she was awesome. I told her my history and explained my current symptoms; she took a look and said the cyst looked to be around 5 cm (2 inches) and I needed it draining at the very least, today or tomorrow at the latest. She knew who to refer me to, and had the receptionist call to make me an appointment. This was at almost 12 noon. Well, my appointment with the surgeon was set for 2:15pm! Awesome! Oh and we got to hear the baby's heartbeat, too - that was a nice little distraction from the pain :)
In the meantime I went to get my prescriptions filled - Keflex and Percocet. I was kind of wary about the Percocet, but my OB reassured me that it would be fine to take temporarily and I was in so much pain that I needed something that would really help. Last night I took one Tylenol and it did absolutely nothing, as I expected.
At the surgery office I filled in a bunch of paperwork, and my appointment was on time. The surgeon was a nice man, he put me at ease and explained my options. Option 1 was to take the antibiotics and see if they helped (he wasn't optimistic about that, and when I had my original cyst they didn't make it clear up so neither was I!). Option 2 was to drain it - I went with that. He explained that he would do it without local anesthetic - yikes - because the anesthetic injection hurts just as bad as cutting the skin to drain the cyst. Based on my prior experience I had to agree - the worst part I remember from my original surgery was the local anesthetic injections (I had to have 2 and they were so painful). The thought of being cut open without anesthetic is pretty horrifying, but I knew it had to be done and I definitely didn't want to leave without having anything done! Let me tell you, the pain when he cut me was absolutely excruciating. He told me I could call him names if I wanted to, haha, but I didn't - I just cussed under my breath a few times. OW! Thankfully the cutting didn't last very long, and then he drained the cyst. It started feeling better almost immediately, because the pressure was released.
The incision is about an inch - it felt about 10 times bigger while he was cutting me, of course! It didn't need to be packed or stitched, I just need to keep it covered while it heals. I'll be seeing the surgeon again on Friday for a follow-up.
I can't begin to tell you how much of a relief it is to have this thing dealt with. It probably isn't a permanent fix, but at least it's good for now. I can sit down again, woo-hoo! I can get in the car and sit normally without yelping or crying my eyes out. Sure, the incision hurts - but nothing like the cyst did. I'm so grateful to my OB for getting me seen today, and I'm also very grateful to the surgeon for fitting me in at such short notice. I couldn't have managed for much longer, and I really didn't want to go to the ER unless I had no other option. Also, if I ever have any problems with the cyst recurring, I know who to go to now - hopefully it will never have to get to this point again! It definitely got huge much quicker than it did last time, I don't think it was ever so painful the first time around. Who knows, though - it's almost 10 years ago, so my memory is probably foggy! :)
I've felt the baby move so much today, even though the Percocet is supposed to make us both drowsy. My OB gave me 40 pills, and I can take one every 4 hours. I'm going to take way less than that, though - I'm thinking 3 a day, max. It'll be good to keep some in case I have another recurrence and have to wait to be seen. It's making me a bit itchy as well, so I don't want to be taking the full amount! I can't believe people take this drug for fun - seriously?! I think I'll sleep way better tonight than I have all week, though!
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