Running On Empty

Eight months ago I began to feel tired and weak. I couldn't walk 10 steps without having to catch my breath. Nor could I walk up stairs without huffing and puffing, showering, washing dishes, even standing made me feel lethargic.

After one week of camping, where I resigned myself to the confines of the trailer, missing out on the beach, walks under the stars, boating, I decided it was time to haul my ass into the doctor's office. I hate my doctor.

"I can't breathe", I explain, as he stabs my chest with his stethoscope.

"You're lungs are fine", then he begins to scribble away on a pad of paper, and tosses me a list of blood tests I will need, and an EKG. Oh, great, just great. Son of a bitch thinks it's my heart and I'm gonna' die.

During the electrocardiogram the nurse had commented my heart beats were "not within their normal statistics". Oh, great, just great.

Two days later and back at my doctor's office, the results are revealed. I do not have enough blood in me. It's supposed to be 115...I have 78 of whatever that means, and I need to get to emergency right away for a blood transfusion.

One urethra catheter later, one failed external ultrasound later, one internal ultrasound later, one chest x-ray later, one failed intravenous line on hand later, two painful failed insertions in arm later, 8 hours later and two pints of blood,

priceless.

Surrey Memorial and doctors, nurses and staff were excellent. I was wheeled here and there, examined by many specialists, blood pressure & heart rate monitored every 15 minutes (in case I had allergic reaction to the new blood),

priceless. Thank God I live Canada.

What was wrong with me? Turns out I have a huge fibroid, and my menstrual cycles have been extremely heavy, thus the loss of blood, eventually the loss of oxygen to my vital organs, thus the rapid heart beats.




Fibroids are muscular tumors that grow in the wall of the uterus (womb). Another medical term for fibroids is "leiomyoma" or just "myoma". Fibroids are almost always benign (not cancerous). Fibroids can grow as a single tumor, or there can be many of them in the uterus. They can be as small as an apple seed or as big as a grapefruit. In unusual cases they can become very large.

About 20 percent to 80 percent of women develop fibroids by the time they reach age 50. Fibroids are most common in women in their 40s and early 50s. Not all women with fibroids have symptoms. Women who do have symptoms often find fibroids hard to live with. Some have pain and heavy menstrual bleeding. Fibroids also can put pressure on the bladder, causing frequent urination, or the rectum, causing rectal pressure. Should the fibroids get very large, they can cause the abdomen (stomach area) to enlarge, making a woman look pregnant.

To resolve the future loss of blood through menstruation, there were two choices:
Hysterectomy (surgery to remove the uterus) or an IUD (intrauterine device) called Mirena® contains a small amount of progesterone-like medication, which can be used to control heavy bleeding, which is what I'm going to get.