Well, Well, Well......

Because I know I have a couple of male readers, I won't go into the gritty details, but suffice it to say that I've been dealing with an issue the past few years.  A girly issue.  So if you are already uncomfortable with where this is heading, keep on scrolling through your blog reader.

For those who've decided to continue reading, consider this your daily public service announcement.

So this issue has been getting progressively worse over the past several years, enough to where I am miserable and in quite a bit of discomfort on a regular basis.  That's all the detail I'll give you because you are smart women (I'm assuming that the men have stopped reading at this point) and you have probably figured out the general issue.

When I asked my ob/gyn about it a couple of years ago, he did an ultrasound and thankfully ruled out all the scary things.   He recommended I have this procedure.  In fact, he was almost insistent that I have it done; I couldn't believe the amount of time he used trying to convince me to do it.  I read the pamphlet he gave me (provided by the company that manufactures the equipment used in the procedure, of course).  I also did some research on my own and decided against it.  I can't describe it, but I just didn't have a good feeling about it.

Another twelve cycles of misery passed and I went back to my ob/gyn for my annual visit.  We discussed the issue again.  He suggested the procedure again.  I declined.  His only other suggestion was this procedure.  I may be approaching a milestone birthday, but I am way too young to be considering that one.  So I declined it as well.

I went another twelve cycles in complete misery and spent my time researching natural remedies.  Most of them pointed toward homeopathic doctors who performed extensive blood work and hormonal balancing.  This is all well and good for people who have better insurance than I do or don't have three kids to put through college.  That stuff is Expensive with a capital E.

So we discussed the issue again this week at my annual visit.  Wouldn't you know it, he didn't recommend the procedure he'd been so gung ho about a couple of years ago.  He said that there have been some adverse effects from it in younger women like myself.  (I loved that he called me younger - it's been a while since I've heard that word used to describe my age.)

He gave me several alternatives, one of which was a new, super expensive medication.  When I gasped at the monthly price, his nurse informed me that it would be less expensive with the manufacturer coupons they could give me.  I've been around the block enough times to know that this means some cute pharm rep in a short skirt bought lunch for the office and pushed it on them.  Sigh.

I guess my gasp at the cost sufficed as my answer to that alternative and I ultimately went with a solution that is a lot less expensive and much less invasive than the ones he suggested earlier.  I'm still not thrilled with it, but for the sake of my sanity, I had to do something.

So I guess the public service announcement is this: if you're not comfortable with a medical procedure or your gut feeling regarding it is a bad one, don't do it.  Or at least think really long and hard about it.  If I'd gone ahead and had the procedure he'd suggested a couple of years ago, I might be suffering from the adverse side effects he mentioned.  I actually shudder a bit when I think about it.

Hopefully, I will be feeling better in a few months and I won't have to search through a laundry list of possible remedies for this again.

Sometimes it stinks to be girl.