Hello everyone,
I’m not sure if people are still reading this blog, but hey, here goes. 🙂
I have been through another tough period of health issues and scares. I have slight lymphedema, caused by the surgeon taking out lymph nodes during my surgery last year. It means that my arm and hand cannot deal with infections as well as the rest of my body. The lymphatic fluid is what does the “cleaning” up of infections and as I have very few lymph nodes moving the fluid around it’s not doing its job. About a month ago I was admitted into hospital with a nasty case of cellulitis (an infection). They had to put my on an IV antibiotic as they work faster and are usually a lot stronger than the pill form. It was 3 days of very boring sitting around in a hospital room. We are still mightily blessed by private health insurance so it was the Harpenden Spire hospital (what, what, what…) and the room was more like a hotel room! For those who are reading and remember my time in Pinehill hospital Hitchin, I didn’t get carrots in the shape of flowers! Shame hey! Some gorgeous friends of mine came to visit me, I watched a LOT of Sky Player films and series (so much so that I got kicked off the hospital WiFi as I was using too much bandwidth!) I even kept working as I had my laptop and phone with me. Resting? Me? Never!! After the 3 days the infection had very much calmed down and I went home with another antibiotic in pill form. I also have been advised to control my hand eczema (the possible entry of the infection) and take a low dose of antibiotics for 6 months or more to help keep infections at bay. I’m not 100% happy with this as not only do the pills taste gross but I’m not convinced that antibiotics should be a long term thing… Ah well, it will help for now.
Ok, so that was the first health issue, the second was only 2 weeks ago. During my oncologist appointment check up at the end of June I mentioned that my periods were being a bit weird. I’d heard of the effects of Tamoxifen on the womb lining and I was a bit concerned. So, he referred me to a gynaecologist at the Harpenden Spire (what, what, what…). I went to my appointment on the 26th June and he did an internal scan of my womb and ovaries. The womb lining was indeed much thicker than it should be and so he said I needed to wait a couple of weeks for another scan, after I’d had my period. Then, as he was checking my ovaries he stopped and simply said “Hmmmmmm….” That always freaks me out at the best of times, let alone during the middle of a scan! He took a load of pictures of my left ovary and said that there was a possible cyst on my ovary, surrounded by a lot of fluid that shouldn’t be there. He also did a doppler scan of the blood flow and said that there seemed to be an extra blood supply that also shouldn’t be there. Ok, this is where my heart sank into the bed and hit the floor. When I was in my ultrasound scan for the lump in my breast on the 11th January 2010 they told me that it was a possible cyst, then the doc had said that there was an extra blood flow to the lump and that a biopsy was necessary! It turned out to be a tumour, not a cyst! So, can you imagine the thoughts in my head at this moment in time?? I had gone to the appointment ALONE (silly girl) and I was terrified. The gynaecologist was very sweet and comforting but basically said that it “could be sinister”. Great. Cheers. Just what I needed. He said that if next time we do the scan the cyst was still present and the womb lining still thick then a biopsy would be necessary. I walked around for the next two weeks in a bit of a haze. I was praying for a heavy period for the first time ever in my life. Never thought I’d actually WANT a heavy period… It didn’t come. I had another extremely light, stalling period and the thoughts in my head were going to a lot of horrible places of ovarian cancer and more surgery and treatment. I was surrounded by praying friends (thank you all so much!) but it was the kind of thing that I couldn’t bring to tell my Mum. I won’t do that next time as she was not happy that I suffered in silence, but you can understand why I didn’t say anything right? Anyway, I was in a bad place but gave it all to God many times during those two weeks. I was worshiping at the top of my lungs and contending for healing in the Spirit. Then, the 9th of July at 8:45am (the day of our huge housewarming party!!) I went with Djerk for another scan. Guess what? The cyst had DISAPPEARED!! The gynaecologist was pleasantly surprised, especially as the cyst seemed to have a blood supply! I wanted to laugh and cry all at the same time! The lining of my womb was still thick and he did mention something called Novasure, a procedure to remove the lining and burn (ewwww) the lining producing cells away. I need to do some more research into this, but the words of the doctor still ring in my head – it will reduce the chance of cancer of the womb in the future. We’ll see. Not sure yet. I’ve had about all I can take from hospitals for now. As Djerk and I exited the hospital I broke down in tears. Poor D, he didn’t know what was up! “Happy tears” I managed to squeak out… LOL
God, you are SO faithful. Thank you for my healing. Thank you for being there every step of the way. Thank you that even when things seem crazy and scary I have such a hope for the future.
I’m slowly changing my diet and trying to exercise more. I am determined to keep going, even with all the health issues we are facing. It’s not just me either! Sam is currently on crutches as he broke his ankle. Josh had a horrible tummy bug this past weekend and D is being referred to Harpenden Spire (what, what, what…) for his ankle/foot pain and he’s just had antibiotics for an infection. God, you are with us, please protect us from any more issues. 🙂
So, that’s about it for this blog post. I do hope there are people reading this. Please respond if you are, it would be nice to know.
Two things to show you. This song, has got me through so many crazy/scary times. Hope it blesses you.
Plus, PJ Smyth is an amazing man of God from Jo-burg SA and he spoke at the Newfrontiers conference last week on healing. Listen to it here: PJ’s Talk
Love you all my friends,
H
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